2027: Don’t Trade Your Votes For Crumbs, Forum Warns Electorates

Participants, especially the youths, at a special reading forum under the aegis of the  Uyo Book Club (UBC), have been warned against selling their votes for crumbs, as another general elections billed for next year approach.

The warning was handed down by the chief reader for the month of February, Dr Andy Eyo, who urged Nigerians to rise up against the challenge of eating crumbs in the midst of plenty “by engaging in electoral processes  to install good leaders who will consider the economic well being of the people.”

After reading the  book of the month titled, “The Crumb Eaters” written by Dr Martin Akpan,  Eyo, the CEO of ECEWS, and a leading voice in Nigeria’s development sector, charged members of the  club to “move to the streets and sensitise the public against selling their votes  so that they would not eat crumbs for eternity.”

“As you have read this book ‘The Crumb Eaters’ today , I charge you to move to the streets and educate the public on the dangers of selling their votes during elections.

“When the public cast their votes for the right candidate who will listen and take positive actions against unemployment, inflation and promote agriculture, education , small and medium scale businesses among others , the masses can never eat crumbs,” he said.

The book reviewer Dr Eyo Etim observed that there are a lot of  books written by authors from Akwa Ibom State but are not found on the internet to attract wider readership and recommendations from examination bodies such as West African Examinations Council (WAEC) , Unified Tertiary and Matriculation Examinations Board as well as schools and colleges in the country.

Etim therefore appealed to Akwa Ibom authors to cause their works to be reviewed for more visibility.

“There are a lot of books written by Akwa Ibom authors but they are not found on in the internet . Let me use this opportunity to advise them to always review their books and make it visible for wider readership and patronage by institutions,” he stressed.

In his remarks, the founder of Uyo Book Club, Dr Udeme Nana, appreciated the author for his creativity and the themes explored in the book adding that if voters continue to exercise their civic duties without selling their votes to politicians, Nigeria would be a much better place.

He described the  ‘Crumb Eaters’ as a book of the season as Nigerians prepare to enter another election cycle where citizens will be expected to vote.

“Even though the Book was written in 1999, it is still relevant as it mirrors democratic politics, particularly in developing countries”, he added.