Do What's Right (Part Two)

One of the most talked-about topics in Nigeria in recent days is getting your PVC. You would think that the increased interest in getting the PVC amongst Nigerians as a result of sensitization by NGOs and CSOs, is to exercise one's franchise, but sadly it's not. Amongst the youths, the prevailing reason is to have an internationally accepted identity card for verification purposes online. As we know, the majority of online platforms that ask for verification do not accept the NIN slip that most Nigerians have as it's not the ID card itself. The ID card takes years to be available, unlike the PVC. Anyways, I've been trying to get mine for the past week. 

Usually, application for the PVC is only available a few months before the election but this time around, it has been on for a while now. This is because some part of the process has been moved online for easier application. Now we can do all the documentation online and just go to the nearest office for biometric capturing. Knowing this, I did the online submission and went to their office last week. I spent a whole day there and still couldn't do anything. They didn't even care about my appointment. People who were physically there before I came were still prioritized over people like me who had appointments. I made my peace with that though.

I left for home. Yesterday, I decided to try again. I got there at around 10 AM, only to meet almost a hundred people there. They had already written their names on a list, and I was late for the list. The interesting thing was that that list was taken by 8:00 AM, but by almost 12: 00 NOON, they were still on number eight!! Imagine that.

You wonder why? Because they were registering people who weren't on the list, privileged people, 'special' people. 

It got to a point, I couldn't take the injustice anymore. There was this girl who started protesting, I joined her and a soldier fellow who was not in uniform joined us. I thought the soldier would use his privilege as we know how they are worshipped in Nigeria, but he didn't. He was ready to fight for justice for everyone. After we protested, an agreement was reached with the management, that no matter how long it takes, they must register all of us before they leave, and that's what happened.

At a point, it was about to rain and we all had to go inside. That's when I realized one of the reasons the whole exercise was slow was that most of the people they were attending to at the time, didn't do the online part. So they were doing the online and capturing for them. I, the soldier who never disclosed that fact all through and a bunch of other people who led the protest had to stay behind till the end, to ensure the agreement was honoured. 

I was just so disappointed with those staff members. You have been employed to do a job on behalf of an agency that is supposedly impartial and independent, but still, you are biased and corrupt, even to the very faces of people standing there. The worst part is that it's still this same set of people that will be in charge of the election. What are the odds that they will be fair? What are the odds they won't cheat?

In this election cycle, we all must do our parts and do it right. That's why I went to collect my PVC, and that's why everyone who hasn't should, as it's ending on Monday next week. If you're an official at any step of the way in this election cycle, please do right. 

Thanks for reading….