My Experience Voting In Nigeria

On the 25th of February, 2023, Nigeria held her presidential election and since it’s the first election since I became legible to vote, it was whole new experience so I thought I’d share it with you. Just like I shared how I got my driver’s license, cause I just love sharing a things with you🧍🏽‍♀️

That day was also my brother’s birthday. Yayyy

My parents, my sister and I left the house at about 8:30am. I made sure I packed water, my portable fan, my charger, a face cap and anything else I would need cause I wasn’t sure how long it was going to take.

My dad was registered in a different polling unit from ours so he left separately and we met up with my neighbors so we walked to the unit together. There was no movement which meant the roads were practically empty so it was conducive for us to walk. Most people were walking too.

When we got there, there was crowd already and everyone was kinda just lounging around chitchatting.

First, they had to confirm that we were at the right polling unit then we were given numbers. I was number 277! There were 276 people ahead of me and there were only two officials handling the voting process in our unit cause I guess they assumed we weren’t going to be a lot. That was when I knew we were in for a long ride.

At first, we just lounged around. I was listening to music while my sister and our neighbor were watching a movie. As time went and the sun became HOTTER, we started getting tired. At this point, we had been there for about 3 hours already and it wasn’t even close to our turn. Thankfully, we brought umbrellas so we kind of just laid under the shade of our umbrellas. I took 15-20 minute naps once in a while but for the most part, I was chatting with my friends and making sure they were all safe in their different units cause we heard it had started getting violent in parts of the country.

By 2pm, we were tired of lying down and the sun was getting too hot so we couldn’t rely on our umbrellas anymore. Thankfully, half of the people there had voted and some had already gone home so there were empty seats under some of the canopy.

We were given free water, drinks, snacks and food then by around 4pm, our numbers were finally called.

We were given the slips so all you have to do is press your index finger on the ink pad and then press it in front of the party you’re voting for. Then fold the slips into the designated ballot boxes.

After voting, I was overwhelmed with a ton of emotions but mostly I felt grateful.

I mean, there was a time women weren’t even allowed to vote.

I’m also grateful that my polling unit was peaceful and everyone tried to make the environment conducive enough for us to vote cause some thugs attacked some locations and disrupted the entire process which is very disheartening. I’m glad none of my friends and family got hurt and I hope this election is able to conclude smoothly and we can all go about our lives.

I really hope my choice of candidate wins but if he doesn’t, well it’s all in God’s hands. I’m just glad I was able to perform my duty and play my role as a citizen. Now, I can only hope.

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