MY MESSAGE TO EDO YOUTHS FOR THE FORTHCOMING GUBERNATORIAL ELECTIONS IN THE STATE – by; Chris Eruba
My Dear Edo Youths,
In barely a month from today, you would be going out to the polls to elect your choice candidate as Governor of your dear state. Exercising your franchise to Vote for a candidate of your choice, is your right as enshrined in our constitution, and just so you know; as you have the right to vote for, you also have the right to be voted for. Now ask yourself, are you not good enough and qualified to also be voted for as Governor?
As the candidates of the various political parties contesting the governorship election in the state, come to you with their campaign promises and propaganda; its only normal that some of you, might become sentimental and supportive of one candidate and his party against the other, and as such will decide to vote for such candidate of your choice. Good and fine. At every given election, it’s only normal that a particular candidate will win your support and subsequently your vote at the polls.
If you could simply support a candidate of your choice, and vote for him on the election day peacefully, then; you have ultimately fulfilled your civic duty as a responsible citizen, contributed your quota to strengthening democracy in your state and the nation at large, and ultimately decided your future through the governance and development of your state, at least for the next 4 years of leadership, by the candidate your voted for, if perhaps he wins.
When you go to vote, I believe there are certain democratic dividends and developments you expect your candidate of choice to fulfill if eventually elected?, especially the creation of Jobs; as one of the biggest challenges facing our youths today are lack of jobs, and employment opportunities. I also believe you would want industrialization and massive infrastructural development, so that you do not have to unnecessarily migrate to other states in search of greener pastures, where you may find it hard to cope or even survive. I believe you would want an Edo that works for you, an Edo that you can be proud to call your state, an Edo where you can be gainfully employed or successfully engaged in a meaningful business or trade.
So here is the fact:
If you betray your conscience while voting, that Edo of your dream won’t come to fulfillment.
If you sell your vote, PVC, or collect money to vote for a candidate that you really didn’t want to vote for, then know it that that money you were paid for that your vote, will be the only thing you will get from the candidate, when he enters government for the next 4 years. Now ask yourself, will the money you were paid for the vote, be enough for you, for the next 4 years?
If you allow any candidate or political party to instigate you into violence, carrying of arms to attack your fellow citizens or snatching of bailout boxes to scuttle or rig elections, then know these; if you die in the process, your own ends there. You would be forgotten; the living will keep on living and enjoying life, while you rotten in your grave. Dead men don’t enjoy dividends of democracy, and even if you survive after killing, snatching ballot boxes and perpetrating all sorts of violence for a candidate or political party, you will still be dumped, whatever you were paid while carrying-out the act, will be your only benefit for the next 4 years. If you withhold the arms you were given to carry-out the dastardly act and decide to continue on the path of crime after the elections; then know that your days are numbered. The law will get you and you may die a miserable death or spend the rest of your life in jail.
So my dear Edo Youths, think before you act, think before you decide, and know what you really want before you go out to support and vote for a candidate. As a youth, you are the leader of today and not tomorrow. You are the master of your fate. Your destiny is in your hands. You are the government and therefore must be part and parcel of governance and not to be used as agents of destruction, and dumped afterwards. The power to decide who governs your state for the next 4 years is in your hands now, use it wisely.
The old politicians can’t do anything successfully without you. They will neither carry guns to perpetrate electoral violence and snatch ballot boxes nor will they send their children to do so. But they will come to you, you that they consider a disposable vessel, and if you allow yourself to be used, then; you become an accomplice to the retrogression and underdevelopment of your state. You have no one to blame but yourself, when you complain about the lack of dividends of democracy after the elections.
Vote wisely
Vote responsibly, for a better Edo.
This message is from:
Chris Eruba
A Concerned Nigerian Youth
Christophereruba2@yahoo.com
08130142059
