In an effort to tackle voters’ absenteeism during elections, the Global Shapers Community, Lagos Hub has launched the ‘Vote for Nigeria’ campaign.
The goal of the campaign is to ensure more Nigerians actively participate in the 2019 general election. Launched in January, the organisers hope to promote active citizenship and re-educate Nigerians to go and out vote for the candidates of their choice.
Imoh Eboh, curator, Global Shapers Community recalls the nonchalance that often follow election periods in which voters prefer to stay at home or observe an unofficial public holiday. The number of voters that turned for the 2015 elections was 31.7 million out of the 67.4 million registered voters.
Many of the voters believe that even if they go out to perform their civic responsibility, their votes will not count in the end. Eboh sees this as unpatriotic.
Rather than sit at home and complain and hope, which are not strategies, Eboh says the voters can go out and vote in the hope that by doing so they will get a better country.
“We have to understand that our one vote can make a big difference and there are over 80 million whose future depends on the decision we make today, we have a responsibility to do all we can to give them a better country by going out to vote,” she said.
Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced recently that 84.2 million Nigerians are now eligible to vote during the 2019 general elections.
Eboh says Global Shapers Community, Lagos Hub is leading the charge to be a positive force of change during this election by encouraging registered voters to go collect their PVCs and most importantly come out in their numbers to vote on election day.
