Thank Goodness the Wobbly 2019 General Elections is Over – Prof. Obiareri

THANK GODNESS THE WOBBLY 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS IS OVER ALTHOUGH THE MANY NEGATIVE FALLOUTS WILL NOT SETTLE ANY TIME SOON!

Politics is said to be war by other means but in truth, some take it to be war and do or die affair and prosecute it as such. Too bad!

Going by what happened across the nation in the recent (or is it ongoing) 2019 general election especially in states like Rivers, Kano, Bayelsa and Benue to mention a few blood soaked environs and theatres of war, it will be difficult to convince anyone that we did not prosecute inter tribal wars or an unofficial ethnic cleansing agenda.

This last general election has brought out the worst in Ngerians- so much hate, divisiveness, murderous rampage and bile all because of ephemeral or transient power.

In one electoral epoch, things went from bad to worse.

Politics is no longer a game for service delivery as it is now a matter of life and death.

It is difficult to count the losses occasioned in one electoral season but this one is craziest.

Sadly, before our eyes, the losses gravitated from failed aspirations, loss of funds, loss of man hours to actual loss of lives, limbs and other forms of insecurities and man-made human miseries.

The recent election established conclusively that our polity is made up of an admix of mindless power seekers or reckless politicians and terrible supporters.

There were no differences in the war drums emanating whether from the soap boxes, podiums, town halls or even religious pulpits from where false prophecies about the elections and likey winners that eventually lost were being released.

Where are the patriots?

We are so blinded by the desire to win at all cost that we forget that only one person will win any given post at a time whether it is President/Vice President, Governor/Deputy Governor, Senator, Member of House of Representatives or Member of State Assembly.

Loss is part of any genuine competition but our politicians and their rabid supporters do not reckon with that as they only see winning hence the imprudence in the air.

The heightened level of aggressive politics played in this dispensation has succeeded in driving wedges between brothers and sisters, family members and relations, masters and servants, allies, friends and well wishers leaving in its wake a lot of emotional stress and long lasting bad blood.

Who can compute the money, time and logistics invested or is it wasted during 2018 intra party and inter party politicking culminating in the sham 2019 general elections?

The hard truth is that the finances of many of the aspirants that took part in the party primaries or party candidates in the general election are messed up if not completely ruined.

It is worse for those who did not win in the party primaries and worst for those who contested and lost in the general election. That one na double wahala!

As for those who eventually won or got elected, they have the chance of recouping their monies by delivering little on their bogus promises made during campaigns and that way, the vicious cycle of poverty continues.

Hate speeches, xenophobic comments, cyberstalking, cyberbullying, peddling of dangerous rumours, propaganda and outright lies have become the ugly face of our politics and the order of the day.

Politicians and their supporters alike no longer fear GOD or have no scruples or respect for bloodline or family ties or other conjugal or filial affinities because of clash in political interests.

It now is dog eat dog because of votes in an election.

We must say that there is nothing wrong in political differences amongst family members, peers, colleagues and associates but there is everything wrong in destroying the fabric of the society and social harmony because of quest for power.

Why shed blood, kill, maim and burn properties?

After this last election, erstwhile close familes and family members are now torn apart, friendships built over the years are irreversibly destroyed and enmity of humungous proportions now mount as remnants of fierce campaigns, frenetic elections and political jiggery pokery.

Thank GOD the era of “vote him or don’t vote for him” are over until another round of scary hostilities in 2023.

We could not wait for the fractious and wobbly 2019 general election to be over although shamelessly, INEC, the monster that we created, is yet to declare results in some constituencies severely weeks after the ballots were cast.

In retrospect, only GOD will give party candidates in the general election the equanimity and good heart to forgive and forget the treachery and last minute disappointment and sabotage from political crooks who earlier masqueraded as trusted allies, supporters and henchmen.

Alas, sabotage can only come from within and the candidates in the general election were truly raped and ripped off by people they trusted to deliver! How do these saboteurs sleep at night? That is a story for another day.

Since our criminal laws are blind, deaf and dumb towards electoral offences and malfeasances, we pray that GOD may forgive our very brazenly corrupt INEC Officials and adhoc staff especially those who betrayed the Nigerian voters and made sure that their votes did not count by ordering supplementary elections in the face of outright wins or unlawfully declaring the results inconclusive to pave way for losers to win or falsely declaring outright losers winners by manufacturing voodoo figures or even declaring winners when actual voting was still in progress or shamelessly claiming that they declared the result of lawful winners under duress.

May the angels not withhold the “Certificate of Return to Heaven” of these lawless INEC officials on judgement day.

Kudos to our security men that were professional but for those of our security (officers and men) that abused their commission and misused their uniforms, guns, military tanks and mights and became unprofessional and enemies of democracy, we ask that they bow their heads in shame as we are still thinking about a good prayer point for them.

At this stage, their prayer point is “inconclusive” because the blood of innocent citizens they wasted in this election is crying to the high heavens.

Meanwhile, let the offending security personnel repent and revert their evil ways as they rededicate themselves to their core constitutional mandates of securing lives and properties of citizens and warding off external aggression.

In the same wise, we pray that posterity may not judge too harshly the autocratic and high handed party officials for their intra party impunity and disregard for party constitutions and guidelies and eventual auctioning of party tickets to the highest bidders during party primaries.

These band of thieves and fraudsters parading as party officials from the National to Zone to State to LGA to Ward still have a golden opportunity to apologise and make restitution before Karma will strike them dead.

They remain a disgrace to the nation for their inability to deepen internal party democracy and midwife free and fair party primary elections which is a precursor to free, fair and credible general elections.

May their types not be seen in party offices by 2023 even as their sins are forgiven.

If the kind of elections we went through recently are held too often, we fear there will be no one left without a wounded eye or injured feeling if he or she is lucky not to drop dead.

Nigerians hurt themselves individually and collectively. May GOD give the Nigerian politicians and voters alike the grace to firstly forgive themselves and thereafter forgive one another.

May the souls of those who died (including those who foolishly agreed to be thugs) rest in peace and may the hurt, injured or wounded receive healing and be consoled by a better and more robust delivery of the dividends of democracy that the election is ideally expected to usher in.

May our Judges and Justices who will serve in the various Election Petition Tribunals and final Appeals remain blessed in advance as they shun perversion of justice and live up to their billing as the last hope of the common man. We pray that their hands shall not write and their mouths shall not pronounce injustice.

Let the healing process begin as we begin to reposition to take back our country and our politics.

May we never experience these types of crude and barbaric 2018 party primaries and 2019 general election in our lifetime again even as we pray to GOD to give us those who will midwife a free, fair and credible party primaries and general elections in Nigeria in 2023 and thereafter.

A new normal is possible!

Prof Obiaraeri is my name, the ☆☆☆☆☆ 5-Star Civilian General etc.

News Corner