THE SLOGAN FOR A LONG TIME has been “Go and get your PVC” Suddenly, PVC seems to have been invested with a supernatural wand that makes all things possible. As good as the prospect may be without the due process, acquisition of PVC will amount to nothing.  The same is true of the choice of candidates. For the 2015, the perception was that “anyone other than GEJ. Hence PMB had a fairly easy ride to Aso Rock. Now we know better. We can no longer settle for just anyone.  It is necessary to always remember that “In our haste to deal with the things that are wrong, let us not upset the things that are right.”

To get rid of Buhari, we must have in place credible alternatives. The situation on the ground presently does not show we have many alternatives to choose from. How then are we going to get rid of PMB? We may be back to one of our age old problems, we pray for our children to succeed us but we hide from them the secret of success. Many are excluded from decision making process, such that, decision about their future, are constantly made by people who will not be part of that future. Let me be clear about this, I am in no way blaming the old, many are equally victims of a cruel and dysfunctional system.

Countries after countries continue to elect young leaders, while many countries in Africa remain glued to the past with many leaders past their prime and relevance. For now, my PVC may remain unused, and I believe many others are in the same camp with me. Voting may be a choice, but not voting is also a choice, but it need not be,  vote for the incumbent, but a vote against the system that continue to foist on the people, spent and clueless leaders.

There is therefore, no alternative than to start afresh from the grassroots and groom new crops of leaders. Let them rise from their wards and show us what they can do.  The problem in many quarters is not even the absence of candidates, but the lack of accountability. Many politicians in Nigeria are thin-gods. As long as you belong to the ruling Part, no harm can touch you. No wonder many act with impunity. These people are found at all level of government and we need credible alternatives to replace them. If local leaders are credible, functional and accountable to their people, the influence of the National will be greatly reduced. We need to grow our leaders, then they will mature through the years and through discipline, but the opposite is the case.

Many analysts have told us what’s wrong with Nigeria, and how Buhari is no longer capable of rowing the ship of the nation to shore. Now, most of us know the same thing, but it is not enough. Hence someone said that “Knowing what’s wrong doesn’t make a difference. Making a difference is removing what is wrong.” PVC alone will not make a difference, if people do not have a cogent reason to use their PVCs. Let our discussions now shift to the candidates and their manifestos. We want change, but not old cargoes in different garments. We want politicians who are proactive, who can think outside the box, not spent cartridges. We want politicians who still have a stake in the future, not those who have expended their goodwill or rights to be a part of our future.  All the noise about PVC is more like putting the cart before the horse. What would the horse pull? By all means, get your PVC, then what? Whom are you going to use it for? Or will it just be another means of identification? The future is in our hands, not in any PVC. Our communities must rise up and demand to know their politicians or anyone vying to represent them. If these people are incoherent, clueless, and unsure of themselves and rely only on God-father’s influence, then they should be cast into the garbage bin of history.  Today, there are very effective ways to do this, especially through the social media. If this campaign is carried out faithfully, truants and kleptomaniacs will no longer be elected and the ship of the nation might still be kept afloat and led to safe habour.