April 21, 2007, Nigerians will yet again lumber to the polls to choose a president, a slate of senators and federal legislators who are most likely to continue the ruination of the nation for the next four years. If last Saturday’s polls are to be a yardstick with which to measure the success of the presidential elections, it should thus, be a forgone conclusion as piteous as it sounds that anarchy will reign supreme and its close cousins, confusion and mayhem will follow suit. What the nation and indeed the international community witnessed last Saturday was a prime testimony of the level of Nigeria ’s readiness, political maturity and ability to move forward as a nation. It was a gross indictment of the nation’s leaders, its institutions and a sound test of its will. It should therefore be noted clearly that the nation failed woefully in its bid to elect new leaders.

What is the matter with Nigeria ? A nation they say is blessed with abundant talent yet manages to orchestrate its failure. It behooves me that a man like Prof Iwu, said to be well educated, earning a doctorate from the Bradford University in the UK and astute in his endeavor cannot conduct a credible election? Invariably, Iwu has become part of the problem and not the solution to the nation’s woes. What then is the use of his education and experience if the nation cannot benefit from it at a time when it most needed it?

 Here is a country that produced the likes of Achebe, Soyinka, Gani and many others too numerous to mention grossly unable to conduct peaceful and seamless elections, unable to forge ahead without the drama and hysterics, unable to chart a progressive course. As noted in a previous article, we have seen smaller nations with far less intellectual capacity such as Ghana , Benin Republic , Tanzania and the like hold elections without much ado. In those countries during their election, the citizens went about their normal business after voting, there were no incidence of violence, election rigging, vote stealing, political thuggery and intimidation or political assassinations. At the end of the day, the results were announced and the winner assumed office without much ado. Recently, we witnessed a similar feat in Mauritania where a former government minister won the president election and was only this week sworn in uneventfully.

 But Nigeria and Nigerians always tip the scale in all matters great and small. Heavens forbid that it is able to hold credible elections. That would, for all intensive purposes, be the exception to the rule. Election in Nigeria is tantamount to war with the closure of international borders, the imposition of curfew, the importation of arms for the police and security agents, the announcement to the nation by the president warning mischievous elements to beware, etc. Is this all necessary? I am afraid, all these cast the country in a bad light, it portrays the nation as one that is insecure, unsure of its meaning and grossly unable to handle it affairs. It is because of such infantile gaffes that some have called for a re-colonization of the nation with hopes that when it is given independence yet again, it would begin anew.

 We heard recently that the federal government placed an order for arms worth more than $2 billion just in time to equip the police and security forces in the face of the coming elections. Why? Do we have to wait for elections before equipping the security agents? What we are witnessing in Nigeria is a country grossly at war with itself; a country that is unimaginably conflicted, yawning for direction and purpose. And those who have been elected to chart a progressive course for the nation remain at loggerheads with one another, trading insults and accusations and blaming all and sundry for their failure.

 And so, my friends, Nigeria is at a crossroad yet again. Which one of the candidates will carry the day? Will there be a selection or election? Will the votes be rigged to the point that it lacks legitimacy? It is the hope and prayer of Nigerians that their new president brings succor and respite to a battered nation and a departure from the ruinous past.

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Author can be reached at alalibo@gmail.com - article first published on http://www.alalibo.com

Robot  Villager

# 1 ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 20.04.2007 20:19

IgoTalk  Villager

# 2 Information Minister Frank Nweke has just concluded a Press Conference seriously accusing Senate President Ken Nnamani of reckless statements concerning the electoral process, amounting to dialobical treasonable acts. Nnamani was also accused of re-convening the Senate for next Tuesday so as to perfect his hidden agenda to scuttle the process so as to head an Interim Government. Posted by IgoTalk| 20.04.2007 20:30

planet1899  Villager

# 3 None of these men, if you ask me. Posted by planet1899| 20.04.2007 20:31

planet1899  Villager

# 4 Nnamani cannot be trusted...he is a snake in the green grass, like the rest of them. Posted by planet1899| 20.04.2007 20:32

olusola  Villager

# 5 =planet1899;170031>Nnamani cannot be trusted...he is a snake in the green grass, like the rest of them. You are very right. He is just being pretentious. Is it not laughable that Ken Nnamani will be criticizing the Enugu state government and INEC for rigging while he himself was produced through the same process by the Ebeano group of Chimaroke Nnamani in 2003? Posted by olusola| 20.04.2007 20:51

