#ValueOfaVote Campaign in the Southwestern States: What we did and learnt
Departing Lagos on Sunday, February 3, we proceeded on a journey to the five southwestern states in Nigeria (Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo and Ogun) to bring to the people at the grassroots level the much-needed education on the values of their votes as well as the values they should vote for at the coming polls.
The roadshow started in the early hours of Monday, February 4, at the cathedral roundabout when we declared open the essence of our presence in Akure, the capital city of Ondo state. The dancers were kitted and we were armed with our fliers to start the messaging. The PTO, Alo Micheal, was also very active picking up the microphones and making sure the message ’’Don’t sell your vote’’ is resounding and reverberating. From there, we proceeded to the Market, Oja Oba, where we were able to station our truck as the campaign gains momentum.
Here’s what we learnt from our engagements:
The citizens are tired of poverty and are really searching for solutions to get out of the status quo.
In response, we made them understand that only their votes (for the right candidates) can lead Nigeria to a place of prosperity, and give them the ability to seek for accountability from their elected representatives at various branches of the governments.
Furthermore, citizens are ever ready to sell their votes at any opportunity. In fact, there is slang for that “Di’bo ki o se’be’’ which means “cast your vote and cook a pot of soup.”
Our response to this was very simple: Politicians do this (i.e. vote buying) just to sway you from your right to make the best decisions. They know that once they are able to convince you to go this route, it will be difficult for you to ask for your rights as citizens until the next cycle of elections come in. They purposely withhold the dividends of governance so they can easily control us as they wish. We also made them understand that if we can vote without appellations or inducements then we will, as citizens, be able to make demands from the ones in the corridors of power.
At the end of the roadshow, the people of Ondo agreed with us, saying they will not sell their votes as they now know better. They went ahead to say “We already know the tactics of the father Christmas that only comes only when they need us at the polls. We will ask for a better life in exchange for our votes.”
Let me add that we equally spoke to some media houses, Galaxy and Citizens Blog, who were highly interested in our campaign message. In fact, we joined their channels to amplify the message to a bigger audience.
We moved to Osun, Osogbo State, on the 5th of February. This is a state that just had its gubernatorial elections not too long ago. We had our truck ready, dancers kitted and armed ourselves with the fliers as well, all set to for the campaign. We started at the government house annexe with the sole aim to pass the message across the state. We moved to Alekuwodo, which is one of the big markets in the capital. The message was playing and I was on the truck verbally delivering our “Don’t sell your votes’’ message.
We also learnt some things from Osun. From our observations, the citizens have developed some apathy towards elections. Our research shows that the just-concluded elections didn’t go the way a lot of people wanted it to go. We know in a democracy, the will of the people should always be respected. However, it seems this was not the case at the just concluded elections. This didn’t stop our message, however. We made sure we found the best possible way to encourage them not to lose faith in the coming Presidential elections but vote for their choice of candidates — especially those with the pedigree to move Nigeria to a greater height.
We moved to four major markets and some populated areas (WAEC office, Olaiya, Dugbe, Testing ground, Ayetoro, Okefia and Oja Oba) where we ended the road show.
On Wednesday morning, February 6, 2019, we proceeded to Ekiti State, the origin of “Stomach Infrastructure’’ as a term and political weapon courtesy of the immediate former governor of the State, Mr Peter Ayodele Fayose. In our minds, we knew Ekiti needed this message more, as vote buying seems institutionalized in the state.
We chose the capital, Ado Ekiti, for the rally, taking off at Old Garage, a marketplace. Once again, we had the dancers ready, armed ourselves with the fliers and started moving around the town with the message well echoed. My colleague, Oluwadamilola Ogundipe, mounted the truck this time and started speaking to the teeming crowd. Interestingly, he’s vast in Ekiti dialect thus able to interact deeply with the people.
The atmosphere was charged with the people were eager to hear our message. We learnt: A voter gets at least the sum of N5,000 for selling their votes, as politicians/candidates always come with the aim to price out themselves at the polls. The people, however, promised not to sell their votes, ready to be able to hold their elected officials to account.
Thursday Morning, February 7, 2019, we were in the largest city in West Africa to continue the campaign journey. We started from challenge in Ibadan, and I must, at the point, speak about the challenge we encountered prior to kicking off the roadshow. The truck driver, all of a sudden, said he was not interested in the movement anymore. That was where we knew we had to convince and educate him on the intent of our campaign, emphasising that we represent no political party nor interest. He’d cited recent killings that in the state due to political violence being the reason why he is afraid of going that route. We had to start the civic education with him, emphasising the importance of our campaign and the expected pride of associating with us.
We were able to move from Challenge to Ring Road, then to Dugbe market. We stopped by at Cocoa House, the tallest building in Nigeria, and moved to Mokola roundabout and called it a day as we marched towards Iwo road.
What we discovered in Ibadan has to do with the literacy level. A lot of people believe you have to share something before they could listen to you or the message you are trying to communicate. We made sure our advocacy was more centred around voting for the best candidate that could make education, health, commonwealth and well being of the people a priority.
We also made them see the evil consequence of selling their votes as most of them keep asking “Why will I not sell my vote? Afterall I don’t get anything from the government.’’ Our response remained that selling votes is tantamount to selling their future and the future of their kids. We further explained, after interrogating them on their wish list, that all those things they admire in life will remain daydreams if they don’t vote for the credible candidates who would ensure good governance in return.
Amazingly, they asked: How do they know credible people? To this, our response was simply. Check their manifesto and pedigree. These give you the opportunity to know what their sincere plans are towards the elections and what their disposition to work will be when they eventually assume power.
Friday Morning, February 8, 2019, was the final stop at Ogun State. We headed for the capital of the state as well, Abeokuta. We started at Kuto motor park, one of the most central places in the capital. The message started and we were greeted with a lot of noise and even questions like “Are you PDP, APM or APC?” It was there and then we figured the immediate need to start the campaign at that very spot. We explained to the crowd the rationale behind our campaign, which is campaigning against vote buying and selling aside from voting for credible candidates. They further went ahead to ask, “How do we identify the right candidates?” Simply, we told them to scrutinize candidates’ manifestos and antecedents. Those are the best guide.
We moved to round the whole city and touched places like Kuto Market/Park, Olomore market, Ita Oba market, Ita Iyalode and Panseke.
Conclusion
We were able to reach over 200,000 persons in the five southwestern states and were able to give out 5000 calendars in total to members of each state.
I drove the whole five states from Lagos and I must tell you, it was worth the effort. Its a thing of joy to see Nigerians waking up to their civic responsibility. The team and I have been able to, at least, touch the lives of over 5 Million people both online and on the streets in the cause of this campaign. There were even times I felt very sleepy on the wheel, and I’ll jokingly ask myself “Are you sure you’ve not veered into the bush?”. But, the most important thing, God saw us through.
Doing this struggle, we want our children to be able to say: The Labour of our HEROES past shall never be in vain.
I believe in the fight for the SOUL of NIGERIA.
