20,000 NAIRA

Image Credit: INEC

With the way EVERYBODY on my friend list is advocating that EVERYONE should get their PVC’s, I am beginning to wonder “Who are those who haven’t really registered since everyone is saying everyone should go and register?”

While I am convinced that voting is a civil right and an obligation, I do not think that the battle for a greater Nigeria begins with PVC. No Sires and Mas.

No nation has been made great by the power of PVC alone and in fact, no nation started its journey to greatness through the ballot. Check all of history, the ballot was the last to do after all the other steps have been taken. With or without PVC, a whole nation becomes so great that it becomes a world power. China, on my mind.

In 2015, a lot of people got their PVCs and voted for another calamity. Right from the onset, Buhari did not satisfy the criteria to be a great President, Goodluck Jonathan too did not but we deceived ourselves that we needed, by fire by force, one among the two failed leaders. Because it was all about PVC, we didn’t ask the right questions. We didn’t probe them. We didn’t make them value us. They only valued our PVCs.

What’s the use when they value our PVCs but do not value us?

Well, that’s because we showed that the only thing we have is PVC. We are still showing them that.

Moreso, most of the advocates of getting-your-PVC especially among religious circles and tribal groups have a religious inclination and tribal bigotry attached to the announcement. The churches are saying we should get the PVC so that we can vote a Christian and the Muslims are saying we should get the PVC so that we can vote a Muslim. In all of the discussion, Nigeria is lost. Isn’t it still the continuation of the status quo? Backwardness and mediocrity thrive.

We have campaigned hard to make people get their PVC, we have not campaigned hard to make getting PVC easier. We have campaigned hard to make people get their PVC, we have not worked hard to PRODUCE a candidate that will get the job done (notice the word PRODUCE). We have campaigned hard to make people get their PVC, we have not invested so much in educating the electorates.

Towards the end of last year, some of my friends came to me that they were looking for PVCs. That 20,000 will be given for each PVC. You sure know what I did to them. However, they got plenty of PVCs from other sources.

These same people that suffered to get their PVCs were willing to sell it for just 20,000 Naira. That’s the total value of a PVC in Nigeria. Nothing more. You cannot guess how many PDP and APC will buy with our looted funds.

What am I trying to say?

We should spend more time enlightening people on their right. We should spend more time educating people on their values as human beings. We should spend time and resources empowering people with the knowledge of what ought to be. We should spend time educating the masses that they too have the right to be voted for. We should teach that the vote is a byproduct of being a citizen and not citizenship itself. We should teach that we can really commence change without waiting for PVC. We should teach that we can move the nation to be our side even before we reach 18. We should teach that we are entitled to a good government and that we should recall anybody that does not adhere. We should about how we can make the politicians do our bidding.

If only we can teach the right things, I assure you, we would not be talking about PVC. We are talking about PVC because we haven’t done the right things, we haven’t done the right education.

Educate the people well and we wouldn’t even wait for 2019, we will take out any stalwart party and commence the change WE WANT.

I know the power of a vote, but I also know the power when an individual discovers how much power he controls just for being a human being.

Please, get your PVC.