Election

Why June 12 Is Our ONLY Hope

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by Adeola Aderounmu

June 12 1993 is a day that has refused to depart from our memories and to millions of witnesses it appears like it was just yesterday. Making it right once and for all is an enormous task and the fact that the successive undesirable governments in Nigeria continue to ignore this date is a very sad omen that will hunt this generation and the next. I do not see any ray of hope for Nigeria until the actualization of what June 12 represents. Call it superstition but Nigeria is worse now than it was in 1993. With the continuous denial of what June 12 represents and the non-actualization of the dream/ ideals, it can only get worse in Nigeria!
Though it’s been 16 years we must continue to tell and repeat the story so that the truth is not distorted and for those who didn’t know what happened then to know what transpired because until we learn from our common history and make amends for our avoidable mistakes we will most likely continue to rotate at the same point. We cannot move forward until we start doing the right thing.

June 12 was not about the contest between MKO Abiola and Bashir Tofa. June 12 is not about the junta and it is not about the military tropical gangster called Babangida. June 12 is not about these people. It was about democratic principles and the simple rule of law. On June 12 1993, millions of Nigerians voted in the best election ever conducted in the history of Nigeria. It was possible for the people to vote correctly because the elections were actually properly planned and well conducted.

As a result of the precedents to June 12-long years of wasteful and corrupt military rule, vain promises, crushed dreams, battered economy and complete hopelessness in the order of things-, the hope that came with June 12 elections was greater than that which Obama brought with his campaign and victory in the US. There were pre-election debates and it was easy to discern that one of the two candidates had a plan and promises of hope for a brighter future.

The people voted and the results were rolling in to the favour of MKO Abiola. When it became evident that Abiola would win, Bashir Tofa (the opponent) was said to have sent him congratulatory messages. I was humbled by that simple gesture of sportsmanship. It was supposed to usher in an era of politics without bitterness. Records have it that as the results were been announced, the prices of goods and services were dropping. There was a tailor who refused to be paid for the services he had rendered. He was so overjoyed that “at last” hope has come to the people. Even the cost of transportation went down drastically in those few hours of glory. There were numerous fine moments that accompanied the announcement of the results. Hope and a sense of belonging were in the air.

That was the spirit and mood until Nigerians received a rude shock from the nonentity called Babangida. This useless man cancelled or annulled the best election in our history. There were many hypotheses to this annulment including that Abiola was a creditor to the government, or that a few ignoble persons would not like to see him become the president of Nigeria. Some people said it was because of what he did when he was in NPN that he betrayed Awolowo. In democracy, these or any other fabrications are useless and thoughtless arguments.

The fundamental thing about June 12 was that a presidential election took place in Nigeria and Abiola won. The crime about it was that some cabal secretly plotted against Abiola and eternally denied him of the mandate that the Nigerian people gave to him. He was asked by the people to give them hope, but a few arrogant and selfish persons, a few of whom are unfortunately still around the corridors of power decided otherwise.

The annulment was resisted by many true democrats, some were killed and many went into exile. Prominent Nigerians chickened out and were back in subsequent illegal governments because they were simply opportunists originally. Kingibe who should have been the vice-president in a rare muslim-muslim ticket (which Nigerians were satisfied with) even had the guts to serve in the present lame government. Many Nigerian politicians are shameless. As looters, they never get enough, do they? They always stage a return to our lives and the implication is that since 1960, we have had a system of recycling sycophants in our government. Those that cannot be recycled stay out as godfathers-destroying the system to meet their own needs and selfish ends.

Many people died in vain in the struggle to actualize that mandate popularly called JUNE 12. May their souls find peace. They are more honourable than Babangida and the thoughtless cabal put together. Have we heard all concerning the brutal murder of MKO? He died under questionable circumstances while a delegate from the United States was visiting him. How did a cup of tea become a poison? We knew that a delegate from the US visited him in prison but is the story of the poisonous tea cup actually valid? Was he beaten to death? Is Mr. Abubakar Abdulsalam paying yet for the crime committed under his watch?

