Is having a PVC Enough
T here is a lot that is being said today about the need for Nigerians to actively get involved in the political process – civil society groups including ours have launched campaigns urging Nigerians to get their Permanent Voters Cards PVC and prepare to exercise their electoral franchise at the polling stations across the country. This enthusiasm is a great improvement from where we have been since we re-embraced democracy in 1999. However, based on my enhanced understanding of the electoral and political process, I have come to the unfortunate conclusion that just having a PVC and voting is not enough. You see, the majority of people involved in politics today – that are actually members of political parties mainly consist of people who have made politics their professions and have never really developed capabilities outside the political sphere to add any real value to our society. These people unfortunately determine everything – the structure of the internal party democracies and a