An election can be lost on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway

Yes oooooooooooooo, yes! Before the general election in 2011, I scripted this piece under the same heading. And nothing, I repeat, nothing has changed! It is only few days to another round of elections; if you take stock across the country, you will find many reasons an election can and should be lost. In most of the states, governance has since gone on holiday. At the federal level, the fact that for close to 16 years, a party in government can’t fix electricity, privatisation of the sector, notwithstanding, is enough to ask them to take a rest so that someone else can have a go. But we know that Nigeria is not a normal society. However, all the pains that they inflict on us, these politicians, is enough for us to clearly put them to shame by saying to them peacefully but strongly, that we don’t want them anymore.

I’m sure that some indulgees, upon reading the above title, would have murmured to nobody in particular the following words, in form of a question: “What is he talking about?” They probably would have gone further to murmur some more: “Is Apapa-Oshodi Expressway a polling zone? Is that where INEC’s office is and Attahiru Jega, its chairman, works from? How can someone lose an election there?” It would be quite understandable to watch you murmur and murmur, and imagine that, indeed, those are the kinds of questions in your murmuring. And I don’t care if you think that you have read murmur or murmuring too many times in this opening paragraph. After all, instead of murmur, why didn’t you just speak up and meet me in one of those ‘bole ka ja’ junctions where Chinweizu, the polemicist and Wole Soyinka used to meet in those days when they gave literary discourse so much power and left us with so much to look forward to and revel in.

If I put all these murmurings aside (at least, just to avoid having to serve murmurs as starters to all you distinguished indulgees) I can safely say that the reason government officials in Nigeria, including presidents, governors, local government chairmen and chairwomen, and others that are elected and unelected, take us for a ride is that votes have never counted in this country. And there are just too many of us who really do not know that votes have power. With your powerful vote you can decide that someone’s face is too ugly to represent you at the National or State Assembly and therefore, not vote for him or her. It’s your choice. If you have many more people who think like you; and it wouldn’t really matter how warped some people might think your thinking is, all of you with such warped idea can carry the day.

It is actually for this same reason that responsible indulgees know that if they voted for someone because they thought he or she could make life easier for them but later discovered that such a person is in fact useless by actually turning out to make their lives more difficult, they will make him regret the day he entered politics by voting him out of office. And there will be no godfather able to save him, his political career and whatever dignity he or she might have left!

Now, every indulgee knows that things are different in our country. Instead of the people holding onto, cherishing and using this power of the vote that they have, they would rather prefer to be thugs to politicians, eat from the little crumbs falling down from their tables and think that life is beautiful! No, it isn’t! And you all better know that now. Maybe, it is because millions of us don’t really know that we do not owe those who are in government. They owe us! That is why they are supposed to be accountable to us.

Take this country for instance; the government in Abuja has been in charge since 1999. That is close to 16 years. Ordinarily, even if the government was doing well, there would be some of us who would have said that they have become boring. In other words, that they do not seem to have new ideas or new ways of doing things. For that reason alone, millions of us would consider that it was time to change them and try another party so that we can have freshness and bring in new ideas and innovation. We will work our votes and they could run into millions enough to get the government out of power.

For those indulgees who may not be too sure because they had been confused into believing that those in government are there to serve their own personal interests, the truth is that governments exist to make life smoother for its people. It is not that things cannot be tough, like when the country is earning less than it needs to make life smoother for its people, the truth is that politicians and other government people are supposed to be thinking all the best ways and strategies to make life good! If they are not thinking and not strategising on this then we will all see it and then tell them to give way for others to go in and do the job.

There are many sore points you can offer to say why this Federal Government should go take a rest next Saturday. That’s under conditions that are normal. But Nigeria isn’t a normal society with people making rational decisions that are allowed to prevail. So, under such conditions as we have (that is, abnormal), the only thing you can do is to point out why you think that an election can and should, actually, be lost.

Those who live in Lagos and have cause to do business at the ports and are very unfortunate to find themselves on the long stretch of federal road called Apapa-Oshodi Expressway or the axis from Costain through Ijora to Apapa will readily tell you that the sight and experience (especially if you were there at a time of one of those dangerous traffic bottlenecks) give you all the reasons government is BAD and does not mean well for you and I in this country. That long stretch of road actually has two to three ports (that’s Apapa and Tin Can Ports) and many jetties, especially those that have now been turned into Tank Farms (another evidence of failure of government – that a country that produces crude oil is now one of the biggest importers of fuel in the world).

That long stretch of road also houses at least five industrial estates, including Apapa, Kiri Kiri, Amuwo Odofin, Isolo, Ilupeju, which means that the road must mean a lot to Nigeria and her people. That road was built more than 30 years ago, and it has totally gone; urgently needing rebuilding. The traffic on the road has further been reducing the life expectancy of those who have no choice but to use it. Yet, the Federal Government of the PDP, which is now going about mouthing success in infrastructure development, appears not to be interested in paying attention to such a vital road to the economy. Such glaring failure should, undoubtedly, cost someone an election victory in a normal society. It’s painful to think that votes might not be able to say this in the coming election. But I am hopeful that someday it would.

PHILLIP ISAKPA