Young Citizens Need Education, Not Lamentation…
The young unemployed graduates need to know that poor and clueless political leadership that enhances poverty in the land begins with election processes. And the only specific exercise that can change that is participation in the same processes that brought them: elections. Lamentation isn’t a strategy; participation is it!
They also need to know that the powers that have held Nigeria down, stunted our growth would not want to encourage them to vote.
They know how they have been winning elections without votes. That is why they don’t want BVAS and its concomitant gains.
This is therefore a time to mobilise all the good people of Nigeria who have not been spoilt by the sustainable prejudices – to adopt many young Nigerians into collecting data, yes, facts and figures about this country that needs urgent redemption songs. This is a time to know that social media noises don’t deliver victory to preferred candidates.
That is again why the youth should come out of their shell, collect their ‘weapons of mass destruction’ called PVCs to vote out all these workers of iniquity including most of the audacious scoundrels in the nation’s parliaments. The angry ones in the land should note that it isn’t only the presidential and governorship elections that matter.
Undoubtedly, the most important institution in any democracy is the Parliament. That is where the power to check executive rascality and excesses reside. More important, that is where the treasury can be safeguarded for the common good, and so election into that strategic institution of democracy is quite critical.
And the closest government where they can shake the table of accountability and transparency without curious consequences is the Local Government that has been legally empowered to collect their allocations directly. But we should ponder over these takeaways, now:
– We shouldn’t have a mindset that it won’t be easy to displace a ruthless political class in a country whose oil(y) corporation has produced so many wealthy men without work.
– We should believe that it is possible to overthrow them (the ruling class) through a free and fair election.
– Have we actually campaigned with the outcome of presidential elections in Lagos and Abuja in 2023?
– The clarion call is: don’t be afraid of their ‘war chest’ (their big election budget). Your PVCs, which are more powerful, shall make a way for you. We need to heed the warning of the United States former President Barack Obama that “elections have consequences’.
– I believe we should organise ourselves to deepen our understanding of what the alternative political actors are repeating daily that Nigeria can indeed be a significant world power if we are rightly led.
– We need to emphasise to the youth in Nigeria that Nigeria is the only glimmer of hope of the black race as legendary Madiba surprisingly noted before he flew away in 2013.
– But the young and good but complacent people should note that unless we get involved in the political recruitment process, Nigeria will forever remain a reference point in teaching and sermonising on potentiality.
– This is not a time to denounce the country and its electoral processes that have discouraged millions. This is why the locusts always return to eat our future.
– Therefore, here is the real thing, those who have not obtained their permanent voter cards after registering should stop complaining: They should obtain their PVCs today as the BOMBS we need next time to blast out of power these wicked dealers we call leaders.
– If you haven’t registered, please do now before you lament about what doesn’t work. I repeat lamentation isn’t a strategy, execution is.
But what we should wear as a badge of honour from this week is the nugget below, which trended across platforms in June last 2022. God bless the author I don’t know.
“Your PVC is not just a means of identity to open new bank account. It is actually a priceless weapon that you must use to fight for your life. Therefore, create time to visit the INEC office in your location, register and collect your card. Hurry now, obtain your PVC today and begin to see it as a powerful tool that must be used. If you are too busy to register or too big to vote, just remember that you are not too big to be ruled by thugs…”
This is what we should cast on a marble at home from today. Let’s stop agonising. Let’s organise and note that there are no polling stations on X, Instagram, Facebook, Tik-Tok, WhatsApp, Linked-in, etc…
To the political parties as major stakeholders:
The last questions to the political party leaders who have been told that the younger ones are angry because they have noticed the effects of the sour grapes that their fathers ate and set their teeth on edge:
– When will they respect the sanctity of the political parties by remaining as members in and out of season?
– When will they begin mobilisation for significant investors, scholars and professionals, etc as members of the political parties?
– Why are our political parties afraid of successful members of their communities as members and drivers of their parties?
– Why do they always prefer the semiliterate artisans and poorly educated ones as nominees for top positions at local, federal and state levels?
– When will the political party leaders rise up to their responsibility, acquire civic competence to engage in voter education and mobilisation of members even to register as voters?
– When will they organise regular Town Halls to tell the people what their political parties represent in ideological orientation? . We still remember the Action Group, UPN, NPN ideologies crafted into their manifestoes? What are the ideological orientations of APC, PDP, Labour, SDP, ADP beyond being special-purpose vehicles (SPV) as we know them for?
