11 Action Points for Election 2011

It is no longer news that Nigerians will go to the polls in April, to elect new leaders – President/Vice President, legislators, governors, etc. Due to the problems with the existing Voters’ Register, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct a 2-week registration exercise from this weekend, January 15, to January 29. I think the following action points may be of help:

1. The first thing to do may be to decide where you’ll be at the time of elections, and register close to that location. For example, if your office is far away from your home, it is best to register where you live. Remember that elections take place during the weekend (April 2, 9 and 16) and movement may be restricted.

2. When you’ve decided where you’ll be (or at least where you think you will be), search for the identification document(s) you’ll need to register. INEC requires your “birth or baptismal certificate; national passport or national identity card; driver’s licence or any other document that will prove the identity, age and nationality of the person“. For instance, if your international passport is your preferred identification document but it’s going to be with an embassy around that time, have your driver’s license ready. If your driver’s license has expired, search for your birth certificate or renew your license immediately.

3. Locate the nearest polling booth to your residence or where you’ll be on election dates. You can visit the EiE Nigeria website, contact a political party secretariat, go to the nearest local government office and/or watch out for voter education programmes by INEC and others on radio and television.

4. You can also watch out for alternative methods of identifying polling stations that will be announced by independent organisations such as Enough is Enough Nigeria. For example, it could be possible to send text messages to dedicated numbers that will respond with location information, hotlines you can call, voter registration drives, etc.

5. Since the registration centre is close to your residence, please try to locate the centre physically beforehand. Remember that in certain areas of Lagos, for example, addresses may be difficult to find – especially when you need them the most.

6. Call your friends, colleagues, enemies and relatives who stay close to you with the information that you have. If they don’t reside in the same area as you, ask them to do what you have done. Follow up between January 15 and 29 to ensure that everyone you know — including every Facebook friend and twitter follower — registers.

7. The day before you register, ensure you have your identification documents and camera (or camera-enabled phone) to hand.

8. On the day of registration, try and go for the exercise in groups for solidarity and other reasons.

9. Take pictures of your friends while registering, and make sure they take pictures of you while you’re registering. Why don’t you take a group picture holding up your registration cards? That will encourage other young Nigerians who see the picture to register.

10. Post the pictures to Facebook. Comment on your pictures and others’. Tweet about your experience. Whatever else you do, have fun registering to express your voting rights.

11. Remember that registration is only R in the RSVP process. Get ready to Select credible candidates, Vote on election days, and Protect your votes.

This is 2011, our votes will count!

Courtesy Gbenga Sesan via EnoughisEnough

Get Registered to Vote - #RSVP Part 1

It's election time folks

My dear countrymen, it's election season and it goes without saying that we've got to participate. Voter registration starts Jan 15th and ends Jan 29th. Set aside apathy and cynicism and get registered. Our collective future awaits.

INEC has issued this video to inform us about voter registration logistics. Watch and be informed.

Election Tribunal Brouhahahahaha!

Watching CNN these days stirs up great feelings of admiration for America and its democracy. More so when I see the passion in the eyes of those involved. And I don't mean in the eyes of the politicians. No, I'm talking about the man or woman in the street.

They seem to get so into in the process don't they? They follow everything… the issues, the health of the candidates, the debates, the candidates' proclivities. EVERYTHING! They seem so involved, and that's far more than I can say for myself and a great number of my countrymen.

Now don't get me wrong. I registered to vote, I voted, I rejoiced when Yar'Adua won ('cos I voted Yar'Adua, not PDP); I even admit I monitored the delivery of judgment by the presidential election tribunal. Who didn't?

Lots of people listened to the verdict on their radios and watched proceedings live on their TVs. I listened on the car radio myself while on the move (although all I vividly recall is the laughter that greeted the citing of Bush vs. Gore during the delivery of the ruling). However to be perfectly frank it was curiosity more than any real sense of involvement that kept my mind drifting from my work to the Court of Appeal Abuja.

From the beginning of the entire process, we were made to feel more like spectators than participators. There was all the talk of anointing a successor etc. Some of us had to watch our favored candidates eat humble pie at Eagle Square during the PDP primary. Then there was the campaign process which only affected me on two occasions.

The first time was when I had to veer off the road to avoid being hit by a crazy okadaman screaming "Sai Buhari!"

And the second time was when I was stuck in traffic from Independence Way to Ahmadu Bello Stadium because 'Baba' had come to hold up the hand of a man I was already supporting. (Ah ah! Babaa, ok, vote Yar'Adua. We get it – you're preaching to the choir here!)
But through the whole time that the electioneering barely grazed us, the voting almost excluded us and the announcement of votes missed us totally (did you have light?) all we could do was sit and watch.

I had observed the numerous fallouts of the OBJ-Atiku wars, I had observed the PDP infighting, and I had observed Buhari's fight with everyone. So I was only continuing my assigned (or is it resigned role) in Nigerian Politics by curiously observing the election brouhaha.

It was funny though. The morning the verdict came, security forces were all over Abuja. And rumors were spreading that Yar'Adua was on his way out of office. I didn't believe it but I must confess that the detached fatalist in me was hoping he'd lose… just to see what would happen. But now that judgment maintains the status quo I guess I'll never know.

But I'll keep watching.