By By Goodness Oladele
BEFORE I begin, if you know that you won’t be able to read to the end to understand my take, kindly ignore the post or come back to read it when you are free.
Also, read with an open mind. You may not agree with everything I’ve said here, which is fine. However, there are some points you may agree with me on.
Each time I look at the 2027 election, which is approaching, all I see is an opposition trying to repeat what was done in 2023.
I know you may be asking yourself already: “How will the opposition repeat what happened in 2023?”
It is simple: you can’t do things the same way and expect a different or better result. No, it won’t work!
In 2023, it was glaring that the opposition was divided against itself due to ego, selfishness and the behaviour of “some supporters” towards others who are also in the opposition. It got to the point where every camp thought it was an easy ride for them – until they found themselves where they are today.
In 2023, the opposition majored on the minor and minored on the major.
This wasn’t realised, and some haven’t seen it even until now.
As of today in Nigeria, politics is from the grassroots. We may accuse the ruling party of rigging, vote buying, etc., but what made it work for them is that they operated from the grassroots. I will not in any way support rigging, electoral violence, vote buying, etc. If we want to do it rightly and change what exists, it will also have to be from the grassroots. The opposition ignored this in 2023, and the result is what we are seeing now.
Selfishness and ego should stop! With what happened in 2023 – and is already happening now – one will begin to wonder or ask if truly the opposition is serious.
I must say that sometimes this is caused by overzealous supporters who think only their candidate is the best and that nobody else can serve the country like their candidate. Some supporters go to the extent of abusing and insulting others online once they aren’t in support of their candidate, instead of educating Nigerians at the grassroots on why their candidate will do better and convincing Nigerians to secure their votes.
There are thousands of Nigerians who are capable of leading this country well. Your candidate is only privileged to be on the ballot. Supporters should change their mindset and not cause more problems for their candidates.
I also must say that opposition supporters deceived themselves in 2023, thinking they would only support a candidate and not get actively involved in politics.
Much of this support was done online. Some never voted, while others don’t even have a voter’s card – but you will see them online shouting: “My candidate is the best!” “We are winning!” etc.
Unless we want to lie to ourselves, the majority of opposition parties never had polling unit agents in all polling units across the nation. I then ask: how will the opposition defend their votes and not give the ruling party any chance to “rig”?
It would be foolish of me to say social media can’t be used as a tool to mobilise people to vote for your candidates – but go beyond social media to the grassroots.
In 2023, I was talking to some elderly citizens in a village about why they should vote for a candidate I believed in, and I was shocked that many didn’t even know him yet. The reason was that there was no presence of the party or even supporters in their neighbourhood. The only two candidates they knew were those whose supporters were present locally.
Get serious. Go to the grassroots and stop the online banters, abuses and insults.
People will only vote for candidates whose presence is around them, and they won’t vote for your candidates if they know little or nothing about them. Online presence is not enough. Go offline and get the work done!
It is now even difficult to know who is a genuine supporter of some candidates because of social media monetisation. Many of those shouting online haven’t built any support system at the grassroots for the candidate they claim to be supporting. They are just online to create content and make money.
Another issue is that the majority of opposition key leaders are all declaring for the presidency now. One would think that their summit in Ibadan a few weeks back was geared towards unity.
However, it is obvious that “no gree for anybody” is what is playing out now.
Without telling anyone to step down for themselves, if truly the opposition is serious on this matter, the interest of the nation will be at their heart and all hands will be on deck to make things work. But the reverse is the case – opposition members are the ones granting interviews against one another now. Some parties even send their members to face each other on social media and TV.
The battle to rescue Nigeria has now become a battle of selfish interest.
Yes, two politicians in the opposition are now together to team up – and that is even if they don’t go their separate ways again – but I tell you that it is not enough. A lot of work still needs to be done and extended to the grassroots.
Even if the key opposition leaders have decided to go their separate ways and contest, that is fine. However, let everyone’s campaign be based on issues affecting the nation and stop attacking themselves. If care is not taken, the masses will become fed up with the opposition and may have no option but to go for the “devil” that they already know.
If the opposition continues this way, they will have no option but to shift the blame onto the masses by saying: “We presented credible candidates, yet you chose those who brought poverty upon you.”
After 2027, the opposition who failed to get it right will then have no choice but to come together to protest the bad policies of the current government – and they won’t be against each other then.
Finally, opposition supporters should know that not everyone will support your candidate, and that is the beauty of democracy. Insulting people who don’t support your candidate isn’t right, and doing so won’t make your candidate win either.
We must learn to tolerate one another if we truly want the nation of our dreams.
This is my opinion, and you are free to disagree with me.
But if you think this is an attack on your candidate, that is also fine.
I won’t be surprised if I see people posting comments like: “Come out with your full chest, you have joined APC,” “Stay in one place, stop confusing us,” etc.
With time, reality will dawn on us all.
What do I even know? I am just an Ibadan man bothered about the state of the nation.
What's your reaction?
