Penultimate Saturday, the Justice, Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos organised a 50,000-man rally to sensitise Nigerians on the general election. Senior Correspondent, ONYEWUCHI OJINNAKA, who was part of the rally, writes.
The rally, which was led by the Director, JDPC, Lagos Archdiocese, Rev Fr. Raymond Anoliefo, took off from St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, through Mobolaji Bank-Anthony Way to Ikeja under bridge by Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), to Ikeja by Awolowo Way, to Olowu Street and terminated at St Leo’s Catholic Church, Toyin Street, Ikeja.
Members of JDPC from various parishes in the archdiocese participated in the rally. They carried banners with inscriptions such as ‘2015 Elections – Our Chance for Unity’, ‘No Rigging’, ‘No Violence’, ‘No to Ethnic and Religious Politics’, and ‘Vote Wisely’.
During the rally, Nigerians were educated on what they should do on election day. The electorate were advised to arrive early at the polling centres on election day, as voting processes commence at 8am. They were made to know that they will pass through the accreditation process.
JDPC’s message is for the electorate to stay around after voting to ensure that their votes are counted, ensure that duly-certified results are openly announced at the polling centre by the presiding officer. The imperative of voting wisely and never offering votes in exchange of cups of rice, salt or even money was emphasised.
Fielding questions from journalists at the end of the rally, Fr. Anoliefo said that JDPC is preaching peace and unity of the nation. He made reference to the inscriptions on the posters, stressing that Nigeria needs peace and unity to survive.
“We want a united Nigeria. There are some Obiora guys who live in Yola; there is an Usman who lives in Bayelsa; there is Chinedu who lives in Maiduguri, and there is Ahmed, Abubakar and Mohammed who live in Lagos,” Anoliefo said.
According to him, Nigerians are interfaced everywhere, canvassing that we should emphasise on what keeps us together rather than on what tears us apart. The message of JDPC, he said, is basically one Nigeria. Nigerians are tired of picking holes, he added.
Reiterating the charge to Nigerians to vote wisely by the Vicar General of Ikeja Catholic Deanery, Monsignor John Aniagwu, the cleric advised Nigerians to vote for the person who is genuinely interested in leading the country, who is genuinely interested in being a servant leader and not who is coming there to satisfy either what his party wants or what he himself wants.
On political campaigns
The JDPC director said the group is not satisfied with the way political parties are carrying on their campaigns, adding that it is for the same purpose of dissatisfaction that the rally was organised. “It is to tell the political class that they can do better,” he said, noting that the parties signed a peace treaty but overnight, they abandoned the treaty with name-calling and all other political gimmicks.
“They call it political jingoism. So enough of that. Enough of mudslinging, enough of name-calling. We want them to be serious with Nigerians. We want them to take Nigerians seriously. We want them to come out and tell us exactly what they want to do with us and not coming to bring one party down. We want to know really what they have on the table and that is what we are waiting for,” he stressed.
On INEC
On whether JDPC has confidence on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he maintained that if political parties give INEC a chance and play by the rules as stipulated in the electoral Act, INEC will be fully ready to deliver, positing that his group has confidence that the commission will deliver on its words.
“Their (INEC officials) word is their bond and so we are going to hold them accountable. That is why also we are election observers. We will be there on the field that day to observe what the electoral officers, INEC and the rest will be doing and we will be there to see if they will play by the rules as well. We are there to observe; but we believe INEC should be able to deliver on its words,” he expressed.
His message to Nigerians is to give peace a chance for unity. “Let us allow peace to reign. No rigging, no violence. They should vote wisely.”
He urged everybody to come out en masse to vote, trusting that with God, all things are possible.
Also speaking, Apapa deanery coordinator of JDPC, Bright Ago, said the essence of the rally was to create awareness and tell Nigerians that there is no need for violence, that they have the right to vote in as much as they are Nigerians.
“The essence is to make the election real for Nigeria, we are not partisan. We stand on the side of voting and voting wisely,” Ago said.
His advised, especially, the youths to shun violence – before, during and after elections, regretting that the youth are always involved in violence, while people seeking elective positions relax in their homes.
Ago appealed to the youths not allow anybody use them to foment trouble after elections, charging them to know their rights.
Speaking on the conduct of elections, Ago expressed optimism that it will be credible, believing that the security agents will be on ground to forestall any looming fracas. He appealed to Nigerians to come out without fear or favour to vote for their rightful choice, adding that security must be ensured during the elections.
Observer status
JDPC, as usual, has been credited by INEC to observe the conduct of the elections. According to Ago, “We will follow it up on the election day until the result is announced. We will be at the polling station, we will be at the counting centre, and we remain observers until the election is concluded. Our main job will be according to INEC guidelines.”
The Media Affairs Officer of JDPC, Chike Chude, expressed delight over the success of the rally, saying that JDPC wants to be participant in the process. He faulted the way political parties carry out their campaigns, positing that the parties are not campaigning responsibly.
Chude said, “You know that all is not well with this country, and the way this electoral campaigns are being conducted tells you what to expect. Unfortunately, the political class has so much heated up the polity that primordial and parochial sentiments like religion have come to the front-burner of Nigerian politics.”
Instead of discussing issues and ability of individuals to deliver promises to the people, they have relegated all of these issues and elevated ethnicity and religion to be front burner, he said, adding that the trend is very dangerous, hence JDPC organised the rally to create the right kind of awareness to enlighten and sensitise the people, to tell them that it is time ‘we set an agenda for the political class and not allow them to dictate the pace on the direction of our nation’.
He urged Nigerians to exercise their civic rights by voting the candidate of their choice.