SEND YOUR PVC NUMBER

• By Lolusryt

“Have you later sent your PVC number to Tade?” James asked.
“No… Thanks for reminding me, I was about to send it before I received an international call. I will send it at once”
“I would have collected mine had it been I knew it will all turn out like this. But, I know you will give me part of the money now”
Paul smiled, “You could not go through the stress I went through, you are now telling me shit, guy, we are not sharing anything.”
“ahn ahn, why are you talking this way? You knew I had afternoon class that day and I was number 254 on the list, despite the fact we got there by 4:33am”
“enh enh, is that an excuse? What of I that missed Mr. Babalola impromptu test?”

We are on the verge of deciding the next four years of not only our country, but also of our individual states and localities, who to vote for is now a matter of who can spend most during campaign and voting exercise, since an average Nigerian is staggeringly stricken with poverty and what many may call stipend can at least feed his family for a good one month.
Nigeria is now rated the poorest country in the world, poorest in the sense that majority of Nigerian citizens are living below 1dollar a day. I know of a pupil in public primary school that turned to a daytime hawker and was denied basic education because his parents could not afford the money to purchase his notebooks – how will you tell these kind of parents not to sell their votes? The poor families that diet themselves not for the purpose of losing weight, for they already lost it and do this to regain it, because if they fail to diet themselves after collecting their salary they may end up not having anything to eat after the first week they collected their salary till another salary they will have to go on strike for before they get paid.
We can’t shy away from the fact that most Nigerians collected their voter’s cards for the main purpose of getting/making money during voting exercise, and voting for candidates of their choice comes after that, one would ask why this is happening, and some may as well easily conclude that those that sell their votes are fools, and most of those that do announce that don’t sell your vote are either middle or upper class Nigerians and I wondered if they would have done something different if they were in the shoes of these poor Nigerians.
A Yoruba adage says “when hunger is out of poverty; the problem is solved” The few privileged in this country may surely not be one of those that obtained their PVC for the main purpose of making money in the election period but before they throw words of advice or of condemnation to the humble citizens of this country that did so, they should think of their current state, how far these helpless Nigerians have been impoverished by their so called government.

What most politician do is to impoverish the masses when election is still far away and like as a predator entices a prey with the prey’s utmost needs so as to get the prey, they also entice Nigerians with monies, commodities and services that come with a disguised lasting effect to get their votes. This has left several thoughts lingering on people’s mind, as to, who truly is the right leader to vote? When corruption has eaten up the innermost part of the country, to the extent that people seemed indifferent to selling of votes. And any politician that renounces this, ends up falling a victim, because the sooner he accept the fact that people will only vote for those that can spend most during the election the better for him.
“Send your PVC number,” “Do you have PVC,” Do you have a voter’s card?” These sentences are now omnipresent, and these are truly what most of those that have voter’s cards want to hear, inasmuch their positive response will be greased with money. To them, they have been deceived times without number by these politicians and they believe it is only through this voting period they can at least get something.
It will be best to end on this rhetoric note “Will this stipend I’m planning to collect from these desperate politician feed me for four years?”