Barring any last minute postponement, Nigerians will head to the polls tomorrow, to vote for the next president of the federation and members of the National Assembly in the seventh general elections since civil rule was reinstated 24 years ago.
Eighteen parties will be on the ballot. Almost all these represent the system of exploitation and oppression of the poor masses. Virtually all of them except the African Action Congress (AAC), which stands for the Total Liberation of working people and youths.
The Socialist Workers & Youth League (SWL) fully supports the AAC, and SWL members will vote for the party’s candidates, including Omoyele Sowore, the party’s presidential flag-bearer on 25 February. And come 11 March, we will equally vote for the gubernatorial and houses of assembly candidates of the AAC, across the country.. We urge you – as a worker, artisan, trade, poor farmer, oppressed woman, downtrodden youth – to vote AAC.
A vote for the AAC is a protest vote against those people, the 0.1% of the population who have ruled over us for decades, enriching themselves with the wealth from our sweat and the abundant riches on our lands, while we the masses go hungry, and lack basic health care and quality education for our children, as parents, and ourselves as youths.
There is really no difference between them. That is why they do not have any problem with being in one of the capitalist parties today and the next minute they are in another one. So, it is not just the shameless APC that is responsible for the terrible state of where Nigeria is. All the capitalists and their parties are collectively responsible.
And their stock in trade has always been to make us bear the burden of economic crises that they throw the country into with their self-serving policies and programs in conjunction with their imperialist masters.
Whichever of the capitalist parties that comes to power will chastise us with scorpions, where Maj Gen Muhammadu Buhari (RTD) chastised us with whips. They will raise fuel pump prices, and introduce the worst of austerity measures.
We cannot continue like this. We have a great struggle ahead of us. It starts now, with our votes against the oppressors, by voting for the AAC in the general elections. This is just a first step. Join the struggle. Let us organise together. Let us dare to struggle and thus dare to win.
by Baba AYE
