November 8 the date for the choice of the tomorrow we yearn for in Anambra - Bishop Okoye

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By Madu Obi

Ahead of the November 8 gubernatorial election in Anambra State, the Bishop of Ihiala Diocese, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Rt Rev (Prof) Israel Okoye, has reminded the electorate that the date is the choice of the tomorrow they yearn for in Anambra State.

Delivering his address at the 3rd Session of the 5th Synod of the Diocese, at St Stephen's Church, Ihiala, Bishop Okoye said although the preparations for the election are on course, it has, unfortunately, been observed that the strategy of populating campaign venues with a rented crowd, preparatory to paying for their votes, is rife.

According to him, election periods are supposed to provide the electorate the opportunity to interact with prospective electoral candidates with a view to assessing their campaign manifesto and provide an enlightened basis for ascertaining the candidates that are better equipped to advance the course of development in the interest of the citizens.

He said: "Desperate politicians and their allies exploit the widespread unemployment and hunger in the land to turn vulnerable members of the electorate into political objects that are purchased, deployed for a defined purpose, and dispensed with after an election.

That inhuman practice, masquerading as electioneering politics in the Nigerian political culture is, in fact, a deliberate dehumanization of vulnerable citizens.

People who vote for candidates because they have been paid a paltry sum, sometimes as low as N2,000 or less, have been turned into political toys. To such people, they do not sincerely care if their votes count or not.

We urge all the candidates to be issue-based in their electioneering campaigns. All those singing hypocritical heroic songs in favour of individuals seeking electoral support, do so at the expense of the wellbeing of the people.

It is an ill-wind advancing the state of poverty, unemployment, parochial chauvinism and frustration via the electoral process. We, therefore, urge all the candidates, their political allies, and those that have turned either their voters’ cards or public offices into commodities for the highest bidder, to be mindful of the repercussions of their debased actions. No sensible person can afford to supervise his own liquidation.

We have the option of going for the best at our disposal, based on our rational assessment, or we go for contraction with woes. God forbid that we shall allow whatever pittance that characterize electoral campaigns to rob us of a brighter future."

Bishop Okoye also spoke on the spate of defection by politicians in the name of freedom of association and fundamental human rights, lamenting that Nigerians are being negligently taking for granted by politicians that have supposedly received their votes to serve in government on the platform of clearly defined political parties.

These politicians, he stated, are now selfishly transferring the mandates they received from the electorate to other political parties where, they believe, their self-regarding interests will be assured.

It is ironic that in spite of the judgements of competent Nigerian courts that votes are cast for political parties and not for the individual candidates, elected candidates transfer the mandates they possess on behalf of their political parties to other political parties without the approval of the parties that provided the platforms on the basis of which they contested for the offices they occupy.

"We have witnessed with utter dismay, the defection of state governors, members of state and national assemblies, and local government legislative and executive officials from one political party to another.

"The reasons they have consistently articulated to rationalize their self-serving political adventure are basically insulting to the Nigerian electorate", the cleric further said.

Bishop Okoye argued that the issue of aligning with the political party that produced the president of Nigeria in order to benefit from the federal government, makes nonsense of the country's multi-party system and principles that are expected to differentiate a political party from another.

He said further: "No doubt, the formations that are regarded as political parties in Nigeria are basically associations that provide platforms for peripatetic or internally displaced politicians.

They are bereft of principles, people’s trust, people-oriented leadership, and similar other virtues. As long as they have at their disposal, large number of people, particularly youths that are willing to be rented for self-serving purposes, they will continue to take Nigerians for granted as they plan and execute their self-regarding agenda.

Relying on technicalities to tolerate the flagrant abuse of the mandate of the electorate is not only disheartening, but also a time bomb. Nigerians must rise in defence of their today and future being toyed with by parasitic politicians. It may be utopian to expect parasitic politicians to desist from sucking the blood of unsuspecting Nigerians.

"Until Nigerians are ready to extricate themselves from chauvinistic postures and alignment with politicians that offer them pittance in order to subject them to socio-economic and political bondage, there cannot be any meaningful transformation in the country.

It is pertinent to note that any political party that is celebrating frequent reception of politicians that have decamped from rival political parties is unwittingly laying the fragile foundation for its own political tornado. In that way, the cycle of political instability and failure of governance will continue. This is not sustainable."