I sit here listening to great gospel classics and I begin to think back on the 2011 elections (when I was a corper) and was fully involved in the elections from voters registration to actual elections as an ARO and an election officer.

I served in oyigbo (Rivers state) teaching secondary school kids in a private school called Wisdom International School (just off the Aba/Port Harcourt highway).
I remember being called up to serve at Afam Nta and Afam Ukwu (both in Oyigbo LGA) during voters registration and Oyigbo main town (and some other community whose name I don't remember) during the elections.

Voters registration went great because we were fed and housed by the chief of the Afam Nta community all through the weeks.
Fast forward to elections proper:

I went to my polling unit (can't remember if it was for the governorship or national assembly polls) and started with the whole process. Everything was going fine until an individual came to my polling station and said someone outside wanted to see me. I told him I was attending to people as the most senior electoral officer there with three assistants (how could I leave people I was attending to go and meet with somebody).
The individual was pissed at me for not coming to see the "somebody", and tried severally to no avail. Eventually there was some commotion outside. I heard it was the chairman of the oyigbo local government (one "Precious" something; can't recall his last name).

He came up to my desk and I was shocked cos he was like this really old looking man who I thought should be taking care of his grand kids instead of being a public nuisance.
Anyways, he (this "Precious" guy) told me and I quote, "I heard that you don't want to co-operate with my people. You know this is my community, and if you don't want to co-operate with my people, I will deal with you". I was dumbfounded. He rattled on and on for like 5 minutes. This man effing threatened me
Even more shocking was the fact that the security officers, NSCDC, police and "yellow fifa" (those traffic control police people who put on yellow shirt) etc were all around me and could not to anything. I made my family aware of this threat and everyone was really pissed. My uncle (who I lived with) even threatened to involve the military if it came to that. He is a "big man" with a ton of connections in high places.

Eventually, this "old he-goat" brought out 10,000 naira and dropped it on the table for me and told me to use it for drinks for my people (assistants). I tried to protest that I did not need the money. I am from a relatively comfortable family and moreover I felt this was something that could make me compromise my ideals.
Unfortunately, the security officers (who were supposed to discourage this type of behaviour) coaxed me into taking the money to avoid "wahala". I had to take the money. (That was one of the times I was not proud of myself) and shared the money amongst the four of us (corpers) and the security personnel.

Back at the main office after the polls, I met with my RACO to tell her what happen. Instead of receiving any kind of good advice, she told me bluntly, "I heard the problem and you should have co-operated with those people. See I got 150,000k and they wanted to give you people 25,000 each. Well, sorry. I will move you to another place for the presidential polls because they said they don't like you."

That was the fourth shocked I had received in the space of 12 hours. I had to take it. In a way, I was grateful because because I took the threat of "I will deal with you" seriously.

For the presidential elections, I was moved to another community where to say the least, I totally compromised and gave the pdp folks the ballot papers to go thumb print (I will not go into all the details) as I was still threatened and violence nearly broke out at my unit.
All the same I thank God that I returned home to my family safe and well.

I am neither pro-GMB nor pro-GEJ. If I were in Nigeria though, I would vote for the lesser of two evils.

Sorry about all my rambling. I just thought I'd share a bit of my experience here so other can read and be careful wherever they are.
Your life is not worth anyone's political ambitions. If you sense an imminent threat to your life, please co-operate, cos if any harm should come to you, the best that can happen is a condolence message to your family and maybe (just maybe) one million naira to your family.
Is that what your life is worth