In the history of elections in Nigeria, I had never seen where guns were freely and brazenly used by police and political thugs to disrupt elections as seen in parts of Kogi state yesterday. In all honesty, I am really shocked and worried by these shameless acts.
I saw desperation walking on all fours, even as citizens, at personal risks made effort to exercise their franchise. Unfortunately, some young Kogites who mustered courage and stayed back to protect their votes were gruesomely killed.
Sadly, leaders no longer emerge via the ballot, but bullet, harassment, intimidation and outright rigging as seen in Kogi state yesterday. This is a grand low for our nascent democracy, an indication that we’ve not imbibed time-tested and approved tenets of constitutional democracy.
What transpired in Kogi in the last 24 hours should worry anyone who truly wants the best for Nigeria. It was black Saturday for humanity, as desperate politicians acted more like wild animals in their quest to retain power. Little wonder the rest of the world hardly take us serious each time we say we are practicing democracy.
It is a sad commentary that critical institutions like security agencies, INEC, media and CSOs that are meant to ensure the sanctity of the electoral process are colluding with desperate politicians to mess up the system.
~ Queen Saphy
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