Voters Guide.

Please find below some criteria to guide our voting pattern.

(A) Vote Personalities:

Since many political parties/politicians in Nigeria are not ideologically based, it makes sense to vote personalities. Quite a good number of them have migrated thru many parties, examples are; Muhammadu Buhari the presidential candidate of CPC moved from ANPP to CPC, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, moved from PDP to AC and back to PDP, ex Governor of Abia State, Orji Uzo Kalu moved from PDP to PPA, present Governor of Abia, Theodore Kalu moved from PPA to APGA, before moving back to PDP, Governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim moved from PPA to PDP, former Governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa, moved from PDP to ACN. The list(s) is endless, and the migration tends to be continuous. Here I suggest we vote personalities.

Please vote persons/personalities that will be firm, principled and visionary. Part of the way(s) to know the quality of a person is to look at his friends, groups, colleagues, and party members. Tell me your friends/party members, and I will tell you who you are.

(B) Vote Against god fathers/god mothers:
Experience is the best teacher. Our past experiences have shown us how evil god fathers/god mothers can be. “god fathers/god mothers” are the real enemies of the state. They are anti progress. Never again should Nigerians permit any candidate(s) with god fathers/god mothers to win election, be it councillorship, local government chairmanships, state governors etc.

(C) Vote Candidates That Can Fight Corruption:
In Nigeria, corruption has grown into a monster. If you fight corruption, corruption fights you back. It needs a man/woman made of steel to fight corruption. Remember corruption remains one of our greatest problems. “The World Bank estimates the country’s generals and gangster politicians stole $300 billion in the three decades to 2006”(Time Magazine, May 3rd 2010 Edition, Page 42). There are no figures for 2006 to 2010. I leave you to estimate how much would have been looted. Corruption remains the greatest obstacle to our socio/economic development. Evidences are several abandoned government projects, high costs of government businesses etc. Therefore, vote candidates that can fight corruption.

(D) Vote For Change:
Changes are overdue in Nigeria. Vote whomever that will challenge/change the status quo. Nigerians need to be reminded that the power to change our country lies in their hand(s). “god fathers, god mothers”, politicians or parties have little or nothing they can do. Power belongs to the Nigerian people. Lets draw example from, the Velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia in November-December 1989, the great Baltic Chain (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) demonstration of August 1989, the 1986 peoples revolution in Philippines led by Corazon Aquino, the Rose revolution in Georgia in November 2003, the Orange revolution in Ukraine in 2004, Tunisia, Egypt, etc. These were all changes occasioned by people’s power. Let us use our votes to effect changes. Above all, lets vote who will move Nigeria forward.

Way Forward:
The key is networking and passing around messages of change to one another. Here Internet, sms, mobile phones becomes a useful instrument. I need not remind all the enormous power of the Internet.

Presidential Election Poll (2):
With the announcements of Vice Presidential candidates, we ask whom/which combination will you vote in the presidential election? Kindly visit the enclosed web link and vote http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/515301 please note that the identity of each respondent will be anonymous. May God bless Nigeria.

Chinedu Vincent Akuta.
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/