Political candidates or party mascots 

The right to vote is one of the highlights of a democratic system, cherished by the citizens of the system. This is so because the masses see this exercise as a means to keep bad, negative and incompetent individuals out of government while ensuring that individuals with progressive intent and capability are put in government. This begs the question, how did we vote in the last election?

And did we really understand what we were doing in 2011? If you ask me I will say we did not understand what we were doing in 2011. And as for how we voted in 2011, I’ll say it was void of any logic or thought. Did we really seek to keep the bad guys away from our government? And did we seek to keep the good ones in? If you ask me I’ll say we naively rooted for the bad and corrupt men who think only about their interests.

Then again we should not be so hard on ourselves for making such a huge mistake, we were played well. So what we should do is put our hands together for the likes of IBB and his PDP boys for giving us a man with no shoes and a sentimental name such as Goodluck and for knowing that we will vote for him because he is from a minority culture. For knowing that paying visits to our churches will get him more votes, we need to recognize their brain work and bow our heads in respect. But that was 2011. We should be smarter now I hope.

Our eyes should be open to the tricks that the bad men play. They take a man with a very touching childhood story, and a very emotional wife who can cry and remind us of the obvious existence of God. They put this likeable character as the face of their corrupt and evil empire. But the wise will understand that this likeable character is truly not in charge of this evil association. He might not even be one allowed into the secret meeting chambers; he’s just a front man, a mouth piece to the evil gods behind the curtain. He does as they say and says as they do, all this acting is done just to fool me and you. We are almost too quick to forget that every political candidate is representing a political party, and their parties have vested interests.

The question am driving at is do we actually vote the man or we vote the party. So before we go out and vote because we like or do not like an individual based on religious or cultural differences or Similarities, we should look beyond the man and look into his party.

Many want to vote for Goodluck Jonathan simply because he is from their region and fail to realize that by voting Goodluck Jonathan they are voting someone like Babangida who is the strong man behind the party and whose interests have to be met. So to such tribalistic individuals I’ll ask the question, if Babangida was to contest for PDP will you still vote? Would you vote the man that hunted down Idiagbon, invented 419 and started the crash of the Naira?

Will you still vote PDP if Aliko Dangote was contesting? Knowing what he has done to all the indigenous competitors he has in the cement, sugar and flour industry. The man that took heavy loans from our stock exchange and never paid back, thus ensuring the crash of the stock market in Nigeria.

Do you seriously believe you are just voting in Goodluck or you are actually voting in all the crooks that put him as the face of their party while they are busy looting endlessly from us. Would you be comfortable voting in Asari Dokubo, a terrorist who is now an adviser to the current president? Can you trust Alamesigha with the government money? But an individual like that is constantly in Aso-rock with our president.

Would you vote in a double mouthed shameless liar like Fanni Kayode who ran from PDP to APC because he felt APC now rules the south-west only to be told he won’t be paid for his sporadic public rants, now he is back in PDP where he gets paid to shout in front of cameras.

A quick look at the APC camp can give you a sense of calm because you know that when you vote Buhari you vote Fashola who has solidified the progress in Lagos state started by Asiwaju Tinubu who is also a major player in APC. You also vote into power Adams Oshiomhole the former labour congress boss that fought hard on behalf of the working class in Nigeria and the current governor of Edo state. You also vote in Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II who served diligently as the governor of our central bank till the greed of the current government led to his sack.

The list of good men attached to APC is long. But one thing which is hard to find in this party is miscreants like Asari dokubo, Fani Kyode and Alamieseha. The conclusion is this, it is impossible to eradicate vested interest from democratic politics therefore we need to be careful what kinds of interests a political candidate brings along with him. Are these interests of honest men who want progress or interests of crooks and criminals? Remember we are not just voting an individual we are voting a party.

– A fellow Nigeria
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