the nigerian elections are less than 2 weeks away. and of course we've begun to see the tell tale signs that people are ready to vote and votes are ready to be counted. those signs include pre-election violence (read: a bunch of hooligans, some paid by political parties, decide to reak havoc for their own good and hide under the cloak of fighting for democracy) and lots of ridiculous promises by politicians. so i wanted to briefly explore those promises and some hopes that make nigerians so hopeful that this time, this year, change is in the air!
i was watching a not-so-great debate of the top candidates - minus the top-est candidate, mr. goodluck - the other day and just noticed how completely full of hot air these politicians were. OK thats not really earth shattering news, politicians have never been known for substance anywhere in the world. But this was just to another level. I really believe that these men believed that they can fool nigerians over and over by their empty words and we would simply grin and take it, stick our asses in the air and ask for more. one was asked what he would do about the crisis in the energy industry and what specifically he would do. he responded something to the effect of "specifically, he would look into the problem"! are we nigerians that dumb to believe this sht? or is he that dumb to think we can be easily fooled? another said he would investigate the misuses of the past administrations. while admirable, id much rather a government thats forward looking that one that obsessively looks backwards and blames everyone from military, to the british, to the sun and the moon for all that ills nigeria. another does not know the difference between military dictatorships and democracy. yet another commented that he would set up committees upon committees to get to the root of the problem. ok. committees are nice and fact finding. wait. this is nigeria we're talking about. committees are yet another excuse to party and squander tax payers money.
i was very critical of mr. goodluck jonathan's - the noted academic - failure to join in the debate, but his actions seem to speak louder than a words on a stage can. that's the other tell tale sign of nigerian elections: the legislation and presidency begin (and i stress begin) to take action. for example, the year's budget was finally passed! never mind that every expert, nonexpert, reasonably minded and nonthinker knows that there's no way in heaven, hell or earth that that budget will be implemented or is even implementable. not to mention the gross domestic deficit it calls for. in other news, the government is finally planning on rolling out a gas policy that will allow the country to take advantage of the massive potential of gas generation and export. the govt also made a big hoopla about the train project which is nearing its end and would allow people to travel effortlessly around the country (and why dont we start with moving goods and providing enabling infrastructure for the necessary and free movement of goods??). the revised oil bill, due ages ago, looks like it might pass soon. the prez has promised millions of jobs within the next couple of years. etc. etc. the president, mr. goodluck himself, however, has not explained why the external reserves which he controls have dipped ridiculously low. but hey, we can't ask for a saint can we?
needless to say i'm completely uninspired by the candidates rolled out to lead this great conundrum of a country. but rather the devil you know than the devil you don't right? i'm starting to think a goodluck presidency (a legitimate one) could be good for the country. he would inspire a lot of youth from the south-south region - a region from where no president has ever hailed, even as it is largely responsible for the vast wealth of nigeria today. perhaps he would get some backbone and stop trying to please the granddaddies of politics and focus on the people. hey, one can only hope.
now back to the reason for most people's hope. the independent national electoral commission national chairman, mr jega. hand picked by mr goodluck. the good news is that unlike his immediate and past predecessors, mr. jega is widely respected and acknowledged as an honest, well meaning, hard working man of action. and he's shown that so far. i honestly have not heard 2 bad words about this man. nigerians, election observers (already in the country), and the international community are all up on this man's jock. so he must be doing something right. at times i worry tho, that the problems are so grave and ingrained (and largely beyond his control), and the expectations so high. he cannot stop people from engaging in violent acts. he cannot stop political parties from employing thugs to vandalise and intimidate. but he has set up his organisation to represent his values. he's set up special courts for election cases to be resolved faster than normal. he's fired those within inec that are not in line with his values, he's run a successful voter registration. etc. etc. i wish this man the best. but i also caution against unreasonably high expectations for one man (see: b-obama).
ultimately, im left asking what will be considered success for nigeria's elections? ive admittedly lowered my expectations in all areas regarding my country. i dont expect much and i enjoy being pleasantly surprised when something good happens. so what are the election observers looking for to call this election good, free, or fair? will it be relative to other failed elections in nigeria? or compared against the beeming electioneering experts of our good neghbour, cote d'ivoire? will nigerians stand up and refuse to be fooled or taking as fools one more time? will we take after ken saro wiwa and wole soyinka and take to the streets? its all coming up in the days of our nigeria! this should be a good one. stay tuned!
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