Kogi 2015 - The Paucity of Choice

Prince Audu of APC and Captain Wada of PDP

I wrote this on August 22, in response to the outrage expressed by citizens of Kogi and other well meaning Nigerians, on the uninspiring choices presented  by the leading political parties in the Kogi gubernatorial election. Well the worst happened and its now a fight between Audu and Wada.
Enjoy.
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What you see in Kogi today is an aggregation of the opinion and wishes of the people. It is a problem that extends beyond Kogi. It's a Nigerian problem.
When you chose not to participate, you have said yes to anything that comes from those who do.
When you chose not to join the political process to the simple extent of knowing your ward delegate and making your desires expressly known to them while informing them and of possible political and other legal  repercussions in a corporate manner, then you give the delegate rent to sell your vote for N30k only.

As past and present governors, Wada and Audu emerged from relatively free and fair elections. If the PDP allows delegate elections through primaries, per their democratic process, Wada will win another landslide and carry the ticket against Audu, the APC's democratically nominated flag bearer.

How do you prevent this from happening in the future?

Join a political party and get involved in your constituency. Know your councillors, ward reps and local government chairman. Let them know you know where they live and where they do business. Do not be a threat. Just let them know they're not invisible beings but one of you.

Create a medium (online and offline) for constantly engaging with like minds who all have party cards from your constituency. Raise some amongst you and promote them to have influence. Support their political aspirations. Work for them like you did for the leaders of the "change movement" in these last  elections.

I see some of my friends here are already doing this. Kudos to you all.

If we remain advocates  without street presence where it matters, the Wadas, Audus and Burujis will continue to represent us.

That said, it will be very unfortunate if the front runners in the Kogi race end up being Wada and Audu. I hope the permutation,  somehow, changes for the sake of the people of Kogi.

SAN

Image courtsey of KogiReports