On March 28 and April 11 – eligible Nigerians will take to the 119,973 polling units across the country to elect those that would govern the country at the federal and state levels for the next four years. It is a civic duty that millions of registered voters are expected to perform, nationwide. Are you registered to vote? Have you collected your permanent voter card? Will you be voting? If your answer to each of the preceding question is a recurrent and resounding “yes”, then this piece is for you.
First, we urge you to consider casting your vote at this election as more than a civic duty. As the country continues on the path of democracy, it should be clear to all now that moving Nigeria forward largely depends on the quality of candidates the Electorate vote into public offices. The point is often made, however, that this appears not to be the primary consideration of many voters in past election in this country. Rather than surveying the field for the best candidates, political pundits have observed that voters make their choice on feeble grounds of religious sentiments, ethnic consideration and, worse still, monetary rewards.
As the 2015 General Elections take off, have you made up your mind on who to vote for? What are your choices based on?
We want to make it clear that voters in this polls must shun a recourse to casting their votes on less than reasonable grounds. The voter’s choice of whom to vote for must be informed by the necessity to get the very best into public offices across the country. As a voter, you will do well to consider that your state and the nation will most likely be stuck with the choices you make at these elections until 2019. This is all the more weightier if the voter realises that these four years are not recoverable in his or her life, and indeed in the life of our country, if they are wasted on poor performance by those we elect into office this year.
Think of casting your vote as doing a sacred duty to yourself, your loved ones and our beloved country. Picture the future you want for the young Nigerians who are not old enough to vote this year, especially the children of today and the unborn generations. Your vote today has a crucial role to play in the way their lives swing in the future. You do not want them to look back on the year 2015 and these elections as another wasted opportunity to make things better in the country. You do not also want to look back at these elections and regret your choices, especially knowing you made them on flimsy grounds.
You want to be able to look the younger generations in the eye and say you voted for the candidates who care about them and their wellbeing. You want to leave your polling unit on March 28 and April 11 with a clear conscience as to having put fellow Nigerians in the hands of selfless individuals who will put in their best in public office, with your vote. And you want to look back in another four years and rightly assert that you made patriotic choices at the 2015 elections, to the betterment of our country.
To all voters in the 2015 elections, we say think the best for Nigeria, vote your conviction and vote wisely.
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