Weekly Column: Election year
By Omordia, Efe – An election year is regarded by a large population of Nigerians (especially impoverished ones) as a year of tremendous uplifting, blessing as well as elevation. This is because it is a period that good things happen. Politicians who hitherto where inaccessible, mean and indifferent suddenly become much nicer and really really generous individuals. They leave their stately mansions and state of the arts cars to embark on door-to-door political evangelism. Like missionaries they seek converts but unlike missionaries they are ready to use really persuasive means to get followers. However, their converts are not moved by the spirit, they seek tangible rewards and they get easily distracted by giving their souls to the highest bidder. If one looks closely at faces in a political rally organized by a political party one would be sure to see the same faces at another political rally organized by another political party. Loyalty is not a virtue for either the convener or the attendee. The convener often rents a crowd and the attendee obliges but that doesn’t stop him or her from hanging out with any other group that is interested. One minute you see him/her lifting a broom, at the next, an umbrella or any other symbol chosen by the political party is lifted with equal enthusiasm. However, at the end of the day like the woman of easy virtue who wakes up in a cold bed and realizes that her client has gone back to the warm and welcoming arms of the spouse, the political prostitute realizes that the Hand-outs that were collected are nothing but a mirage in the harsh reality of the exigencies of day-to-day living.
