Go!

And may the best men and women win.

For months the news and our every discussion has centred around the elections. Like the hands of a clock moving in ceaseless circular motion, no matter where the conversation starts, it ends with the elections. Maybe it is because I am older, that I care more, or maybe it is because I have seen more, that I perceive more; may be this type of excitement, this fervour, this heart racing, adrenaline rush I feel when I think of the elections has always been there but I was just never part of it. I had never tapped into the swell of hope, of decision, of influence, of people power and mind blowing possibilities that elections give millions of people all over the world because I had never, until now, wanted so badly to cast my vote. Only now have I developed to the stage of social consciousness where I want to use my ballot to say out loud all the things I have said in private – on the dinning table, with friends, at the office, on queues at the bank with complete strangers – that one of the reasons the Nigerian experiment with democracy is developing so painfully slowly is because we are not participating the way we should.

In Nigeria it seems that the elite and the middle class have abdicated from the public sphere without more than a cursory backward glance every now and then. In other countries while the best and the brightest strive for political office as the educational and social activism profiles of the Obama’s, the Blair’s, the Cameron’s and even the Bush’s attest to, here we are okay with our Governors and other government officers: chief budgeting executors, vision champions and project managers being equipped with the equivalent of only a secondary school education. And so while the most educated and enlightened of us flock to the private sector – to the banks, the oil companies, the telecommunications companies and all the multinational companies who will have us, we leave the shaping of our destinies in the hands of those who many of us would not hire into the private sector. There are many excuses and reasons; all quite logical. ‘Politics is dirty’; ‘you have to play like them’ ‘it is not for people like us’, ‘you have to be ready to do bad things’. And so we stay away from political office and somehow convince ourselves that our decision is rational. Then we compound our sins by refusing to vote. We won’t be the candidates and we won’t vote either. We want to ensure that the very few in politics who are there to try to make a positive difference, get rigged out by those who are willing to go to any lengths to exploit us and dehumanize us…and then we sit back and complain.

So the time of decision is here and it is time to participate – to think carefully about the choices we make and to take responsibility. For many of us, it will be the first time we are taking an active part in influencing the direction in which our country is headed. We will finally be setting good examples of civic responsibility for future generations, explaining to our children the value of a vote and not just talking at them but providing the opportunity for them to witness the sacrifice it takes to be a participating citizen of a country.

So who will you vote for?

If there was a hundred naira for every time I heard someone ask that question, I would be able to pay for my local government chairperson nomination form in 2015. It is an absolutely great question to ask and to answer because it does two things. One it forces you to voice out your reasons for wanting to vote for a person…and if you have an iota of reasonableness in even one of your fingernails, most times hearing out loud the reasons why you want to vote for a person is enough to stop you right smack in the middle of your words and get you to sink your head into your chest and think deeply for at least the length of time it takes to fly from Lagos to Abuja. Two, it allows you to share and receive information which might influence you or the other person to change their minds – and make a more informed decision.

There are many who said the debates helped them make up their minds. Hearing their candidates speak – seeing how they dodged or dealt with sticky issues – acted as a microscope through which they could see things more clearly…and the change, the moment of clarity and sense of direction is amazing to behold. Personally, I have come full circle, tracing my support through almost all of the presidential candidates and taking back the baton of leadership again and again but now, finally, with the support of all the conversations taking place, I have made a decision I am comfortable with.

Many of us, even those of us who like to think of ourselves as sophisticated, enlightened and unaffected by petty loyalties to ethnicity and religion are still swayed by where the candidates come from and how they worship. But the more we discuss issues, track records, contributions, the harder it will become for us to be convinced solely on the grounds of geography or the chance of birth. And the harder it becomes for us to vote solely on base and emotional reasons, the harder it will become for those who run for office to do nothing towards the development of the country and still expect to be allowed to stay in office…and this is how our democracy will thrive, take strong roots and grow. They say the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. The road to the Promised Land we all want Nigeria to be seems broken, tortuous and rough and it might seem pointless in the face of rigging, violence, and the undue advantage that the incumbents always seem to have – but, we must have faith and belief in the power of what is ‘right’. Put one foot in front of the other until you are at the polling booth. Cast your vote and stay there until the votes are counted and announced. Repeat every Saturday until April 16. Take that first step. Go!

[published in Thisday's The Lawyer on April 5 2011]