Adeola Aderounmu.

The situation in Nigeria requires a very serious appraisal. There is an urgent need for Nigeria to move forward progressively. It is very unfortunate that Nigeria continues to have unintelligent inputs from those who run the systems and all that seems like good policies never get beyond what I call “textbook versions”. There are hardly implementations in Nigeria and so words and promises have never been met with due actions.

A lot has been written on how Nigeria can move forward but still nothing has happened especially in the last 8 years. The implication is that any new legitimate administration that comes in next will still be saddled with abundance of criticisms for some time to come. The next 4 years will be critical to the future of Nigeria and whatever happens at the next elections whenever they are conducted will be a very interesting milestone in the history of Nigeria.

In the meantime, I wish to tackle Mr. Iwu and Mr. Obasanjo and challenge them on their reckless utterances concerning the 2007 widely condemned “election”.  To cover up for their ineptitudes and very unacceptable shortcomings, these 2 men have continued to use every available opportunity to tell the world that there are no perfect elections. Indeed and in truth, many of us will agree with them only because 1, 2 or more things may go wrong at every election due to human errors not because the election is programmed to fail.

What happened in the 2007 criminalised “election” in Nigeria did not meet the lowest or minimum requirements for such to be called an election.  Everything was wrong with the “elections” of April 14 and 21. It is as if these 2 men lack the basic comprehension of what happened at the polls and other places in Nigeria in connection with the voting exercises on these 2 dates. Obasanjo and Iwu seemed to us me as men with the heart of stones: men without conscious thoughts. Why are some leaders and politicians so thoughtless?

Mr. Obasanjo and Mr. Iwu are not only incompetent; they are also incorrigible and obstinate. They have failed to reason with intelligent minds that what they did in 2007 is not acceptable in the 21st century. It is a monumental shame and an insult to millions of intelligent Nigerians at home and abroad. As a matter of fact, these are men whose actions and comments regarding the “elections” calls for investigations  into murder, arson, underage voting, assault, molestation, deceit, lies, fraud, wastages and negligence of duties among other atrocities and vices committed before, during and after the “elections”. With the passing time, one just got tired to read about the reckless statements of the custodians of the worthless “elections” in Nigeria.

I wish to counter and very strongly too, the statements that there are no perfect elections anywhere in the world.  I think it is a duck excuse on the matter at stake. I will draw a few examples to drive home my points. In my own opinion, if an election has some shortcomings that may perhaps not have any effect on the final outcome, I think that it has the attributes of a perfect election. Furthermore if there are adequate regulatory mechanisms to detect errors or shortcomings, then an imperfect election can be made perfect by fixing the problem or simply calling for re-election. 

For instance, in Sweden you can cast your vote at some designated centers like the post office before the election date. There is also the use of “voting by messenger” for disabled people.  In the 2002 elections in Sweden, there were only 3 known instances of irregularities. The first was misuse of “voting by messenger” where 2 social democratic election workers acted as messengers/witnesses for some voters. The witnesses are supposed to be neutral persons. The total number of votes affected by this was 18.

The second instance was at a home for elderly people where some social democratic election workers presented a voting place for advanced voting, but only ballot papers for the Social Democratic Party were available. Finally, the third instance was one polling station where one of the tables had voting envelopes already containing ballots for the Social Democratic party. None of these instances were initiated by the Social Democratic Party. They were solitary decisions of the individual election workers.

These anomalies of the 2002 elections have been analysed by the Swedish Election Review Board and it has been unequivocally stated that they had no effect on the final outcome of the election. The Election Review Board may declare an election void and order a new election, either nationally or in a specific constituency, if an irregularity may be presumed to have affected the outcome of the election. Even the rival parties acknowledged that the incident did not have any significant effects on the outcomes. The control mechanism in the Swedish electoral systems detected the faults, and they were dealt with according to predefined procedures. In this write up, I hold the view that these minor occurrences cannot take away the perfection of that election or that of the control mechanisms.

To my knowledge also, in the recent elections in Sweden (2006) I have not heard of any shortcomings. I state without doubts that that election was perfect.  In the buildup to the election however, the Liberal Youth Association (the youth organization associated with the Liberal Party “Folkpartiet”) was discovered to have hacked into the computer system of the ruling Social Democratic Party. This is merely an issue of misuse of technological advancements and criminal investigations have since been conducted on the incident. The youth acted on their own accord and their delinquent activities have no bearing whatsoever on the wish or mindsets of the electorates and the FolkPartiet regarding the electoral issues at stake in 2006. This unexpected intrusion had no significance on the manifestos of the various parties. In 2006, as a result of the coalition of the rival parties, the Social Democratic Party was voted out of power. The election was clean and accepted by all.

