Three months ago I posted a piece titled “Who is a Volunteer?.” Someone else wrote it and people (meaning Chxta Bee) roundly criticised me for its content. The writer’s concept of volunteerism was a bit too “Obamaish”. I promised a redo and I’m just getting round to it. Give me that line about Procrastination being a thief of time and I’ll gladly ask you to exchange your 9-5 for my 20-hour-day job. No takers? Thought so.

Anyway, the concept of Team Ribadu is one that is noble and genius at the same time. That a group of young people, hell-bent on making their country great again, would set a target of getting 600, 000 other volunteers to convince 10 million people to register, vote and defend their vote in a country like Nigeria, is commendable. To appreciate the size of the job at hand, consider that the current administration garnered just 24.6 million votes, representing 70% of the votes cast. This means that less than 30 million people voted. When you add the fact that these figures were over-blown in the first place, you will see how hard Team Ribadu’s job is. However, it is a dream, one that can come true. But the process must evolve with time and plan upgraded and fine-tuned daily for the work to be have any chance of success.

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Now, who is a volunteer? To me, a volunteer is someone who has made up his/her mind to change the course of his generation and will give up some of his precious time and money to see it done. He is someone who has identified with the philosophy of change as preached by a particular party, candidate or political movement and wants to get involved. That individual must be ready to give up the time he spends watching Premiership matches on Saturdays. She must be prepared to schedule to have her nails done twice a month instead of weekly because she has meetings to attend. She will have to lose her shyness as she will have to approach total strangers, and, with the swagger of a bank marketer, gain their confidence to get them to believe in the cause and readily give up their addresses and phone details. Volunteer work is no joke, you know. http:///cCUQjJ

A true Team Ribadu member (who I will refer to as Player for the rest of this piece) will use his resources such as time, money and materials to support Nuhu Ribadu, and any other person with similar traits running for any other office, in the quest for change.

These are things I feel a Player member must do between today and election day.

1. Read, research and totally understand the man Nuhu Ribadu. He must become obsessed with the man by understanding his philosophy and his reasons for doing what he does. This way, there is a ready-answer for every likely question other Nigerians may have. This will mean reading old stories, watching past interviews, goggling the name over and over, looking out for new materials and attending every public event the man speaks at. You’ve got to have “Ribaducisis” if you want to be a great partaker in “Ribadumania.”

2. As the man has chosen the horse with which he feels safe to ride into Aso Villa, a Player will trust his judgement and join the Action congress of Nigeria. He would also assist in the ACN in membership drive.

3. The Player will locate or start, with the full knowledge and assistance of the state coordinator of course, a Team Ribadu meeting place close by. Then he will attend meetings regularly to be updated on issues. At the meetings, he will make valid contributions and share ideas and information.

4. He will “man up” to speak about the cause at public spaces and closed corners too. He should recognise that Nigerians feel there is no hope for this country. This is just what the political class want us to think; that they are all the same and change is impossible. A Player must be ready to go against the grind and tell them Nigeria is not that far gone. Hope must be inspired. Change has to be preached. Also, recognise that everyone is important, from a taxi driver to your university chancellor. So take your message to the viewing centres, the shopping malls, cinemas, the beer palours, the night clubs, the villages, the creeks, everywhere. Every vote must count.

5. To those who fail to see past their noses, Nigerians in the Diaspora have a lot to contribute to this particular election. The Player must recognise this and see to it that he gets all those he knows to get on “Ribaducisis” too. This is because these guys will one day come back home and will prefer if thieves don’t come calling each night to take their share in the dollars they got. It would be much nicer if the would-be assailants were well-employed and probably married with kids. Armed with this line of thought, the Player must convince people he knows outside the country to join Team Ribadu online and off it. In turn, they will persuade their people back home to go and vote for the man en mass. They may not be able to vote, but their influence and Dollars, Pounds or Marks may have a big influence in the outcome.

6. To be sure, the only chance Nuhu Ribadu has at winning is if the people donate money to the campaign and go to the polls to vote. Hence, the Player must, as a matter of urgency and expediency, memorise at least one of the campaign orgainsation’s bank account numbers and give it to willing donors at the drop of the hat. Chop, chop, make that paper, baby.

7. When all is said and done, the Election Day will eventually come. The Player must be prepared to do the following,

a) Call up all the voters he got to register and ensure they assemble at the polling vote.

b) Volunteer to use his car to pick up those living far from the place.

c) Vote and hang around after.

d) Notify the campaign organisation by any means necessary if he notices any infringement in the sequence of events at the polling centre maybe, voting starts before the materials arrive or most of the names in the register are strange or the register is different from the public version.

e) Use cameras to record the events as they happen. Be prepared to be called up as witness in court, in case of a tribunal.

f) He need not fight if no voting takes place where he is, but should make sure nobody is allotted fictitious votes when numbers are called.

Now, you see it is no child’s play to be a true Player. It is hard work, but the rewards could be immense. You could write a book about it or someday tell your grand kids how you saved your country by working for free. Also, since Team Ribadu will remain, whether the man wins or loses, any Player could one day ride on the group’s credibility and network to any political office in the land, without having to steal from the national till first.

So, please, fellow Nigerians, home and aboard, join Team Ribadu today. Join for the sake of making this nation work again. Pitch in to see our streets safe enough for kids to ride their bikes without the threat of being kidnapped. Donate to reduce the possibility of someone duping you of your hard earned dollars when you want to invest in a business. Vote to see Nigeria regain her pride of place in Africa. Do it for you, your friends and your family. Believe in the dream! A New Nigeria is possible!!!!

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