As Nigeria trudges deeper into 2027, the air remains thick with frustration, fatigue and a stubborn flicker of HOPE.
For millions of Nigerians, the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) has long been held up as a symbol of power, the ballot as a weapon, the vote as a voice. “Get your PVC” was the rallying cry of the last election cycle. Yet, after all the ink has dried and the promises have withered, what has truly changed?
In reality, the electoral process continues to be a carefully choreographed illusion. The same faces return with new slogans. The same parties swap candidates like trading cards. Elections are no longer contests of vision, but rehearsals of survival designed not to empower the people but to maintain a status quo that benefits a select few.
Nigeria’s democracy, on the surface, is ALIVE. But beneath the surface, it is choking on apathy, manipulation and fear.
Recent political developments have only reinforced this despair. The much-anticipated electoral reforms remain cosmetic and smaller parties are still muscled out of contention by a political elite that sees the ballot not as a bridge to service, but as a ticket to plunder.
In the latest gubernatorial primaries across several states, credible independent voices were drowned out by the noise of godfathers and backroom deals.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s education sector, the supposed foundation of our future continues to crumble.
It is a cruel irony that countries like Ukraine and Palestine mired in war or Indonesia and the Philippines constantly battling natural disasters still manage to keep their educational systems afloat. Yet, Nigeria, with all its oil wealth and human capital, continues to fail its youth.
And still, the people are told to “STAY HOPEFUL.”
But what happens when hope becomes hollow? When corruption videos trend on social media for a few days like the recent scandal involving a senior minister allegedly linked to offshore accounts and procurement fraud and then vanish without consequence? When economic policies crush the poor and embolden the powerful, how do we tell a struggling graduate to believe in the system?
Over the past few months, I have spoken to friends and colleagues and many no longer believe change is possible through elections. They see the PVC not as power, but as a placebo something to hold onto while the real levers of control remain untouched.
And yet, we must not let cynicism win.
It is easy to despair. But despair is not neutral, it benefits those who thrive in our silence. The path to true change may be long, but it must begin with a collective refusal to settle.
Nigerians must demand transparency, insist on merit and resist the temptation to retreat into HOPELESSNESS.
We must remember what our elders have always said: “Hope is the only reason we are still alive.” But even hope must evolve from passive waiting to active resistance. From whispers of change to roaring demands for justice.
Because if HOPE is all we have left, we must wield it NOT as a shield but as a SWORD.
Abdulkadir Bin AbdulMalik,Writes From
Kogi State, Nigeria
