My Choice, My Vote, It Counts

I AM Omoni Oboli and I represent Naija! We’re just a week away from the presidential elections! I can’t wait for this whole saga to be over and our lives to return to normal. This election has taken its toll on the populace beyond many of our expectations. It’s been the most scrutinised election ever in our history. If we didn’t have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the Internet how would we have expressed our opinions? Come to think of it, I can imagine that our past elections had all these voices bottled up inside, but with no where to express them, they kept there opinions to themselves.   

     It’s no secret that my support is solely for the incumbent President, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Many have asked why, and the answer stares us right in the face with the obvious transformations we observe in our country today. I have personally seen the trains and ridden in them to confirm that they are working. With the trains running, cost of transportation of people and goods across the country would drastically reduce, with it’s subsequent effect of improving the economy and access to producing areas of the country. These trains were comatose for over 30 years, but have been revived since 2011.  

     I have been to the farms whose owners were direct beneficiaries of the grants given under the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP), and seen for myself what they are doing, in terms of being self employed, creating well needed jobs for other and producing food for the nation. For many who say that they have not felt the impact, the truth is we all have, when we observed the reduction of the price of many food items, especially one of our most staple and cherished food, rice, and the stable price of many other food items during the Christmas holidays. Since I was born, food prices have always gone up during the Yuletide season and this is due to many factors; the higher demand for food generally, the increased travelling demand and the subsequent increase in transportation, the influx of Nigerians from the diaspora demanding for the same goods and services, fuel scarcity and a hike in dollar exchange rates to the Naira. What we saw this time around was a stability in the prices of food amidst these scenarios: all of the above with a sharper drop in oil prices globally and a sudden rise in the exchange value of the Naira to the dollar. How come we experienced this when all the experts expected us to be wallowing? The president had foreseen these things, apparently, because measures were put in place to cushion the effect of these nation-destroying global economic onslaughts. We weathered the storm, even though doom and gloom had been predicted. We still have a lot to do to stabilise things, but the comfort I have is that we are on the right track. 

     Though many would argue that the rebasing of the economy is no achievement in itself, but with it comes the exposure of those areas in our economy, which hitherto had been ignored, but with the right intervention could be improved upon to create new job areas and help to further diversify our economy. This would further help to reduce our lifelong dependence on the oil sector, which has been the main source of income for our country since I can remember. 

     This brings me to the sector after my own heart; the entertainment industry! I don’t know where to start. The attention given to Nollywood has been beyond our collective expectations. This is an industry, like it or not, that has changed the perception of Nigeria in the eyes of the world, and turned homegrown celebrities into international icons. Many would say that we are still producing substandard movies compared to that of the big names of Hollywood and Bollywood, but we shouldn’t expect to reach the moon in one day. The quality has drastically improved and so has the returns on investment. This is due largely to the access to funding for distribution, which has seen a great increase in the number of cinemas in the country. With increased distribution the supply of our products to the consumers would be increased which in turn helps to meet the demand. When there is increase in demand without the near equal supply of the goods, piracy is a certainty, so that the increase in funds to the distribution arm, cinema and DVD sales centres, helps to curb it significantly. Funds are also also available to producers and skill training through the project act Nollywood, and the Nollywood you see today, you will see them no more.  

     We’ve seen an increase in funding towards creating jobs for our teeming youth through the YouWin projects, FAFFIN and many other programs that have been set up to help stimulate and encourage entrepreneurship. This is also unprecedented in Nigeria by tits shear magnitude. 

      It’s hard for me to discard all these facts, which can easily be verified if we are willing to do our due diligence to ascertain their truth. Sitting around and listening to those who have no knowledge of these achievements has caused many people tTomiwa the designated deadlines and lose out on these genuine programs that they needed to help them start their businesses or increase the capacity of their production. 

    I have often challenged many others who castigate me for my choice of candidate to give their reasons for their choices without any reference to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and all I get is a voicemail. Does this mean that you shouldn’t choose your candidate on a whim or for any silly or genuine reasons? Of course not! that’s the beauty of the democracy that the President offers; he has given us the the freedom to speak our minds, though many have abused it irreconcilably, but we are sure that we won’t be arrested for our utterances extra judicially. 

      That and many other reasons have informed my decision to pitch my tent, within reason, with the candidacy of our dear President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. A great woman of God once told me, “You make your decisions, and your decisions make you”, so be sure of your conviction because the only person to blame if you’re disenfranchised is yourself. 

    Vote wisely, intelligently and without violence. Let’s make this a violent free election! Keep smiling!

Twitter – @omonioboli 

Facebook – www.facebook.com/ActressOmoniOboli