As human beings, we always seem to get excited about an opportunity, an idea, a resolution. Its the initial fervor that hits us, the promise it could hold, the greatness it could bring, the difference it could make in our lives. As is life the trip we set upon to greatness is never the smoothest ride, far from it its usually the toughest ride of our lives.
Here we are in Nigeria, on our road to redemption in this 2011 election journey, we the youth have banded together, despite our differences and have pledged that for the first time, a lot of us would withstand the electoral process, and actually make our votes count.
We have been through an unbelievably flawed registration period that was hardly long enough, and through that we stood together feeding our fellow corpers, and encouraging our friends and acquaintances to imagine the change that could happen if we all registered. We donated our time during the registration extension, to ensure every one of our fellow Nigerians got the chance to register.
We stood up to demand a platform for the youth voice to be heard, and for our presidential candidates to address our issues. While we were faced by adversity and reluctant participants, we came together and still made our questions heard.
We came out in droves on April 9th only to discover that the elections had been cancelled, we alerted our friends, and still encouraged each other not to give up.
Now here we are, the eve before the actual elections will finally commence and we are faced with cruel bomb blasts, and more postponements. What do we do?
We have come too far, and have fought too hard to make these elections as free and fair as possible. We may be a little scared for our safety, but still we must come out and defy any pitiful attempt at intimidation, because our efforts have not been in vain. I implore you to take your neighbor’s hand, walk bravely to your polling booth, and cast your vote only for a party that you believe in. We the youth have been here for one another and will continue to do so.
Stand at your polling unit cast your vote, and protect your vote. Report any incidents you may witness to Sahara Reporters text +1646.770.1291, or call 1.718.577.1398, or text ReclaimNaija.net at 08166662222, 08120006622, 0809662221, download REVODA http://www.revoda.org/.
May the souls of those who lost their lives this evening rest in peace.
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