By Rufus Ibebe
LAGOS JULY 23RD (URHOBOTODAY)-Since the beginning of this year, there had been posters of politicians posted in every available space in various parts of Delta state. There is hardly any fence or roadside in the state that you would not find one poster or the other of politicians begging to be voted into one politicial office or the other. The posters are so many that one can hardly move around the streets of the state without noticing them.
The numbers of these political posters have experienced a tremendous increase and add of many political boards after the state governor Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan announced somewhere around May that the long awaited local government elections would be held across the twenty – five (25) Local Government Area (L.G.A) of the state before this year ending. The announcement by the governor which spread across the state like fire in matter grass was followed by the release of the local government election timetable by the chairman of the Delta state independent electoral commission (DSIEC) Mr. Ogbe Moses on the 13th of May, 2014. According to the timetable, local government elections would be held on the 25th of October, 2014 while the distributions of permanent voter’s card and pre- CVR display will commence on the 28th of July and end on the 20th of July, 2014.
Also, voters’ registration would start from Wednesday 23th July to 27th July 2014. With the release of the above timetable, politicians from the various political parties have channeled more posters and efforts towards convincing the people that they are the right people to be trusted with their votes. Consultations and campaigns are now held on a daily bases. As usual, they have started telling people what they know would be pleasant to their ears. Aristophanes once said t hat “to win the people, always cook them with savory, which please them” truly, our politicians are indeed, serving us with the kind of words that we want to hear. Our politicians have suddenly turned new leaf over night. They have become philanthropies. They are now very careful of the places where they are seen and not seen. They are very careful of the kind of publications that are attributed to them in other not to offend their political godfathers and the voters.
Once again, the voters are saddled with a very big responsibility. This responsibility is to ensure that they elect who would become the local government chairmen and councilors. If they fail to elect the right leaders, then the unemployment and insecurity that are currently facing the country presently would continue. On the other hand, if they can be careful and properly elect good leaders to head the affairs of the third tier of government, then we shall get to the biblical promise land soon. The masses must not fail to ensure that they vote wisely in other to end the lamentation in the land. I know that it is going to be extremely difficult for the electorate to distinguish between the sincere and insincere aspirants. But if they can be truthful to themselves and properly screen the aspirants based on their past works and not the amount of money that they have, the nature of help that they had render to the society in the past and not the power of the godfather that they have then the right person would be voted into power at the end of the day.
It is not the amount of money given out during campaigns that determine the best candidate to be voted for rather, it is the ability of the aspirant to convince the electorates that should be considered while voting. We must remember that the unborn generations are coming. They shall ask question about how and why we voted for the candidates that will win the October 25th local government elections. It would only be fair that our reply would be, it is because they are the best candidates in terms of ideology, experience, integrity, and able all, determination to lead the people. We shall be falling the generation unborn if we tell them that it is because they are the once that gave us the highest amount of money or they belong to the ruling or opposition party. We must ensure that we vote. Gone are the days when one would say “I will not vote because my vote would not count” the electorates are the only people that can truly ensure that the elections are free and fair. They have the power to ensure that the process of voting in the right candidate is not hijacked from them by politicians.
An America President, Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “nobody can deprive the America people of the right to vote except the people of America themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting” so, the masses should ensure that they come out to vote for the candidates that they know would be able to deliver the dividend of democracy to them. They must therefore, remember what Abraham Lincoln once said “the ballot is stronger than the bullet” they must ensure that they prove him right by going to the polling booth to vote the candidate of their choice. We must remember that the 2015 general elections are just around the corner. We must use this Local government election to tell the world that matured and advance enough to conduct ourselves to vote the candidate of our choice. We must ensure that we vote and secure our votes by waiting until the results in our polling booths are announced. Through this medium, we would have done what is required of us by the constitution as a citizen. Deltans must know that they have their destiny at their hands when they go to the polls on the 25th of October. They must vote wisely because a mistake that is made today by voting a wrong person would last for four years before it can be corrected. The masses would have to endure in pains till the next election before they will have the power to vote out the wrong person they had given power. Deltans must ensure that they avoid any violence act before during and after the election.it is only in a peaceful environment, that a peaceful leader that would bring about a peaceful society can be elected peacefully.