Election Debate Should Be Mandatory

Sir: Our democracy is growing.  It is joyful to watch the candidates battle it out in the campaign fields.  Those who still think that election is a race a woman runs and holds her breast, so to say, are beginning to feel the scorching heat.  If the nation comes through this 2015 general election successfully, and I believe it will because we are gradually waking up to the virtues of enlightenment, future ones will glowingly put Nigeria on a global pedestal.  Who knows, one may even begin to envision a time the country will live on the potentials of its glories.

  Before then, certain partisan practices will have to be shunned.  I have watched this general election campaigns on the National Television Authority (NTA) network so far.  My assessment of their presentations is a disappointing one.  The level of bias is nauseating.  I do not know how anyone can justify to me that each time you see a campaign rally presentation on the network it is only of the ruling party.  The presenters of this event fail to realize that iron sharpens iron.  There should be a counterbalance of ideologies from other parties to produce a defining moment.

  To my thinking, their objective becomes counterproductive. I do not want to be overdosed by a one sided rhetoric.  Let me hear the opposition and then judge for myself. I am not dismissing that the party in power will always have an edge over the coverage, I think it is natural for the television authorities to want to toe the line of the fingers that sign their checks.  But it should not be to the detriment of sound reason. Once I start to feel that someone is totally suppressing the other voices that are vital to the political discourse, my sympathy switches to the underdog.

  I think the only intimidation acceptable in the election arena is the force of conviction. Candidates should apply any sort of intellectual superiority to subdue their opponents. That way, the electorates stand to benefit. They will be assured that the candidate they are electing is the best contesting.  Having been exposed in a democracy where this practice is religiously followed, I think election debates must be made mandatory. 

  Nothing displays a candidate’s readiness than an open chance to defend his or her mandate before the public. This does not have much to do with speech ability, though it can be a boost the spirit seems to leave the candidate and speak to the audience during this process. Word that is spoken is heart that is seen according to Igbo proverb. Citizens will hold the candidate accountable for his or her utterances.

  Any candidate that opts out of an election debate already has a staggering doubt looming over his head.  Notwithstanding if he or she senses bias, he or she owes it to the electorates to go out there and prove his or her mettle.  The adversity could be an opportunity to show that in spite of the odds, he or she is a champion.

  The country excels when the election is free and fair.  Even if the electorates made the wrong choice in their voting, there is comfort in knowing it was their decision.  They will humbly wait for another chance. Violence is not an option because it is the will of the masses.  I think we are beginning to get it right.

•Pius Okaneme,

Umuoji, Anambra State.