'Love Does Not Win Elections' by Ayisha Osori

A REVIEW
"Do not assess your chances based on how much people claim your opponents are disliked or [reviled]: love is not a currency at the ballot." (pg.239)

LOVE DOES NOT WIN ELECTIONS is a personal account of an aspirant on how to win elections in Nigeria. It is easy to read, humorous, and honest. The language is simple, with the use of beautiful metaphors that creates relatable imageries that engages the reader. 

In this book, the author places a floodlight in the murky waters of Nigerian politics. It gives an insight into some ingredients that may likely increase the chances of winning a primary election in Nigeria. Things like money, godfatherism, nepotism, and extreme begging are some of the oils that lubricate the Nigerian political engine.

After years of being a keen observer of the Nigerian political scene from her vantage point as the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Women's Trust Fund, a non-profit organisation focused on the increased representation of women in politics and decision making. Ayisha Osori decided to run for office as a member representing the AMAC/Bwari constituency of the Federal Capital Territory in the House of Representatives in 2015, on the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

The book details the foray of the writer into the Nigerian political arena. As she puts it, choosing a platform to run was difficult because "There is not much to distinguish between Nigeria's two main political parties.". She also faced with the unusual task of kneeling to beg delegates to vote and exchanging brown envelopes for favours.

In the end, Ms. Osori lost the primaries by a wide margin to the incumbent. Possibly because she could not get the endorsement of some party bigwigs, or mainly because there was an agreement amongst party leadership to return all incumbents. Either way, it benefits the political class that things should remain the way they are, there is less room for surprises.

On the other hand, the delegates and constituents, that should be more concerned about voting out non-performing representatives are more concerned with handouts given to them by politicians during electioneering periods. These actions leave one wondering about what the actual problem is. 

The problem is not a lack of information. Most people know what they expect from their elected officials as evidenced in the book when the writer met with the constituents. So, why do they continually listen to this money language spoken by politicians? 

The book is a must-read for anyone that wants to go into politics in Nigeria. It is also necessary for everyone that wants our democracy to thrive. Not only does it dish out tips for prospective aspirants and candidates, but it also forces the voting public to answer some difficult questions.

Just A Lame Story

Politicians are just like us. Did you just scoff and roll your eyes at that? I see you are saying to yourself who cares, or maybe you are in the group that has regular interaction with politicians, and you are thinking “is she for real? Of course, they are just like us! Whatever category you belong to; the group of people who don’t care or those who are wondering what planet I dropped from, don’t get your knickers in a twist; I’m just trying to tell a story here.

I have always thought politicians and top government officials especially those at the federal level to be superhuman; the amount of money they earn (genuine or otherwise), number of aides they have, and the multitudes of people 'sucking up' to them is quite enough to establish their superhuman nature both to themselves and to the people who observe them.

I recently had an experience that has made me realize that contrary to what I thought they might be human after all. It was on a trip from Port Harcourt to Abuja. The plane landed in Abuja at 7:45 pm, I was the first person to reach the departure lounge, either because I had no luggage or because I could not wait to get home (I had been at the airport in Port Harcourt since 11:00 am that morning), I was almost at the exit door when I noticed someone behind me, he obviously couldn't wait to get home either. I don’t know what possessed me because this was something I had never done before; then again there was a fuel crisis so maybe my subconscious was working with that knowledge. Anyhow I turned to him and said "good evening Sir, are you taking a Taxi or a Car is coming for you?" he replied that a car was coming to pick him to which I responded that I would join him. Just then I saw a man in a dark suit rushing to us (maybe his Personal Assistant), when he got to us, he greeted my companion, took his hand luggage and was heading in the general direction of the car park when my companion called after him that I was going with them.

We got to the car; I don’t know the difference between one car and the next, so I don’t know what make of car it was, but I do know it was an extremely sleek Jeep. The man and I sat in the middle of the car while his Personal Assistant sat in front with the driver. We were about to leave when there was a knock on his side of the window, he rolled down the glass and was told he had forgotten something in the plane and that it had been handed over to airport security, the Personal Assistant jumped down immediately to go in search of the item, after about a minute I suggested to him that they might not give the item to the Personal Assistant so he should go himself, he agreed with me and stepped down from the vehicle. The moment he was out of earshot I asked the driver who the man was, I was shocked at his response “you see, in this our work we have to be security conscious I cannot tell you anything”, that statement made me wonder who the man might be, the driver made it clear he was not going to say anything, so there was no need for further discussions.

Ten minutes later the man and his Personal Assistant were back, and we started our journey to town; the man was working on his laptop I sat back and closed my eyes, we sat in a comfortable silence for about fifteen minutes, when I opened my eyes, we were close to the junction I intended to get down, I told him, I would like to get down at that junction, I thought to myself that it wouldn't be appropriate for me to leave without an introduction.

I told him my name, and he exclaimed “ha! You are my small sister now” I smiled and said I was grateful for the ride into town, I expected that by introducing myself, he would do the same thing, but he did not, I had to him, he laughed heartily (maybe at my audacity), he introduced himself as Senator so and so, I was secretly shocked, but on the outside I was remarkably calm.

We got to the junction, and just before I alighted he gave me a couple of Naira notes I thanked him again and left the car.

I arrived home and told my sister of my adventure she told me, he was the Senator representing our senatorial district, and I thought what a coincidence. She hardly believes what I had done and honestly, I had a hard time believing myself; I still don't know which was more unbelievable that I could be that daring or that politicians are just like us.