EDITORIAL: Let Nigeria Be!

As Nigerians get ready to go to the polls to elect a new president for the country, the polity has been so heated that palpable tension has enveloped Nigeria's political landscape. Right thinking Nigerians are more than concerned about what will become of a post-election Nigeria.

Politicians have inadvertently heightened the political tension in the country and have continued to create room for possible post-election violence. Never in the political history of the country has electioneering campaigns been dominated this much by hate speeches, threats to violence, inciting utterances and provocative media adverts and documentaries.

Although the political parties have pledged violence-free elections, some of the utterances

of party supporters are less than desirable, giving the impression that the results

of the yet to be conducted elections are already determined.

Such statements from individuals claiming victory for a yet to be conducted elections are condemnable not just because they underestimate the role of the electorate in the election process, but are suggestive of an election whose result is already known. Moreover, such claims of victory are a disaster waiting to happen because they could spark post election

violence if the election result goes contrary to their expectations.

It is still fresh in the minds of Nigerians, how a statement credited to one of the presidential candidates today, in the build-up to the 2011 general elections degenerated to widespread crisis that engulfed the nation, and to an extent linked to the formation of Boko Haram, the terror group currently holding the country hostage.

Democracy affords every Nigerian the right and freedom to belong to any political party, and vote any candidate of their choice. And therefore, it would be undemocratic, unconstitutional and unacceptable to intimidate, injure or kill any person because he or she voted for a political party or candidate of his or her choice.

Nigerians should be worried about the aftermath of this election. Post-election violence cannot do any person any good in this country. Many Nigerians have huge investments across the country which they cannot expose to destruction. Besides, Nigerians have expressed their oneness by getting involved in inter-ethnic and tribal marriages.

Nigeria cannot afford another war, not after the harrowing 30-month civil war in which the country lost hundreds of thousands of her citizens. Nigeria should not break-up through war; it's not an option. Peaceful co-existence remains the credible option. And this is the only way Nigeria can be. 

NOTE: This Editorial was published before the March 28, 2015 Presidential/NASS elections...