The Fate Of Nigeria Rest On The Shoulders Of Party Delegates

It can be unfortunate that the fate of a great nation like Nigeria rests on the shoulders of political party delegates, many being almost totally oblivious of the needs of the nation. It’s pitiable, especially at a time when all kinds of people are saying “they want to be president.”

A period in which our leaders are more concerned with power than with responsibilities.

Over 200 million Nigerians will be denied the privilege of directly participating in choosing their desired candidate from the preliminary stages of elections across all political parties.

We would rather be left with whatever options the respective delegates of the two main political parties present to Nigerians, as seen in the build up to past presidential elections.

Cartoon by Mr Mike Asukwo

In a country where we have so many intelligent minds that can put this nation on the right path, this practice is below the belt.

We all know what indirect primaries look like. It is the business of the highest bidder, a “brown-envelope” movement. It’s usually marred by vote-buying. Cmr. Adams Oshiomhole, former National Chairman of the All Progressive Party and former Governor of Edo State, called it “a dollarized process” when he was trying to describe the vote-buying episode.

It is depressing when you realise that the capacity of an aspirant is measured by the number of cars distributed to party leaders and the amount of funds spent on party men.

With this standard, society will never catch up with the taste of good governance from intelligent minds and technocrats.

At this stage, we have to collectively hold the delegates around our wards accountable for the decisions they plan to take at the indirect primary polling point, because it is no longer the “mandate of the people” but the “mandate of the delegates.”

Amb. Gibson Samuel, a student leader and political analyst, captured it better when he opined that “the destiny of this country/state rests on the shoulders of DELEGATES—Pray for their consciences.”

I agree with Gibson, it calls for serious prayers, since we are a praying nation, because the “bar is gone, anything can now aspire,” as pointed out by Mr. Mike Asukwo, the renowned Nigerian cartoonist, hence a conscious effort must be made to ensure “anything” doesn’t become our leaders at different stratas of governance across the country.

While addressing this “issue of every Tom, Dick, and Harry aspiring,” Cmr. Elias Etuk, a student leader and political analyst, gave this constructive advice to Nigerians: “To be realistic, focus should be shifted to who represents our wards and chapters in the primaries and educating them about these aspirants.”

He added that the pros and cons should be spelled out; hey are the ones we need to preach the gospel of a different system to.

We need to let them know the kind of leaders we need to move the nation forward — because the majority of them, without proper knowledge, would succumb to the “brown envelope mentality” that has killed and hindered the progress of our dear nation.

Most of them are already making lists of lands they will purchase, houses and cars they will buy, which will be duly funded by the “brown envelopes” without considering the future of our dear country. I repeat, the different party delegates will greatly decide our next set of leaders in this country.

This is a time for all Nigerians to go back and sit their respective ward or chapter representative down and weigh their mental state before we have another awful ride for the next 4–8 years.

DISCLAIMER: www.rayofthought.com does not own the rights to the cartoon picture used in this article. Mr. Mike Asukwo exclusively owns the rights.

Emmanuel Usoro

Usoro Emmanuel is a graduate of the Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Uyo.
He has interest in Theatre, Copywriting, Leadership, Politics, Environment and a host of other fascinating fields. "Excellence at all times" is his slogan.

During his university days he participated actively in student's unionism were he served as a law maker. He has also written and published some articles on some published magazines.
He is a Professional Copywriter, Content Creator and Event compère. He is also a Columnist at Ray of Thoughts. He loves to listen to Hymns while he writes.