INEC CENTER, ILARO, OGUN STATE
Election is fast approaching and citizens who are fed up with the state of the country are eager to change the government to who they believe is right through voting. As a citizen of Nigeria, the only qualification to vote is the permanent voter's card (PVC) which is registered through and given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Over years, registering for and getting the PVC have been a tough struggle for the citizens and it hasn't changed yet. As a patriotic citizen, I also joined hundreds of people who are interested and decided to get my PVC too, in order to partake in the voting process. The process in getting the PVC has not been an easy one. After doing the online pre-registration months ago, I've been trying every means to do the physical and biometrics registration but one thing has been leading to another and it's been failing.
Fortunately, after months of frustration, waiting and queuing under the sun, I finally got registered today. But truth be told, it's been a hell of a ride but here I am. I'd like to share some of the experiences I had getting the PVC.
Me filling the registration form
People wake up as early as 4am to get to the INEC center early, so as to have a shot at being registered that day. But as early as 4am sounds, people that get there around that time still find themselves around large numbers on the list. I know of a woman that got there few minutes past 4am and the number she could pick was 56 (meaning 55 people were there before her), I can only wonder when they got there. I've never gotten there earlier than 7am.
The center doesn't open until 8am, that is when they collect the list for the day(probably filled with 200+ names) and start attending to people. They start by calling people in, in group of 10s. To attend to one person takes around 6mins, so 10 people take around 1hour. People are kept outside the gate, under the sun and rain. People that arrived after the list has been taken, are kept waiting too. Unattended and unaddressed.
No one comes to explain the situation of things to the people waiting, just a shut gate that opens every one hour. Another frustrating thing is the people with "connection". They just come, make a call and the gate opens while they enter without waiting, because they know a high ranked official or a staff. The people gets
agitated and make noise but nothing changes, same old story. The security man also lets people in for a token. People couldn't be treated worse. This is another sector I feel needs to be cleansed of corrupt people.
When it was my turn, I got to know that it was only one device for registration that was available, very sad😥. One machine for hundreds of people. I was among the last set of people to be attending to today. I saw the frustration and bitterness in the faces of people who, after waiting for hours, didn't get registered and I was pained but there's nothing I could do.
Getting your PVC feels like a great battle has been won and I don't feel less. After months of frustration and disappointment, I won. Whatever it is you want in life, as long as it is right, the universe will work for you in achieving it, never give up.
Registration form
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Love and light♥️&💡,
Kikiola.