MKO Abiola was killed on July 7 1998 when many thought he would be released to claim his mandate after the death of one of the notorious generals called Abacha. The implication is that he was up against an evil cabal who will not mind travelling to hell just to deny him the honourable mandate. Indeed the cabal succeeded in their plots and 16 years after, Nigerians are paying dearly the price for the evil of a few men.

Why is June 12 our only hope? It is because unless we conduct a normal election where our votes are counted like that fateful day in 1993; there will be no democratic government in Nigeria. I do not believe that Nigeria is yet a democratic nation. What we still have are hand-picked sycophants and looters who are not answerable to anyone and who are above the laws of the land.

June 12 election was peaceful, free, fair and devoid of violence. If the election was not stupidly annulled it would have been the benchmark for electoral processes in Nigeria and indeed Africa. We lost that chance and we have not been able to regain it since 1993. Lowly countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia that are recuperating from recent wars did better in electing their leaders and making them accountable while the sleeping giant of Africa has failed to produce a credible election since 1959. What a real shame?

June 12 is not only a symbol of democratic struggles but also a symbol of the dignity of man. The dignity of the Nigerian masses has been perpetually rubbed in the mud. Today the masses still have no rights, no dignity and are not respected by the wicked leadership. The typical Nigerian man or woman knows very well that his/ her vote is not worthy. These people suffer from extreme low esteem and self-pity. It is pathetic and sorrowful.

The only way forward for this country is to set the records straight. The corruption, injustices and social inequality being perpetrated by the leaders and looters in Nigeria are the reasons for the poverty that prevails in Nigeria. It is the reason that 3 square meals is a privilege. It is the reason why the nation is making giant strides back to the Stone Age as the rest of the world continues to enjoy the fruits of the 18th century industrialisation and 21st century globalisation.

Those who disengaged us from the dreams of June 12 are among us and the time is now to bring them and their stooge to Justice. Anything short of justice means that peace, progress and prosperity will be an everlasting mirage for the common man in Nigeria. Justice must be done. Babangida must account for his deeds as a chief truncator of the hope of June 12. All the participants in that treasonable act in June 1993 should be brought to book.

It is not right that a country so blessed can also accommodate more than 90m people living desperately on less than 2 dollars a day and having no access to clean water, no proper housing and lacking a befitting standard of life. If the estimated 90m people living on less than 2 dollars a day in Nigeria stand up to be counted in a mass action, they will salvage the remaining days of their lives and secure the future for their children. There are more than 140m Nigerians and a solid resistant is needed to pull down the cabal and their antidemocratic bidding once and for all.

One thing is sure, in as much as we have refused to take the right steps and as long as we have not resisted those who are manipulating our country to a selfish end, millions of people will continue to live in poverty. This is not a curse; it is just what I call the unarguable reality of our lives. When is the truth going to set us free in Nigeria? When?

It is one thing for us to know the truth, acknowledge it, make amends and set Nigeria on the path of glory and it is definitely another thing to continue to deny ourselves the knowledge of the truth thereby allowing a few people to continue to enjoy the fruits of the land while leaving the helpless and resilient majority wallowing in abject poverty.

The way to GLORY will be a struggle on all aspects of our lives, social, economic…and so on. The way to prosperity and the good of all will be to seek the men and women who will be ready to serve selflessly and dedicatedly. In Nigeria, we need the rule of law above the rule of men. The present incapable government in Nigeria is the biggest joke of all epoch.

Each June 12 continues to unsettle the mind of the wicked. It will eventually bring judgment who those who spilled the blood of the innocents. The goodness of June 12 will bring milk and honey back to the Nigerians who are weak and poor, living on less than 2 dollars a day.

I will like to repeat and emphasize that June 12 is not about Abiola or Tofa. It is not about the cabal or a tropical gangster called Babangida. It is not about the unsolved conspiracy that killed MKO. June 12 is about the destruction of the everlasting foundation upon which the glory of Nigeria would have been built. It is about the confinement of Nigerians to a state of extremely low esteem and self-pity. Until the actualization of the ideals of June 12 this country will neither know peace nor make progress.

This is my personal opinion and that is the way that I see it.

