The Willing Accomplices

“PDP has ‘rigged’ themselves back into power again”

“Big deal, I’m not surprised at all, not at all”

“You mean you are not bothered or concerned at all?”

“What difference does it make if I am, or were you expecting me also to lay down my life for the election cause?”

“it is such apathy and pessimisms that is the bane of Nigeria’s development”

“Now tell me, honestly, if you were a card carrying PDP member, what would you have done? Go to sleep and surrender your ‘source of livelihood’ to the opposition?”

“I don’t quite get you; you sound like you are in support of President Obasanjo’s ‘do-or-die’ general elections battle cry”

“Did I say that? you’re putting words into my mouth”

“So what are you saying then? That PDP is justified in the unfair way they have conducted the elections?”

“All I am saying is that PDP and the other 50 political parties are all in it together”

“But we heard reports from the election monitors and observers on the ground concerning the shenanigans that took place on election day, are you trying to dismiss all that?”

“You still don’t see my point, why do you think that it is only PDP that ‘rigged’ the elections? You can not blame only PDP and leave out the other political parties. They are all complaining now because allegedly PDP out-foxed and out-rigged them all”

“But you know that PDP as the ruling party is the only party with the resources to ‘rig’ elections in such grand scale”

“But that still does not exonerate the other 50 political parties, I’m sure that some of them did also try to rig the elections in their own way. If they were in PDP’s shoes, they would do the same.”

“You are only speculating that they would, you don’t know that for sure. We should only judge based on the facts on the ground, and that is that PDP made a mess of the election process in last Saturday’s gubernatorial elections”

“I wonder if you know that some of the opposition political parties were once card carrying PDP members”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“You don’t suppose that for the fact that they have now joined other political parties, they have become saints overnight and have shed their old skins. My brother, Nigerian politicians will never change”.

“You are really difficult to reason with”

“I suppose you are also one of the people blaming Obasanjo for what happened last Saturday?”

“Yes of course, it all happened under his watch”

“Please tell me, how Obasanjo who was sighted in his village in Owu could have been responsible for the election carnage and charade that occurred in several places around Nigeria?”

“But he is still the president of the country, the buck must stop with him”

“I wonder why you are not seeing it from the point of view that Nigerians also share part of the blame”.

“So you are now blaming the victims?”

“People talk about rigging as if it is a spirit. Rigging only occurs with the active involvement and connivance of human beings”

“Yes, w e know that”

“So was it Obasanjo that instructed those stealing ballot boxes to do so? I think we should all learn to apportion blame to the appropriate quarters”.

“Come to think of it, what do you expect the people to do? They know that their votes don’t count anyway, it does not matter any which way they vote, PDP will still win”

“You know for surewhat the main problem is, we still see elections and politics as a way into the national treasury vault. Forget about what some of these politicians tell you”

“I know that but there are still some genuine contenders with honest intentions”

“Yeah right. After spending hundreds of millions of naira to win an election, I wonder where Nigerians expect the politicians to recoup their money from”

“I really don’t get you my friend, you can not smack a little child and still expect him not to cry”

“I hear you, see where that crying has left some Nigerians now, so who is the loser now? The politicians still warming up for next Saturday’s onslaught or the scores of people that died in the elections fighting for politicians that won’t even remember them once they are elected?”

“So what is your suggestion for a way forward then?”

“Ah, leave me alone o! You want the one I would say now and you will twist it out of context”

“But we can not go on like this forever, something has got to give at some point”.

“You are being too expectant, considering the returns that come with winning an election in Nigeria, I don’t see us bucking the trend anytime soon.

“Are you saying that the spoils of election wars in Nigeria are just too good that the do-or-die mentality will continue”

“Yes o! forget the fact that President Obasanjo uttered those exact words himself, I tell you, that is exactly what most of the politicians and political parties are thinking, else why would people sell up, mortgage their properties, borrow from family and friends to contest elections? “

“You are making some sense though but we still have to find a way out of our situation”

“To be honest with you, I don’t know why Nigerians are surprised at the turn of events, I don’t even see the trend subsiding anytime soon. We are in this for the long haul. Even if it were to be the other way round, I tell you the political party in power will always try to use state machinery to perpetuate itself in power”

“I really weep for my country”

“To be honest with you, I don’t really care anymore. Why bother about how they get there anymore when it is obvious in our situation that in most cases, it is only the crooked that win elections. What I am really hoping for is that somehow, once they manage to rig themselves in, they would at least do a little something for the people”

“I really don’t know if I subscribe to this your logic of legitimising illegitimacy. Have we not seen in the past that those that come in through such back doors never ever owe the people anything since the people didn’t elect them in the first place?”

“Sure but remember the case of Chris Ngige in Anambra state”

“But that is only an isolated case”

“Yes it is but we can go on from there”.

“Although we are hearing rumours that he has pulled out of the presidential race, what do all these mean for the likes of Pat Utomi?”

“People like Utomi know why they are in the race”

“Anyway, leave Nigeria and her wahala for now, I’ve got to complete some job applications”.

“Okay, I’ve got to move on too, my brother is being held at the Ikeja police station and I have got to source for bail money for him”