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As we go to the poll come February 2015, we must begin to set agenda for political parties and candidates. 

While the opposition has failed to live up to the motto of the party as they represent no fundamental change from the ruling party, the ruling party on the other hand has also failed to give power to the people given the increasing shortage of power supply in the country.

Truly we need change in Nigeria but definitely not the change practiced by the opposition party. A change that would evict poor traders from their market stalls and transform the stall into edifices that would then be priced out of the reach of the traders on completion. The change we seek is not one that would price public education out of the reach of the ordinary man; it is not one that would pull down a school building and build up a shopping mall in its place. The change we seek is not one that would impose heavy taxes on road users and then expect them to still pay tolls for road usage. These are just pockets of what change represents in many of the states governed by the opposition.

To the ruling party, power must be given to the people but ironically Nigerians have spent more days in darkness than in light since it took over power in 1999. Despite having spent over N5 trillion ($31.45 billion) from 1999 till date, the ruling party has only been able to increase the country's electricity generating capacity by about 2,500 mega watts over the last 14 years.  It remains at lost as to how genuine power can be given to the people who needed it badly. The purchasing power of the people has been highly eroded in the face of increasing inflation rate and a weakened Naira note. Nigeria's inflation rate increased to 8 percent in December last year according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Similarly, the Naira fell to an all time low against the dollar and other foreign currencies at the interbank and parallel exchange markets late last year despite measures announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The 2015 elections provide an opportunity for Nigerians to elect new set of leaders to address the myriad of problems facing the country. The election is coming at a critical time in the history of the country. A time when insurgency has risen to an all time high. A time when all economic indicators say nothing but failure about Nigeria.

More than ever before, Nigerians are yearning for change – a shift from the status quo. While many see that change in a shift in power – a replacement of the current central government by the opposition, others hold strongly to the transformation agenda of the government with the belief that more time is needed to transform all sectors of the economy.

But beyond the craze for change, a critical analysis of all candidates and political parties must be done at all levels. In determining who to vote for, the antecedent and of each and every candidate must be put under serious check. What positions have they held in the past? What are their track records? These are questions that must be answered going into the elections.

Ideally, manifestoes are published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer. Anything short of this is unacceptable. Each and every candidate must come out with their manifestoes stating their intentions for the performance of their constitutional responsibilities and national development in general. When they tell us they will fight insurgency and defeat Boko Haram, let's be bold enough to ask them "how?",  When they tell us that they will develop our education sector and provide 10 million jobs for our teeming unemployed youths, let's not fail to ask them "how?".

Permit me to paint a clear picture of what I mean here. In the build up to the 2011 elections in Lagos State, I, along with other student leaders of Lagos State University (LASU) paid a courtesy call on the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola who was seeking re-election for a second term. I could recall that one of the issues we discussed with him was the development of the only state-owned university – LASU into a world-class institution. After His Excellency painstakingly listened to our plea for massive investment in infrastructural development and academic facilities, he assured us of his commitment to our demand. And true to his promise, few weeks after his victory at the poll, he paid a surprise visit to our school and he surprisingly visited the student union building where he once again expressed his commitment to developing LASU into a world class varsity. But unknowingly to us, his plan would mean an end to the academic aspirations of many.

Few months after this August visit, the state government announced a 725 percent increase in school fees resulting into an upward review from N25,000 to as high as N345,750. It took 3 years of protests and rallies to get the same governor to reverse the fee hike policy.

We must consciously engage all public office seekers in debates on policies and programmes including revenue generation and management, as well as resource allocation. When they promise us good roads, we must ask if the construction will be funded from the public treasury or from our private pockets in form of outrageous toll or tax payments. When they promise us improved power supply, we must ask them if that is tantamount to increased electricity tariff.

While they prepare their manifestoes, we must also prepare ours detailing our needs in order of priority as well as our expectations of them. They must be compelled to see this as a social contract between them and the people they want to serve. And when they fail to perform, we must not hesitate to fully exercise our right of recall.

The character of the two leading political parties is not one that all Nigerians are proud of; however, we must exercise our constitutional right by voting in the forthcoming elections. And in doing that we must look beyond age, ethnic or religious background in choosing the next set of people that will steer the affairs of our great country for the next four years. Let their antecedents and manifestoes speak for them.
 
By Ewebiyi Keye James
Youth activist and Social Media Consultant
Twitter: @Keyestine

Ewebiyi Keye James
Tel: +234 (0) 7064981943 , +234 (0) 8088902609
Email: keyeewebiyi@yahoo.com, keyeewebiyi@gmail.com
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