Minor human errors do occur during elections. Does this render the election imperfect in line with the suggestion of Mr. Iwu and Mr.Obasanjo? The answer is NO.  The anomalies of the Nigerian “elections” were not minor anyway! It has been adjudged as the worst election in the history of mankind.  An election becomes perfect when the errors (if any) are detected by control mechanisms and rectified, if necessary by re-elections. On the real Election Day in Sweden in 2006, there were no riggings, no fighting, no killings, no intimidation, no late voting, no absenteeism for electoral officers, no stuffing of ballot boxes, no delay in arrival of electoral materials, no stealing of ballot boxes, no underage voting, no threats to human lives and no police or armed personnel on the streets. Ballot boxes did not get into homes of lawless citizens. What I saw, experienced and participated in was a perfect voting day exercise in 2006.

Many will be quick to indicate the Florida case and the Bush Family. Again, I agree that there were serious irregularities in the US Election that brought George Bush (Jnr) to power. I acknowledge that that was not a perfect election and as a matter of fact the United States (to those who know) is highly hypocritical as a nation. One hopes that Nigeria will never look forward to the failures of a country such as the US. That will not be a parameter to the success that still eludes Nigeria as a nation. I state clearly here that Nigeria does not need to use failure as a yardstick to measure her own progress. The world has moved on and Nigeria cannot afford to stay behind in what the Mr. Obasanjo calls the “electoral culture of Nigeria since 1959”.

I challenge anyone who has detected anything wrong with the Swedish election in 2006 or 2002 (beyond the allegations that were cited here) to come forward and state their course. A perfect election will be that whose results reflect the wish of the people and the losers have no grudges in congratulating the winners.  A perfect election is characterized by peaceful display of voters’ lists, peaceful voting and respects for the rights of everyone. In some countries democracy is no longer a journey, it is a destination. They have arrived and it seems that nothing will shake the foundations on which these democracies are built. There has not been any major report yet that could taint the perfection of the French election which was held in 2007, a few days after the show of shame in Nigeria. In recent weeks, there have been acceptable elections in some African countries.

Nigeria is a country that many Africans looked up to on the African continent and beyond and therefore she needs restoration to that enviable position as a true giant. The annulled 1993 election in Nigeria was a success while the 2007 election was a charade. In the future, we look forward to an election that will further portray decency and civility. Nigerians need to be able to choose their own leaders without being under duress or aggression. I look forward to the proper enfranchisement of the populace. My hope for Nigeria also lies in the evolution of individuals who will discuss issues rather than personality and individual egos. My eternal hope is that a time should come in Nigeria when all Nigerians can describe elections as free, fair, successful and perfect. Democracy cannot be an everlasting journey. It is a system and it works for many countries. This is the 21st century! Nigeria, the sleeping giant of Africa should wake up with the heartbeat and conscience of a role model.

These are my personal opinions and this is the way that I see it! 

Adeola Aderounmu

 Do Africans know that the development of Africa beyond what it is today rest solely on the shoulders of Africans? It has become a ridicule really to see African leaders looking up to what has been called the developed countries for salvation of the ugly situations that they have put the African continent into.  

It is very unfortunate that African leaders have used their corruption and ineptitudes to confine the continent to a lag growth phase of perpetual comatose. Now, they are stooping and begging some units called G-8 to help eradicate poverty or HIV. This is part of the ridicule. 

I am beginning to wonder that perhaps Africa would have been a better place if snow does fall on our heads. Perhaps we would have seen the need for technological advancement and our leaders may not have had the need to squander our wealth. The people may have been more vocal than they are now; imagine snow falling on a Nigerian road (characterized by pot-holes) for example and no one is clearing them after 24 hours! Imagine that kind of scenario and a senator pocketing 50 million naira before assuming office. I think the situation would have been different! 

Imagine those helpless market women trying to sell their commodities while the snow is falling. Imagine the policeman taking care of traffic in heavy downpour of snow. With temperatures at the negative end, I think such duties will be considered suicidal. If we had snow in West Africa for example, maybe there will be decent markets and supermarkets where we can shop for food and materials. If the traffic lights are sustained and power supply is constant in Nigeria, we will need policemen on the streets only in emergency situations.   