Nigeria, A fraudulent Presidency

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By Adeola Aderounmu

In April 2007 what has been adjudged as probably the most useless and worthless charade (supposedly an election) in human history was conducted in Nigeria under the joint supervision of one incompetent electoral officer called Iwu and a dictator called Obasanjo. The election without doubt resulted to the emergence of an illegitimate president called Yar Adua.

Today 12th of Dec 2008, the Nigerian Supreme Court declared the illegal president as the winner of that sham conducted in 2007. The oppositions could not prove that the anomalies or irregularities were strong enough to influence the outcome of the election.
But that is the most stupid statement that I’ve heard in 2008. The closest to that nonsense is the claim by Mugabe that there is no cholera in Zimbabwe when children are dying on several sick beds.

There is no point to recount the sham that occurred in Nigeria in April 2007 and it still amazes me when people say that there were elections in Nigeria in 2007? Which election was that? Who voted? Which votes were counted?

The winners of the selective process were already known even before the tamed and timid masses were sent out to waste their time at the ballot stations. Only gullible people would admit that a president was elected in Nigeria in 2007. I have always emphasised that in Nigeria, the arm of the law is extremely short. It doesn’t catch up with tangible issues.

Nigeria today has no legitimate president and anyone laying claim to that position is probably the most senile person alive. Only a thief would knowingly accept stolen mandates or goods. So if there is a president in Nigeria today, that person is a complete fraud.

A country that claims to be the giant of Africa is actually a sleeping dog…! If only those sycophants in power know the implications of their attitudes and actions on the image of Nigeria. If only they know just how they are ruining the integrity and personalities of innocent Nigerians. They are so blinded by their corrupt minds and selfish interests that the only thing that matters to them is that money they continue to loot and share at the end of each month.

Every time this sick country gets the chance to make things right, some feeble minds who are entrusted with public confidence always end up blowing things up. If the Supreme Court judges had stayed on the side of the people, they would have provided the people and the system with a new attempt to do just one thing right since 1959. Nobody has said that it would be done right, but still Nigerians deserved to elect their leaders through the ballot boxes. This has not yet happened since the country became independent in 1960.

Anyone who continues to call Nigeria the giant of Africa should actually be sent to a psychiatrist for immediate evaluation. I think it is time for Nigerians to send scholars to countries like Ghana and Sierra Leone so that Nigerians can learn how these countries conduct normal elections.

One of the most senseless public statements in the world was made by a Nigerian. He is called Maurice Iwu. This man has told the United States of America to come to Nigeria and learn how to conduct proper elections. This type of expression summarises the state of minds of Nigerian public officials. It is close to insanity and deserved to be studied or investigated.

It is very easy to fault the opposition and it’s representatives. People like Buhari and Atiku also represent the side of the oppressors but who are now outsiders in the power game. However that is far from the crux of the matter which remains that 48 years after independence, Nigeria has not taken one step forward. I’d promised to write about the options for Nigeria but it was more difficult than I’d thought. This is a country entrenched in a very serious catastrophe of identity crisis. It is now a known fact that Nigeria is actually a collection of several nations that remain knitted together to perpetually serve the purpose of a few individuals.

The cabal and their progeny remained perpetually behind the scenes while their evil machinery continues to unleashed terror on the poor masses. All attempts like the anticipated verdict of today to change the status quo has been met with dictations from back stage-unseen hands and unheard voices but perceived effects.

I am finding it increasingly difficult to engage in the Nigerian debate except to occasionally bare my mind that the country is rapidly becoming an hopeless entity not faring better than Somalia that has not been govern for more than 15 years.
Everytime I am reminded about the evil nature of governance in Nigeria by these types of occurrences, I can’t help but think about those masses numbering possibly over 100 million who are living from hand to mouth, unsure of the next meal.

The day of reckoning has been pushed forward several times in Nigeria and one can only hope that the principle of natural selection and the knowledge of the advantage of numbers will someday tilt to the side of the majority. On that day, the majority will realise just how easy it is to earn one’s freedom. From now and until then let the cabal and their messengers of evil continue to spread poverty, ignorance and penury

The Jos Massacre: When Religion and Politics Blend

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By Adeola Aderounmu

ONE of the most disturbing issues in the unification of Nigeria is religion. The North of Nigeria is dominated by Muslims and the south by Christians. But Muslims and Christians spread considerably well across the length and breadth of Nigeria. In my own family for instance we have both Christians and Muslims. My family is well educated and there is no doubts that we know what religion is and how to tolerate one another.

