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Voice of Emancipation: The Mirage of Nigerian Elections
By Kayode Emola
If any country can be said to waste valuable resources in conducting elections, then most African countries would be high in the rankings, with Nigeria at the top of the list. And the agony of it all is that these elections, rather than highlighting the best of the best to rule the people, just recycle the same old men who wilfully destroyed the good fortunes of the country and brought development to its knees.
Many people like me born in the 80s or earlier witnessed the presidential election in 1993, the freest and fairest election seen in Nigeria. Voters didn’t have to be bribed to vote, and there was no secret ballot: every voter queued up behind their candidate and a tally was taken.
One would have expected that as technology has evolved, so also would the voting process, creating a seamless voting system that makes it easy for the electorate to choose their candidate. In Nigeria however, the reverse is the case: the voting system continues to be increasingly complicated, consequently disenfranchising millions of people and dispossessing them of their right and civic duty to elect their representatives.
The worst scenarios are those where a political party endorses a candidate who is a criminal. Rather than the government to stonewall this, it openly supports this criminality. This has a profoundly detrimental effect on the nation, yet we are all openly happy about it. No wonder Nigeria is the way it is.
How can we plant orange pips and expect to harvest apples? We cannot elect criminals and expect a harvest of good politicians. The place for criminals ought to be the prison, yet in Nigeria they are placed in government houses. People fear the armed robbers who attack us at night with guns, but cheer the day time robbers in the government houses who attack us with pen. Yet the latter are even more fearsome, for they steal not only our present but our future and that of our children and the children yet unborn.
The first and only election in which I ever participated as an INEC ad-hoc official was the 2011 elections and it cost the government over ₦97 billion. The turnout in that election was around 30%, with majority of ballot papers unused and wasted. Today, elections in Nigeria cost nothing less than ₦200 billion, with the outcome being only the production of the highest criminals in the country.
The election process could easily be simplified and digitised, increasing the numbers of people who have the opportunity to register and vote. However, the ruling class have their own agenda, so employ their manipulative skills to create obstacles for the electorate at every stage of the electoral process.
In the UK’s most recent local council elections, held in May of this year, I didn’t even remember to vote until about 9.30pm. I quickly picked up my voting card and went straight to my polling unit – 12 minutes’ walk or two minutes’ drive – to cast my ballot. I got there at about 9.43pm, just in time, as the polls close at 10pm, and within five minutes of my arrival, I had cast my vote for my preferred candidate. The whole process was entirely stress free, because the electoral system in the UK is designed to make voting a convenience rather than an uphill battle.
If we compare the Nigeria electoral system to other advanced systems of electioneering, one is led to wonder if the people ruling us are from an ancient civilisation in the midst of this world of modern technology. Successive governments have made it increasingly difficult for voters to participate in the country’s elections, thereby disenfranchising a lot of eligible voters.
Consider Australia, where, if you fail to vote, you will be fined $20 AUD (Australian dollars) for the first time, potentially increasing to $50 AUD for subsequent transgressions. We must therefore ask; how do they know those who have voted and those who have not? The simple answer is a better electoral setup ensures that eligible voters are captured by computer, from the comfort of their own homes.
One might also look at the UK, where there is nothing like a permanent voter’s card, yet elections are hassle-free, unlike Nigeria. Once a UK resident registers to vote in the local authority area in which they live, their details remain on the database. If you move house, you simply complete a form online stating your new address, and your details are automatically transferred to the relevant local authority area.
This stands in stark contrast to our experience: queueing up in the sun for days, with no guarantee of even being able to register to vote at the end of it, where voters are not given the opportunity to either register or pre-register for the voters’ card. The UK process does not require you begging to be registered or, as is true in in some cases, bribing officials to get you on the electoral register.
Given all these barriers to securing a voters’ card, not to mention the hassle of actually casting one’s vote in Nigeria, it is unsurprising that less than 20% of the population participates in electing the criminals who rule over us. One better way would be to create a system where people can register online, upload a photo and then collect their voter’s card from their local polling unit. However, politicians have a vested interest in retaining their offices, so endeavour to keep the voting system as obstructive as possible. In this manner, the electorate are dissuaded from taking part in the voting process, making it easier for those in office to manipulate the ballot.
