Nigeria is still deciding

So… Naija elections done come, but as I’m writing this, it isn’t over yet. Apparently, votes are still being counted in lots of places, and results from only two states have been officially released by INEC. The cocktail of fake news (folks uploading results that are then debunked by someone else), real news of election incompetence and election violence, the report that apparently voter turnout was just 20.4 per cent, the ethnic vitriol on social media have made sure my anxiety levels are off the chart. For someone who believes in Nigeria, it has been a particularly difficult few days.

Folks have been excitedly waiting for this year’s presidential election. Even folks I have known to be apathetic towards elections felt a personal stake in this. INEC promised us an excellent job, but in many places, they failed to deliver. Even the common opening of polls on time, whosai? In one PU, polls allegedly opened as late as 2pm.

According to findings by Yiaga Africa, a non-profit organisation promoting good governance and democracy, “INEC officials arrived by 7.30am in only 27 per cent of the polling units.” Were they having a lie-in? Did the alarm not go off? How shameful.

For some compatriots, the delayed opening of polls was just one of the challenges they faced. All across the country, we heard allegations of folks being disenfranchised in various ways. One of my good friends, a man not given to hyperbole and who’s so totally committed to Naija, he moved his family back from the UK, tweeted that he couldn’t even get to vote because “The resident hoodlums of Ikate-Elegushi determined that most of us queuing up to vote were ‘Igbo’ and must return to Anambra to vote. They carried this out with violence, destroying polling materials and confiscating BVAS machines.”

Another Twitter user wrote about how she and others were singled out at her PU in Ayilara Surulere because they were assumed to be Igbo and asked to leave or be ‘handled.’ “I was so confused because a guy was already being beaten and chased in front of me. I had to leave my PU in shock and tears.” Luckily, she had the presence of mind to call the police hotline; Naija police arrived and intervened (yay!). She was able to safely cast her vote and leave.

But casting your vote is one thing; having confidence in the process is another. Elections bring out the worst conspiracy theories in all of us, and that is why the process must be transparent (at least as transparent as it can be) so that there is no room for doubt to grow. The INEC Result Viewing Portal was supposed to be part of that transparency project. Yet, despite a four-year head start and over N300 billion in investment,  INEC is telling us the portal has technical issues.

Also, how are we using rumpled foolscap sheets that look like they were used to record elementary school class president results in the 21st century? What happened to moving with the times and maybe voting electronically? Walk into a booth, use a stylus to make your choice, the result goes straight to the collection centre, you walk out. Your thumb isn’t stained with ink, folks are not accused of writing and canceling out numbers, etc. etc. etc. While not entirely fraud-proof because what is, at least we wouldn’t have allegations of ballot boxes being snatched.

Tension is high, hormones are raging, but could I please appeal to my fellow Nigerians to be discerning about the news they share. Not every allegation that passes through your TL is true. Do due diligence before sharing it and getting worked up. Do not encourage violence. Our union isn’t perfect, but it is the union that we’ve got. We need to make it work. We burn it all down, and then what?

As for Gen Zs, be proud of what you’ve achieved – unsettling the status quo – but remember on whose shoulders you are standing to achieve it. People have gone before you, like John the Baptist before Christ, to prepare the way in the wilderness. So biko, lose all those tweets about how your parents and grandparents are disappointing space-wasters who are too cowardly to fight for Nigeria (and your rights). It’s ignorant and it’s a fallacy.