Tough On Thugs

ELECTIONS present the best
opportunities for candidates to say the
worst things about their opponents.
Threats and counter threats appear to be
the only selling points of most
candidates. We are seeing more threats
as people jostle for space in the
governorship elections in Ekiti (June) and
Osun (August).
These are preludes to the preparations
for the bigger ones, the 2015 elections.
In Ekiti, the earliest practising pitch, a
party secretariat has been torched,
possibly at the level of intra-party
feuding. Nothing stops opposing parties
from pulling that stunt. All seems to be
fair in the war they call politics.
Worries about who becomes governor, to
some, are more important than what
happens to the States, and the larger
society. We are again seeing the
damaging threats that precede elections.
In 2011, there were thrAeats of the
country being ungovernable if certain
people did not win the elections. Actors
in the States are adopting the same
approach, from rancourous primaries to
campaigns themed on what has not been
done, rather than what candidates intend
to do.
Thugs are back in business. They have no
reason to relent from a profitable
venture. Instead of punishing the thugs
who destroyed lives and property during
the 2011 elections, government assumed
responsibility for the losses by paying
compensations to the victims. It is
instructive that nobody was punished for
the riots that swept through many States.
Some political leaders had openly
promised trouble if certain candidates did
not win.
Last year while handing out cheques to
victims of election violence, Governor
Babangida Aliyu of Niger State said, "Let
me take this opportunity to call on the
political class in this country to exercise
utmost caution and high sense of
responsibility in all our actions and
utterances before, during and after
elections."
Mobs act on some people's behalf. They
are equipped, they are fed, they are paid,
they are drunk on their principals' violent
utterances, and most importantly, they
are assured the law would not
inconvenience them. We cannot excuse
murderers and arsonists because they act
for politicians. Duplicity in treating
electoral offences makes sanctions unjust
and unjustifiable.
Every Nigerian has a right to lawful
contention for power. Every Nigerian has
rights to legitimate alliances to access
power under the constitutional provisions
on freedom of association. We must avoid
being so consumed about winning
elections that we set the country on fire.
Laws guide our country. Those who aspire
to lead – and their supporters – must
eschew threats in their ambitions. They
should be telling Nigerians how their
leadership would improve Nigeria.
The country has gone through enough
violence since 2010. Voters should punish
those who threaten the peace by not
electing them.