2015: This Woman President for Women in Clergy, wants electorates to Collect the Money from Politicians and vote their conscience

                                                                 Nonnie Robertson

Just in a matter of weeks now , the 2015 General election will kick off and money politics will resurface again.

Electorates have a new advice, collect their money but vote your conscience. In this interview, the President of the Nigerian Women in Clergy, Nonnie Robertson has expresses serious fear over the 2015 general election, saying that the election may turn violent if current security issues are not addressed and the election is not suspended. Excerpts:

What has your group, Women in Clergy been up to lately?

The period has been very busy for us locally and globally. When you look at the things that have been happening in the country, especially the killings and spilling of blood by the Boko Haram insurgents and the non-release of the Chibok girls, you will agree that the country is going through a herculean time.

We are in crisis as a nation; whether you like it or not and as a Christian organization, we have come to recognize that this is not just about prayers as we have earnestly done, so we decided to travel up north to access the situation ourselves. With what we saw and heard, we discovered that those of us in Abuja and those in the southern part of the country don’t even know what is really going on.

Are you saying that government has not been handling the Boko Haram insurgency right?

They may think they are handling it right, but the result they are getting should tell them if they are handling it right or not. In everything, the result tells. And in certain things, you need to keep changing strategy.

You said earlier that we should for once leave politics aside; does that mean that the problem is politically motivated?

My candid opinion is that it is both politically and religiously motivated. But whatever it is, it is a wicked motivation; fight whoever you want to fight and leave the innocent masses out of it. Why kill the innocent? Why kill these little ones? What have they done? What is going on? It really does not make any sense.

The 2015 general elections are around the corner and one constant slogan we have been hearing lately is change, especially coming from the All Progressives Congress, APC; is it change from PDP to APC the country needs at this point?

Almost all these people talking about change were once in the PDP, almost all of them; so for me, it is no longer a party thing. My prayer is that the right candidates who will do the will of God should emerge.

What are your fears for the 2015 general elections?

My fears? I know the president is going to win the presidential election because I prayed and a lot others have prayed too. The sceptre has not been taken away from him, but it is going to be very close and intense.

I don’t want to use the word fears but concerns; most of the top politicians have moved their children abroad. Their children are no longer here. I wish parents can talk to their children so that they are not used as political thugs.

There are people who think the elections should be cancelled for now because of the current wave of insecurity in the country; do you subscribe to this?

I wish they can heed that call and cancel the elections because there could be violence and there will be victims.

What role is your organisation playing in all these?

We have been praying and fasting but as you know, faith without work is dead. We are getting involved. We are working with a lot of female aspirants, trying to encourage and push them. The next thing is to embark on a mass sensitisation project to tell Nigerians what is expected of them. Votes will count this time around; so we will encourage people to vote based on their individual conviction. We will tell them to collect their money and rice if they bring them, but vote your conscience.

Conducted by Ayo Onikoyi for Vanguard