By Kayode Emola

If any country can be said to waste valuable resources in conducting elections, then most African countries would be high in the rankings, with Nigeria at the top of the list. And the agony of it all is that these elections, rather than highlighting the best of the best to rule the people, just recycle the same old men who wilfully destroyed the good fortunes of the country and brought development to its knees.

Many people like me born in the 80s or earlier witnessed the presidential election in 1993, the freest and fairest election seen in Nigeria. Voters didn’t have to be bribed to vote, and there was no secret ballot: every voter queued up behind their candidate and a tally was taken.

One would have expected that as technology has evolved, so also would the voting process, creating a seamless voting system that makes it easy for the electorate to choose their candidate. In Nigeria however, the reverse is the case: the voting system continues to be increasingly complicated, consequently disenfranchising millions of people and dispossessing them of their right and civic duty to elect their representatives.

The worst scenarios are those where a political party endorses a candidate who is a criminal. Rather than the government to stonewall this, it openly supports this criminality. This has a profoundly detrimental effect on the nation, yet we are all openly happy about it. No wonder Nigeria is the way it is.

How can we plant orange pips and expect to harvest apples? We cannot elect criminals and expect a harvest of good politicians. The place for criminals ought to be the prison, yet in Nigeria they are placed in government houses. People fear the armed robbers who attack us at night with guns, but cheer the day time robbers in the government houses who attack us with pen. Yet the latter are even more fearsome, for they steal not only our present but our future and that of our children and the children yet unborn.

The first and only election in which I ever participated as an INEC ad-hoc official was the 2011 elections and it cost the government over ₦97 billion. The turnout in that election was around 30%, with majority of ballot papers unused and wasted. Today, elections in Nigeria cost nothing less than ₦200 billion, with the outcome being only the production of the highest criminals in the country.

The election process could easily be simplified and digitised, increasing the numbers of people who have the opportunity to register and vote. However, the ruling class have their own agenda, so employ their manipulative skills to create obstacles for the electorate at every stage of the electoral process.

In the UK’s most recent local council elections, held in May of this year, I didn’t even remember to vote until about 9.30pm. I quickly picked up my voting card and went straight to my polling unit – 12 minutes’ walk or two minutes’ drive – to cast my ballot. I got there at about 9.43pm, just in time, as the polls close at 10pm, and within five minutes of my arrival, I had cast my vote for my preferred candidate. The whole process was entirely stress free, because the electoral system in the UK is designed to make voting a convenience rather than an uphill battle.

If we compare the Nigeria electoral system to other advanced systems of electioneering, one is led to wonder if the people ruling us are from an ancient civilisation in the midst of this world of modern technology. Successive governments have made it increasingly difficult for voters to participate in the country’s elections, thereby disenfranchising a lot of eligible voters.

Consider Australia, where, if you fail to vote, you will be fined $20 AUD (Australian dollars) for the first time, potentially increasing to $50 AUD for subsequent transgressions. We must therefore ask; how do they know those who have voted and those who have not? The simple answer is a better electoral setup ensures that eligible voters are captured by computer, from the comfort of their own homes.

One might also look at the UK, where there is nothing like a permanent voter’s card, yet elections are hassle-free, unlike Nigeria. Once a UK resident registers to vote in the local authority area in which they live, their details remain on the database. If you move house, you simply complete a form online stating your new address, and your details are automatically transferred to the relevant local authority area.

This stands in stark contrast to our experience: queueing up in the sun for days, with no guarantee of even being able to register to vote at the end of it, where voters are not given the opportunity to either register or pre-register for the voters’ card. The UK process does not require you begging to be registered or, as is true in in some cases, bribing officials to get you on the electoral register.

Given all these barriers to securing a voters’ card, not to mention the hassle of actually casting one’s vote in Nigeria, it is unsurprising that less than 20% of the population participates in electing the criminals who rule over us. One better way would be to create a system where people can register online, upload a photo and then collect their voter’s card from their local polling unit. However, politicians have a vested interest in retaining their offices, so endeavour to keep the voting system as obstructive as possible. In this manner, the electorate are dissuaded from taking part in the voting process, making it easier for those in office to manipulate the ballot.

Even though they are aware of this deliberate sabotage on the part of the Nigerian government, the Yoruba elders have failed to stand up for a better system, and instead have allowed this poison to infect us all. If care is not taken, we will eventually all be consumed. When we hear of votes in Nigeria elections being cast by citizens of Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon, know that these immoralities occur only because we have allowed it and continue to do so.

The eligible electorate is supposed to be comprised of those citizens of a country who are resident therein. Where they reside abroad, provision can be made for diaspora voting. People’s eligibility to vote ought to be based on their home address, however, as Nigeria has no means to verify who lives where, it is near impossible to ascertain if someone truly lives where they claim to.

As we step into a new dawn over Yoruba nation, we must improve the electoral process. An electronic system will enable everyone to register to vote from the comfort of their homes. Strict monitoring, potentially including the use of geo IP, will ensure that foreigners are not illegally participating in elections that are meant for citizens alone.

Above all, those who are criminals will be given their correct address: in prison, rather than the government houses. A wise king once said, righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach. If we don’t put those who engage in criminal activity in correct position – incarcerated – then Yoruba nation is fated to be even worse than Nigeria. We must all, therefore, do whatever we can to engender an environment where no eligible voter is disenfranchised of their civic duty. Those who seek to corrupt must be quickly weeded out before they pollute the entire system. By this, hopefully, we can then implement the advice of wise King Solomon and build a righteous nation that will benefit us all.