The absence of snow is not an indicator for “underdevelopment” or third world as African countries are commonly addressed. The greatest single cause of underdevelopment in many African countries is the lack of good governance. Africa is a continent of sit-tight leaders. On the African continent, you have a system that turns ordinary men into wolves as soon as they get to the helm of power. At that point, reasoning seems to depart from these men.  We can read stories and we can see for ourselves how some men have fought for the independence of their countries only to turn around and make slaves of their own people. From Zimbabwe to Nigeria, we see anguish and despair. We see how hopelessness has crept into the lives of people.  

Some African countries are devastated by war simply because of selfish interests, not for any moral or logic. Brothers killing brothers and neighbours eliminating neighbours in the name of tribes! There is a country in Africa that has been without any government for more than 10 years. What difference does it make anyway? Nigeria is governed and yet more than 70% of her 140m population is confined to life time poverty. That is a classic example of failure of governance for more than 40 years!

African leaders and politicians are the obstacles to growth and development in Africa. Majority of them steal money and loot public treasury. Many of them are bad managers and they have no clear vision of where they are taking the people.  

It is very wrong to start looking for help from ordinary unit called G-8 or an imaginary organisation called the International Community. To solve the problems of Africa, African leaders must look inward and begin a soul-searching adventure for their nations.  

Many African countries have fertile land for agriculture; how well have they used this to promote food production and eliminate hunger from the continent? Are Africans not tired of seeing the dehumanizing photos of their babies on NGO and SOS posters worldwide? What a cheap blackmail anyway?! 

The abundance of minerals in Africa cannot be matched by any other continent in the world. How many of these natural deposits have been used for the optimum purpose? Instead African leaders are behind the concept of blood diamond, an evil act that is corroborated by the same international community that they are running to. Are they too blind to see or too daft to reason? I felt sorry for Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka. He was trying to make a case about the selection (there was no election) that took place in Nigeria in April 2007. He met a brick wall at the US congress. I thought Soyinka should know that the US is more concerned about the oil in the Niger Delta than the progress of Nigerians! Did I hear “To hell with those niggers”!  

African intellectuals have continued to participate in the skilled migrant program and the visa lottery program of the developed countries. They have moved away in hundreds and thousands to continue to help the developed countries to develop further. Is it eternally impossible for Africa countries to create the enabling environment for the work force that they trained to stay put in Africa? Why can’t the Africa continent establish institutions that will match and compete with the ones that are used to lure their work force away under the disguise of research collaboration? Have African leaders not yet realized that the best brains in the world come from Africa but they are been utilized by the US and other fast-thinking nations?   

Why are African leaders so devilishly possessive materialistically? Why do they live in mansions and sentenced their fellow citizens to a life in slums? Why do they act like demigod? Why have most of them fail to use the resources of the continents to a good end? In my opinion, I think that the Africa and Africans should start looking for long term solutions to their man-made problems. The earlier we realized that help will not come from outside, the better for us. The sooner we realize that external help is receiving 10 dollars with the right hand through the front door and losing 50 dollars with the left hand through the back door, the better for our own good and that of our children. 

Africans should sit down and think deeply. The world has moved into the 21st century and we need to leave the Stone Age behind. We need a critical examination of our situations and a clear cut approach to our everlasting goals. Africa with the help of their leaders and intellectuals need to move away from “too much talk” to “non-stop action” until we reach the goals and further.   

Africa leaders should stop talking about G-8 and International community. The continent of Africa can be great on her own, but not in isolation from the rest of the world. What about promoting fair trade for our commodities? What about the oil rich countries using their oil resources and agriculture to boost their economy and standard of living and spreading the goodwill across? What about putting a stop to looting and then coughing out all stolen wealth and dedicate that to the good of all? It is possible that some individuals in Nigeria have more money than some state government. This implies that some people in Nigeria may have wealth that surpasses the budget of some smaller countries in Africa! I think this is another aspect of the whole ridicule.  

Some African leaders and politicians loot their national treasury and keep the monies in foreign countries like Switzerland. They make other developed countries richer and spread poverty and hopelessness on their own continent. Is it not possible for Africans to demand justice from those who misrule them and put them on trial for corruption especially?  

