Jingles of incumbent public officers flood many state TVs and every time you watch or hear local news, you only watch a campaign in disguise. But that happens everywhere so, we will only be surprised if it does not happen here where many politicians are fond of counting their eggs before they are hatched. Ours is the country where prime government officials elected by the people seek to be favoured by the votes they do not deserve. Yes, a lot of those aspiring to lead again were working for themselves while in office. They were earnestly serving the people’s resources and not the people themselves. It is unfortunate that the bitter truth is hardly assimilated by those for whom it is meant and exceedingly more unfortunate that several Nigerian politicians are only the democratically restricted versions of the continental Ghadafis, Mubaraks and Mugabes that Africa harbours. I came to that conclusion when I asked myself, “Why would men take innocent lives or perform diabolical rituals because of a 4 to 8 years position?” Certainly, someone somewhere knows something many of us don’t know.

Those who want to lead at all cost despite their ineffectiveness and inabilities to deliver progress are nothing less than imposers. It is not in a country like ours where urgent reformation is essential that incompetent hands should be employed. Many have said they do not lead us because they only rule us. I suspect this to be true. Leadership requires provision and implementation of problem-solving ideas and the will to good. The leaders must see themselves as public servants rather than national resource gold medallists. The act of ruling, on the other hand, requires the people to work and crawl under the ruler’s sovereign control. His responsibilities are to maintain order and allocate available resources. Also, he has the unopposed right to enjoy the fruits of everyone’s labour. He is not held accountable by anyone since no man has the power to question him. He runs a one-man show and retains the power to undo justice. The progress of the people depends on his ability to decipher economic principles and listen to his advisers. And the people will be further doomed if his advisers have no creative and realistic ideas to offer. Unfortunately, an observant mind has afforded me the truth; in this case, our diehard African leaders lack good will and service and that is why our economies struggle. So, I agree, they rule!

Yet, in the not-so-much time I have spent as a young Nigerian, I have learnt that the people’s view is not heard on TV but on the streets. Perhaps, there’s no better self-deceiver than the man who does nothing and goes ahead to fill the media houses with audio-visuals of empty heroism. Pity him, for he is a victim of bogus patriotism. The very mouths that utter high praises into the strained ears of corrupt politicians on the street bear the same lips that sing mocking choruses of their tyranny and hurl ballistic curses at them from behind closed doors. Perhaps, what they never think about is what forms the most impossible mental drills that those concerned about our national future struggle to unravel. While we invest our time, thinking and bothering our heads about how to ensure the continuous implementation of the realistic solutions proposed and initiated by our leaders, we are deprived of importance and relevance, as these promising developments languish in prolonged seasons of abandonment and are sometimes swallowed by eventual demise.

As an individual, I believe Nigerian citizens are not absolutely innocent either. The underdevelopment evidenced in many African countries is not basically a result of human capital. Rather, it is a direct consequence of persistent systemic corruption, leadership flippancy, and of course, a lack of selflessness on the part of citizens. If we say there are no aspirants worthy of our votes and that all those given party tickets acquired them based on manifold manipulations, we may have a point. We do not need perfect candidates but surely, we need imperfect human beings who have faultless hearts. We will spare our votes for people who are fatigued by the appalling misrule that has lingered thus far and recurrently severed our past hopes from the present reality. Perhaps, everyone in Nigeria have their names recorded in one black book or the other. And by this, I do not infer that everyone steals. No, we don’t all pilfer or misappropriate funds. Yet, we all have our guilt.

We don’t all allot undeserved salaries to ourselves because they call us lawmakers. And we are not all policemen, who by now should have obtained the licensing approval to set up a bank called, “The Twenty Naira National Bank.” But then, it is probably true that you have broken a traffic rule before. Maybe that day, it was not your fault that the traffic warden was busy eyeing commercial buses that were yet to pay their “non-governmental taxes”. But then, you still broke the rule of driving anyway. And if you have been a perfect driver all your life or do not own a driver’s license then, you are free from that guilt. However, you are probably not a perfect waste disposer. You have improperly dumped wastes in the environment at some time. Or, you once forsook your official duties for a social function during the company’s stipulated working hours. Well, at this point, I am short of citizen misconduct ideas because it is not my job to find guilt. But I am sure you would have done something illegal or been in a dilemma that demands the compulsory choice of an illegitimate action in the past, even if it was just once.

