That very morning, the atmosphere was intense, yet calm, you could ar the silence, up till you get to your polling unit for voting. From afar, I could sense the excitement, someone had volunteered to organize the queue for the voting exercise, and inec officials arrived quite early at our polling unit. The process was moving smoothly.
We started the accreditation process, and voting was carried out simultaneously, despite my early arrival, I had to queue with the number ‘126’. We had to wait in queue for a long time, but who cared, the narration was captivating, and I was enjoying every bit of the wait, there were so many first-time voters, they shared motivating stories, raising salient reasons behind their decision to step out in faith to carry out their civic rights.
The outstanding experience was the communal spirit, showmanship, and love that emanated from everyone in that unit. Some citizens took the experience personally, they served the popular Nigerian Jollof Rice, some served hot delicious moimoi, there were fizzy drinks, and water was given freely, such a deep expression of love.
This movement was not unconnected to a single man, who effectively sold the vision of a new NIGERIA to us. He used the phrase consistently, passionately, and clearly to motivate people to come out and vote for a better country. what great political analysts called impossible, suddenly became a movement to be reckoned with.
This buttresses the power of clarity of purpose, the hunger for men of character, competence, and great capacity, a figure that represented who the average Nigerian youth could rest their dreams on. it was more than an election, it was the birth of a new Nigeria, an awakening of hope.
So many lessons to learn from this, one major one, is that our lives are been observed by people, who we are, what we represent is represented without words, and “you are watched”. Let the words of your mouth align with your character, in order words stand for one sermon, stand for integrity, and a clear stand.
The voice of the people is louder than the voice of corruption, the system might be tough to overcome but eventually, sooner or later, the voice of equity, fairness, and justice will ring around all over our dear country. The best we can be, anywhere else, or better still other countries are second-class citizens, there is a dear need to restore integrity to the system, reward excellence, and build a strong trust system that encourages wrong people to build, innovate and create.
Our value system as a nation has gradually eroded, we call open-day robbery smartness, and we pick lies as truth. I remember vividly as a person receiving well-refined slaps from my African mum for receiving gifts from our next-day neighbor, you could never come home with what does not belong to you. so many of our good values have gone down the drain.
So much is at stake for us as Nation. A lot of political will is required.
Reflections