By lgbotako Nowinta
Why would l not describe the level of systemic political cum democratic denials, assaults and injustices unleashed on the Nigerian voters, as zombification, when and where voters are rendered useless or invalid in the nitty gritty of selecting their representatives, such as was horrendously showcased during the last party primaries of the two most dangerous and corrupt political parties (APC/PDP) in Nigeria? A situation where genuine electorates and more qualified aspirants are being treated as zombies in the democratic process and space, is an unacceptable affront, capable of spelling doom for our most cherished nation. It is like poking bloody hands into our eyes at day light. It is nothing but classical zombiesm in our country when people cannot not have their ways within the political parties, and during primaries and general elections; it is zombifying the electors in a crude scenario where they have become like walking corpses (severely hunger-stricken), whose votes cannot determine the outcome of an election, like what shamelessly came to play during the recent governorship election in Ekiti State due to vote-buying. The savaging, ravaging and appalling systematic zombification of the Nigerian people by the elitist politicians, rendering them unable to operate fully, freely and conscientiously in determining the direction, position and destiny of the democratic reality in Nigeria, has finally led to the emergence of Peter Obi who is fast becoming the poster guy for the political revolution coming in February 2023. The fabric of electoral manipulations in Nigeria must be changed this time around. We must reanimate ourselves as bonafide stakeholders in our democratic business and prove to the legendary wreckers and destroyers of Nigeria’s greatness and our collective patrimony, that we can no longer allow religion, ethnicity or tribalism to divide and retard us.
According to the Merriam Webster.com, the word: ‘Zombie’ means “A will less and speechless human (as in voodoo belief and in fictional stories) held to have died and been supernatural reanimated”.
A zombie could also be defined as corpse seen to be revived by witchcraft, especially in some African and Caribbean religions.
The late revolutionary Afro beat musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, titled one of his memorable albums ‘Zombie’ (released in 1976), which he used successful to ridicule the then military bandits in power.
Then, on February 18th, 1977, military personnel numbering about one thousand stormed his Kalakuta Republic (residence), and almost beat him to death, while his 79 year-old mother was thrown from a story building, during the barbaric invasion.
It must be recollected here regrettably, that the savage injuries, which the late Mrs. Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti (one of the notable fighters for Nigeria’s independence) received from the ‘unknown soldiers’ ultimately contributed to her death on the 13th of April 1978.
The firebrand, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who raged furiously, in that extraordinary musical track, branded the military predators, zombies because they were behaving like engineered robots in their brutal activities against the hapless and helpless Nigerian masses.
And it is one of the cruelest tragedies of modern history that the majority of Nigerians have been turned or are being transformed into zombies in their own country, in the name of electoral process cum political governance.
It is a horrible irony of fate that a country with so much promises of greatness at independence in 1960, has been run aground by a wicked succession of political lunatics and bandits, who have presented themselves via military and democratic rule.
This is how the enemies of Nigeria have ruined and ruled Nigeria over the years with exceptional deficiency. Sadly Nigeria today is a macabre example of sovereign degeneration that is marked by incredible decisions of grandeur, callousness and caprice.
This is a graphic illustration of how not to administer people in the name of democracy.
For a people who have been flogged, bastardized and left to rot in the arena of geographical paradise, such as the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the current sentiments being expressed by a cross section of Nigerian youths cum electorates, for a particular presidential candidate, is very understandable and equally instructive.
It simply because Nigerian political elites have become like poison running through the political terrain and transformed themselves into deadly snakes thrashing around in our democratic bag, desperately looking for every opportunity to bite the people in the name of fraudulent electoral process, that a rational accommodation of reasonable political consciousness has enveloped the youths.
Because the elitist politicians have succeeded in bulldozing the Electoral Act in Nigeria, that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are now daring our people with old political cargoes like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, that we must break free from the iron grip of godfathers.
The point must be made here that the political elites are the same in all the geopolitical zones of the country; they are for themselves and by themselves all the time; they are never interested in the mass of the people.
Therefore, the current ongoing political consciousness cum mass mobilization towards 2023 Presidential Elections is unsurprising and inevitable; and it is an idea which time has come.
Why would l not describe the level of systemic political cum democratic denials, assaults and injustices unleashed on the Nigerian voters, as zombification, when and where voters are rendered useless or invalid in the nitty gritty of selecting their representatives, such as was horrendously showcased during the last party primaries of the two most dangerous and corrupt political parties (APC/PDP) in Nigeria?
A situation where genuine electorates and more qualified aspirants are being treated as zombies in the democratic process and space, is an unacceptable affront, capable of spelling doom for our most cherished nation.
It is like poking bloody hands into our eyes at day light. It is nothing but classical zombiesm in our country when people cannot not have their ways within the political parties, and during primaries and general elections; it is zombifying the electors in a crude scenario where they have become like walking corpses (severely hunger-stricken), whose votes cannot determine the outcome of an election, like what shamelessly came to play during the recent governorship election in Ekiti State due to vote-buying.
The savaging, ravaging and appalling systematic zombification of the Nigerian people by the elitist politicians, rendering them unable to operate fully, freely and conscientiously in determining the direction, position and destiny of the democratic reality in Nigeria, has finally led to the emergence of Peter Obi who is fast becoming the poster guy for the political revolution coming in February 2023.
The fabric of electoral manipulations in Nigeria must be changed this time around. We must reanimate ourselves as bonafide stakeholders in our democratic business and prove to the legendary wreckers and destroyers of Nigeria’s greatness and our collective patrimony, that we can no longer allow religion, ethnicity or tribalism to divide and retard us.
We must stand and move in one accord; we must not allow the elitist politicians to intimidate or cow our preferred Presidential Candidate into submission, with the instrumentality of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCB) or any other repressive agency for that matter.
We must be prepared to storm, strike or pull down whatever barriers or road blocks that might be placed on our route to our electoral Eldorado in 2023.
Yes, we have been zombified because we allowed it; our voting pattern must be altered this time around; we must be prepared to erupt into uncontrollable rage and anger, if any foul play is reenacted or activated on the forth-coming electoral turf.
Never must we allow our oppressors to open another river to feed the sea of their known electoral malpractices or manipulations.
The insanity of vote-buying in our system is mind boggling, and the fact that it contradicts common sense and the established Electoral Act in our clime, we must do everything within and beyond our powers, to use our voters cards to reclaim the state for the benefit of all, come February 2023 Presidential Elections.
There are ways for the political bandits to remain perpetually in power, without spitting on the faces of democratic and constitutional conscious electorates! We must rise, defeat and conquer this tiny set of individuals who have been using our commonwealth to hold us down.
We must continue to make ourselves the fundamental principle for real change. I leave us with the immortal words of Fredrick Douglas, the famous abolitionist and defender of Black rights in the United States. According to the legendary fiery socio political activist:
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon man, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress”.
Nowinta wrote: Where We Are – A Call For Democratic Revolution In Nigeria.
