Marriage Election

I was thinking this morning..... about election. This past week I read an interesting news from Giade, Bauchi State of one Khadija that fell in love with two young men named Inusa and Ibrahim. She found it difficult to choose who between them to marry and neither of the young men was ready to accept defeat without a contest. The elders of the town, at Khadija's request, then decided to conduct an election, which Inusa won having scored the highest number of votes. He was therefore declared 'Husband-Elect.' Interesting, right?

As I pondered on the news story, I wondered why Khadija and the elders of Giade decided on an election in this season when the Nigeria Supreme Court is overturning the outcomes of elections like elections are accursed. Why didn't they consider other traditional methods of deciding between two options like tossing a coin or clutching the two options in both hands and singing 'Tubu tubu baskelebe iya amala pun, amala amala pun pun.....' But in my area of Warri in those days, our version is 'Tubu tubu mess am, akarakara mess am, Ubaloshe banuwe....' Hmm!!! If you know, you know.

For many Nigerians, elections have become a conundrum because all our elections are marred with ballot box snatching, vote buying, over-voting, violence and outright manipulation of results. For Khadija, in spite of all, she believed in election in the truest form and it worked for her.

Khadija, having seen the sham election has become in Nigeria, could've opted for a more scientific approach of selecting her husband. She could have engaged a consultant to research both Inusa and Ibrahim and request a water-tight recommendation be made on who she should marry or she could have applied the US Iowa Democratic Caucus approach backed up by technology. But no, she opted for the less complicated Option A4. Unlike in Iowa where technology failed and it took days to announce the results, Khadija got her 'Husband-elect' in minutes.

I am thinking, why can't we all make election in Nigeria as simple and workable as that which produced the 'Husband-elect' for Khadija? We can even learn from Khadija and use the election approach to resolve some other dilemmas we face. For example, your child is due for college and you had narrowed your choice to two schools. How do you choose? Gather your family together and do an election. You got into a shop to buy a pair of shoes. Two pairs caught your fancy. What do you do if you can't afford both pairs? Gather everyone in the shop and do an election. Khadija used an election to overcome her dilemma and she got her 'Husband-elect.'

We need more Khadijas in Nigeria that still believe election should be simple and it should work. Election was designed to work and we must play our part to make it work. Romans 9:11 (ESV) says 'Though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls.' There is always a purpose for election, whether by man or by God and like Khadija if we make it work, Nigeria will be a better place. Remember, you may not be a Husband-elect or Governor-elect but you can be God's elect.

Happy Sunday. 

.....Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey.