2021 will prove where Nigeria will go in 2023

YOU might not consider it so, but 2021 is an election year too. The tenure of the governor of Anambra state will expire in a couple of months and the gubernatorial election has been slated for the 6th of November while Lagos conducts local government elections on the 24th of July. The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has already released the official timetable for the Lagos elections in the 20 Local Governments and 35 Local Council Development Areas. We are counting down the days leading to these elections and the political parties have begun to rally around.

But I still don’t hear my neighbours talk about the Local Government or the Local Council Development Area, even though we are just two months away from deciding those who will represent us for the next four years. If one does not have a particular interest in the politics of one’s LCDA or one has no politician as a neighbour, one is sure to miss the fact that there will be statewide elections this year. How Lagosians can be so carefree about such pivotal moments is very disturbing, and it seems they are not alone in this business of complacency. If there is no progressive approach to politics from Nigerians this year, we can be sure to remain stuck in this rut of a democracy we complain about today. 

Chairman Mahmoud Yakubu says that his Independent Electoral Commission is ready for elections this year and in 2023. Frankly, INEC has never had an impossible task on its hands; it is the actions —and inactions— of the electorate that have always foiled the chances of achieving a truly fair and successful election. Nigerians have managed to turn the clear objectives and mission of the Independent Electoral Commission into a Sisyphean task time and again. The former INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, was particularly praised for his conduct and transparency in the 2011 and 2015 General elections. However, the transparency of Jega’s INEC has often been misconstrued by many as proof of a free and fair election. Not so. There were still reports of electoral violence and records of widespread malpractice in his time.

Our electoral commission is always trying to raise the standards of electoral procedures and education every electoral cycle, but they can only do so much. INEC can have the tightest strategies and flawless plans to execute a successful election, but this will all depend on the conduct of the elections themselves. Professor Jega understood this, and Mr. Mahmoud seems to understand it too. He has outlined his electoral plans for this year and 2023 right on time, he has also publicly urged the government to waste no time to attend to the new electoral act. All that is left is the compliance of Nigerians. 

If INEC is all set, are we? The success of an election and the subsequent success of new governments is mostly dependent on the political responsibility of the citizens. While the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission is engaging political parties and setting up several electoral checkpoints for the next 10 weeks, how are we engaging both the LASIEC and the aspirants? At the moment, it is looking like this is strictly the business of those politicians and their immediate followers. The average Lagosian is vaguely aware of the upcoming local government elections and they are less interested in the men and women who are eventually going to be represented on the ballot paper by party flags.

The situation in Anambra state is not exactly the same and this is simply because Nigerians have overtly placed a premium on the presidential and gubernatorial seats. We are sometimes unashamed to say that we only care about who the president or governor will be. Even with the larger focus on the gubernatorial election in Anambra, it might still be a game of an ignorant majority under the thumb of the political elite. 

All that matters when political change is imminent is the determination of the electorate —the determination to shun political apathy and demonstrate the true power of the electorate. The 2021 elections across Anambra and Lagos are prognostic events, political disinterest and partisan myopia remain evident in these states right now. Without some kind of intervention, we might end up with old wine in new skins again. If we are serious about ridding this country of its leadership woes, we must start now by building a revolutionary government upon the solid foundation of our 2021 politics.