The biggest mistake Igbo youths will make is boycotting election of people who will be DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for piloting their affairs and shaping their socio-political destiny.
Nigerian national politics does not favor Ndigbo. But we must pay close attention to men and women we put in charge of our home front.
There is neither wisdom nor strategy in election boycott. It is of no strategic importance to our struggle for equity, justice and freedom.
The only way election boycott will have maximum effect is if it is 100%. And looking at our current realities, we CAN NEVER get 100% compliance. The level of poverty in the land and the desperation of our politicians will guarantee that.
NIGERIA IS TOO PRIMITIVE FOR ELECTION BOYCOTT BY ANY GROUP OF PEOPLE TO HAVE ANY MEANINGFUL IMPACT.
Boycott IS NOT the number of people who didn’t vote. Boycott is the number of people who registered to vote with their PVC but chose not to vote on election day. So if you are hoping to boycott election in Igbo land in order to pass a message to the whole world that you are no longer interested in Nigerian affairs, you must first ensure you have your PVC so that it will be recorded that so so and so number registered to vote but only few out of the registered voters came out to vote. This is the only way your election boycott will make impact. Irony is, more than half of Igbo youths are without PVCs. Not due to INEC deliberate policy of disenfranchisement but due to their lack of interest in matters that affect them.
And remember,
Regardless of the voters turnout, a winner must still emerge and such a person will rule over you for 4 good years or more whether you voted for him or not. And you will be bound by every decision he takes.
So what then is the essence of abstaining from a process upon which everything about you rests.
This is Charles Ogbu formerly appealing to all Self Determination groups in the Southeast to shelve their planned boycott of election. It won’t do us any good.
Before Anambra election, I had a one-on-one with Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB in company of a few Igbo Patriots and the reasons he gave for the planned boycott of the guber poll was purely altruistic but even at that, he later listened to Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Evangelist Elliott etc to cancel the planned boycott before the uniformed janjaweed fulani army came with their non-venomous snake called Python.
I fully acknowledge that the country called Nigeria has neither hope nor future for Ndigbo. I don’t see Nigeria working mainly because of this CLASH OF IRRECONCILABLE CIVILIZATIONS where the ArewaNorth with their Sharia and Feudal worldview which makes it a point of duty to own, enslave, subjugate and kill those considered as “Infidels” are in the same country with Southerners who just want equity, democracy and social justice for all.
But,
We cannot cut our nose to spite our face. As long as we are still in Nigeria, boycotting our own regional election is not a wise move.
Quest for self determination IS NOT a marathon race.
After the unjust system created, implemented and sustained by the Caliphate aided by their Southern alleluia boys, the second biggest tragedy of Ndigbo is the tragedy of Leadership.
What we have as leaders in Igbo land are a bunch of ‘Ndi-abani-di-egwu’. Political bandits and crude criminals. A horde of insensitive crooks with atrocious sense of governance.
The tragic irony here is that for so long, we have created a perfect alibi for them by blaming the Fulani Oligarchy even for the personal failings of these our so called leaders.
Look governor Rochas, for instance, he has cornered Imo state as a whole such that Imo is now an estate of Rochas and Family Nigeria limited. He demolishes your property and converts it to his and that’s the end. Now, he’s thinking of getting a third term through his son-in-law who will help keep his loot and maintain his lootocracy in a state that once produced the legendary Sam Onunaka Mbakwe. As I type this, Rochas has ordered all adult in the state to pay levy of #3000 to him. All community are to pay him 6million or he will revoke their autonomous status. How can we allow such a character have his way??? And make no mistake, we have so many Rochases in other Igbo state though some of them appear less Rochastic than the Imo Emperor. Ebonyi state Umahi is another Hitler. All the resources in the state is controlled by him and his family. Opposition to his govt is a crime punishable by kidnapping or severe beating or worse fate. Your family is mostly targeted in situation where you cannot be reached. He has the worst taxation system in the state with very little or nothing to show for it. Governors Umahi and Rochas are the Igbo version of Buhari.
If we cannot salvage our Igbo land from the savagery of these political Savages, how do we expect people to take us serious in our agitation for an independent Nation of our own???
If we are boycotting because we believe elections will be rigged, what we are saying is that we are not prepared at all because if we cannot stand and fight to ensure that our political will are respected even in our own land, how can we be trusted to stand and fight for the emancipation of all our people???
During the last gubernatorial poll in Bayelsa state, the desperate APC govt came with their compromised security agents and a biased INEC which took 3 days and 3 nights to conduct election in a state with just 8 local govt but the people stood their ground and held vigil. At the end, they had their way and Buhari and his gang failed in capturing the state.
Oke anaghi eri ihe onye mu agha.
How can we just be complaining about rogue elements masquerading as our leaders and when we have the opportunity of deploying our numerical strength to punish them for their betrayal, we say we are boycotting election and we will still remain under those rogues?????
We should adopt the Bayelsa style and stop this defeatist approach of boycotting and leaving our own political space for “foreigners” who do not mean us well.
