The Nigeria General Election has had the citizens divided into classes of choice, preferences and opinions. The electorate, in firm clinch of their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, have, so far, declared themselves winners of the preferential debates. And they are right. The PVC is the primary object of the voter’s electoral decisions; voter conscience is just secondary.
But in the Nigeria’s electoral game field, both the voter cards and voter conscience offer similar corrupt trade values, and the dirty and desperate politicians have found a heinous method to brainwash, manipulate and enchant the naïve voters into the obscene game plan. So we have begun to get used to electoral coinages like vote buying and selling.
Other issues are ballot box snatching and election-related thuggery. Most political observers have described the comparable inactivity of some politicians before the 2019 elections as a conscious tact to avoid fruitless wastage on campaigns and late night lobbying. All stacked resources lead to the perfect corrupt market; the strategic rendezvous for vote trade. 
The dizzy Nigerian economy, a reason for mass poverty and hunger, has aided this almost-incurable electoral crime. In a country where the desperate thought of re-election supersedes a value-driven idea of people-oriented governance, the politician would rather spend on votes than on a dilapidated infrastructure. And when, few days to the elections, they finally decide to play the usual games, or patronizing a roadside food seller — donating to communities, schools or renovating infrastructures, this becomes the dark picture of our national consciousness. 
Voter education has remained a very important pre-electoral process in Nigeria. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the National Orientation Agency, NOA, schools and civil society groups have cut deep into this crucial model. Sadly, the results have been lukewarm and almost not encouraging. Most times, the voters barely listen to these teachings, describing the institutions that dispense them as biased.
Vote buying and selling have often been a system that bring most politicians to power. The beneficiaries of this repulsive scheme stick to it, and it is more like an electoral norm; an acceptable tenet, like washing of the hands before meals. Those who try to shrug off the act as illegal are made to gnash their teeth on the Election Day and possibly regret having allowed their principles and patriotism cost them their political ambitions.
The nightmares go on and on, and one could lose count. Cases abound of wealthy or contracted political stakeholders hosting polling booths in their homes. Voters converge, thumbprint for the designated party and get their honorarium. Regrettably, the so-called votes count. 
The products of this condemnable system reflect the depth of Nigeria’s failure today. The common sense argument is that the winners of this terrible electoral mess cannot look the way of development, having seen and participated in the porous process.
Most saddening is the involvement of the youth in this ugly business. Trading one’s voter card for a petty sum, crime apart, is the height of prodigality. The solutions to the Nigeria’s electoral ravages lie with the voters – the Nigerian people. The millennial notion that power is of and with the people, breathes as new as it was a thousand years ago. 
Consequently, the electorate must take a sober look at the trepidations of Nigeria and understand that in our hands reside the change we seek, the dreams we wish our country become. Our pride is our conscience for national change; our voter cards are a sacred tool for that change.
We must understand the value of what we possess, it is worth more than material gains. It is like a destiny; the destiny of our dear nation. And just before we vote, we must search the depth of our minds for the candidates that meet these requirements of good conscience, those who share in our pains of national wreck. Those are the right choice. Our voter card defines the course of our country. A plate of porridge is just not worth its trade. 

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