Thread by @deoluakinyemi

#Topicaltuesday
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
Politics for many people is a 4-4 years enterprise. We get busy with life for 4 years, then come back again to social media to gyrate just before the elections.

As a voter, that’s not a bad place to be if you have your voting card and know your polling unit, as a participant and player, that’s not the place to be. If you want to harvest during political seasons, you need to plant well before the season.

Energy is wasted during the political seasons, hating friends, arguing with colleagues and wasting time on divisions orchestrated by people who aren't divided themselves. Some of the people who make you stand against your brother or sister are sitting together and laughing over

Isiewu and wine.
Here are a few thoughts to help manage your energy as we enter fully into the political season.
1. People will like different people, don’t hold it against them. Sometimes people think that others need to be made to look bad so that their candidates can shine.

That’s not necessary. Focus on the candidate you are supporting, project their good values and plans and resist the urge to wash another person's candidate. Abusing people doesn’t make anyone better, it only makes you look funny when it’s all over.

2. Everyone is free to declare. A declaration is not for the public, it’s for the party. The people who declare for a party ticket will need to contest for the ticket at the primaries. Trying to make your candidate popular on social media ahead of primaries is a waste of energy.

The delegates are not on social media, and even if they are, what determines their vote is not popularity online.
3. There are stages to the political process. Stage 1 is an expression of interest (This costs N5m in APC), Stage 2 is buying the nomination form

(N12m for PDP, 25m for APGA, and 40m for APC). Stage 3 is screening at the party. Then Stage 4 is securing the ticket at your party for the primaries. All of these stages do not require candidate popularity with the masses, they require politics at party levels.

The fact that someone has declared doesn’t mean he or she has bought a nomination form, been screened, or secure a primary ticket. Manage your energy and expectations
4. Parties have a political structure for delivering votes to the electorate.

At the National level, there are 2 parties contending. Every other party positioning candidates at the national level is really just making money from nomination forms or is trying to water downvotes from one of the 2 leading parties.

If your presidential aspirant is not from APC or PDP, manage your energy. If you doubt this, just look at data for the last 23yrs. At state levels, there are parties that have the capacity to contend in some regions.

5. All nominated applicants on a party ticket have 2 options after the primaries. To rally behind the person who wins the ticket or to decamp to another party where they will likely lose. What this means is, no player hating.

The people you're supporting against each other may end up supporting each other.
There are more, but let’s stop for now. Manage your energy. Don’t get hypertension cause of Nigerian politics. Especially for those in the diaspora who are passionate because of their distance.

Sometimes I think we make up for our distance with our passion, no diss intended.
For those who care to know, however, I think Nigeria is going to be in rebirth from 2023. What God has been planning for our nation has been in the works for 33 years, and it’s about to evolve.

Prov 16:33 is the way it goes. “Make your motions and cast your votes, but God has the final say” - Ps 16:33 MSG.