Nigerian Election 2015 - My Experience by Tunde Itayemi ... WE even Prayed at the Polling Station !

9jabook - Kindly send in your Experience at the Polls to biodunb@gmail.com  you can post on our facebook page here too  https://www.facebook.com/pages/9jabook/114984665198578Thanks !

We hope to give you live updates f Results as they come in

It's 9AM and nothing is happening at my polling booth. Some UK foreign observers just came through. They said they have been to 10 stations and no INEC officials. They claim it's the same in some places on the mainland.

Had quite an adventure getting to V/I this morning. Was on the road fr Agungi shortly after 6am. Military roadblock at Mobil roundabout. We got through one by one. Greeted the soldier who looked in at my side window, held up my PVC and told him I was going to VI to vote. Scaled that roadblock. Then complete stop at OandO roundabout. They weren't allowing anyone through. Even some police vehicles were on the queue. Told the foreign observer to go back to the previous roundabout and then drive down using the opposite/wrong side of the road?

After about 30minutes there, everyone was instructed to turn back. The queue had backed up a couple hundred feet by then so the cars had to make a u-turn one by one starting from the back. Went back and was considering going back home then at the last minute I took the road beside Total petrol station. Meandered all the way using side roads to Lekki phase 1. Heard on the radio that the same thing was happening at Ajah roundabout. (Despite the official curfew starting at 8am so people can get to their registered stations, it seems the soldiers started enforcing the movement restrictions at 6am. Some chap called into a program on the radio that the lagos state police chief had announced that the curfew for lagos starts at 6am so maybe that's the reason. )

Exited the Lekki phase 1 estate main gate and headed to the LCC toll gate.
There was a roadblock right across all the lanes. The soldiers were quite aggressive. Turning back quite a few of the few cars trying to go through.
Fortunately their senior officer was standing on the median close to my car. I got out, greeted him and said I was going to VI to vote. He looked at his time and said I wasn't prepared to vote if I was just going to my booth at 7AM. Told him it was because there are roadblocks all the way back and it was a pain getting through them. He said I could go. But of course I had to show the contents of all the bags in my booth to his aggressive subordinate.

"Open the bag. That one too. Show me that one."
Gave a policeman a lift from the toll gate to law school. He was going to Falomo. (The INEC officials - 3 NYSC and 3 others just got dropped off at 9:10am). But the policemen that dropped them said they should not start anything until they get back.
Another roadblock at the junction of Akin Adesola and Adeola Odeku. The soldiers took their sweet time attending to the cars on the queue. First you get to answer a few questions, then you get down and open your booth. Show the content of the contents. And finally pop your bonnet so they can eyeball your engine.
Strange enough the soldier that attended to me apologized for all the stress. But it's easy to see he was middle-age or older and probably educated. But from the lines and the expression on his face, life probably hasn't been too kind to him.
I told him no worries, everyone's "temperature" is a little high today.
I can see why there is some restriction on the minimum height for military men. One of the soldiers was barely taller than the machine gun he held up pointing to the sky.
Finally made it to my destination.
We are on the queue. It's 9:30am and they have still not started doing anything.

We have just started with a short prayer session with one of the corpers leading. Concluded with the Lord's Prayer. There were adherents of both major religions on the queue and most people said amen. After all it's prayers for safety and for the elections to go well. There's still hope for us as a nation!

Itayemi is an IT Consultant .

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4 people like this.

Okwy Chime More updates please
1 hr · Like
Ayotunde Itayemi After another 30 minutes one of the INEC officials got up and announced that the card readers are not available. They have called "them" to bring it and they are on their way. It's 9:50am now and still nothing.
1 hr · Like
Wumi Akinseye Wow!
53 mins · Like
Tony Zobeashia You forgot to add - Ayotunde Itayemi reporting for CNN or SKYNEWS.... lol
52 mins · Like · 1
Ayotunde Itayemi Finally at 10:00am the card readers arrive!
51 mins · Like
Badmos Olabisi S Uncle Tunde, well done
50 mins · Like
Ayotunde Itayemi Thanks Bisi. We have just started with a short prayer session with one of the corpers leading. Concluded with the Lord's Prayer. There were adherents of both major religions on the queue and most people said amen. After all it's prayers for safety and for the elections to go well. There's still hope for us as a nation!

9jabook - Kindly send in your Experience at the Polls to biodunb@gmail.com  you can post on our facebook page here too  https://www.facebook.com/pages/9jabook/114984665198578Thanks !