My nephew was kidnapped, He escaped. Now I’m throwing a party, Kindly RSVP!

"Socioeconomic protests on Social Websites… Crap men!!! Like a case of trying to reach your target via an inappropriate medium #Naija” @De….

Like a Red Bororo, I did some serious chewing of the cud as I regurgitated and ruminated on the quoted tweet since I came across it on my timeline a few days ago. Primarily because if the view expressed in the tweet was right, it would mean I had to some extent failed as I have until recently participated in and promoted activism via social networks.  It would mean I have deluded myself, believed in a useless cause and wasted a lot of time and energy. It made me look inwards as I had to do some serious self-evaluation and assessment of my motives and actions.

Several who know me associate me with #LightUpNigeria, and at some point, it was almost becoming a full-time job for me (#LightUpNigeria is a group of young Nigerians advocating for improved electricity power practices in Nigeria through various means including social networking). However, as a result of several factors, I became inactive. Along the line, my life got busy, complacency set in and I became an “active” observer on all things Nigerian. “Active” because I still believed in a better Nigeria and always gave voice to my belief whenever the opportunity arose, be it in a conversation, a chat session, tweet, Facebook status etc. However, all conscious and deliberate efforts at being a part of this better Nigeria I hope for had become a thing of the past.

As long as I was doing okay, my loved ones were doing great and “God was blessing and protecting” me all was well. After all, I was not personally affected by the goings-on and someday Nigeria would turn out right or maybe not. Little did I know what was lying at my door. January 5, 2011 is a date that will forever be entrenched in the annals of my family history. I spent most of that day crying, the kind of crying that causes hiccups and makes you gasp for breath and break down on the floor. My nephew, Similoluwa was kidnapped right in front of my parents’ house; he was missing from about 9am till about 11pm. Thanks to God Almighty who owns the whole earth and watches over all, Simi escaped from the kidnappers and now I can throw this party asking you to RSVP. That was my wake-up call! I was instantly jolted out of my complacency. It was like pouring both ice cubes and boiling water on me at the same time.

It started out with the Niger-Delta freedom fighters, next it was the Niger-Delta non-freedom fighters, then came the Ibos who in their business nature recognized kidnapping as a lucrative venture, however, such things never happened in Lagos. Lagosians are safe and far from such happenings, Sharon’s experience was a one-time thing, it was a family friend that was involved so it wasn’t exactly indiscriminate kidnapping per se. Now it has happened to Simi and no, there was no family friend or house-help involved, it was a random kidnap simply to demand ransom from his grandfather and guess what? Next it might be you, yes, YOU reading this article! I do not wish upon my enemies (not sure I have any) the kind of experience my family had to go through two days ago, but believe me kidnapping is waiting right at your doorstep ready to pounce on you, or it may be a bomb hidden in someplace you might find yourself next week or religious wars may gradually begin to expand beyond the shores of Jos and Benue. Such degenerate happenings are spreading at an uncontrollable rate and you or a your family member might be the next victim.

It is time we took our fate into our hands my dear friends, it is time to act and quit talking. Yesterday was the Delta state rerun elections, the #DeltaReRun cannot exactly be termed free and fair but it is an election that gives hope. When in the history of INEC has its chairman ever acknowledged that ballot boxes were snatched?  When have election observers been able to call a phone number provided by the police commission to report police harassment during elections and the situation was immediately addressed? When has it happened that the name and number of a police orderly who was seen carrying a ballot box been publicized around the social network sites and reported to authorities and the media? It is not a perfect picture but I am objective enough to recognize baby steps when I see it and hope for maturity.

We do not have a perfect INEC neither do we have a perfect electoral system but these few incidents inspire in me a belief that if Nigerians come out en masse, maybe, just maybe we could  actually protect our votes and vote in people we believe can bring a change to Nigeria.  If there were about fifty @bubusn, (Amara Nwakpa of #LightUpNigeria. He was in Delta state to observe the elections and gave live reports on twitter via the hash-tag #DeltaReRun), at each polling booth in Delta State, I am positive we would have fairer results than the results announced so far. For results collated so far and live feed on the Delta rerun, click on this.

