February 16, 2019 Election: Five Things To Keep In Mind
Another general election is upon us. We have seen how elections are conducted in Nigeria, but things can be different this time around.
Keep these things in mind as you go out on Saturday and we stand a chance to make a difference.
EAT BEFORE YOU GO OUT TO VOTE:
A hungry man is rarely a thinking man. He is often a desperate, unthinking man. Hunger has been used as a deadly weapon of warfare and manipulation. So fortify yourself against attacks from that angle. DON’T LET THEM GET YOU LIKE ESAU.
Eat at home before you go out to vote, it will give you the strenght to brave the inevitable, long queues. It will give you the fortitude to cast your vote and defend it.
And most importantly, it will help to prevent stories like “ETC was sharing bread and ATM was sharing jollof rice. So I collected the jollof rice and the rest is history”. Don’t let thay happen to you. Your franchise is your birthright. You’d be selling it cheap for a plate of jollof rice. Or even #10000.
Don’t sell your birthright for food. Eat at home!.
DON’T BE INTIMIDATED:
Don’t let anybody or a group of nameless nobodies browbeat you into casting your vote for their preferred candidate.
You will know these sets of people when you see them. Ignore them religiously.
If they confront you physically, stand your ground. State your mandate firmly. Refuse to be intimidated and posterity will thank you for it.
If you think you need help, don’t hesitate to call/shout/scream for it. As the occasion demands. It is not emasculation, it is common sense.
Don’t let anyone intimidate you and don’t stand by when someone else is being intimidated.
DON’T VOTE BASED ON RELIGIOUS, ETHNIC OR SENTIMENTAL AFFILIATIONS:
If you’re still thinking of voting a presidential candidate based on etbnic or religious affiliation rather than intellectual inclination, you deserve a 4-bedroom flat. In a cave. In the stone age. That’s where you belong!.
Resist the temptation to gravitate towards the safety of similarity in the guise of ethnic or religious affiliations.
Put a lid on your sentiments.
Use your head, not your heart.
YOUR EGO, LET IT GO:
You might have decided to vote for a candidate because your ego would be bruised otherwise. Even though you know the candidate is more of a candyman than a candidate.
Ignorance and Arrogance are two reasons people often make an obviously wrong choice.
Ignorance is a disability, not an excuse, get help if you can.
Arrogance, on the other hand, is self-imposed stupidity. Get self-help..
To help you get to your self-help station;
Acknowledge that anyone can make mistakes. Including you.
Come to grips with the fact that you have made a terrible mistake in the candidate you have chosen to support.(This is going to require that you swallow your ego. But got right ahead, you won’t choke on it)
DO THE RIGHT THING. VOTE THE RIGHT CANDIDATE.
Bury your ego before it buries you!.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO MIRROR THE MULTITUDE
Scientists have discovered empirical evidence that mirroring people, especially those around us, is a reflex action. UNTIL YOU ARE 7!.
‘I did it because everyone is doing it’ is a wonderful excuse–until you turn seven years old. It’s called hypnosis.
But once you are beyond seven, you DID IT because you CHOSE TO do it.
Don’t vote for a candidate because everyone else is voting for the candidate. You have an independent brain. Use it independently and make your own choice. It is not unheard of for the multitude to be wrong.
Above all,
Stay safe,
Stay vigilant.
Use your PVC,
And your BRAIN.
