Nigerian Politicians, electorate and vote-buying

Election period in Nigeria comes with its own unique ‘sales strategy’. It is a season of give and take with lots of commercial activities in the red light street. A time when voter’s prostitution reaches its crescendo. As in the real world, what makes prostitution industry thrives is not the availability of female sex hawkers, it is the large supply of male patrons who are accomplices.

The uneducated and uninformed voters, who are always in the majority, see their voter’s cards as a mean to an end. Politicians on the other hand are always on the stand by. Many of these poverty – stricken voters, like the sex hawkers, do not understand the risks associated with this act. At the end of this dark tunnel is cruel under development because the future is already traded for a morsel.

Ekiti state election had come and gone. Winner had been declared and losers will be licking their wounds by now. The loser’s huge financial commitment had yielded no result. No wonder we have occasional situation where politicians commit suicide after losing election.

Vote buying does not only happen in the wee hours of the election day. It started from the party’s primaries. At the ward level, the amount may be minimal ranging from buying snacks and soft drinks. But as the party primary moves towards election of local government party executive, local government chairmanship aspirants and on to state executive; and then national assembly as well as national executive positions, the stake goes higher. Only the so-called big boys can play at this level.

If we must put the record straight, vote buying starts from the application fee charged by political parties. Intending aspirants at the state, national assembly and other national positions are compelled to pay cut throat fee enough to scare away serious candidate. This accounted for why many candidates presented to the electorate by the parties during elections are poor species whom the enlightened class know will add no value.

As an individual, I was thinking with the involvement of the youth in the Ekiti political campaign process, vote buying should by now be a thing of the past. My opinion was shattered when I watched again in dismay, an investigative journalism video posted online by the BBC showing hundreds of Ekiti people allegedly running towards a particular location within the state to collect an amount equal to one United States Dollar in exchange for their votes.

My heart cringed at the thought of this. One, it showed the level of poverty in the land aside from the fact that it also indicated how low our politicians can go to gain or retain power. Everything pointed to the fact that all the political parties were involved except for the few ‘unfortunate’ ones which had no sponsors or political godfathers.
Many of our politicians here have no sense of shame. They will rather impoverish the electorates and give them stipends in the wee hours of the elections than do the right thing. At the same time, many of the so-called Nigerian electorates are short – sighted. They are bad students of history. One wonders why it has been so difficult for them to learn their lessons by now?

‘Election business’ here consumes huge amount of money. The total amount of ‘investment’ in each election period if properly appropriated and accounted for can really transform the nation’s economy. Election business is a capital intensive business here in Nigeria. No wonder many players in the industry are corrupt money bags. We do know there are laws guiding financial contributions and spending during elections but our politicians are very ingenious at cutting corners. In many instances too, officials who are supposed to monitor this often turn a blind eye.
This had been the practice for years. Unfortunately our civil societies, activists as well as a huge section of our media had remained silent for so long. This silence do contribute significantly to what the outcome of the elections present.
Where do we go from here? Is hope totally lost? I dare to say No. Since we know the challenge facing our nation, what we only need is the will power to face it headlong. Solution will not be offered by our leaders alone. Every hand must be on the desk.

Can we move from money – driven election to a value based one? Reorientation must start from the family, which is the smallest unit in our nation. In my own estimation, I stand to be corrected, many female sex hawkers result into using what they have to get what they want because of wrong information or belief system. Until this mindset is changed, the external display of their ware at the red light street cannot stop.
We must move this advocacy to our basic schools and ensure children are empowered to confront their parents on the evil of ‘money exchange hand’ Politics. If we win at this level, we must move to post basic schools as well as all the tertiary institutions. Values we cherish must be known to all.

Our regulatory institutions, especially the one with oversight functions must be strengthen. Independence and power to bite without fear or favour must be given to these institutions. This process can be a long way to freedom but if we commit to it from now, who knows by 2023 or 2027 we will be singing a new song.