One of most effective tools of political control that wicked politicians have used throughout the years is hunger. The reason underpinning the use of hunger as a political tool is explained by Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. According to Maslow, we have five categories of needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. In this theory, higher needs in the hierarchy begin to emerge when people feel they have sufficiently satisfied the previous need. This implies that individuals usually need to satisfy their lower level deficit needs such as food, shelter, clothing, etc., before progressing on to meet higher needs, like freedom, defence of justice, equality, etc. A hungry man must first look for what to eat before considering whether there should be equality or not in the society.
Vote Buying in Nigerian Politics
Nigerian politicians understood the effectiveness of hunger as tool of political control. They understood that the hungrier the people are, the less interested they would be in politics and even those interested in politics would be easier to manipulate. That is why an average Nigerian would be ready to sell his vote for N1, 000. Evidence emerging from last Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State indicates that many people gave their votes in exchange for amounts as small as N1, 000.
In fact, the rampancy of vote buying in Ekiti State election has gotten some people so worried that they are beginning to wonder if the new electoral act is going to make any difference. If Nigerians are so ignorant as to sell their vote for as little as N1, 000 and N5, 000, then all hopes are lost. How can you redeem a people with such high level of rut and decay?
Exceptions to Maslow’s Theory
While it is acceptable that great percentage of what humans do is motivated by needs, it would be wrong to conclude from this that everything we do is driven by needs. Animals are entirely driven by needs to do things instinctively but human being because of their spiritual dimension can willfully decide to go against their needs. This is why it is possible to abstain from food even when one is hungry; why a man can hold himself in the presence of a necked woman and why many have willingly given their live for what they believed in. Man can forfeit his gravest of needs to defend what he values.
A Glimmer of Hope
The point then is that not all hopes are lost. Nigerians who sell their votes do not do so because they are hungry. If actually, they are hungry and want to sell their votes to make money, what would N1, 000 and N5, 000 do for them? The more likely reason Nigerians sell their votes is frustrations. There is this feeling that all politicians are the same and that whether I sell my vote or not and whether politician A or B wins, nothing is going to change. So why throw away the vote when I can get free N5, 000 with it?
The other reason is ignorance. Many Nigerians do not really understand the power and responsibilities their votes placed on them. So, why the issue of vote buying is a real threat to 2023 election, the threat should not be overstated. What is required at this stage is intensive sensitization on why people must not sell their votes since their votes are their power. This is specifically the job of both INEC and the political parties. However, since INEC, over the years, has not been able to live up to this responsibility, the onus is now on Peter Obi’s supporters to campaign against vote buying.
Why You Must not Sell Your Vote
1. Your vote is your future. Therefore selling your vote is akin to exchanging your future for a momentary deceitful gain. Why should you substitute your freedom for a few or large monetary notes of slavery? Allowing oneself to be bribed with the money that is actually one’s is an inexcusable ignorance.
2. If you sell your votes, you endorse the following:
i. Terrorism and Kidnapping: You are happy with the deaths of thousands, sequel to the activities of terrorists and kidnappers in the country.
ii. Poverty: You are happy that people go without food, shelter and clothing. You are comfortable that people die in their sicknesses and diseases without affordable and adequate healthcare services.
iii. Corruption and Crimes: You prefer a society where morality and justice does not exist.
iv. Religious Fundamentalism and Persecution: You encourage the killing of people in the name of God. You see nothing wrong with people being killed even in their places of worship.
v. Economic Crunch and Unemployment: You prefer a dead economy to a progressive one. You are happy that millions of youths roam on the streets as unemployed, even when they are graduates.
vi Under development in several areas (transportation, electricity, science and technology, etc).
Selling your vote means, “handing over your future” to the hands of some wicked and selfish politicians who think only of themselves and their children. Selling your vote is an illustration of cowardice and hypocrisy. To sell your vote is to sell your conscience. Don’t sell your vote! Don’t sell your conscience. It is better to die standing on one’s feet than to live on one’s knees. Think about this!
