The Nigerian political landscape has always been dotted by violence and unhealthy practices, so the pre-election insecurity in Edo State could by itself be shrugged off as normal. But when considered as a piece of the whole, everything rapidly falls into perspective.
The overall insecurity in the nation due to the Boko Haram menace has gone a long way to show the weakness and incapability of the Federal Government to confront and confound security challenges — as well as expose the inadequacies in training and tools currently afflicting our security agencies. This has given rise to a new wave of brazen, in-your-face criminal acts currently making the news all over the country.
A departure from the norm
Before now, violence in our political spectrum was mostly spread between foot soldiers — street brawls, attacking campaign trains, torching opponents' campaign offices — while the bigwigs would do all the talking on TV and in newspapers. The case of Edo State shows a clear departure from the norm. Governor Oshiomhole's convoy was attacked and innocent journalists were killed. This was followed by the murder of Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, the Personal Secretary to the Governor — a key asset of the Oshiomhole campaign team.
There is an Ibibio proverb that says that one learns how to die by sleeping. The recent confusions in Edo State seem to point to a dress rehearsal.
The social media front
After the #OccupyNigeria protests, progressive youths and activists alike declared social media to be our forte — our most viable tool in organising a strong resistance ahead of the 2015 General Elections. But Edo State has also shown that the enemies of Nigeria are taking to social media and cyber wars. An obviously photoshopped picture of Oshiomhole in a compromising sexual position went viral, with youths taking sides. Fast-forward to 2015, and imagine how on the eve of an election, the credibility of a candidate could fizzle out in minutes to a Twitter hashtag — and you will agree that the waters are being tested.
Although it would be highly misleading to regard 2015 as our El Dorado, change will be the conglomeration of our successes and failures. We must not underestimate the enemy who is sworn to preserve the status quo — and who will not hesitate to use our own tools to put us down.
Nigeria will change. But we must remain aware of our constantly morphing enemy, and do whatever is necessary to triumph.