Imagine the possibilities if during the general elections in April, we have huge numbers at each polling booth tweeting, recording, getting evidence and reporting the rigging. #Livefeedtohkwality! Maybe our dreams and hopes could become reality. I was chatting with a friend, who is a non-believer in Nigeria but is somehow in the choir since he knows what is right but chooses not to do it (it is so difficult to convert such cynics), and I told him, the probabilities are not in favor of having free and fair general elections but what if the probabilities just turn out in favour of that low possibility, as long as there is a "what if" and that slim chance exists even if it is as low as  0.0000001%, I choose to hope in that chance (Observe the British weather and you will know probabilities work out that way :D).

Not only am I asking that we come out to vote, I am asking that we preach the #RSVP* message via any means possible, tweet about it, make it your Facebook or Blackberry status. Did you know that as at November 7, 2010, there were about 1,755,840 Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 35 on Facebook? Check out "Some interesting Nigerian Facebook stats here. If a quarter of those Nigerians took it upon themselves to actively solicit 5 people who actively solicit another 5 people who actively solicit another 5 people who actively solicit another 5 people etc. to intelligently #RSVP, I’m no mathematician but I can imagine the far reaching extent that will go. Who knows, you could even be the Nigerian Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner’s character in Swing Vote) :D. Your vote might be the deciding factor!

Convert and motivate everyone you know over 18 to register come January 15-29. Convert your family members, your church, mosque, temple, shrine  or whatever folks, your friends, your fellow club hoppers, your party buddies, your colleagues, your siblings, your parents, the guy you buy credit from, the lady that you buy that Brazillian weave from. Educate them! Preach #RSVP and let’s OWN this election! I cannot tell if the upcoming general elections will be free and fair but I can with all confidence tell that it is a step towards a Nigeria that would conduct free and fair elections some day. 

Contrary to the tweet I quoted at the beginning I do not agree that socioeconomic protests on social networks is crap, in fact I have seen its effect and I know if channeled properly,  would go a long way and have great impact. However it does not stop there, it is NOT enough to tweet alone and do nothing. As my dear friend, Priest of the proles, Rantimus @Plumbtifex  tweeted, , “IT IS NOT 'COOL' 2 Vote, Twitter Generation, WAKE UP!!! IT is NOT COOL 2 EAT, ur LIFE Depends on it.” It is  no exaggeration, your life as a Nigerian depends on your vote! We must go beyond our comfort  zone , we must do something towards righting the wrongs around us. As MLK said, If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” Whatever you, do make sure it is a step closer towards RSVP!!

Register. Get your name on that electoral register between January 15 and 29, you have no excuse. There is no work during that period (IMO, ridiculous but necessary notion :D, considering there's so much voter apathy and most Nigerians would find an excuse not to registe). To locate polling booths and registration centers close to you, click on this Google maps link and  if you have a Blackberry with the Google Maps app, search for "polling loc: " and see all the polling booths near your city

Select.  Rationally analyze all the contestants out there, be objective, Select who you think is best to steer this potentially great country of ours effectively.

Vote. Come April, get out there en masse and cast your votes. Make it fun, go in groups so you can gist, and tweet about your observations

Protect. After casting your vote, hang around the polling booth. I’ll advice you take some drinks and food with you because it is likely to be a long, hectic and tiring wait. Ensure everything is done properly. Wait till your votes are counted and announced at the booth. Report  and publicize any discrepancies.

OWN the 2011 elections, Nigerians!

Click here to visit the EnoughisEnough Nigeria  for more information and updates. EnoughisEnough Nigeria is a growing coalition of various youth based Nigerian advocacy groups promoting the RSVP message.

God bless Nigeria! God bless you!