By Henry Odu-
Nigerians are preparing to go to the polls participate actively in the 2019 elections, after being postponed for a week due to technical issues.
Nigeria’s president, Mohammadu Buhari, urged Nigerians to turn up and vote without intimidation. Intimidation has historically been a characteristic of Nigerian elections, with killings sadly a common feature of the election process. However, the president promised that safety will be guaranteed by security agencies, something not many can be confident of
He also assured international election observers of a conducive environment to carry out their electoral duty. The pressing issue for fed up Nigerians is whether either Buhari or his opponent Atiku are taking the country on the same journey they have travelled before, with nothing new to offer them a sustained level of an improved standard of living.
On the eve of the election in Africa’s most populous country, he said:
”Tomorrow, the polls open. Tomorrow, we affirm that Nigeria stands as a democracy and that no worldly hand can deter us from this wise and fitting path we have chosen for ourselves.
While democracy is the most beneficial way to select a nation’s leaders, it is far from the easiest thing to achieve and maintain.
”It requires a combination of patience, tolerance, compassion, diligence, wisdom and hope. These traits exist in us the Nigerian people. Because of who we are, democracy has the chance to flourish in this land. Thus, I commend all of you for your patience and peaceful conduct so far during this electoral season and especially during this intervening week following the postponement of the February 16 elections.
Many were worried and thought the worst might happen. You proved them wrong by showing that you are a great people withan abiding love for peace, democracy and the unity of our country.
He said the Electoral Commission says it is ready and fully prepared to conduct the election in a free, fair and transparent manner.” believe INEC realises the profound and weighty duty that rests upon it, he said. We must cast aside doubt and have faith that INEC will rise to the occasion.
With the Nigerian economy in trouble due to rising inflation and falling standards of living, Nigeria is a country to be enjoyed by those who are financially well off. The rich are the envy of the common man, and corruption has always been an endemic aspect of life in Nigeria. Buhari is one of the few presidents nobody can smear with allegations of corruptions, and he has actively fought it at its roots. However, his critics say he has turned a blind eye to corruption when the accused are individuals who have had his best interest at heart.
Buhari was a popular winner of the 2015 elections, but four years later, the average Nigerian is not economically better off than he was four years previously. Insiders in Nigeria say the police, and many members of the judiciary are poorly paid. Unemployment has been very high during his reign, like in the time of his predecessors, and many professionals have had to wait months to receive their salary. What will change if he wins again?
His political rival Abubakar is no stranger to Nigerians to Nigerians. He was Vice president under Olusegun Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007. A successful businessman, his slate is not as clean as one would wish of contending politician for the presidential role.
His promises to float the Nigerian Naira currency and improve the weak exchange rate. Nigerians have heard sweet words from campaigners before, and are sick of being let down. The votes will begin tomorrow, and the world will wait to see if it goes smoothly without the usual allegations of rigging and terror that has made Nigerian elections a formality with no real progress at the end of it.