By Comrade Nosakhare Toluwalase Ogbomo
The recently concluded Rivers State local government election was not just a political event — it was a national embarrassment. What unfolded was not democracy in action, but a carefully choreographed selection process masquerading as an election. The outcome was predetermined, the process manipulated, and the people silenced.
This disgraceful episode is a symptom of a deeper illness plaguing Nigeria’s democratic institutions. The very bodies entrusted with safeguarding our democracy — INEC and the Judiciary — now appear to be the weapons fashioned against it. Instead of defending the will of the people, they have become complicit in its erosion.
We are entering an era where elections may soon become mere formalities, stripped of meaning and legitimacy. The level of electoral malpractice in Nigeria today is not just alarming — it is top-tier corruption, executed with precision and impunity. And what’s more disturbing? No one dares to confront it. The silence is deafening. The fear is palpable. The consequences are devastating.
Nigeria is gradually degenerating — not just politically, but morally and institutionally. And Nigerians — resilient, hopeful, yet weary — are watching patiently, as if waiting for a miracle in a land where miracles are being legislated out of reach.
But silence is not neutrality. It is surrender. And we must not surrender.
The Rivers election should serve as a wake-up call. It is time for every citizen, every activist, every patriot to rise and demand accountability. Democracy is not a gift from the powerful — it is a right of the people. And when that right is trampled, we must speak, we must act, and we must resist.
Let this newsletter be a rallying cry. Let it echo in every corner of our nation:
Nigeria deserves better. Nigerians deserve better. And the time to reclaim our democracy is now — or never.
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