2015 Electioneering Process and the Widening of Voters’ Political Consciousness

Abstract

Electioneering process represents a formal procedure whereby a person is elected into a political office. Previous elections, in the political history of Nigeria, have recorded a high level of political apathy. Lack of interest, with reference to voters’ participation, has been a common political culture of the country. The massive rigging, recorded in previous elections, has led to the characterization of electioneering process by many Nigerians as “selection” instead of “election.” This ugly phenomenon has informed the growing voters’ political apathy recorded in the previous elections. This paper, therefore, raises some fundamental questions such as: when will an average Nigerian voter engage actively and consciously in the electioneering process and in the question of who becomes the leader in the country? How will the political confidence of an average Nigerian voter be restored? These passionate and mind-bugling questions have, however, been put to rest, following the just concluded 2015 electioneering process. Unlike the previous elections, which were marred generally by high level of voters’ apathy, the just concluded election marks a sharp deviation from the past, by ushering in an era of active political participants and a high level of political consciousness on the side of the electorate. Based on this, this paper, by means of historical hermeneutics/interpretation and philosophical analysis, argues that the just concluded 2015 electioneering process is a political eye-opener, in that it marked the beginning of a new era of active voters’ participation and in widening their political consciousness.

Keywords: electioneering process, political apathy, political culture, political consciousness, political re-engineering