Fellow Nigerians, leaders of conscience, members of the opposition, civil society leaders, young Nigerians, parents, teachers and, most importantly, the people of Nigeria:
The debate over the cost of elections in Nigeria should not end with political victory or defeat. It should compel us to ask a deeper question about our national priorities: what could ₦110 billion do for the Nigerian child if equivalent resources were invested in public education rather than allegedly deployed for vote-buying?
The figure of ₦110 billion referenced in this discussion is an allegation attributed to musician David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, concerning alleged spending during the Osun State governorship election. The allegation has not been independently established as fact and should therefore not be presented as a confirmed account of election expenditure.
However, if ₦110 billion were hypothetically available for public investment, what could Nigeria achieve with it?
The power of ₦110 billion
Nigeria has approximately 8,809 electoral wards. If ₦110 billion were divided equally among those wards, it would amount to approximately ₦12.48 million per ward.
Imagine a Nigeria where every ward could point to a properly equipped public primary school and say: our children have a better school because government invested in their future.
Imagine children sitting on good desks instead of broken furniture. Imagine classrooms equipped with proper ventilation and fans. Imagine communities having access to clean water through functional boreholes. Imagine dilapidated classrooms being replaced with new learning spaces.
Imagine teachers working in environments where they can teach effectively and children learning in an atmosphere that gives them dignity and hope.
That is what responsible public investment can achieve.
The question of priorities
Politics is ultimately about priorities.
Government must decide whether public resources should be used primarily for temporary political benefits or invested in projects capable of producing lasting social value.
Money allegedly given to influence a voter’s decision may disappear within hours. A bag of rice may feed a family for a few days. But a classroom can educate children for decades.
A borehole can provide water to an entire community for years if properly maintained. A school building can outlive the politician who commissioned it. A well-trained teacher can influence hundreds or even thousands of young minds.
That is the difference between expenditure that produces temporary political value and investment that produces lasting national value.
Let us do the mathematics
The figures presented here are illustrative rather than official procurement estimates.
If the hypothetical cost of upgrading a primary school with six classrooms, furniture, a borehole, fans and other basic facilities were ₦25 million, then ₦110 billion could theoretically support approximately 4,400 schools.
At ₦20 million per school, the same amount could support approximately 5,500 schools.
At ₦15 million per school, it could support approximately 7,333 schools.
Actual construction and rehabilitation costs would vary depending on location, land, building specifications, labour, materials, water systems, furniture, power supply and other requirements.
Nevertheless, the mathematics demonstrates the enormous scale of what such resources could potentially achieve.
We are talking about thousands of schools and potentially millions of children whose educational environment could be improved.
The poor family must be at the centre of our politics
Let us bring this debate down from the political arena into the ordinary Nigerian household.
Consider a father and mother struggling to provide for three children. Their income is barely enough to cover food, rent, transportation, electricity and healthcare.
The public school closest to them may have overcrowded classrooms, inadequate furniture, poor sanitation and unreliable access to water.
The parents may therefore feel compelled to send their children to a private school, even when they cannot comfortably afford the fees.
They borrow money. They accumulate debts. They postpone important family needs. Some may sell property or borrow from friends and relatives simply to keep their children in school.
Now imagine that same community with a properly equipped public primary school.
Six new classrooms. Good desks and chairs. Clean water. Proper ventilation. Basic sanitation. Learning materials. Qualified and motivated teachers. A safe learning environment.
Suddenly, education becomes less of a financial burden on the family.
The money that would have gone into school fees could instead be spent on food, healthcare, rent, transportation, savings or a small business.
That is what responsible governance should look like.
We must stop treating poverty as an electoral resource
For too long, Nigerian politics has been trapped in a dangerous cycle.
Public services deteriorate. Poverty deepens. Elections approach. Politicians distribute money or other material inducements. Citizens facing economic hardship accept what is offered. Votes are exchanged. The election ends, while the underlying problems remain.
Then the cycle begins again.
Nigeria must break this cycle.
Poverty must never become an instrument of political control.
The Nigerian voter should not have to exchange a long-term political mandate for a small amount of money simply because today’s economic hardship leaves little choice.
The answer to poverty is not vote-buying. The sustainable answers are good governance, quality education, employment, affordable healthcare, infrastructure, social protection and economic opportunity.
Our children deserve better
What kind of country do we want to leave behind?
Do we want politicians competing over who can distribute the most money during elections, or politicians competing over who can build the best schools?
Do we want political leaders remembered for the amount of money they allegedly distributed during elections, or do we want them remembered because they transformed communities?
Do we want elections to produce temporary excitement, or do we want elections to produce lasting development?
These are questions every Nigerian should consider.
The opposition must offer a different vision
Opposition politics should not be limited to criticising those in power.
The opposition must present Nigerians with a credible alternative and a clear vision for national development.
That alternative should place human capital development at the centre of governance.
We must insist that public education becomes a national priority. We must invest in primary schools, renovate dilapidated classrooms, provide furniture, ensure access to clean water, improve sanitation, supply textbooks and learning materials, and recruit and properly motivate teachers.
We must strengthen school-feeding programmes and create learning environments where children can develop their talents regardless of the economic circumstances of their parents.
Most importantly, public schools should be good enough that even the children of political leaders will not be ashamed to attend them.
Quality education should not be a privilege reserved for families who can afford expensive private schools.
It should be an opportunity available to every Nigerian child.
Let us change the question
Perhaps Nigeria needs to change the question it asks during elections.
Instead of asking, “How much money can I receive during an election?”, we should ask, “How many schools will my vote help produce?”
Instead of asking, “How much will they give me?”, we should ask, “What will they build for my community?”
Instead of asking, “Who has the biggest election war chest?”, we should ask, “Who has the clearest plan for Nigeria’s future?”
That is the politics Nigeria needs.
A new social contract with the Nigerian child
Nigeria needs a new social contract in which government sees every child not merely as a future voter, but as a citizen whose potential must be protected and developed.
We must build a country where a child is not condemned to poor education because of the circumstances of his or her birth.
We must build a Nigeria where public schools are institutions of opportunity rather than symbols of government neglect.
We must build a Nigeria where parents do not have to impoverish themselves to provide their children with a decent education.
And we must build a Nigeria where political success is measured not by how much money changes hands during an election, but by how much citizens’ lives improve after the election.
₦110 billion: a number or a national opportunity?
₦110 billion is not merely a figure in a political argument.
It represents thousands of possibilities.
It represents classrooms that could be constructed, desks that could be provided, boreholes that could supply communities with clean water, teachers who could be supported, learning materials that could reach children and families that could receive relief from educational expenses.
It represents communities that could be transformed through deliberate and sustainable investment.
Therefore, if the allegation surrounding ₦110 billion in Osun were ever established through credible evidence, Nigerians should ask a broader question beyond who spent the money and how.
We should also ask:
What did Nigeria lose by not investing equivalent resources in its people?
That is the real question.
Elections should build the future
Elections should not be about purchasing the desperation of poor citizens.
They should be about earning the confidence of citizens through credible programmes, responsible leadership and a demonstrable commitment to improving their lives.
The Nigerian people deserve leaders who understand that the greatest investment a nation can make is an investment in its people.
Let us build a Nigeria where a child is not judged by the wealth of his or her parents.
Let us build a Nigeria where a poor child can enter a public school and receive an education capable of transforming his or her life.
Let us build a Nigeria where government does not merely seek votes from the people but invests in the people who give government its legitimacy.
And let’s shift the conversation:
We do not want a Nigeria where ₦110 billion buys votes. We want a Nigeria where ₦110 billion builds the future.
Akor Christian Oche (Due Process)
