Voting Patterns: North vs South

In the new age, democracy has spread to almost every part of the globe and it has trumped out almost every other form of government, be it communism, socialism, or whatever kind you can think of. Citizens of countries who practice other forms of government, especially those in suppressed societies constantly hope for democracy. Even those who live in democratic societies, keep fighting to have the best version. It is known that in democracy, elections are held and in these elections, the people cast votes. The candidate, party or option with the highest vote goes on to win the election. Democracy is about the majority. A simple concept as this may seem, the workings behind it are far more complex and even philosophical as there are always interests of various kinds. It is to be expected. Politics is a game of interests. In a country like Nigeria where interests are sectarian, ethnic, religious and basically between two rivals: the Muslim dominated North and the Christian dominated South whose cultures seem different in every respect, well thought out political philosophies would be in the best interest of both sides. Taking just face value, it would seem that there are no philosophies save those of elitism, greed, brainless looting, corruption and ultimately socio-economic destruction. Only, this is not the case. The South might obviously have none as it can't seem to band together and take its place as a force to be reckoned with in the scheme of national affairs. It's political class can't seem to agree on anything but rather act like privileged spoilt kids, fighting for their parent's attention. The North on the other hand seems a bit different. Asides the usual greed, looting and corruption which characterises both North and South, the North seems to have a philosophy which is to perpetuate its hold on power. For a long time, it seems to have had this sinister motive and it's philosophy becomes more obvious as the days go by. This is evident in the creation of more states as well as LGAs in the North, employment and promotion of citizens of Northern extraction in the federal civil service and military, lopsided appointment of northerners as heads of MDAs and parastatals. All these definitely have an effect on the political playfield. This philosophy is also evident in the voting pattern of the North. In the achievement of this philosophy, northerners will vote for any muslim of northern exctraction whether qualified or not, even when there's a more qualified Southern candidate. The average Northern Muslim is more politically conscious than their southern contemporary. When it's time for elections, you see them running back home to exercise their franchise, from whatever part of the nation they may be. During elections, the South is almost devoid of northerners as your usual cobblers, "mai ruwa", keke riders, meat sellers and abattoir operators, etc become scarce. Even beggars of Northern extraction are not left out. 🤧 They all go back to their places of origin to vote. Down South, you find a direct opposite in voting patterns. A typical Southerner will not go out to vote except there is a promise or evidence of vote buying. He wants to be paid to carry out his civic duty even when the polling unit is just a few metres from his house. He wants politicians to provide free transportation to his hometown to vote. This is the difference. Politics in the North is based on interests while politics in the South is transactional. It will be expected, that the South with a higher literacy coefficient will be a shining example to the "less literate" North in the area of politics and voting and other areas but it seems education takes a back seat in these matters.

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