The many miscues of 2023 general elections

Until we are able to stand for ourselves, and calmly evaluate which system of government is good for us, we will probably flounder all over the place and continue to toxify our society. Somehow, the most vocal among us are also the ones who have been wired and conditioned never to think of any alternative to the Western idea of democracy. And the Westerners have continued to put money behind this democracy – perhaps unwilling to entertain any variation to it – thereby precluding the system from changing. What do I mean by this? Our democracy is too expensive. These four-year elections are killing Nigeria financially. We have spent trillions running these elections since 1999.  And we are not even building a more cohesive society therefrom.

As the elections drew near, I realised that many people had taken leave from work. Two members of my small team of staff came to take permission to take two days off before the elections. As I type this on a Monday, they are yet to resume. I actually asked one of them who was headed east whether he was certain about the safety of his journey. The problem is that some people like to vote in their native land, while others don’t mind transferring to vote where they reside. I belong to the latter group. Why would one have to take days of leave and spend so much for transportation, just to vote?

Voting in Nigeria is actually quite stressful, to the extent that we have to start evaluating this process, to ensure sustainability. I recall once voting while I lived in London. It was the easiest affair. I merely went to a voting unit at Belsize Park on a Tuesday, and went about my duties for the day. It took less than five minutes to complete the process. Now, I don’t expect that we have attained that level just yet. But it looks like the process of voting here is getting more and more tedious. My family and I stood for at least five hours just to vote.

I believe we have tried to use technology to achieve what is behavioural, sort of giving up on ourselves and the possibility of mental reform. I believe that we are also giving up on gradualism in this matter. We are now using sledgehammer approaches to deal with issues and thereby causing more damage to the system in the process. For example, President Buhari – in his bid to leave a legacy of free and fair elections – decided to lock down the banking sector into the elections, with the connivance of the leadership of the central bank. We had people being deprived of their monies, having to climb fences to retrieve tiny fractions of what they needed. People died in hospital because electronic channels seized up and cash was inaccessible. The underbelly of the banking sector was exposed – as a sector where players declare billions in profit yearly but where they operate on very flimsy infrastructure. Apart from the sheer thoughtlessness of running such a caper into an election – because of the angst, agony, and anger it generated among voters – the meanness of it all was galling. The human cost was unnecessary, and the damage to the people’s confidence in the financial sector, quite considerable.

Even the idea of always buying all sorts of gadgets to try and solve problems created by human beings is egregious. We forget the principle of ‘garbage in, garbage out’.  Humans can screw up any gadget. INEC has spent probably trillions importing all sorts since we went back to democracy in 1999. Many gadgets have been bought that were supposed to be our lifesavers, that should totally cancel out fraud, that should finally sanitise the voting process. By the next cycle, another device will be introduced. This time, it is the BVAS – the Bimodal Voters’ Accreditation System. In many places, the BVAS was totally ignored. If there would be litigation this time, it will never end.

Other anomalies noticed this election cycle include:

1. The umpires – unfortunately including youthful youth corps members – seem not to understand that they should never show bias. How can you be a referee and openly show you support a side of the match?
2. Youth corps members and professors were caught trying to twist results for parties that paid them.
3. There was obvious intimidation especially in the South East and South West, with people beaten up for not voting for certain candidates. One video showed that a polling unit was locked up and people were required to identify who they wanted to vote for. Even where I voted in Abuja, there were boys who intimidated anyone who wanted to vote for the ruling party. Other people placed curses on such people openly.
4. There was violence, especially in the South East and South West, but not enough to invalidate general elections.
5. There were children voters as usual – more in the North. But there is a video of child voters even in the South East. No evidence for such in the South West yet.
6. There was mass thumb-printing everywhere, including in the cosmopolitan areas like Lagos. Evidence shows that indeed even the upstart opposition party got involved.
7. There is evidence to show that political bosses, governors and others attempted to muscle votes. I listened to one voice note that showed it might not have worked for a particular governor down south.

One good thing this time is that there are smartphones everywhere and therefore a deluge of pictorial and video evidence for people to pore through in the coming days. There will be a lot more from everywhere I reckon. What is obvious is that we are not improving as a society. And in this election, the ill-feelings of the past reared its head – especially between the East and West. The North seems stoic in its position as kingmaker with its numbers, but there was of course massive rigging even by a particular new party that has grassroots influence. Honestly, it was a dog’s meal. But at the end, the final result, stripped of the grime, still indicated a winner. Better next time. Let Nigerian leaders work on the minds of the people. We need a real revolution of ideas, policies and actions that will positively impact millions of our people and shift our thinking away from all these negativities, mutual hatred and suspicion, sense of scarcity rather than abundance, and loss of hope in an otherwise hopeful, abundant, graceful, blessed, country. I say that our younger folks need to delve into history to know that if they harbour ill-feelings against this country, it is their fault. There are too many opportunities here to make an impact and live a great life. May Nigeria succeed!