But how does one deal with thugs and illiterates who do not understand the views of other people on religious matters? It is a difficult situation indeed and in Nigeria the politicians over the years have continued to blend politics and religion. For instance, the constitution of Nigeria does not apply in every state in Nigeria. Yet some people are saying that Nigeria is one country. That is far from the truth, the only thing that is keeping Nigeria as one country is the crude oil from the Niger Delta.

In Northern Nigeria, the sharia law has been imposed on the population during the disastrous regime of Obasanjo. So depending on where you are in that geographical entities, different laws apply and your life style can change considerably. The ugly truth though is that the politicians have instituted the law for their own selfish gains.

In Jos-Nigeria, hundreds of people may have lost their lives because of an election that took the dimension of religious inclination. You can imagine that ignorance remains a weapon that has been used to send innocent people to their early graves. The perpetrators of these evil acts will never be found. They will never be brought to book. In Nigeria, this type of killing usually comes with the backings of some wicked politicians. The perpetrators enjoy privileged protection or anonymity and they will be unleashed again to do the same harm in the future. This is why religious riots or political riots associated with religion remains recurring incidents in Nigeria.

One of the reasons why this type of nonsense happens in Nigeria is because the politicians are thieves. Who would fight or kill in the name of service to the people? Politics in Nigeria is a winner takes all game. The winner steals and loots the treasury while the losers lick their wounds. If someone or a politician would pay or go to jail for stealing or for looting, I do not think there will be this mad rush to government houses across Nigeria. It is not an easy thing to serve. You need skills, you need knowledge and you need to be tolerant to a lot of things. You will persevere.

This is not the case in Plateau State where some idiots and fools have been killing other people because of election results. This is in fact not the case anywhere in Nigeria where the reason for politics is to steal and oppress the people.

In 2007, Yar Adua was forcefully imposed on Nigerians in what has been adjudged as the worst election in human history. If the president is occupying a position illegally, what do we expect from the other subordinate positions across the country? If the head is rotten, what part of the body can be whole? Nigerians are shying away from the truth and the consequences and repercussions will continue to be grave.

If the anomaly of April 2007 and the anomalies since 1914 and 1960 are not rectified, Nigeria will not make progress and these types of pockets of violence will continue to make the citizens to live in panic and fear.

More and more Nigerians are sliding below the poverty level while only a privileged few continue to enjoy abundant wealth. Corruption continues to eat deep into the fabrics of governance. The present illegal government continues to shade the likes of Ibori who used the stolen wealth of Delta State to bundle Yar Adua to Aso rock. This type of obvious evil acts will continue to deny this country of progress and the insincere search for prosperity will continue to be abstract-resulting in self-enrichment of the politicians and a few selected people. Nigeria today is definitely not for all Nigerians.

______________________________

Eye witness account: On BBC Africa

The worst democracies in the world

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By Adeola Aderounmu

Some of the worst examples of democratic government are found in Africa. It is remarkable to note that even the country regarded as the cradle of humanity-Kenya that is, is among the most useless places on earth where crude democracy is established. If Africans cannot practice true democracy, they should denounce it and look for something that will work for the populace especially the poor people who are worst hit by the crimes of the gangster leaders. It is an anomaly to say for example that Nigeria, Kenya and Zimbabwe have democratic governments. In reality, what you see in these 3 countries are autocratic government imposed on the people in a “whether you like it or not manner”.

Kenya Example
Kenya’s Kibaki and Odinga are two selfish leaders who threw the country into turmoil. Together they are responsible for the death of more than 1 000 people and the displacement of nearly half a million others. Today they are both president and prime minister respectively in a power sharing deal that completely negate the significance of the votes casted in Kenya in 2007. Power sharing by these demonic leaders is not democracy. Power sharing is not a reflection of the votes that were discarded and disregarded.

Odinga is now trying to export Kenya’s democracy to Nigeria. Someone should tell him to shut up! Nigeria already has a disastrous form of “home-grown” democracy and the last thing we need in Nigeria is a further dilution of that calamity. So Odinga, Shut up! The only reason you accepted the Prime Minister’s position was for your own selfish reason and that is not related to anything “peace” or “prosperity”.

