EKITI 2018: As we decide

THERE is a saying that, when two brothers enter a room and come out smiling, they have not told themselves the truth, but when you see them coming out with a scowl on their faces, you will know that they have indeed told themselves nothing but the bitter truth. I think it is high time we told ourselves the truth and nothing but the truth.

When it is election time, there should be some kind of fresh hope in the minds of the people. The people should see the election period as an opportunity to either vote out a leader who did not meet up with their expectations by voting in another leader or reward a leader who has done even beyond their expectations. What I’m saying  here in essence is that, we should be the one to decide and not the other way round.

As the Ekiti Governorship Election draws nearer, we need to ask ourselves, what and what do we want? Are we just going to vote based on the fact that this person is from my party or this person is from my senatorial district or from my constituency. Is it because this person is from my town, or are we going to vote for the party that pays the most – talking about monetization of elections, are we going to vote for the highest bidder? These are questions we need to ask ourselves, even as the election draws closer to us.

What makes United States of America the most powerful nation of the world today is unity. In America, even before they elect a new leader, they will come together, pray to God and ask for wisdom for whoever becomes their leader to perform well. This I see as being luminous and intelligent because they know that an injury to one is an injury to all, which means that, if the leader is not wise it will affect the whole country, even the Bible says: “Wisdom is the principal thing.”

How many states in Nigeria can do this? We are not even talking about Nigeria as a country now, how many states in Nigeria can come together and pray for whoever becomes the leader to be guided and be endowed with wisdom so as to perform well for the betterment of their states? Instead, we even stand as an opposition to the leader and make sure he does not succeed, because of our selfish interests. There is a saying that, “we are only as strong as we are united and as weak as we are divided.” Thus, for us in Ekiti to achieve a tangible thing as a state, the first thing we need to have irrespective of our political interest is unity.

Another thing that we need to understand as a state that wants development is that, we should not sell our votes. Though they say, ‘Money answers all things’. But how much money are we talking about here? N1000, N2000, even N3000? Is that enough for us to sell our rights, thereby situating ourselves into another four years of anguish and lack? How has the money enriched us so far? Let us think about this Ekiti! There is no doubt we have lost that self-esteem in which we were known for. Hence, a need for us to restore this dignity, by choosing the right leader as we decide come July this year. A word they say is enough for the wise.

Femi Oguntayo, Ekiti.