The
last time I checked, the year being 2019 that is expected to usher in yet an
interregnum in the Imo State’s Douglas House and the Nigeria’s Aso Rock, was
arguably fast approaching on a speed light. Such candid observation needs to be
noted by every patriot in the state.
Sure, Nigeria – Imo in particular – is
currently practising democracy, which is reckoned to be ‘government of the
people, by the people and for the people’. However, it’s noteworthy that
election is peculiar to democracy. This assertion implies that any democratic
society is characterized by elections and what have you. In fact, election
begets democracy.
If the above analysis holds water, then it is
not needful to reiterate the importance of voter’s card. Voter’s card, which is
the only document that signifies one’s eligibility during elections, remains a
tool that ought to be seen as inevitable by anyone who truly appreciates a
democratic setting. This is so, because without a voter’s card, a so-called
eligible elector is ostensibly useless at any polling unit while an election is
being conducted.
It’s really disheartening and disgusting too,
to acknowledge that the majority of electors in the contemporary Imo State are
yet to regard voter’s card as the only instrument that guarantees one’s
eligibility to partake in electioneering decision-making. Owing to this, this
set of persons is often marred by apathy whenever voter’s card registration is
ongoing, therefore would never bother to know when the registration begins as
well as its deadline let alone heading for their respective polling booths to
grab their copies.
This level of apathy or nonchalant attitude
found amongst the electorate, particularly the young ones, has colossally
endangered the success of various elections conducted thus far across the state
and Nigeria at large. It is baffling to note that often times, most people only
go to polling units to engage themselves in all sorts of gossips and frivolities
rather than with the aim of casting their votes.
When confronted, some of them would
proudly tell you that elections are of no use in any part of the country since
at the end of the day, rigging would successfully mar the results. They say so,
forgetting that rigging can never be possible if it is not aided by them. Of
course, it’s not anymore news that election rigging is traceable to the
uncalled and ridiculous acts graciously carried out by our able-bodied young
ones. The unpatriotic politicians or aspirants would invariably hire these
young people in order to snatch ballot boxes containing the ballot papers at
various polling units, thereby succeed in rigging the affected election.
This,
no doubt, signifies that election rigging is being aided by both the electorate
and the electoral officials. Yes, the electoral umpire is usually a party to
this aberration because in most quarters when reported that the ballot boxes
were snatched by a group of thugs, the officials in-charge would still go ahead
to declare the results of the election in question. It is saddening indeed to
watch such unfortunate situation linger under our noses.
Acknowledging this ugly trend, there is a
compelling need to aptly educate an average Imolite on the prime essence of
possessing a voter’s card. He or she needs to be told, in a language he would
comprehend, that it is only a voter’s card that empowers one to elect a
candidate of his/her choice at the polls. They must be made to understand that
if they failed to grab their voter’s card, there won’t be need to fix or
conduct any election within their jurisdictions. They must equally be informed
that a voter’s card is the constitutional right of everyone who has attains the
age of eighteen (18).
Hence,
as the revalidation of voter’s card is presently taking place across the
country, let’s endeavour to conscientize our wards to go to their respective
Local Government Councils and obtain a copy of their voter’s card. The ongoing
exercise is solely for those who were yet to attain 18 years of age as at the
time the last voter’s card registration was conducted, or those who had
attained 18 during the said period but couldn’t register, or those who have
already obtained but theirs are damaged in any way. In other words, individuals
who fall within the stipulated bracket are expected to as a matter of urgency
be in possession of their voter’s card at the moment. It is their right, not a
privilege.
So,
at this juncture, I asked an Imolite and anyone resident in the state, who
falls between the age of 18 and above, have you acquired your voter’s card? If
yes, is it intact? If you are yet to grab yours, you still have a golden
opportunity to do so. Stop supporting a certain political aspirant, jettisoning
the fact that it is only voter’s card that can guarantee his or her victory at
the polls come 2019. We must understand that possessing a voter’s card is more
important than publicly tendering eulogies to any aspirant.
The various aspirants on their part
must equally do the needful. As a matter of fact, they must acknowledge that
they are one of the major stakeholders required to assist in sensitizing the
electors, particularly their followers, on the unavoidable need to ensure that
they boast of their voter’s card as they eagerly await the year in question. In
view of this, the aspirants and the political parties in general ought to play
their cards aptly so that at the end, only a successful and credible election
would be recorded in the state.
The electoral umpire (INEC) must as
well be very helpful as long as the said exercise lasts. There is need to decentralize
the ongoing revalidation of voter’s card being held across the country. Instead
of making it an exercise to be conducted only at the local government
headquarters, the various political wards – polling units precisely – should be
empowered to carry-out the assignment towards ensuring that no qualified
elector is disfranchised, or deprived the chances of acquiring his/her voter’s
card, in the process.
All in all, this piece is occasioned
by the need to let us note that a voter’s card remains the most powerful
decision-making tool in any electioneering era. Thus, go out there today and
grab your copy before ‘had I known’ becomes your slogan. Think about it!
Comrade FDN Nwaozor
Executive Director, Docfred Resource Hub (DRH) - Owerri________________________________
Twitter: @mediambassador
http://facebook.com/TheMediaAmbassador
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