Even though they are aware of this deliberate sabotage on the part of the Nigerian government, the Yoruba elders have failed to stand up for a better system, and instead have allowed this poison to infect us all. If care is not taken, we will eventually all be consumed. When we hear of votes in Nigeria elections being cast by citizens of Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon, know that these immoralities occur only because we have allowed it and continue to do so.
The eligible electorate is supposed to be comprised of those citizens of a country who are resident therein. Where they reside abroad, provision can be made for diaspora voting. People’s eligibility to vote ought to be based on their home address, however, as Nigeria has no means to verify who lives where, it is near impossible to ascertain if someone truly lives where they claim to.
As we step into a new dawn over Yoruba nation, we must improve the electoral process. An electronic system will enable everyone to register to vote from the comfort of their homes. Strict monitoring, potentially including the use of geo IP, will ensure that foreigners are not illegally participating in elections that are meant for citizens alone.
Above all, those who are criminals will be given their correct address: in prison, rather than the government houses. A wise king once said, righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach. If we don’t put those who engage in criminal activity in correct position – incarcerated – then Yoruba nation is fated to be even worse than Nigeria. We must all, therefore, do whatever we can to engender an environment where no eligible voter is disenfranchised of their civic duty. Those who seek to corrupt must be quickly weeded out before they pollute the entire system. By this, hopefully, we can then implement the advice of wise King Solomon and build a righteous nation that will benefit us all.
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
The importance of timing cannot be overemphasized. Timing is everything in life. It is critical to one’s success. You can lose your money and get it back in many folds. You can even lose your health and get it back all things being equal, but when you lose time, you can hardly get it back again.
The importance of timing can be seen in crops. Every crop has a season, a good farmer won’t plant maize when it’s time for oranges, nor will he plant pears when it’s the season for mangoes.
Time is very instrumental to the success and failure of anyone. Imagine having a meeting or interview at 9:00am and you arrive at 10:10am, it will take the grace of God to be interviewed. As an employee, apart from one not being able to diligently do his job, one of the fastest ways for an employee to lose his job is by being late to work.
When I was in New York Law School studying Taxation law, I did a course titled, the Problem of Timing. During the semester, I learnt about cash and accrued income. Let me do some academic exercise here. In cash income, just like the name entails, one is paid in cash as soon as the work is completed. It’s just like going to the market to make a purchase. One can either pay directly with cash or with debit or credit card. But Accrued income refers to revenue a company has earned by providing goods or services, but for which payment has not yet been received, one will have to do the work first before getting paid. This is applicable when one works in either a public or private organization where one is paid either weekly, bi-weekly or at the end of the month depending on the stipulated mode of payment.
It’s important to note that before the money is paid either in cash or accrued, one would have earned it. It’s just like one learning g before earning, and one will have to update to upgrade. These are just the practical principles that will work with life.
In the same way, in life there’s a seed time and harvest time. It’s a universal principle of life. Whether as a parent, entrepreneur, student or employee. As a parent, if you don’t train your kids very well, they will grow up to reflect the opposite of what you desire. As an entrepreneur when you invest in your business, you will get the reward in due time. As a student, if you take your studies seriously, your grades will improve, and as an employee, you stand to get promotions and opportunities when you add value to your work. In summary, one will have to put in the work before recognition comes on.
To understand how seedtime and harvest work, imagine where parents tend to like one child more than others just because they see potential in him, or he’s smart, hardworking or even creative. They fail to understand that every child is different and as such their timing can be different. Some kinds take time to develop.
I personally believe there’s something so unique about each individual which God has deposited in everyone of us. It’s just a matter of time for it to manifest. Your timing of manifestation is different from your siblings and colleagues.
