Why Nigerians Should Not Lose Sleep Over 2015 Elections

“For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday and a watch in the night’’

THAT was the Psalmist recounting how a thousand years pass like a flash in the sight of the Almighty. February 14, 2015, will long be remembered by Nigerians as the most memorable of St. Valentine’s Day in our history.  In the spirit of St. Valentine, we must make and give pure unadulterated love and not hatred.  That day is already etched indelibly in our collective psyche.

  The principal gladiators Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Gen Muhammed Buhari and of course other presidential candidates are all part of history in live mode.  What happens on the day and after will be the toast of gist and gossips in many pepper soup joints for a long long time.  February 14 is the litmus test whether this fragile and fledgling democracy will endure. Reverberations from February 14 will to a large extent determine the fate of February 28th.

  Professor Atahiru Jega who many equate and juxtapose for INEC will be exposed to intense searchlight from all corners of the globe.  The visit of the U.S Secretary of State, John Kerry, confirms renewed world interest in what goes on in Nigeria.  There has never been anything quite like this in our history, not even in the days of Action Group when Chief Obafemi Awolowo criss-crossed the country in his helicopter, landing in places, some of which were barred to him but he still landed.

  The atmosphere is electric and pregnant with expectations.  Will it be GEJ or GMB?  Suddenly we have all keyed into this Ibo proverbs `uguru na atu oyi’ (literally translates as harmattan can be very cold).

  There is need to look at our elections timetable and see if there is a way to stagger the polls so that we do not have a virtual shut down just to keep government moving.  Maybe we can look at a system whereby one half gets elected and this other half a year later. This will, to some extent, lessen the amount of money spent and also the unnecessary heat in the polity.  The electorate call this their season of harvest and are unrelenting and vicious extracting their pound of flesh from the candidates.  Some of the delegates to the primaries are already moulding blocks waiting for the final suck from the candidates’ jugular closer to February 14th.  The building plans and contractors are in place.

  There have been some ugly incidents especially in Rivers, Bauchi and Katsina.  Burning of party offices or disruption of rallies, throwing stones at the president’s convoy are acts which all of us must condemn.  Anyone trying to take us back to the `wetie’ days of 1965 Western Nigeria must be stopped NOW.  Such characters must be excluded from our political culture.  All in all, the robust nature of the campaigns will help sharpen Nigeria’s democracy until the day when the electorate will start asking for ideas and not cash.

  That day may not be too far away if we get into our statute books the amendments to the UBE Act which makes education mandatory up till JS3 which I sponsored in the House of Representatives.  This bill has scaled major hurdles.  Functional education, which this bill addresses, will reduce some of the election malpractices.  We must not forget that unless we get to the root, we can never change the fruit.

  Alan Greenspan, who was chairman of the America Federal Reserve for a record five times, and worked with both Republican and Democratic Presidents supports this view in his statement that “The solution to some of America’s gravest problems lies in the way we educate our children.”

  The sum total of this contribution therefore is that as long as we continue making our electoral processes better, i.e., 2015 better than 2011, there is no cause for despondency.  The system will continue to fine-tune and evolve until such a time that our brightest will have the courage to navigate the current murky shark infested waters called Nigerian politics.

 The Holy Bible and the Holy Koran teach that everything that happens is ordained by God. Is it necessary to lose sleep over a brief four-year span?

• Mbadiwe, a member of the House of Representatives, wrote from Abuja before the postponement of the general elections.