When I ran for House of Assembly in 2011, a man in my village whose support I sought showed me the manifestos of every politician and party going back to 1979.
They all promised the same things I did.
All vowed to solve problems I met.
Villagers are wise to ask for rice.
They all promised the same things I did.
All vowed to solve problems I met.
Villagers are wise to ask for rice.
They ask for rice & other stomach infrastructure BEFORE voting, because experience shows that if they settle for promises, politicians will vanish AFTER voting.
They may hate PDP & APC, but if YPP and KOWA are coming with just words, the villagers will vote for rice over words.
They may hate PDP & APC, but if YPP and KOWA are coming with just words, the villagers will vote for rice over words.
There are only 2 ways around this "Trust Deficit":
A. Throw rice at it.
B. Build a track record of community support BEFORE asking for votes.
Have Moghalu, Durotoye, or anyone else claiming to want to overthrow the current ricemasters done B nationwide?
A. Throw rice at it.
B. Build a track record of community support BEFORE asking for votes.
Have Moghalu, Durotoye, or anyone else claiming to want to overthrow the current ricemasters done B nationwide?
My hope for 2019 is that the likes of Moghalu get a feel for nationwide politics. I hope after the almost inevitable defeat, they do not go home. I hope they use the exposure to build a nationwide network for community impact in whatever form they choose.
If they keep that impact up for 4 years, come 2023, more people in the villages will feel they have a better option than selling votes for rice. They will say " Moghalu has done X here for 4 years. If he is President he will do X+Y".
If I did not have my track record in my LGA, for almost SEVEN years before I picked a nomination form, I would never have won my primary against the Establishment candidate.
When the people trust your past, your N1 will be better than the other candidate's N10,000.
When the people trust your past, your N1 will be better than the other candidate's N10,000.
So when people ask whether Moghalu has a "structure", they are not being cynical or discouraging. They are pointing to the naked reality that PDP & APC win elections by using structures to distribute rice. And if all you are giving as an alternative is words, you will fail.
Use your structure to provide services, aid, education, community organizing etc to the rural and urban poor in the YEARS leading up to an election, and you won't need to use it to distribute rice. Use it for mere words, and you will lose your election. I don talk my own.
If you don't have a structure at all levels, how will you checkmate the Old Guard's attempts to rig elections? On our podcast, I lay out all the ways elections are rigged.
s3.castbox.fm/4f/62/b2/daf93…
s3.castbox.fm/4f/62/b2/daf93…
A better set of links.