Personally, I didn’t mature fast with my contemporaries. Overtime, I have seen much improvement in my personal and professional life. Maybe because I have added value to my work with the assistance of mentors and good friends, or God had to humble my colleagues and mentors . Why do I say this? During my formative years, I had little or nothing to show for it. I was looking at my contemporaries as mentor and seeing my mentors as small gods whose feat is unattainable, but now, the reverse seems to be case as I have developed capacity some of my colleagues are yet to attain, while I have even surpassed the achievement of my some of my mentors in some quarters.
In all these, they are all surprised how it happened. Some are yet to comprehend or articulate the feat. It’s just like watching a film where everyone slept and woke up to see the game and tides have changed. The secret behind it is the seed time and harvest time. I was probably learning the trade while in the wilderness, and when the training season matured and ripe enough to be harvested, I became attractive to almost everyone who loved the seed I was producing.
There are litany of examples of people, who have been in the wilderness during the seed planting season. Let’s take a case study of Joseph in the Bible, his journey to stardom took a little twist. Despite the travails he experienced in the hands of his siblings who sold him, his experience while in the jail, and with Portiphar’s wife, who tried to seduce him; they were all set ups for success. The moral here is Joseph seed time and harvest time was quite different, it wasn’t a smooth journey. Ordinarily, one would have cursed his siblings or his friends who were with him in prison and forgot him after they were released. But at the end of time, everything worked out for his favor. Joseph’s seed days were his dark days while in the wilderness.
Another inspiring story of note was that of Pastor Ibukun Awosika, the former board Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria. She once shared a pathetic story during her formative years of being in business. According to her, she sojourned for about 15 years. She cried because lines were not adding up for her and she wouldn’t do what her contemporaries were doing to get opportunities. At a point in her business, it appeared like she was in a race of own life because everything seemed to be against her, but at the appropriate time, lines began to fall in place for her. Appointments, business opportunities, favours and goodwill began to fall in place for her. Again, she had a fair share of seed time.
An interesting question I would like to ask you is, what’s your seed time? Have you ever been in the wilderness when you appeared to be fixed? It’s unfortunate many people are not willing to pass through the storms or experience seeds and harvest time. Amidst all these, one must do some work before they get opportunities. However, before such opportunities will come up, one will have to plant the seed.
In conclusion, seed time and harvest time is critical in the journey of life. Take a seat and determine what seed you would like to sow and what you’ll like to harvest.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Eric Elezuo
The Senate has suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghen for six months over her sexual harassment accusation and other disputes against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The Senate also withdrew her salaries for the period of the suspension, as well as her security details.
The chamber however, soft-pedaled on the salaries and allowances of her aides, who it was argued would not have any source of livelihood within the period.
Globacom is welcoming new customers on its network with the introduction of the e-SIM. The e-SIM activated in any Gloworld shop or Dealer outlet comes with an introductory free 5GB data when the customer buys a data plan of N1,500 or more.
Customers already on other networks can now join the Glo network with e-SIM as an additional SIM. Existing Glo customers can also enjoy this “SIM-less” freedom.
With the e-SIM, customers no longer have to worry about space for a physical SIM on their phones. The e-SIM is a software-based digital chip built directly into smartphones or wearable devices, thus eliminating the need for a physical SIM card for customers.
The use of e-SIM enables customers to have seamless switching between phone numbers without a physical SIM. It is ideal for upwardly mobile people who travel frequently. The e-SIM also guarantees security, as unlike physical SIM, it is harder to remove from devices. It is also eco-friendly and reduces plastic waste.
Globacom’s launch of the e-SIM enables enables it to cater to high-net-worth individuals and enterprise customers, and it also reinforces the company’s commitment to providing seamless and future-ready services to its customers.
A customer seeking to activate the Glo e-SIM needs to check the compatibility of the mobile handset by dialling *#06# on his or her phone. If an EID number reflects on the mobile screen, the device is e-SIM compatible.
“The customer can then proceed to the nearest Gloworld shop or Glo Dealer outlet to migrate to e-SIM. The process takes only a few minutes and the customer can thereafter begin to enjoy the use of an e-SIM”, the Marketing Department disclosed.