Has anyone been following the bad examples from Zimbabwe and Nigeria? All the past leaders that are corrupt in Nigeria are still breathing air of freedom and lavishing stolen wealth and yet some people eat only once a day or not at all. Zimbabwe is a delicate issue and it seems the problem is made complicated by the influence of the British. The sympathy is to the ordinary people of Zimbabwe, they are trapped between the devil and the Dead Sea.    

From Niger, to Ethiopia, to Eritrea, to the Gambia, to South Africa, to the sleeping giant-Nigeria, to the recuperating Liberia and Sierra Leone and to the North of Africa, we should all wake up and stop thinking that we cannot develop without the help of the developed countries. We need them as much as they need us to buy our goods and services on a fair trade level. We need them in the concept of the benefits of international trades, for multilateral co-operations and so on.  

What we don’t need is to go begging when we have not done our homework properly. There will be no need for begging when we do our homework. We don’t need the international musicians to sing into the ears of the unit called G-8. We can make Africa G50+ and we can make ourselves the envy of the world in no time if we define our purpose of existence with the concept of common good. The future of Africa depends on what we decide and what we allow our leaders to do or not do. What we must not allow them to do is to continue to play into the deceitful and invisible hands of the international community. Our hope lies within!            

Adeola Aderounmu

Way back in 2002, I have discussed extensively why politicians steal in an article that was published by the Guardian (September 9 2002).                                     

http://www.geocities.com/nigeriansinsweden/article1.htm

The story is still the same. Nothing has changed, instead the poor have become poorer. 

In less than one month after the new illegitimate governance came into existence in Nigeria, one can begin to count the addition to the members of the new billionaire club in Nigeria. The new members are the politicians who benefitted from the criminalized “selections” (there was no election) of 2007.

 

“Each Senator in Nigeria is getting as Furniture, Housing and Car Allowances a sum ofN53.7 million. A member of the House of Representatives gets N17. 9 million”.

 

As far as I am concern, this is another chapter of classic madness in Nigerian Politics. This is why our politics will always remain a do-or-die battle forever and ever until we make drastic changes by discussing what public service entails. This is systematic looting.  Stealing by tricks is a fundamental aspect of Nigerian politics. You get rich immediately you are in government and the alternative cost is that you push other people further down below the poverty line.

 

Groups of people who have not performed any duty and who are yet to settle down to work are already having their bank account fattened up. For the next 4 or 8 years, they will come up with one type of imbursement or the other plus their basic salary, they will live comfortable lives and they will travel round the world. They will be rich forever because they will cut from the national cake. It is not unexpected. It is a norm for Nigerian Home Grown Politics.

  

On the other hand, the masses will continue to suffer and grumble. Their votes do not count and their voices are forever silent in a ganged up modern slavery. I insist that there is slavery in Nigeria (Slavery without trade).

 

It is difficult to imagine why riches and rich people are worshipped in Nigeria. The consequences are very devastating for the common people. Sometimes I wonder if our politicians and their wicked accomplices sleep on more than one bed at night (if they sleep at all). I wonder if they use more than one towel at a time and if they eat more than 6 times a day. Do they watch 2 tvs at a go? Of course they can change their shoes and clothes but do they drive more than one car at a time or is it fanciful that all their children and wives add to the carbon monoxide in the environment?

 

What does a man need to live a decent life and why would he acquire so much that he would have unbelievable excess left after a natural or sudden death? Would it be wrong to spread the common good and let everyone benefit from the fruits of the land? Will it be wrong for those idiots to discuss issues for 4 weeks before they begin to fatten up their accounts?

 My heart is bleeding!     

Adeola Aderounmu

We read that it took the former leader of Nigeria about 2½ hours to travel by car from his home in Ota to his school in Lagos.

There should be no complain about this in anyway. He must have been through that before he became the president in 1999. He was part of us before then or even less than us because he had been kept away by Abacha.

He spent 8 years in power. If he had done his job very well in cooperation with the governors of Lagos and Ogun states, the flood or whatever caused the prolongation of his travel would have been taken care of.

The other citizens of this glorious country go through this horrific experience everyday and it is our pleasure to welcome Obasanjo back into our world. The best advantage he has is that he can always return to his more comfortable home(s) or some hotel to get some reprieve from the stress. The majority of the rest of us still have to return home to stress especially with lack of electricity. We go from frying pan to fire!

Without wasting much time, my advice to our ex-president is that he should either travel at night to avoid the trafiic situation or use an helicopter during the day. This way, he will never be late for school or lunch in Lagos.

By the way, Goodluck in your forth coming exams!