That the place of choice has been ridiculed in the Nigerian political terrain is quite embarrassing. Meanwhile, choice is an essential component in a democratic process. It is public knowledge that one thing which stands democracy out is that it guarantees the right to free expression of political preference through peaceful competition.
Yes, we could say that one of the limitations of democracy is that not everyone that votes is well-informed, but at the same time, we need to query if there is truly right or wrong. At the end of the day, we all see things from a different angle. More so, there are no correct votes in democratic processes. The only thing we must continue to do is debate policies and implementation strategies, and also examine the pragmatism of proffered solutions.
There is a popular Yoruba maxim that “gbogbo wa a ò lè sùn kí a kọrí sí ibi kan náà” which means that we cannot all head towards the same direction. That is to tell you that, even in Yoruba land, we have been taught to be tolerant of choices. Freedom of choice is a prerequisite for democracy.
Electing ‘better’ people will not, by itself, lead to much better government. As far as politics is concerned, there is no Messiah. At least, men are not angels. So, focus should be put on interrogating forms and structures of institutions to better serve us.
Though the majority rules in a democracy, but there is no mechanism for making collective choices apart from dictatorship, which is what distinguishes democracy. Everyone supports candidates for different reasons, and we have seen situations whereby people openly declare their support for individuals they think will make them better off. We have also seen people strategically cast their votes for a less-preferred candidate to block ‘worse’ outcome. It is still a democracy.
The essence of regular and periodic elections is to ensure that there is no ethnic and geographic domination. As Nigerians, we must understand that coercion and intimidation of people with dissenting opinions undermines democracy and puts it under threat.
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The people have spoken through the ballots. Though the majority rules, the President-elect must understand that the interests of the minority must be protected. There should be no vindictiveness. There should be no continuation of the Buhari style 97% 5% politics. The majority does not have the right to oppress the minority, so people should not be categorised based on their political decisions.
No candidate can fully express an individual’s true political position, so, we must avoid creating stereotypes from one dimension of people’s political lives – knowing fully well that politics itself is just one dimension of our overall lives. Your neighbour is still your neighbour.
Your sibling is still your sibling and your friend is still your friend no matter who they voted for. They are multidimensional entities that you relate with, and there are many other dimensions of them that you agree with asides their political views.
Say something good about them and remember that politics goes beyond personalities to love or hate. Politics goes beyond behavioural trends and interpersonal relations. Politics is mainly about institutional and ideological change, so we should all try and see other people and the effect of institutions, structures and ideological systems on their worldview. As elections head to a close, let us all depolarise our relations.
Israel writes from Ibadan, Nigeria
