There are quite a few things to expect as the country approaches the 2019 General
Elections.

So, while Ekiti state governor, Ayodele Fayose became the first aspirant to officially
declare intention to run » for the position of Nigeria's president in 2019 on Thursday,
September 28, 2017, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) , Professor Mahmood Yakubu , was in another part of Abuja announcing the
timetable for the 2019 General Elections. »
INEC appears to be excited for the season as the commission already started a
countdown on its website, indicating that the election is getting closer by the day.
Even though many of us are hoping to survive 2018 before the feverish scramble for
the country's political offices kicks off next year, it might have sneaked up on us
already.
We all know what happens now, but in case you haven't gotten the memo yet, here are
five things to expect as the 2019 elections are only days away:

1. Aspirants attack adverts
The attack ads against President Muhammadu Buhari in the run up to the 2015
presidential elections were pretty rough, weren't they?
The most controversial one against him was an AIT documentary that was eventually
withdrawn over the furore it caused with its alleged inaccuracy and the mention of the
president's deceased daughter, Zulaiha Buhari, who reportedly suffered from a sickle
cell disease.
The president's two-year long tenure has pretty much armed his opponents with a
wealth of ammunition to lob at him to discredit a reelection bid.
He has not officially confirmed if he'll be seeking reelection in 2019, something his own
minister has already exploited to cause him embarrassment, but it's still widely
expected to happen.
When it does, the president's health situation is sure to be a topic to come up a lot
especially since he's spent more days for medical treatment outside the country this
year than he's spent inside it.
Nigerians should brace for that ugliness.

2. Lack of XX chromosomes
When Professor Remi Sonaiya 's name appeared on the ballot paper for the 2015
presidential elections, it was an unprecedented development.
The 62-year-old educationalist won only 0.05% of the total votes cast with her 13,076
votes a far cry from the 15,424,921 that paved the way for President Buhari.
Although it'd be a misguided exaggeration to say she lost the election solely because
she's a woman, it was a very notable factor in her overall performance at the polls.
That she lacked political experience for the office surely didn't help, but the dismissive
response to her presence offers a telling insight into the fate of women in Nigerian
politics, most especially for elective positions.
More of that is expected for the 2019 elections, sadly, as women continue to be held
back by a broken system.

3. The shadow of Donald Trump
He might be thousands of miles across mountains and seas away, but the shadow of
United States president, Donald Trump, is going to loom largely on Nigeria's
presidential campaign come next year.
Governor Fayose has stirred that hornet's nest already, comparing his chances of
winning the election to America's Tweeter-in-Chief on his Twitter account yesterday.
In a lot of ways, he's right to compare himself to Trump as they're both aggressive
populists who pander to base instincts with an inflated sense of their own
achievements, but that's where it ends.
While others won't necessarily co-opt Trump's image to act brand new, they will most
certainly use a phrase he's helped make very popular: FAKE NEWS!
Donald Trump might not be Nigerian, but with the way his name is expected to come up
a lot during Nigeria's election season, he might as well throw his red hat in the ring and
Make Nigeria Great...for...the first time(?).

4. Bigotry Olympics
Speaking of base instincts, deep ethnic sentiment is an iconic feature of election season in Nigeria.
During Fayose's declaration ceremony, former Osun state gubernatorial
candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, said he's supporting the Ekiti governor's bid
because he's a Yoruba man first before being a Nigerian.
That disturbingly normalised sentiment is going to echo loudly across all different
sections of the country as each region will see ethnicity first before actual candidate's
competence, and some of it will devolve into dangerous professions of bigotry that's a
national treasure at this point.
In the end, nobody wins when the tribes feud.
Well, except the innocent politicians who definitely will not manipulate that discourse to
help themselves. (They will.)

5. Ridiculous campaign slogans
"Change The Change"
"Here Comes The Only Saviour"
"Together We Can Make Nigeria Work Again"
"The Last Bus Stop"

If you already think this is going to be too much for your mental health, start looking for
a rock to crawl under because it's going to be a bumpy months ahead.

Matters arising..

Hopefully, together we'll make things right. let's vote wisely.

let them start lke they used to do

They can't deceive us anymore beacause more than ever before, we now know what we require from a presidential aspirant


To every presidential aspirant, here is our requirement checklist if you actually want us to cast our votes for you in the coming 2019 election.

We don't care about what political party you belong to anymore -whether old party or new party, popular or unpopular; we don't care about what religion anymore; we don't care about what tribe or region anymore but
You

1. Must attend not less than 3 presidential debates: how do we know you're mentally stable and not a slowpoke if you cannot give reasonable responses to simple debate questioning?

2. Must undergo medical qualification tests: both the psychiatricals and others. The result must be verified by a notable medical panel and must be made availale to the general public.
People do medical tests even for secondary school admission, so why not for presidency aspiration.

3. Must have of governing plan (just like a business plan or a master plan) and make it available to the general public through the all the social media channels.
Bank cannot commit their cash to people without a good business plan with clearly written goals and objectives, figures, strategies and a guarantor, so how much more should we commit the life, future and properties of more than 150millions Nigerians to you without a plan.
In the plan must also be indicated your personer track records of successes.

4. Must have more than secondary school education. (There's nothing new about this)

5. Must have at least one of your children educated in a public university in Nigeria (not private): by this we will surely know that you believe in the future of Nigeria and that you will work towards her betterment.
This is a price not too much to pay if you realy love us.
We are tired of insensitivity of government towards the development of standards of educational setup in Nigeria, the strikes and industrial actions.

6. Must be a patronage of Nigerian made products and services and you must believe in capacity building of Nigerian indigenous businesses to provide exportable products and services to neighbouring countries, Africa and the world at large.

7. Must be wide reader and self development enthusiast: If you don't constantly feed your mind with transformative, educative and informative ideas through books, you don't have a business doing with presidency in Nigeria.
We are tired of archaic approaches to human governing. We need mordern, liberated and future oriented leaders to lead us in Nigeria, not power mongers, who just want to be in government for power, fame and monetary gain.

8. Must be within the working age range (younger than 60 years): "what's good for the goose is good for the gander".
Towards old age, people become less and less physically, socially, mentally and psychologically fit to cope with occupational demands, not to talk of rulling a nation of more than150million citizens, so retirement is compulsory.
The retirement age in Nigeria civil service guided by decree No. 102 of 1979 that dealt with pension and gratuity pegged the statutory age of retirement for public officers at 60 years, while it is 65 years for judiciary officers and 70 for academic staff of universities. However with reform of civil service decree No. 43 of 1988, retirement age has been put at 60 years or 35 years in service.

9. Must have no public record of hate speech, tribalism, nepotism, crime against humanity, pending corruption charges or history, and or affiliation with any millitant group or religion fundamentalist group or terrorist group :
We will never ever think again that people will change. Ascenssion to power only gives people the chance to express their true self.

10. Must have done something contributary to the development of your immediate environment: this is simple, is'nt it?

11. Must be well educated about the constitution of Nigeria. We are tired of reminding the government what to do and what's not to do. We are tired of reminding the government about what's in the costitution they swear to uphold. This is 21st century.
The INEC in collaoration with the National Assembly and the Judiciary Counsel of Nigeria should create an online platform where common citizen can get proper education about the Nigerian constitution. They should maku use of shot animated videos and other training material. Certificates should also be awarded.