Zimbabwe’s Example
After Kenya came power sharing also in Zimbabwe. Mugabe is 84 and he is still the autocratic leader in Zimbabwe. He refused to vacate the office of the president even when it was clear that he lost the elections. He said he doesn’t want the opposition in power because the opposition received the backing of the West. But the issue is: who voted for the opposition? Is it the West or the people of Zimbabwe who voted in March 2008?

Anyway, the opposition leader just like in the case of Kenya also accepted to be prime minister. They call it “in the interest of peace”. Good point! But who created the absence of peace in the first place? Of course it is the murderous leaders. It is the likes of Mugabe and Tsvangirai (aided by the West?) who instigated chaos and turmoil and the end result is that the votes became useless!

Truth is no decent man should accept to share power with people like Mugabe and Kibaki who have lost both the plan and ideas regarding modern world. It would have been better to let them persist as sole leaders rather than serve with them. To serve along with them is not the solution especially as the principles of democratic governance are compromised. Why should the people come back another day to vote if the outcomes of the previous voting resulted to power sharing? What then is the meaning of democracy? Nonsense!

Complicated? Yea! When you don’t have a sound principle, you’ll always accept to serve with wicked leaders like Mugabe and Kibaki and you’ll pretend it is for the people. It also shows that the likes of Odinga and Tsvangirai are selfish and very desperate. They are sharing power with friends and co-looters. The people are suffering!

Nigeria
My last example of some of the worst democracies in the world comes from Nigeria. Does anyone know that 20% of black people worldwide are Nigerians? If you break this down it means that for every 5 blackman /woman that you see, 1 is Nigerian!

Yet in this great country, the sleeping giant of AFRICA, democracy remains elusive! Nigeria is not yet a democratic country because since 1959 when the first elections were held, votes have never been counted. It is a tradition that Obaanjo passed on to his puppet called Yar Adua. Nigeria has also suffered tremendously as a result of the incursion of the military into partisan politics. People like Babangida and the Abacha family stole billions of naira and destroyed all the institutions of governance to ground zero.

Nigeria is very corrupt and the corrupt leaders and politicians continue to use stolen wealth to oppress the other people who are more than 90m and living on less than 2 dollars a day. In a country of 140m it is very shameful that those who could save the country are voiceless and powerless.

I am still amazed why Nigerians troop out on every Election Day to cast votes that will never be counted. That phenomenon should be listed as the eighth wonder of the world. In Nigeria, the situation is worse than in Kenya and Zimbabwe. Why? Because the results of elections are already determined before the Election Day. The godfathers who are mostly illiterates and idiots have their ways of sharing and dividing the political office in caucus meetings. It is a shame and today (october 13 2008) as I write there are violent incidents going on in Lagos Nigeria because of some silly re-election. There is no election in Nigeria without violence, arson, murder, molestation and assassination.

The political situation in Nigeria defiles all logic and human reasoning. This is a country that continues to produce some of the most intelligent people in the world. Nigerians are probably the most intelligent people in Africa, US and UK (and Europe generally) and even in the Middle East and Australia. It is therefore amazing how the idiots in politics have destroyed the institutions of governance and made it a cabal affair. It is amazing how Nigerians continue to develop other countries of the world while their homeland is almost uninhabitable.

Conclusively, there are some democracies in the world marred by stupidity, selfishness, looting, corruption and massive maladministration but the examples of Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria readily comes to mind because of the attendant effects of these anomalous democracies on the lives of the people. For example, there is no reason why every individual in Nigeria should not be a millionaire theoretically. That the monies for 140m continue to end up in private accounts and private pockets remain one of the unsolved mysteries of the 21st century, the 9th wonder maybe!

Life President Mugabe!

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By Adeola Aderounmu.

If you were in doubt as to who owns Zimbabwe, the doubt must have been laid to rest by now. Zimbabwe belongs to only one man whose name is Robert Mugabe.

Mugabe has been sworn in for the 6th term and for another 5 years in office. Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980 and he is now 84 years old or more.

