By Ebele Orakpo

“We are growing. Whoever believed that Nigerians would move from party-based politics to personality-based politics? Parties without ideologies. I am highly impressed and really grateful to God for this paradigm shift,” said Ify as the commuter bus moved slowly in the early morning traffic.

“Yes ooo! It’s really amazing. The era when people sheepishly voted for parties irrespective of the people representing them is gone. Today, the electorate are wiser. They look at individual contestants, analyse their antecedents and what they can offer the people before voting for such people,” agreed Jide.

“Rigging was difficult this time around,” said Tim. “But some contestants were robbed of their victory and their supporters protested,” noted Mike.

“I don’t think so. People are simply bad losers who refuse to graciously accept defeat and congratulate the winner. In any case, if anyone feels he has been robbed, he can go to court and seek redress,” advised Nosa. Ify agrees, saying: “It’s a very simple matter. The guy has his representatives at every polling unit, so the easiest way to go about it is to get the certified copies of the results from each representative, collate them and tell the world the result and if it doesn’t tally with what was announced by the returning officer, he can then take it up from there. At least from the little we have seen, this INEC chairman seems to be a truthful and straightforward person”.

“And what is it I am hearing about riots in some parts of the North? Are they crazy?” asked Jide.

“My brother, I tire oo. I don’t understand what the problem is,” replied Tim. “They said they want Gen. Buhari, and they got Buhari in those states, so why are they destroying things and killing innocent people?”

“More states in the North have joined in the riots. Yobe, Adamawa, Bauchi and Borno. Churches and shops have been razed and innocent lives lost. Even the houses of the Emirs of Kano and Zauzzau and Ghali Na’Abba were torched and offices of PDP. What is all this?” asked Nike visibly annoyed.

“Perhaps they expected Buhari to win 100 per cent of the votes which is not possible,” stated Femi.

“A good leader would have called his supporters to order, appeal for calm. It’s not a do-or-die affair. Must you be a president at all costs, including destroying lives and property?” asked Tim.

“I think it’s high time we went our separate ways. How can some people feel they are anointed to lead while others are meant to be perpetual followers?” asked Mike.

“No, no, no! It hasn’t come to that. After all, many Northerners voted for Jonathan. It’s just a few bad eggs inciting the people for their own selfish ends and they should be fished out and dealt with,” said Ify.

“If the elections were actually rigged, does Buhari honestly think he could have won up to two million votes?” asked Kayode. “It’s funny that there was no rigging in all the places he won but wherever he lost, they attribute it to rigging.

“I see these people as retrogressive elements. When other parts of the country are moving forward, improving the quality of lives of the people, they are moving backwards. How on earth do they want to catch up? When others are using their allocations to improve infrastructure, they are using theirs to rebuild what they destroyed. People bring progress to communities but when their lives and means of livelihood are being destroyed at will, they are forced to relocate to more stable and peaceful areas, thereby further setting backwards, development in these riotous places. So who is losing?” queried Nike.