By Carl Umegboro
The treasure base of the nation, Rivers will on December 10 host the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in respect of rerun elections into the State and National Assemblies which were earlier quashed by the court. Major contenders are the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). As the election day approaches, tension, threats of brimstone; of bury alive, of slay and dry, of cultists’ annihilations and others have continued to gather momentum.
The treasure base of the nation, Rivers will on December 10 host the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in respect of rerun elections into the State and National Assemblies which were earlier quashed by the court. Major contenders are the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). As the election day approaches, tension, threats of brimstone; of bury alive, of slay and dry, of cultists’ annihilations and others have continued to gather momentum.
Rotimi Amaechi and Nyesom Wike |
Luckily, Ondo State
governorship election held on Saturday, November 26 has set a positive
precedent that elections can actually be conducted in a civilized manner
instead of opting up for the bizarre. The electorate, candidates and the
electoral officials proved to the world that Nigeria is no longer a nascent
democracy. The upcoming election in Rivers must not witness further bloodshed
or grotesquely odd remarks. Violence, forcefulness or belligerence is never a
characteristic of democracy as peddled by some folks in some quarters.
Succinctly, it is intellectual pursuit of power, and definably, the act of
selecting the representatives of the people in a free and fair manner purposely
for good governance.
Today, the two arrowheads:
Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi and the State Governor, Nyesom Wike are
believably akin to then Iraq and Iran, and the grassroots parochially fight for
them crossing boundaries and cutting down barriers, but unknown to them, by the
indisputable feature of our politics, may be disappointed to witness the two
leaders of their respective political parties eventually in one party dining
together in the nearest future. All it may take is just a closed-door meeting
in a five star hotel in the United Kingdom
or United States of America
with a few other bigwigs. At that point, those that grossly bullied opponents,
beheaded fellow indigenes, killed political opponents, kidnapped or committed
other atrocities of intimidation will be left alone. The deeds by then had been
done and cannot be reversed. Or, do you assume Amaechi and Wike will remain in
opposing political parties for life? Absolutely not. Rivers people should
emulate the people of Ondo
State and maintain amity
and decorum. Whoever wins is a victory for democracy and for the state. Enough
of political extremism, mediocrity, terrorization, hedonism and debauchery!
At the moment, the state is
administratively under Gov. Wike’s control, and therefore, should as the
political leader proactively douse all the political tensions in the state.
Politics is not a do-or-die affair and political statements must reflect
maturity, decency and administrative know-hows. What is vital is to conduct a
free and fair election. No political party ever emerged both a winner and loser
at the same time and any democracy must be characterized by victory and defeat.
The finest priority any
selfless leader could set in motion is to ensure that the will of the people
takes superiority in sync with Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Nigeria ’s
Constitution which provides that “the security and welfare of the people shall
be the primary purpose of government”. Hence, any government that creates
unwarranted scenes that are inconsistent is anti-people, anti-democracy and an
agent of destruction.