' 2019, HOW CRUCIAL?? ' - ORALADE TESLIM

In 27 days, the die would be cast, the 2019 presidential elections would have been won and lost . Of the 74 candidates, one will be victorious, others the opposite, but what would truly represent a victory for the Nigerian people ? 

The significant disparities between rich and poor in Nigeria no longer require much analysis : poverty, despite the political rhetoric has been accepted as a capitalist norm and more than half of the country's population now live in abject poverty, a situation that has led to the gradual dissaperance of the middle class, fueled by stern corruption and economic inefficiency . Little wonders the country has been dubbed the poverty capital of the world. 

That apart, 60% of children in Nigeria are not in school, and one in every four girl child gets access to education in the country.  

To make matters worse, children born this year in Nigeria are not expected to live beyond 2074,this is according to a research conducted by experts of the United Nations Children Fund. An estimated 25,685 babies are expected to be born in Nigeria on New year day, of these children, an average of 257    babies who are still in their first month of life are expected to die everyday in the country. A misfortune which is predicted to continue till the year runs out. 

Unemployement is another major issue, 57 of the country's estimated 80 million youths do not have a job, and many of them are uneducated, lingering with little or no hope for the future. While these issues persist, the youths have taken to obscene ways, the current female "pant hunt" by Yahoo ritualists drives home the point.  

For investors, business has become increasingly difficult to do, the country's ever fluctuating economy coupled by a steady  relapse in  power mean profit have  become harder to come by.

From increasing the minimum wage to raising the standard of education, to making political participation easier and voter friendly,succesive Nigerian governments have shied away from making concrete changes which threaten the existence of the small oligachy whose survival is dependent on the country's dysfunction. 

We have a lot of dreamers in Nigeria, that on it own is no problem. The problem is while making conscious and delibrate efforts to make their dreams a reality, we are here wishing to make it happen. 

Most Nigerians neither know nor care to master the inner workings of the political parties who represent them.  The only real dialogue between the electorate and the political class takes place during elections and in most cases, people don't fully know the right questions to ask their leaders. 

It would seem majority of the electorate aren't just economically feeble but also intellectually poor. Perhaps, the reason progress eludes us as a country. 

For some weeks in the latter part of the previous year, we had individuals clad in yellow/green jackets in the street of different cities in France, trying to compel the government to reverse policies that they considered unfavourable to the people. A dark contrast to the norm in Nigeria where people only pray that change happens. 

A few months ago, a law was passed to encourage youth participation in political leadership. How has it fared ? The obstacles put in place by cunning and conniving leaders have made it difficult to actualise.  Once again, the passiveness of the Nigerian populace has made it easy for our politicians to dribble us as always. 

Things have become so bad in the country, our youths now venture into foreign lands where they are treated like animals,others have become leaders and cabals in yahoo-plus ritualist gang . To be fair, the nation has never been more debased. 

If we don't act now, this social ridicule will continue, an economic meltdown might result and the hangover from all of these incidents would mean no well for the country as a whole.  

The 2019 election is our chance, it's the opportunity for the Nigerian electorate to rescue the country from persons who have reduced the nation to a wildpost of brigand militias.

To build castles of  conspiracies around a crucial event in the history of our country in the way the PDP and the APC has done in the past three months is unacceptable, even more so, is the indifference on the part of their candidates towards the just concluded presidential debate. 

Come February 16, the Nigerian electorate has two options, to continue with the old clogs who have constantly bamboozled the populace or to effect change by voting them out . What ever choice the electorates may yet make, one thing is certain  ; the antecedents from the 2019 presidential elections will go a long way in shaping the future of Africa's most populous nation.

ORALADE TESLIM✍

NESSA BENARD 

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