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DALM | February Elections and Valentine’s Day

Diary Adventures of LagosMums: DALM | February Elections and Valentine’s Day

february elections and valentine's dayWhat do the february elections and valentine’s day have in common this year? They share the same date. Everyone is talking about the elections this year and for once the usual hula balu over Valentines’s day is drowned out because the elections shares the world famous Valentine’s date. Usually by now eatries and couples are looking forward to the frenzy of dinner reservations to celebrate lover’s day. Lagosians sure know how to go all out on Valentine’s day! See this picture here of lovers in the pool.

This year is different as the questions being asked are not “what are you doing for valentine’s day” rather the questions are “are your voting”? “have you collected your PVC”? “are you in the Country”? “Who are you voting for”? “Is your child home from school”?. I have seen an emerging categorisation of  people that fall into different groups as relates to the upcoming elections.

  • Stay and sit put – These are the people who are staying in Nigeria, have stocked up their homes with food and other needs and do not plan to step out of their house that day to vote. They are planning on sitting it out at home and be part of the voting only by watching it unfold on television. Some of those in this group are trying to play it safe as they are not sure if there will be violence or not. As a result they have voted to stay indoors to be safe.
  • Stay and be counted – These are the model citizens fulfilling their civic duty. These people have registered, have their PVC card in hand and are ready to join the voting lines to cast their vote. They want to ensure that their vote is counted as we usher in the next set of leaders for Nigeria.
  • Travel out – These are the people who are uncertain about the safety of the Country that they are planning to travel out, wait till all is calm before returning to Nigeria. Some people have shutdown their businesses for the month of February because of the fear of the uncertainty of what could happen before and after the elections.
  • No PVC – This is the camp that is quite upset, they have gone through the trouble of registering and do not yet have their PVC (trouble because some people did go through a lot before they were able to successfully register). They are hoping that they do indeed get this card before the 14th to be able to cast their vote.
  • Happy with no valentines day – This is the group that is happy that they can save their money this Valentine’s day as no one plans to be sitting in a restaurant in the name of Valentine’s day when elections are ongoing.
  • Praying Group – This is the group that is praying hard for the future of Nigeria, some people say “Nigeria is on the brink”. There are prayers for free and fair elections, violence free elections and for the best choice of leaders emerging. Everyone really should fall under the praying group as we need to pray across all these areas. A stable healthy Nigeria is a must for all citizens to thrive in. Those that travel will need to return, those that stay need it to be safe, those that vote want their votes to actually be counted in a free and fair elections.

Whatever your stance and your position on the February elections, we should all pray for peace and no violence as we choose our next set of leaders in this Country! “Arise O Compatriots” 

photo source: web.mit.edu
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