Pyrates’ Confraternity advises Nigerians to ensure credibility of votes in 2023

The National Association of Seadogs, also known as the Pyrates’ Confraternity, has urged Nigerians to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) and ensure they troop out on election days to vote and monitor the ballots to prevent cultists and political thugs from hijacking ballot boxes from polling units.

Penpushing reports that, Acting President of the branch Adeyemi Omitogun, gave this advice during the organisation’s Feast Of Barracuda Public Lecture which the theme, “Gangsterism, Hooliganism and Cultism in Nigeria : Role of the Family,” held at the Permanent Anchor Point, Gbonogun, Abeokuta, the State Capital.

The Ash Montana Deck, while encouraging Nigerians to come out to exercise their franchise and stand by their votes said that such action would not only hinder cultists or hoodlums employed by bad politicians from snatching ballot boxes at their polling units but would also make their votes count.

Penpushing further reports that,he admonished the citizenry to bury the idea of “our votes don’t count,” which, according to him, will only embolden bad politicians using cultists and political thugs to hijack ballot boxes to continue to perpetrate their evil acts and win elections

The Guest Speaker at the lecture, Prof. Babatunde Onakoya, who is also a former Secretary to the Ogun State Government under the Otunba Gbenga Daniel administration, who spoke virtually on the ills of cultism and hooliganism in the country,noted that  the causes of violent cultism; hooliganism and gangsterism to include bad economy and poor parenting, and also he identified improved economy as a solution towards reducing the menace.

Penpushing also reports that, he  warned that the current wave of cultist activities that held some cities, especially Abeokuta and Sagamu by the jugular of recent leading to many lives lost if not checked might graduate into terrorism.

The Acting President, who charged participants to go home and inform their family members of the need to register and collect their Permanent Voter Cards(PVCs )to enable them vote in the 2023 elections, added that National Association of Seadogs (NAS )had an advocacy monitoring group whose duty was to ensure that Nigerians’ votes count in any election.

Penpushing reports that,he pointed out economic sustainability and family role as major factors that could reduce the ills of cultism and gangsterism in the society, especially when fathers stand up to their responsibility to inculcate morals in their children and advise them to shun cultism in schools.

“We all need to ensure that our PVCs are collected and we are all registered to vote because if you say election doesn’t count, we realise that we will be giving a chance to those people that have evil thoughts to succeed. But if at all we want to do it better, let’s go back home and tell our folks and family that all of them should get registered and be involved in this election”,he stated.

“It is not just to get involved in it, we need to be there, we need to be part of the system, we need to ensure that we vote and our vote is being counted in our presence, then now leave it to the government. The truth of the matter is that personally, we, the National Association of Seadogs, have our advocacy group on our votes count. We are part of the electoral monitoring team and whatever vices that are noted, we report to the public. But I can assure you that with what we are having now, let all of us be encouraged to be part of the system’.

“It is about economic sustainability, the youth having the hope that they can get something in the future and having the right model, not just this gangsterism or hooliganism. Let us be schooled, not just go back to school and no matter what your background is, you don’t need to join cultism before you become somebody. Cultism is even a vice in the society and one of the ills the National Association of Seadogs has identified as a project to tackle”, he added.

“The role of the family is very important; not just abandoning the children out there they must be monitored. When you are a father figure, when you give them good home training, they have a cultural background, I am sure that they won’t go out there to join cults or bad gangs”, Omitogun said.

Penpushing further reports that, the Feast of Barracuda is a National Association of Seadogs’ annual family event depicting the troublesome sea fish as a metaphor for the ills militating against the attainment of just and egalitarian society.

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