“The
voice of the people is the voice of God”, says the popular adage. This no doubt
has over the years proved to be very true. This voice can either be that of
blacks or whites, majority or minority, or the voice for or against a motion.
In
a democratic society, the voice of the majority is often generally believed to
be the voice of God whispered via the ballot box. This scenario though is one
that has raised many questions still longing for answers. This is because discerning
the voice of God between the voice of the majority and that of the minority is
often a difficult task.
The
majority must always have their way amidst the opinions of the minority which
is often ignored. Majority and minority groups exist in every democratic
society. They exists either on ethnic, political party, religious, racial or
opinion lines.
Politics
in Nigeria over the years has been one beclouded by sentiments and bias on all
sort. Little wonder why everything is believed to be taking a turn from good to
bad and gradually from bad to worst. Ethno-religious partisan politics take the
place of objectivity, truth, fairness and accountability. Singing the praise of
ills and wrongdoings for favors substitute objective and constructive
criticisms. How then can the voice of the people portrayed as the majority be
the voice of God amidst the aforementioned evens, when He (God) can also speak
through the minority as well?
However,
continuous lingering of ethno-religious sentiments as part of politicking
within the country will be of no resort as it will ensure the country remains
stagnated in virtually all areas. A foundation wrongly laid will lead to a
collapsed system. A look away from the general activities of individuals into
that of the various political parties accounts for nothing quite different as
most of them to this dark path.
In
the words of John Mason, “majority rule is not always right”. Why? You may be
forced to ask. Always remember that the general outcome of elections is not
solely the end product reflected via the ballot box, but the summation of all
the various stages of the electioneering process summed up together. The
antecedence in all electioneering process which climax into the emergence of a
four years single term of an administration begins with intra-party activities
from the declaration of interest by various aspirants to party primaries. If
the choice of flag bearers by political parties are hastily or carefully done
in a biased way, the electorate will be presented with no alternative than
making a difficult decision of choosing between “the beast” and “the devil”,
rather than choosing between “between” and “the beast”.
Bias
and sentiments of all sorts must be totally eliminated or reduced to the barest
minimum within political parties and the entirety of politicking within the
country. This will not just ameliorate intra and inter party activities, but
will also help improve the outcome of elections. Intra-party activities to a
large extent influence the general outcome of elections as it serves as the
building block upon which electoral decisions are made.
The
voice of the people will always remain the voice of God. But we must let Him
speak rightly through us and not speaking for Him out of our own selfish
desires. A society devoid of ethno-religious sentiments will not just aid the
right choice of leaders, but also enhance growth and development in all
ramifications. It is appalling to come to terms with the fact that we look at
the developed nations and applaud the way in which they do ordinary things in
extraordinary ways, but we fail to follow in such light. If things must get
better, we must desist from doing things the same old way that yielded little
positive result, because doing things the same way will yield the same result.
Quit
saying “he/she is not my tribe/religion”, rather choose to ask “is he/she the
right person for the job?” To move ahead and stay ahead we must keep aside all
forms of sentiments, focus on what is right, do what is right and go for what
is right at all place and at all times. Development doesn’t fall from the sky;
it comes along with our decisions and action.
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