Nigeria`s preparation to go to the polls next year is heating up just as the excitement surrounding what is poised to be the most keenly contested elections since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 is building up.
Already, many Nigerians, pushed to their limits by the poverty and insecurity that the current administration has overseen in the last seven years have dusted up their voter cards, and are waiting for the word to go out that elections are set.
That those Nigerians who are yet to get their voter cards from the Independent National Electoral Commission are eagerly expecting dates with their electoral destiny is a mark of just how crucial the next elections will prove to be.
Nigeria is at a crossroads. As years of egregious military rule finally faded in the late 90s, the country`s new leaf was expected to plunge it back into the pool of progress and prosperity it had been so ruthlessly taken out of like fish from water.
However, at the return of democracy, Nigeria became like a country that was beginning life afresh. New problems also cropped up to compete with already existing ones as Nigerians were forced to come to terms with mind-boggling poverty and underdevelopment.
Nigerians are known the world over for their grit and fortitude. Citizens of the country have been known to excel elsewhere under almost impossible conditions thanks to the grit ingrained in them at home.
Thus, if it was just poverty, Nigerians would have taken it on the chin, at least for as long as it would take them to do something about it.
But it has not been just poverty that the current APC-led federal government has overseen in the last seven years. In fact, it is not poverty that has formed the largest portion of the nightmare that has had Nigerians in its grip in the last seven years. The recipient of that dishonour must be insecurity.
All over the country, people, especially those who live in rural areas have become very familiar with the death grip of fear and terror. Â Whether it is marauding Fulani herdsmen, bloodthirsty bandits, or rampaging Boko Haram terrorists, rural Nigerians have seen their hitherto peaceful communities overturned by the armies of death and destruction who seem to have an indeterminate number of bones to pick with Nigerians and Nigeria.
Every country is bound to have challenges at some point. And though there are many who feel that Nigeria`s challenges have lingered for far too long, to recall that the country only attained independence in 1960, and only returned to democracy in 1999, puts the country`s considerable struggles into proper perspective. Â But it is not to make excuses. The signs are not promising. The signs have not been promising for a long time now. And it is the failure of leadership that must take the buck.
For so long, Nigerians have been in the business of recycling   failed and failing politicians who have a history of failure. Many times, these men have both the financial muscle and the corrupt network that is extensive enough to make a dent on Nigeria`s highest offices.
If there is one thing that offers hope about democracy in Nigeria, it is the fact that the electorate have gradually continued to regain their confidence in the ballot box.
Elections used to be war in Nigeria, literally, but not anymore. People are now the wiser as they know to keep their choices free of poisoned chalices and Greek gifts offered by desperate politicians for whom no cost is too high to pay for power.
Ahead of the 2023 elections, Nigerians must stay faithful to the recent pattern which has seen an impressive number of them reject the porridge offered for their votes.
But most crucially, they must believe that democratic change is possible through the ballot box and working on this belief, they must troop out in their number to exercise their right to vote when INEC finally throws the ballot box open.
Kene Obiezu,
Twitter: @keneobiezu