Conclusion and deliverables:
Let us rise from this unusual colloquium on Local Government Elections without any fear of usurpation of the powers of States’ Independent Electoral Commissions by some confused principalities and powers in Abuja who speak in tongues about competitive federalism: they can’t shut the door of Federalism that God has already opened.
Even the power sector has obtained constitutional endorsement of freedom as it has been removed from the Exclusive Legislative List: States are now setting up the Ministry of Power/Energy. There is no power here on earth that can confront an idea whose time has come: the States Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) have come to stay. Amotekun has come to stay. Local Government fiscal autonomy has come to stay within the construct of federalism. State police will soon join.
Let’s not be docile to consume dangerous assumptions that things will never change in Nigeria. Let the SIEC leaders continue to introduce reforms that will accommodate successful people, professionals and even professors who will be obtaining forms to contest elections into Local Government Councils sooner than later. Don’t mind the saboteurs, the powers that are delaying the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court. They may delay its implementation but they can’t stop the door that God has opened through the highest court in the land. The ancient word I know tells me that when God opens a door, no man, yes no man can shut!
INEC with due respect didn’t conduct perfect elections in 2019 and 2023. Why should INEC or any other federal body be made to conduct local government elections in Nigeria? Have they read Tipp O’Neills ‘thesis’ on “All politics is local”? Have they read The Guardian Federalist Papers (2023), a book containing 61 strategic editorials on ‘Federalism Is the Answer”?
Here is the conclusion of the whole matter:
The political party leaders should begin to borrow from the spiritual brilliance of Apostle Paul of Tarsus by setting off their transformation by the renewing of their minds on voter education and civic competence.
They should understand the times like the Sons of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do.
The political parties should reform to allow “welfare and security of the people to be primary purpose of government” or die. If they continue the way they are going without attracting significant members, not just voters who will help them to reform their ideological barrenness, they will surely die as money alone can’t answer all their political things.
To the young ones, and the wailing elite who don’t vote, it is a time to stop lamenting and read the warning of an iconic South African freedom fighter, Steve Biko, about complacency and faith in God without work. Biko warned:
‘I would like to remind the black ministry, and indeed all black people, that God is not in the habit of coming down from heaven to solve people’s problems on earth’.
Biko, the legend is just advising us today too that we should take responsibility for creating change and so divine intervention shouldn’t be relied upon to solve earthly problems.
Biko would like us to learn this: that empowerment and liberation from poverty and oppression we lament about on the social media can only come through collective action, not divine intervention alone. He wants us to take action and mobilise for change we desire. And this can only begin with the power of our votes.
All told, we should tell those who desperately want federalism but want OSIECs and others to be scrapped what Tipp O’Neill meant by his classic: ‘All politics is local’.
Tip O’Neill’s famous phrase “all politics is local” means that politicians’ success hinges on their ability to address local concerns and issues. Essentially, even national policies are ultimately judged by how they impact individuals and communities at the local level.
Think about it – when voters head to the polls, they’re often thinking about how the candidates’ policies will affect their daily lives, their neighbourhoods, and their communities. Will that new highway project improve their commute? Will the proposed healthcare plan help their family? These local concerns drive voting decisions more than abstract national issues. That seals the power an essence of local government elections.
O’Neill’s own experience as a congressman from Massachusetts and later as U.S Speaker of the House, reinforced this idea. He saw how national policies played out differently in various local contexts and how effective politicians needed to understand and respond to those local needs. In practice, “all politics is local” means politicians must:
– *Understand local concerns: Listen to voters’ worries and priorities.
– *Address local issues*: Develop policies that tackle specific community problems.
– *Build local support: Foster relationships with local leaders, organisations, and constituents.
By focusing on local politics, politicians can build trust, credibility, and a strong foundation for their campaigns. And that’s exactly what O’Neill meant by his iconic phrase, “All politics is local’. That should be one of the most valuable takeaways from the 2025 Conference of Forum State Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigerian (FOSIECON) in Jos, Plateau State.
May God bless Nigeria! May God Bless the rising power of FOSIECON. May God enable our leaders to number their days that they may apply their hearts to wisdom – to serve public interest.
The concluding part of an excerpt from a paper I presented at the Forum of State Independent Electoral Commissions in Nigeria (FOSIECON), National Delegates Conference 2025 in Jos, Plateau State, May 22, 2025.
- Oloja is former editor of The Guardian newspaper and his column, Inside Stuff, runs on the back page of the newspaper on Sundays. The column appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Mondays.