Commercialisation of Nomination Forms in Nigeria; 'a game for wealthy people'

"The conditions for contesting elections from local government to the House of Assembly , Governorship, House of Representative, Senate, and Presidential levels are all in the constitution. There are decisions of the court to the effect that the Independent National Electoral Commission and State Electoral Commissions cannot collect fees from candidates who are contesting elections"-[Falana; 'I May Sue Political Parties Over Nomination Fees'; Punch, June 17, 2018]. Photo: Google

Commercialisation of nomination forms by political parties only help the election of 'anointed kings'; excludes poor people from the electoral process and promotes 'god fatherism'. Prohibitive rules simply restrict the participation in the contest of an election to money bags and mocks the recent  publicised 'Not Too Young To Run Bill'. We have seen the nomination prices for the two dominant political parties in Nigeria. APC Presidential nomination form is N55million naira and PDP is N12million naira, whereas the national minimum wage is N18000.00 naira. The young people would never have a fair chance of participating in the process, the whole idea is limiting their participation to voting and thuggery for anointed kings in their own country. They prefer to bribe them with recharge cards to unleash attack on dissent voices and professionals working very hard to free them from modern day slavery/colonisation in their own country. The entire system simply works for the few, a master plan for oppression and control instead of human freedom. It's very hard to imagine what more evidence is needed when we describe democracy crisis in Nigeria as deliberate, avoidable, ''ill-thought out manouevres'' aimed at disenfranchising a greater part of the population that represents its future. Now is the time for change as this dysfunctional system has failed to provide the answer to our collective future. Democracy is best served if it's inclusive, but this doesn't seem to be the case in Nigeria. In the words of late Kofi Annan, "any society that does not succeed in tapping the creativity and energy of its youths will be left out". In the 21st century, it's the young people who possess new ideas, skills and innovation to drive the society not out of touch politicians who are yet to give up the crude old trade of politics. It's very obvious that politics in Nigeria lack application of reason, still driven by short-termism , ruthless pursuit of self-interests and  unwilling to let individuals have freedom, without which human life would continue in its miseries. The current system is immoral, and deprives its population the right to participation which is very essential to the future. This is a real divide to protect the few who have held the country hostage for a long time. In Nigeria only wealthy candidates prevail in politics. This should a great cause for concern. In the golden age, this is no longer acceptable. The trend now is empowering people not discrimination or exclusion. In the words of Alec Ross; "there's great shame for society and its leaders when a life is made less what it could be because of lack of opportunities".

Uche Okeke is a Social Entrepreneur, the Founder of The LEAD Project Foundation. He's the author of  'Bribe &Bullet:  Nigeria's Democracy And Its Crisis Deliberate, Avoidable. What Can Be Done About It.