by Temi Odejide

This is not a very popular question.

It’s not really a question anyone of us wants to consider at this point. But it is a real question nonetheless and has to be addressed. In the Election we are about to engage in, there will be a winner and a loser.

So one camp or the other will have to deal with loss. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WHEN YOUR CANDIDATE DOESN’T WIN? What will you NOT do when your candidate does not win? You cannot wait till the outcome of the elections to determine what you will or will not do. If you do that, you will be subject to the sway of whatever the raging opinion is at that time. You need to know and decide now what you will and will not do, whatever the outcome of the elections.

The stakes are indeed high in this election: higher than they’ve ever been before…OR MAYBE WE HAVE MADE THE STAKES HIGHER THAN THEY SHOULD BE?

There will be life after the elections.
Nigeria will still exist after the elections.
The way some of us have positioned ourselves and spoken in these times it would seem that the earth would stop spinning if our candidate does not win.

My real intent is asking this question is to provoke thought beyond the elections.
I have been purposely silent on the subject in the months and weeks leading up to the election for many good reasons (mostly personal) but also because I am thinking beyond the candidates, I am thinking about Nigeria.

It is my personal belief that neither candidate is Nigeria’s savior. The Nigerian people are Nigeria’s salvation. ‘As a man thinks so he is’. Until we change the way we think as a people, we will not change Nigeria. Until we move from thinking only of the short term and start thinking posterity, we won’t have real change. If our thinking does not change, it does not matter who dwells in Aso Rock. Real change does not start from without but from within.

But this change cannot be forced but it must be taught and modeled for others to follow… willingly (I am seen how each camp has tried to force its opinion on others and vilify anyone that seems not to do the same).

Let us begin and continue to think about the future of our beloved nation. What are we going to do differently after the elections (regardless of who wins)? What are we going to allow and what are we going to refuse? How are we going to make Nigeria better for our children and what are we teaching our children now by our attitudes, words and actions?

LISTEN! These elections are not a ‘do or die’ matter. There is life after the elections. In voting for your candidate PLEASE ALSO VOTE FOR PEACE.

Please let me end where I started. WHEN YOUR CANDIDATE DOES NOT WIN, WHAT WILL YOU DO?

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– Temi Odejide tweets from @ptemi1

 

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