'Once in four years'

Well, it’s election time again and expectedly, there have been an
upsurge in political activities in the polity in recent times. We are
being inundated daily with posters, adverts and campaigns of different
political parties on various mediums with the accompanying drama
associated with this period. There is so much apprehension and anxiety
in the air for varied reasons as whether elections will indeed
hold, whether they would be free and fair and of course, whether there
would be violence before, during and after elections. My interest is
in matters surrounding this quadrennial ritual of electing people in
our country. This is the period where the incumbents who are desirous
of another term present their achievements in our faces and sound them
in our ears with a promise to do more if re-elected while on the other
hand, the opposition seeks to wrestle power from the incumbent by
making issues out of the perceived lapses or failures of the current
dispensation. 

Well of course; this is a good development as it
presents an avenue for the electorate to critically analyze what
either party is bringing to the table. The question then is
this,” must we wait every four years before we can hold our public
office holders accountable?” Take the members of the national
assembly as an example, how many times do they get back to their
various constituents to brief them on their achievements in the house
or even consult them for their opinions before throwing their
weight behind or pushing for any bills on the floor of the house? Our
governors and chairmen of local governments flaunt such
achievements as constructing a few roads here and there, erecting of
some structures which they then cap up with the distribution of some
'stomach infrastructure' materials around the wards of their states and
believe these modest achievements automatically qualify them for a
second term in office. This shouldn’t be the case really; rather we
should be measuring performance with promises made against what has
been delivered in their first shot at that office. The opposition on
the other hand, usually rides into power by presenting the massive flaws
of the incumbent only to get there and also fail to deliver on their
promises to reverse the inadequacies they rightly identified and
usually give the excuse of not having enough time to finish their
intended projects. Consequently, they ask for another term to complete
the unfinished business and the cycle keeps repeating itself like we
have been having in the last sixteen years of this current democratic
experiment.

As we seek to elect new leaders in 2015, it is hoped that
we get it right this time. One way to do this is to ensure that
candidates for elective posts are subjected to intensive debates where
they will be thoroughly drilled and asked just three main things they intend to

achieve if elected into that position they seek with a clear
outline of how they intend to achieve these things within the
stipulated four year period. We shouldn’t only focus on who becomes
president alone, but we should also be interested in the candidates for
the governorship, national assembly, local government chairman and
councillorship positions.

A good first step to achieve this is by obtaining our PVCS so we can be eligible 

to cast our votes in the first place for our preferred candidates. Let’s get the change we
desire by participating in the electoral process because if we keep off, we
would only have ourselves to blame if the wrong candidates emerge and
we would have to endure another four unproductive years. Your vote is
your right, use it wisely!