And personally, I am guilty of influencing my NYSC service to my choice state. But before the deed, I asked myself, “Why should I go and suffer when those in the government houses are not posting themselves anywhere?” Although, I am not justified of the act, my career needed it. The government did not promise me any job after the NYSC sufferings so, I had to make arrangements for a less suffering environment. When I thought of withdrawing the influence in order to maximise my sufferings for Nigeria and just get posted anywhere, the imagination of how NYSC life would be if a reliable internet facility was beyond my reach for freelance writing or if I got posted to a bombing state or a kidnapping community reminded me that the Senators don’t give a darn about me. Secondly, if the president’s son were to be a corper, he’d probably get a far better offer. Thirdly, I already love my sane Muslim friends, peaceful Hausa brothers and honest Igbo relatives so, what point is there to prove? My presidential vote even belongs to a duo outside my own tribe and I can always marry someone from a different background with whom I share common interests. So, I saw no point in getting posted when, in my case, I had a choice to still serve the same beloved country elsewhere. However, I respect everyone who has gone far North, Wide East and deep West, hoping that someway and somehow, the best will come to them there. So, back to the point, you should now agree that most of us (from youths to aged citizens) have our names tabbed with one or more labels of guilt. We are all guilty.

But there is a significant fact to mention. I have said this before, “You are Naija by blood. Don’t sell your vote to any exploiting undertaker. Don’t be misused by any innocent-looking looter! If you do, then you have named yourself a poverty-stricken gravedigger.” The truth is: our rights will remain our rights when we exercise them. But when we fail to exercise our citizenry privileges, we give a blank check to those who attempt to rule over us. The resources of which we make mention belongs to all citizens. The country which we are not suitably sustaining habituates us and our unborn children. And the politicians whom accuse of being corrupt remain our relatives, next-door-neighbours and co-citizens. It is left to us to see how these interconnects: children that are raised in homes that lack proper life values, a system of governance run by adults who lack a heart of service and a mind about the future and the multifarious problems that loop our woeful development. Simply put, it begins from the home, gains acceleration on the streets and comes back to affect everyone in the neighbourhood. It is the duty of parents to ensure that they do not raise kids who will find thuggery fashionable. And it is the duty of the society to frown at leadership misconducts. But in a system where no one trains the growing leaders and no group regulates the practising ones, rulership becomes a strong output.

However, this period of elections is our time to start making the difference. It is our time to return to the drawing board. The time to discipline stubborn leaders with the rod of electoral power has arrived. Let us perform our civic duties. We will be foolish if we vote based on biases other than individual performance potential. We must demonstrate wisdom by voting the right people in. And while it is not about how pretty they look on posters, billboards and electronic screens, their true performance should ring hard in our minds. Concerning those who want a second term or chance, you should ask yourself, “Did this person actually perform well while in office? Or, did I suffer for having him in that office?” If he is a new aspirant, ask yourself, “Why is it right to vote this man or woman in? Are their plans realistic and achievable? Or, are they overly numbered and merely enticing? Does he seem to my conscience as one who will greatly attempt to realise his manifesto?” Listen to the voice of your conscience and shun inter-tribal and religious factors for they are irrelevant to a true Nigerian. In other words, don’t be a tool of retrogression. Discard the belief that power belongs to any particular persons or party and that a certain party is the messiah party. Instead, vote for whom you think best. Make your choice and don’t be spoon-fed. Check the records and sieve the truths in their exaggerated agenda. Vote for choice none other’s. As for me, I will vote for men and women of my choice for they are persons I have hitherto criticised. Make your choice too and be felt in the results. And this is where I go to find my voter’s card, the one card that no money can buy!

James Lisandro Jr. describes himself as a no-nonsense transformational writer who hails from the deep west of Nigeria. James is very tired of what he sees in Africa today and wants to see a better Nigeria someday and subsequently, a better Africa too. He only hopes that day is not too far from this day.