Auspicious  Villager

# 6 =olusola;170036>You are very right. He is just being pretentious. Is it not laughable that Ken Nnamani will be criticizing the Enugu state government and INEC for rigging while he himself was produced through the same process by the Ebeano group of Chimaroke Nnamani in 2003? Yeah, I am sure you and your buddy think Obasanjo is the one who is trustworthy.. All these pretentious people sef..(sigh!) Auspicious. Posted by Auspicious| 20.04.2007 20:53

I Love Nigeria  Villager

# 7 Senator Kenechukwu Nnamani seems to suffer from verbal diarrhea! He sounds so garrulous in the presence of the visiting Americans.... he seemed to have been begging them to take over the elections and Nigeria as a whole. How does Nigeria produce a man like this as the so-called number three citizen? It begs the question, whose side Senator Nnmani on? and whose agent is he? Atiku's or Buhari? Is this his ticket to vice presidency? Originally Posted by olusola "You are very right. He is just being pretentious. Is it not laughable that Ken Nnamani will be criticizing the Enugu state government and INEC for rigging while he himself was produced through the same process by the Ebeano group of Chimaroke Nnamani in 2003?" Yes Olusola! Yes Planet1899....Does that not remind you of another guy, who was vice president for eight whopping years and a member of the PDP, who then SUDDENLY and CONVENIENTLY "discovered" that PDP and the federal government have not been good for Nigeria? Posted by I Love Nigeria| 20.04.2007 21:14

olusola  Villager

# 8 =Auspicious;170037>Yeah, I am sure you and your buddy think Obasanjo is the one who is trustworthy.. All these pretentious people sef..(sigh!) Auspicious. Auspy, Has anybody told you here that Obj is a saint? Are we talking about Obj here? I remember you telling someone yesterday not to derail a thread by mentioning Bill Clinton while talking about Andrew Young. Are you not doing same thing now? Posted by olusola| 20.04.2007 21:26

olusola  Villager

# 9 =I Love Nigeria;170042>Senator Kenechukwu Nnamani seems to suffer from verbal diarrhea! He sounds so garrulous in the presence of the visiting Americans.... he seemed to have been begging them to take over the elections and Nigeria as a whole. How does Nigeria produce a man like this as the so-called number three citizen? It begs the question, whose side Senator Nnmani on? and whose agent is he? Atiku's or Buhari? Is this his ticket to vice presidency? Originally Posted by olusola "You are very right. He is just being pretentious. Is it not laughable that Ken Nnamani will be criticizing the Enugu state government and INEC for rigging while he himself was produced through the same process by the Ebeano group of Chimaroke Nnamani in 2003?" Yes Olusola! Yes Planet1899....Does that not remind you of another guy, who was vice president for eight whopping years and a member of the PDP, who then SUDDENLY and CONVENIENTLY "discovered" that PDP and the federal government have not been good for Nigeria? I believe Ken Nnamani is just like any of the selfish and egoistic politicians. His sense of decency is just being beclouded by his personal problems with Chimaroke Nnamani and the failure of the PDP to hand over the party machineries in Enugu to him. I do not know how the election went in Enugu, but am very sure that Ken Nnamani cannot be relied upon to give account of true events in Enugu because of his own bias. he has never missed any opportunity to undermine his governor since he emerged as Senate president without the governor's support. I don't know what kind of democrat he is to think it was he whom his governor should have supported. The governor had to support one person and it is an inalienable right. And better still, the governor supported another Enugu indigene. You need to know that Ken Nnamani's purported support for the EFCC is not out of moral conviction but because of his disdain and hatred for Chimaroke Nnamani. What do you think of such a person? And here was a man saying EFCC and the government were being selective. Make that man a president today and you will see his first "official" duty will be to use state apparatus to hunt down his perceived political enemies just like what many people are accusing this government of doing. Posted by olusola| 20.04.2007 21:47

ikechiji  Villager

# 10 =olusola;170036>You are very right. He is just being pretentious. Is it not laughable that Ken Nnamani will be criticizing the Enugu state government and INEC for rigging while he himself was produced through the same process by the Ebeano group of Chimaroke Nnamani in 2003? Olusola, We are talking about the 2007 elections. Nnamani is not running for office. He is criticizing the process that gave us garbage numbers that 2 million people voted in Rivers last Saturday compared to 1.4 million in Lagos and Kano. Nnamani has every right to aspire to head an Interim Govt. INEC has been totally corrupted and needs to be cleansed. Ikechiji Posted by ikechiji| 20.04.2007 22:00

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