The January 2027 general election is months away, but the battle has already begun.
Not with manifestos, not with debates on the economy, but with ladders, knives and darkness.
Across Edo State, across Nigeria, billboards are falling, posters are being torn, banners are being shredded overnight.
And the question many are asking those who claimed to be democratic and performing miles ahead of past administrations
is this democratic or is it demonic?
Are they under pressure like the late legendary Ras Kimono lerics in his Song?
It is happening everywhere. You mount your billboard today, tomorrow morning it is gone.
You paste your poster in Ring Road, by evening, thugs have defaced it.
In Benin, in Auchi, in Ekpoma – opposition parties are crying out.
Their faces, their logos, their messages are being pulled down under the cover of night.
And those accused? Those who call themselves acclaimed democrats!
Men who contested elections, who shouted democracy, who swore to uphold freedom of speech!
Why would a democrat be afraid of a poster? Why would a democrat be afraid of a billboard?
If you believe in your performance, why are you scared of another man’s face on a board?
Democracy is not by mouth. Democracy is by conduct. Democracy means – Let the people see all options and choose.
When you pull down another party’s billboard, you are not just tearing paper or iron – You are tearing Section 40 of the Constitution – Freedom of Association!
You are tearing the Electoral Act which guarantees a level playing ground!
You are telling the people: “You must only see me. You have no choice.”
That is not democratic. That is autocratic. That is demonic.
And there are clear consequences!
Today you tear my poster, tomorrow my supporters will tear your head. That is how political crises start in Edo. We have seen it before.
IT KILLS DEMOCRACY: When voters cannot see alternatives, they cannot make informed choices. You are rigging the election before the election.
IT EXPOSES LEADERSHIP FAILURE:
A government that is performing does not need to pull down posters. Its work is its billboard.
The good roads, the working hospitals, the paid salaries, access to electricity, Scholarships, Security, Transparency, Credibility and welfarism.
Those are your posters! If you are pulling down others’ boards, it means your own scorecard is empty.
So we ask those behind this midnight rascality in Edo State:
If you are truly democrats as you claim on TV and radio, why are you acting like despots in the streets?
Edo people are watching. 2027 will not be won by scissors and ladders in the night. It will be won by performance in broad daylight.
Is it democratic? Or demonic? you may believe that everyday is for you and your N50,000 thugs.
When the true Edo will decide, you may feel the consequences of the “WEEP NOT, CHILD” by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, originally published as James Ngugi in 1964.
The devastating effect of the ruling party trying to colonize democracy and make it a one party system would be told through the eyes of a young boy named Njoroge.
If the ruling party believes that the only way to destroy the opposition, their families and the country is by pulling down billboards, it may befall everyone. Becuase around them, everything is collapsing:
In the end, despite all their beliefs in harassment, the ruling party may fail and realize that their actions alone cannot save them when the whole world is oppressed.
It is not about whipping the opposition. It is about the wrong precedent.
The oppositions shouldn’t cry, because the clouds of colonialism will not be victorious forever.