I arrived the INEC headquarters to pick up my PVC at about 7am in the morning. It was an utter mess. Over three thousand people were already standing around to enter the INEC building. There was an abject absence of order. The INEC officials didn't seem to care because none of them, and I mean absolutely no INEC official came to address the crowd. Not on where to queue up, not on who to talk to. Not even on where to take a piss. Women backed babies in the early morning cold. A chill wind blew as the sky threatened to pour down rain. I waited, mortified. What was happening. Why wasn't there any order?
I walked around, not even sure what direction I was supposed to be headed. I ran into some volunteer youth corpers and asked them for the line I was supposed to be queuing up on. I explained to them I had already registered online and just needed to capture. They had no idea what was going on either. One of them told me to just hang around. Another corper told me to forget about whatever it was I did online and just start over with my registration. I was expected to queue to get a number that I would then use to enter the INEC premises. And so that's what I did.
It was Madness and maddening. Imagine if you can, thousands of people eager to register to vote, only none of them knew where to go, how to start, who to talk to, who to trust, how long to wait, who was next... you get the idea. To distract my mind I decided to conduct a personal survey. I started asking the people in my immediate vicinity for thier basic information, particularly name, tribe and religion. 8 out of the 10 people I talked to were Christian. 6 out of the 10 were of Southern origin. And 5 out of the 10 were Igbo. All Igbos present were out to vote for only one candidate; Peter Obi. 2 of the other non Igbo Christians were also out to vote for Peter Obi, while one was in support of Atiku. The two remaining Muslims were voting for Atiku as well. My little survey sparked some conversation amounsgt onlookers, and soon several people joined in. I was told that just the day before, 6 out of every 10 persons coming out to register to vote were Igbo. And 9 out of every 10 people coming out to vote were Christian. They also added that about 85% of every single person that came out to register came out for Peter Obi.
"How can you be sure," I asked.
"When the sun starts to slap people registering for the PVCs, only the OBIedients will remain. The rest will go. Atiku can't seem to inspire people to wait under the sun for him."
"How about Tinubu." I asked.
" Tinubu can't seem to inspire people to drive down here for him. The very few here that support him are too ashamed to say his name out loud. '
And so I paid close attention as volunteers started doing the work INEC officials refused to do. It was a fascinating thing to watch. Truely, about 90% of people who registered where Christian. But where were all the other religions? Isn't Abuja supposed to be 50 percent Muslim? I was perplexed by the lack of diversity. Somone said Northerners, particularly Nothern Muslims, had since completed thier registration. They did so much earlier. Southerners and Northern Christians, on the other hand, seem to have been waiting for the presidential primaries to conclude first before deciding if voting would be worth thier while. This seems to be the modus operandi of the south. It's not that the south doesn't have the voting numbers, it's that before the emergence of Peter Obi the south never cared to give its time. In western societies studies show that educated people participate in elections far more than uneducated people. However this isnt nessesarily true for we in the developing world. Educated people participate in elections to a greater degree so far as the society is safe and conducive for such participation. And so since Nigeria is unsafe and uncondusive, participation is extremely low amounsgt its middle and upper class citizenry, and relatively high amousgt its uneducated. When the middle and upper class do participate in the electoral process, they do so only withen safe neighborhoods... but I digressed...
The crowd soon became too much for the few volunteers to handle, and not before long I was called upon. Perhaps it was due to my little survey. Perhaps it was due to the small crowd gathered around me, for whatever reason I was asked to assist in coordinating the large and growing crowd. I accepted. It was the least I could do to help. I was giving several sheets of paper and a pen. A bottle of water to quench my thirst, and a slap on the back.
Nigerians truely are a nightmare to manage. Now I understand why international airlines have very little patience for our people. But I soon realized a method to literally keep Nigerians in a straight line. Nigerians are not motivated by consequences. We are motivated by reward. It is perhaps why we will break every traffic rule to get to a foreign embassy dressed in our best suits, speaking our most polished accents, and being on our best behaviour. We don't fear the stick. We fear losing the carrot. Another thought occurred to me. Nigerians are far more willing to endure the stick than enjoy the elusive carrot, and this latter point really touches on leadership. A man who raises the stick is a man who has failed to inspire. Rulers love to use sticks. How else can they get people to do what they want. Leaders employ the carrot. And then I looked around me. At the massive crowd, ever growing. The sun was now scolding hot. Nobody appeared to be phased by it. From 7am to 6pm people remained at the INEC office, sunburned. Tired. But OBIdient.
