Oshiomole's victory and what America did!

The constant disregard for rule of law, subversion of the will of the people and ultimate crime against humanity existent in our political system makes one wonder if those Nigerians who constantly advocate for the right mode of doing things are living ahead of their time. Our democratic experience to date seems to have been dictated from the jungle with the activities of intolerant politicians in our dear nation. Their activities in the last 2003 and 2007 general election speak of nothing other than unacceptable.



Caution was thrown to the wind, disorderliness was unleashed on us, and violence was displayed all in a bid to get unpopular victory. A Yoruba proverb says, 'ohun owo mi o to, ma fi gogo fa' (whatever my hand cannot reach, I will draw with a hook). Our unpopular politicians are bent on drawing our votes with hooks. From Edo to Ondo, and several other states within the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it is cries of foul. Our politicians have gone mad again! Madness is an understatement to describe our politician's insatiable appetite for power.



How else can we describe the level of chaos, mayhem and violence that characterize elections in Nigeria? Election days get so scary that citizens for the fear of their lives stay indoor and refuse to go out to vote. Hence they get disenfranchised. Meanwhile bogus figures are released and the unpopular crook is then return elected! Our votes don’t get counted. This is the nation we live in today.



However, soon enough, very soon my friends, I assure you, we shall get there. We shall get to a point where we can no longer be cowed. Did I say cowed? We are there already; even now when we realise the harm unleashed on us and future generations. Today people shout in wild jubilation when an unpopular Vagabond-In-Power (apologies to Fela) is brought down; either by the court of appeal, by his own lust or ultimate super-divine intervention. Have we not seen it, from the despotic reign terminated in 1998, to the unpopular ruler who ruled few days in Anambra after the 2007 general election and now the Professor of what? (maybe, dishonest politics) of Edo state.



But we shall get there, '...not by power, not by might...'. We don’t need to go to war, we need only cry out loud, till our voices are heard. We only need to shout from the rooftops, and I know soon, very soon my friends, electoral scams will be so unpopular, that her practitioners will look like leprous patients. Have we not seen it?

Sure we have seen it. We have seen a nation who gladly listened and gave their mandate to those who truly worth it. Those with the ideas to, get things done. From Kay Hagen vs. Elizabeth Doe to Barrack Obama vs. John McCain and several others, evidence abounds. The incumbent candidate needn't win; he has to earn it. The guy with the fattest pocket needn't win; he has to earn it. Let's make our politicians earn our votes. Let them define who they are. What they stand for. You might agree with me. We don’t need the guys who stand to proclaim their ethnicity or religious affiliation; we don’t need the guys who stand to profess their fat pocket or thug appeal, we need the guy with ideas and vision. The guys who can do it.

Let them earn it!



I love you all.



Ayodeji Abiola-Ogedengbe

London, UK