I hope we all would have learnt some good lessons from the experience:
- That it is extremely naïve to expect a thoroughly discredited man to beat a far less discredited man in a free-and-fair presidential election in Nigeria. Nigerians have come of age and are wary of suspicious characters occupying the highest office in the land.
- Abuses, insults, relentless use of indecent language on the incumbent will not get him out of office. Neither will all kinds of negative emotions individually generated, no matter how intense.
- Developing genuine interest in politics, studying the political system with calm nerves & understanding it, registering at the right time, collecting your PVC, preparing to vote ahead of time and voting (not in Facebook polling booth) in accordance with the rules has a far better chance of getting your preferred candidate into office.
- Remembering that NUMBER is a key factor in democratic political choice making and developing and pursuing a sustainable strategy towards achieving it is vital. Whether success is achieved the first time or not, it should be constantly reviewed and fine-tuned, it will eventually achieve the desired goals.
- Understanding that good political momentum of a group for the group’s interests is achieved not in a short time but across generations. Short-term contracts are wasteful.
- Building on the genuine interest already developed, a good strategy with the sole objective of protecting the electoral process must be developed. This must be able to foresee possible trouble spots way ahead and put together a plan to neutralize them.
- Finally, sitting back and complaining, pointing accusing fingers after self-inflicted failures will equal to naught.
