The Inec Card Reader And My Vote.

I am one of the biggest supporters of the INEC new innovation,the Card Reader. In any case this is what makes sense of the huge government investments in the PVC up from TVC level of 2011 elections in Nigeria. The Card Reader verifies immediately who indeed is carrying the card even when the faces look the same or when names are duplicated. I cannot wait to experience this giant leap of democracy in Nigeria. A fortnight ago I registered my complaint that considering the nearness of the elections then scheduled for February 14, and having then been unable to obtain my PVC that I would consider voting with my TVC. It seemed to sound like a joke then. As you know the elections was rescheduled for March 28,2015. Six additional weeks to enable me get my TVC was good enough I thought. Even though there is still another two weeks as I write to the election I am now getting a bit worried because I am yet to lay hands on my TVC. I have made efforts to locate it online and was directed to a primary school. On enquiries it was concluded that the cards were yet to arrive. Later on we got hints that the cards have arrived but no where to be seen. Yet some people have collected their own. Everyone assures me that these batches may have been misplaced or mixed up with some others that what I need to do is to go on visiting the purveyor of these batches and I so I have even delegated many hands to do same for me also to no avail. The irony is that INEC records my card as having been supplied and "maybe" collected since the percentage of collection for my area keeps shooting up by the day.

All that mix up did not worry me at first.I had implicit confidence on the Card reader. But now I am not so sure again. I began to lose confidence when I start hearing rumors of massive card purchases. There are all around whispers of political parties interests contacting people in similar situation as mine to help them make up their mind whom they would be voting for before helping them locate their cards. Well I told my self that is fair enough campaign strategy. But wait a minute,why would people hoard cards belonging to others or indeed if you are not voting for their party what happens to your card with them? Well once again I would perish these thoughts because of the Card Reader. Yes the card reader cannot allow them to vote with my card but wait a minute who is going to stop them? If my card gets to the card reader without me? It was at this point I began to panic. Why not also introduce the card reader at the point of collection of these cards too. Yes that would be a way to ensure that these cards get into the right hands. Is INEC listening? You can imagine the effect of such a simple step. Those Emirs or Chiefs or rather party big Whigs that I now have to go to their houses to check my cards will end up collecting only their own cards and no more. Again that is theory in this political environment but we can hold out with it for a while.

You may surmise that the above idea is coming very late in the day. I am thinking in this way too. But then what other help will the Card Reader render to us during the elections? I kept ruminating over and over. Let me concentrate my efforts now in fighting to obtain my PVC. There is still time for me to get a green light where my card is but if it does not happen,then armed with my TVC once again I do intend to stay in the polling booth to see who will come forward to vote with my PVC as me. As I discussed the situation with a few of my friends, there was wild laughter all around me. "So you think you can be allowed into this place without your PVC?" one of them volunteered to my bewilderment. The other friend was almost rolling on the floor with laughter. When he got himself together he queried how I plan to go about it now that simple campaign posters and vehicles in certain neighborhoods have become endangered species. He said he is not even talking of a full blooded human being of strange appearance even if voting for the dominant party or someone who might end up undecided ;that such abnormally could be dangerous indeed going by the rising specter of geo- political violence in certain parts of the country. It is true. Would one risk his skin just to discover who comes to a machine to Vote in his name? Can any one raise a protest if and when the strange machine blanks out just when the finger prints are to be read? Is it not a Nigerian that will give a nod that the finger prints match or not? If the card reader operators life is at stake would he not swear that the other man is the real holder while I am something else?

By now strange perspiration was all over my body. Little wonder that there persists a near deliberate attempt by political interests to reduce each geographical zone to some homogeneous voting block? So not even the machine will complain if all the handlers are in agreement. That must be the sense in raising down opposing party offices and Bill boards and sending terror messages that some people should not come out to vote! Indeed these actions are beginning to make some political sense. I may need to change my plans a bit now. The card reader cannot protect me or any one if it does not ensure that the real owners of these cards possess it. The big investment in the PVC may have missed its target. It is still mass disenfranchisement despite rising " collection" reported by INEC. The Specter of violence and impunity must be tackled nationwide to really assure the voter that his safety,his PVC and his votes will count in the coming elections in Nigeria.