Yiaga demands clarity
The Director of Programmes at Yiaga Africa, Mrs Cynthia Mbamalu, also said citizens must insist on issues-based campaigns and not the usual abuse and personal attacks.
She stated, “Election is the process through which we choose our leaders; people who can take charge of driving this democracy and sustainable development and this is the period for us to identify who these leaders are, but the only way to do that is by listening to the candidates.
“Nigeria’s electoral democracy must get to the point where conversations are beyond primordial sentiments like ethnic, religious or regional biases and attacks on personalities or hate speech. We need campaigns to be driven by issues affecting the country and there are many of such issues. For example, we need candidates who have a clear plan on how to promote the rights of women and gender inclusion in their government. Only politicians who engage on these issues deserve the votes of the people.
“Beyond telling us what they will do, we want to know how they will do it; I mean a clear road map. We want to see the ‘how’ in these campaigns, whether it is unemployment or education, in terms of strikes, increasing number of out-of-school children and other issues, how will they address these issues? We want to know how, not just we will do it.”
She said citizens needed to set the agenda so that they would not be distracted, adding, “The next election is about the soul of this country and if we do not make the right decision to vote for the right people, we may lose our future.”