A new year brings the opportunity to start afresh. It also provides the opportunity for people to set goals and  change from a bad behaviour to a good one.

FOR Nigeria, 2019 is an election year. It comes with a lot of feverish excitement but also anxiety and the fear of the unknown. The election campaign has been going on for nearly two months and marked with fewer incidents of violence compared to the past.

IT is reassuring to note that President Muhammadu Buhari in his New Year address to the nation promised that the 2019 election would not be a do-or-die affair.

WE laud Mr. President’s posture and hold the belief that lives and property of Nigerians should never be sacrificed to campaigns and elections. It is therefore incumbent on all the stakeholders concerned to rise to the occasion and ensure that the upcoming elections are peaceful, credible and transparent.

THIS year also marks 20 years since the nation’s return to democratic rule. We thus need to prove to ourselves and to the world that democracy is taking root  in Nigeria.

NIGERIA is presently trapped in appalling economic and social conditions. For the most people, life cannot be more difficult, as workers salaries can no longer guarantee them minimal comfort; insecurity worsens across the country; power supply is either negligible or thoroughly bogus.

AS usual, Nigerians pay through their noses to experience steady darkness, assailed by shylock distribution and generating companies and the docility and incompetence of the regulatory agencies. However, even with the country’s unemployment and poverty statistics, the government sticks to its narrative of progress, thus raising the question whether or not those in the corridors of power are attuned with the country’s present realities.

IT is no wonder then that across the country, the indices of underdevelopment, including a poor economy, weak institutions and poor infrastructure, remain the unfortunate reality.

THE country’s security challenges also calls for serious attention. There is a resurgence of attacks by Boko Haram elements in northern part of Nigeria. For example, in Borno State, up to six important towns were overrun by the insurgents in Kukawa Local Government. Situations in  states like Zamfara, Benue, Niger and Plateau are the same. They are  worrisome because the violence can affect the nation’s food security, as the states majorly produce food for the country.

WE note that the country has just exited from an economic recession in 2018. It is yet to recover fully. The resultant impact was to draw back economic growth in respect of which the government launched the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, ERGP.

YEAR 2019 budget proposals are before the National Assembly, submitted in December 2018. Our worry is that if the National Assembly handles it the way it did in previous years, coupled with the election campaign that will dominate the first quarter of this year, then we could be in for a serious delay indeed. This will not augur well for accelerated economic recovery.

IT is therefore important to warn that the situation must not degenerate further. This year’s general elections provide an opportunity for Nigerians to put in place a government of their choice. Thus, if for any reason the elections  cannot be better than the 2015  edition, they surely cannot afford to be worse.

THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, must be above board. It must be able to demonstrate to the whole world its readiness to up its game and be an impartial umpire.

WE also expect the security agencies to conduct their affairs professionally and dispassionately. On no account must any security agency be used to truncate the people’s will.

WE call on the politicians not to undermine the fragile peace in the country with their inordinate ambitions. We also recommend that all forms of electoral offenses, including vote buying, must be punished swiftly and decisively. Our position is that if the general election fails to meet international standards, there could be an open invitation to anarchy.

A free-and-fair election and better political leadership are some of the things Nigerians crave for.

We wish Nigerians a happy New Year.