By Ismaila Academician
Nigeria’s 2023 general elections are the first many people would describe being free and fair without any other positive collocations.
Be that as it may, many would say it has no difference from previous elections we strongly condemned. But to be fair to the discourse, it was much better than the previous ones. Nigerians have witnessed a drastic reduction in vote buying, overvoting, and voter disenfranchisement, among many things.
We saw videos and pictures of election violations nationwide on election day. Some are real, and some are mere fabrications aimed at disrupting our peace – or in the popular phrase, to tire our patience than mislead our senses. However, some of these violations are just an act of immorality from urchins, and the rest are unlawful acts from unpatriotic citizens. Unfortunately, we may end up barking at the wrong tree once we separate the two above.
This is not the first time to hear that immorality is bad for you and your community. For example, one scene might have been where area boys scared off voters that they may steal from them. However, in this case, scaring off somebody is immoral, while stealing from him is unlawful.
As we know pretty well, there are no elections free from irregularities. There are people whose work is to rig elections. We could neither be able to stop them nor avoid them. But we could learn the possible ways to surprise them.
To make my points clear that we have had free and fair elections, we know that Tinubu is contesting for the ruling party. He is from Lagos, one of the most important states in the political calculation as per Nigeria is concerned. In addition, Lagos’s current governor is also from the same ruling party and complies with the presidential candidate, as many would say.
When you combine these protons, neutrons and electrons, a powerful nuclear weapon will statutorily emerge. APC would have won Lagos presidential elections against the Labour Party. But due to free and fair elections, Peter Obi surprisingly made it, and so it was.
In conclusion, for the first time, Nigeria has free and fair elections, though with few unlawful violations of electoral rules. Those denying it are mere victims of utopianism or those who lost it, and we know failure cannot be readily accepted. To date, Donald Trump is claiming to be the winner of the last American elections.
Let peace and unity reign!
Ismaila Academician can be contacted via ismailaacademician@gmail.com.
