𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗠

~ 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘞𝘪𝘴

The drums have gone silent.

The banners now hang weak in the wind.

Footsteps that once shook the streets in consultations

now walk slowly into uncertain silence.

Aspirants came with hope,

with posters, promises, and persuasion.

They moved from compound to compound,

from elders to youths,

believing that someday, somehow,

their names would meet the ballot.

But politics, like the harmattan wind,

sometimes changes direction overnight.

In Ahiazu, four men and one woman prepared for battle,

yet when the curtain was lifted,

the name announced was not among the contenders in the arena.

And the people stood speechless.

Not because consensus is evil,

for the Party is supreme and discipline sustains structure,

but because hearts were already invested in a democratic contest

that never came.

Now the questions float quietly in the air:

How do we heal disappointed hearts?

How do we gather wounded loyalists?

How do we convince party faithfuls

that tomorrow still belongs to them?

For victory is not won only by tickets,

but by the emotions that follow them.

A candidate may emerge by endorsement,

but elections are won through acceptance.

And acceptance is born from consultation, humility, reconciliation, and respect.

This is not the time for mockery.

Not the time for arrogance.

Not the time to remind people who controls power.

This is the time for healing.

For dialogue.

For maturity.

For reaching hands toward those whose dreams suddenly became sacrifices on the altar of party supremacy.

The stakeholders must now speak.

Not with anger,

not with pride,

but with wisdom.

Because silence can become bitterness,

and bitterness unattended can become protest in the polling booth.

Ahiazu watches.

Party faithfuls wait.

The candidates too must reflect deeply

on the burden of the process that produced them.

For in politics,

how you emerge is important,

but how you manage the hearts you injured on your way up

is even more important.

And perhaps, that is the real primary election before the general election.

✍️ 𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗪𝗶𝘀