Barely four days to the governorship election in Osun State, the unending spate of politically related violence in the state is more than worrisome, as it signposts an election that may be devoid of peace. Sadly, many parts of the state have displayed this trend, as if to confirm the warning of the National Peace Committee and its secretariat, The Kukah Centre, that parts of the state remain vulnerable to election-related unrest.

The political class has a duty to make conscious efforts to stem this ugly tide; otherwise, they should be prepared to take full responsibility for the envisaged unpleasant consequences. No doubt, the unfolding scenario is deplorable as it can only complicate the multi-faceted security crises already besetting the country.

What makes the scenario even more worrisome is the Nigerian Police Force (NPF)’s recent revelation that it is investigating 30 political killings ahead of the Osun State governorship election. Such a high casualty figure in just one state mirrors a grim tomorrow, creates a rather pervasive atmosphere of fear while pointing to other contributing factors, including a deliberate attempt to suppress voter turnout, and ensure that power is determined by armed strength as against the popular will of the people.

Superimposing the blood-drenched spectre of political violence onto an existing national trauma simply amounts to a grave betrayal of the social contract by a political class that appears indifferent to the sanctity of human life.

Unfortunately, Osun is not isolated in this orgy of political violence. Recent fighting in the State ahead of its gubernatorial contest is only following in the footsteps of the lethal ambush on the convoy of the Anambra State Governor’s Chief of Staff, as well as the violent assault on the spokesperson of the Lagos State House of Assembly in the Oshodi area of the state.

As early as May this year, there were signs that the political temperature may be tensed when a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Taofeek Mustapha, was shot by suspected political thugs in Oluode-Aranyin, in Osogbo, the state capital. While the attack heightened concerns as rival political camps clash across the state, the victim, who survived the shooting, claimed that the thugs targeted him because he was decked in a fez cap that is associated with the APC candidate.

In June, the ruling APC, election observer groups and civil society organisations raised the alarm over what they described as dangerous and irresponsible statements by opposition leaders that could incite violence during the 2027 general elections.

The warning was in the wake of a statement by an official of the Board of Trustees of the New Nigeria People’s Party urging voters to approach polling units with kerosene and bottles to defend their votes by any means necessary.

Galadima’s condemnable statement itself came one week after Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde invoked the violent history of Operation Wetie in the South-West to caution against the dangers of one-party dominance in Nigeria.

Makinde, while speaking in Ibadan at the National Summit of All Opposition Political Party Leaders, warned against facilitating a repeat of such ugly history.

He said, “For those that are carrying on as if there’s no tomorrow, they should remember that Operation Wetie started from here. This is the same Wild Wild West.” Operation Wetie was a campaign of intense political violence, involving the burning down of houses and personal properties of perceived political enemies that rocked Nigeria’s Western Region, with its epicentre in Ibadan, in the mid-1960s. At varying levels, many other parts of the country are affected by the unfolding pattern of political violence.

The incidents signpost a wobbly democracy. When state officials, lawmakers, and ordinary citizens are targeted with brazen impunity in the full glare of the public, a breakdown of public order is being invited.

Democracy is about freedom to choose, freedom of choice, and that of association; all these tenets must be respected by all parties involved, while this rising tide of political violence must be deplored and condemned in the strongest and most unequivocal terms.

Every citizen, both the highly and lowly-placed, must be sufficiently educated that it is unacceptable that in this age and time, political ambition should be locked in cudgels, guns, cutlasses, and bloodletting and the reason is simple – power obtained through the barrel of a gun as an inordinate means lacks not just moral legitimacy, but also democratic authority. The room to vote in and vote out anybody should not be made intemperate or hostile so that democracy can thrive and establish firm roots in our country.

Political leaders and their followers across all divides must be made to understand that it is time to call their goons to order now, as they cannot truly serve the people or practice their trade in an atmosphere that is suffused with bloodletting.

For political leaders who sponsor violence, these heinous acts and treating young Nigerians as disposable cannon fodder have dire consequences. Appropriate sanctions must be strictly enforced because often, families of these major dramatis personae are ensconced in some safe spaces while they place no premium on the lives of their foot soldiers.

Arresting and sanctioning purveyors of violence, or violence mongers, would send the right signals to those who may be contemplating such, just as Nigerians should reject a situation where violence is embraced, not as an accidental byproduct of political friction, but something that has been normalised as a deliberate campaign strategy.

As the country hurtles toward another crucial round of general elections, law enforcement and electoral authorities must act with urgency and efficiency to arrest this menace. Security agencies need to shed their perception of being partisan and unresponsive. They should demonstrate absolute neutrality by hunting down not just the armed thugs on the streets, but their high-ranking sponsors. Simultaneously, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the judiciary must rigorously enforce the Electoral Act, ensuring that candidates linked to violent disruptions are disqualified and prosecuted. Nigeria’s democracy cannot survive if ballots continue to be soaked in the blood of its citizens.