As a typical Nigerian who has been to several campaign grounds where different politicians relate their manifesto to the electorates, one thing is very common. Their campaign Is usually made up of promises, where only a very low percentage of them when elected into office go ahead to fulfill those promises.
These politicians are so blessed with the gift of oratory, that they use enticing words to mesmerize the electorates to believe whatever they have to say, only for them to get voted into office and do otherwise.
They have no qualms promising the absurd and outright possibilities to a populace that, though already weary with the poor performance of politicians, are yet to show a real preparedness to hold them accountable for their failure to make good on previous electoral promises.
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Although the issue of lie telling is not only synonymous with Nigerian politicians as it pervades the whole planet. Aside from the lies told on campaign grounds, we have had several cases of Nigerian politicians who go as far as presenting falsified documents to show that they are eligible to contest and occupy a certain position. Imagine the effrontery!
Nigerians are constantly taken for a ride during election periods by these politicians who continue to spew out lies in the name of promises in their desperation to garner votes. These politicians have continued to make empty promises ever since the country got independence, yet things have not fared any better.
This shows that the majority of them just declare these empty promises to cajole the electorate to vote for them, only to end up disappointing them. A case study of President Muhammadu Buhari who got into office as the president of Nigeria with the promise of eliminating corruption in the country.
Just recently, he pardoned two Ex-Governors with some other governors who were already serving jail terms for misappropriation of public funds. This act by the president already goes contrary to the promise he earlier made before becoming President to stop corruption in the country.
Nigerians have become familiar with some of these vague promises made by these politicians, such as; the construction of roads, the creation of jobs, the tackling of insecurity, etc. There are also a few examples of promises made by these politicians and their parties, with no attempt to explain how they intend to achieve them.
It’s high time the electorates come to the understanding that these politicians need to be engaged where they will be asked critical questions regarding their electoral promises and how they intend to achieve them. Once they observe that their explanations are not reasonable enough, then it is left for the electorates to disregard such an aspirant and vote for the one who is competent enough.
In 2021, former chairman of APC Kwara state, Iyiola Oyedepo released a book “21 lies Nigerian politicians tell the electorate”, in which he disclosed that he exposed the common lies told by these politicians and also educated the electorate on how to vote for candidates seeking their franchise.
He further added that if the electorate votes wrongly, they will have to live with it for four years. In the book, he disclosed that politicians must tell lies as it has become a part of them, but it was left to the electorate to identify a lie from genuine promises during campaigns.
He disclosed that the only way to defeat the political lies told by these politicians is through round sensitization for consciousness among the electorates. It is therefore imperative to say that the consciousness of the people is an extremely crucial factor in a democratic setting because It gives them insights into assessing the performances of the government to determine whether it has been able to accomplish its responsibilities to the citizenry or not. When the electorates are conscious, it will be very hard for them to fall for the lies of promises made by politicians during electoral campaigns.