Mugabe won the latest elections in which he was the only candidate. That would explain the reason why it was so easy and quick to do the counting and announce the result in a record timing.

As a matter of fact, invitation to the swearing in which took place today (June 29) were sent out even before the results were announced officially.

The opposition party pulled out a week ago citing violence and intimidations by the ruling party as the main reasons. The opposition argued that the run-off election cannot be free or fair because people were being haunted down, maimed, imprisoned and killed. Indeed, Tendai Biti, the opposition party’s Secretary General is now on death row courtesy of a treason charge against him.

Nevertheless, the image or symbol of the opposition leader remained on the ballots and surprisingly the opposition pulled some substantial votes. As the opposition members were being hunted down, some of them had the time to send cruel messages to Mugabe. MUGABE IMBAVHA (Mugabe is a thief) was one of the messages that was left on Mugabe’s election posters in a suburb of Harare. Another message was HAULUME BOB (you won’t get anything Bob). But Mugabe got everything. Zimbabwe is his personal property!

In the presidential elections held in March this year, the results came in in trickles and eventually stopped. No one knows exactly the outcome of that election. Indications were that the opposition won the election perhaps with a landslide or with 120, 000 more votes but those will remain speculations. Everyone in Zimbabwe and elsewhere, for the sake of elusive peace, believed the electoral commission that the first election held in March ended in a stalemate even though final results were not made public officially.

Who knows the truth? I think Tendai Biti does and that’s why he could pay with his life if Zimbabweans continue to look on the same way Nigerians did when Saro Wiwa was slaughtered by an animal called Abacha. One Gambari, the man who turned his eyes away during that gruesome murder of Saro Wiwa is now accepting invitation to head Niger-Delta peace summit in Nigeria. Wonders and mediocrity don’t cease in Africa.

Mugabe and his evil machinations cannot continue to claim that the opposition (MDC) participated in this run-off because that would amount to confirmed insanity. Why would it be possible for the results of the run-off to be available in a record time while the results of the elections held in March remain scanty or unknown?

Sometimes, I imagine that some parts of the world are living in the Stone Age. It cannot be true that we are all civilized. Our thoughts and actions do not indicate that the whole world is living in the same period of time. For example, what Mugabe is doing now in Zimbabwe (or the scenarios in Zimbabwe and Nigeria as an additional example) WILL NEVER happen in Sweden or Britain in the year of our lord 2008. NEVER!

Indeed there are serious problems the world over and we still have living dictators scattered around here and there but to pronounce democracy on the political events in Zimbabwe or Nigeria is tantamount to daylight rape.

It doesn’t matter how Mugabe presents his case. The truth is that he WAS a hero of independence whichever way that was achieved. That was in 1980. In 2008, Mugabe is not a HERO. His present image is that of a power drunk insane octogenarian. It appears as if the man is going down and he wants everything and everyone to go down with him. History abhors that Mr. Bob!

To many of us, it doesn’t matter that he blames the West for the troubles in Zimbabwe or that all he is doing is to prevent the re-installation of “foreign rule” through the opposition in Zimbabwe. The fact is Bob has past his prime and his invincibility aura had since given way but he ignored all the signs. Only a short time is left for Bob.

Zimbabwe today has 80% unemployment rate and probably the world highest inflation rate at 165 000%. Once a darling of Africa, today’s Zimbabwe is struggling with extreme poverty, homelessness and instability. Zimbabwe has a $10million note that may not sustain you over two days! The other day, a queue for bread was mistaken for a queue at a polling station! Zimbabweans are fleeing from their homes in thousands and Mugabe is blaming it on the West. How?

Beyond Mugabe, unless some drastic reconciliation and reasoning take place, I see a very bleak future still in Zimbabwe. This man called Bob has sown seeds of discordance over the country. He gave land to the people who are loyal to him: the army and other greedy people who could not do anything to match the productivity of the foreigners he chased away were those who benefited from Bob’s land reclamation.

These greedy people are behind Mugabe and they will strangulate the opposition further when Mugabe is gone. They will not want to part ways with their lands. They are afraid of a new leadership with new orientations albeit alleged western. There is a serious danger ahead in Zimbabwe after Mugabe. It is a sad situation.