Nigeria

2011 Elections in Nigeria, Jonathan Should Contest

/ Adeola / 10 Comments

Adeola A.

Goodluck Jonathan is a citizen of Nigeria and by providence the current “president” of Nigeria. The current debate about whether or not he should contest in the 2011 Presidential election is a very-very stupid debate.

Goodluck Jonathan belongs to PDP which is obviously a very strong party but also a very deceitful one. This party has been in power since 1999 and under these past years Nigeria has become more corrupt and the percentage of people that have slipped under the poverty level has escalated. Under the PDP Nigerians have continued to suffer due to the lack of the basic things of life like water and electricity.

PDP to many of us remained the nest of killers as confirmed by Wole Soyinka. That party boasts of looters and evil rulers like Babangida and Obasanjo. Co-looters like Atiku have found their way back to the fold. Ogbulafor the chairman of the party is currently standing trials for the monies he stole under Obasanjo and Bode Geroge is cooling off in kirikiri maximum prison. Ibori is on the run. In so small measures, the PDP continues to destroy Nigeria because they have no masterplan to get us out of the doldrums. The primary interest of Nigerian politicians remains to make money, get rich and care about self.

Anyway the current in-house trouble within the PDP is how to prevent or stop Jonathan from contesting in 2011. The Northerners in that party in their characteristic manner since 1959 do not want power shift to the South, let alone Mr. Jonathan from the Niger Delta region. What a useless mentality?

This is my take. Mr Goodluck Jonathan is a Nigerian and by provisions of the federal constitution of Nigeria is free to contest for electable offices including the position of the president of the federal republic of Nigeria. Unless he is sentenced to prison term for stealing, armed robbery or other crimes that can prevent him for pursuing his dreams, I see no reason (until then) why he cannot be allowed to contest for the office in question.

Indeed Goodluck belongs to PDP and he knows the evil nature of his political party. He knew how he was handpicked for the office of the VP by Obasanjo. This PDP party for Mr. Jonathan is a necessary evil. How he will overcome remains his personal dilemma and invariably a national problem. National, because if the status quo is maintained in the PDP, the unity of Nigeria will suffer a severe blow on the head. The system may collapse and the fears of critics may be fulfilled. The people in the leadership of the PDP have always put themselves before the nation. Isn’t that tantamount to treason?

From another perspective the outcome of the in-house fight in the PDP is one issue. The other issue is that irrespective of the candidate that would emerge from the PDP, that should be one part of the story. Who says that Mr. Jonathan would be the president if he becomes a candidate? Who says that the northern candidate in the minds of the northerners will win come 2011?

There are other political parties in Nigeria. They must present their own candidates too. It shouldn’t matter where the candidates are coming from. It is more important that we have candidates who are not corrupt. We want candidates who have not participated in the looting and destruction of Nigeria. There should be possibilities to present formidable candidates that will challenge the evils that have been perpetrated by Mr. Jonathan’s party since 1999.

2011 is a new golden chance. Bring in the electoral reforms. Give us a level playing field. Bring the PDP candidates be it Jonathan or Danjuma or Mustafa or Galadima or Shagari. Let us put them against one or two lovable, sincere and trustworthy Nigerians and above all let us count the votes.

We must not bring or accept the likes of Babangida or Atiku. In fact we should continue to mount pressure for the prosecution of Babangida, Obasanjo, Atiku and Ibori. These men and their accomplices stole Nigeria to dryness. Babangida alone stole more than 20 billion dollars. This money is enough to build a new country and bring some European countries OUT of economic recession. Where is our money Babangida?

No one can boast that Jonathan is not corrupt. The money stolen by his wife has not helped matters at all. Who, in Nigeria is not corrupt?

Let Jonathan contest but let him or the PDP do that in a normal democracy. In 2011 let MY VOTE COUNTs.

NIGERIA’s WORLD CUP SQUAD

/ Adeola / 18 Comments

Adeola Aderounmu

Lars Lagerbäck is not going to the World Cup to perform experiments. Conventional wisdom shows that that may be a fatal approach. The Nigerian coach will be going to South Africa in June with the players he inherited from Shuaibu Amodu.

What is then the difference between having coach Amodu in South Africa and Lars Lagerbäck who failed to qualify Sweden for the same competition? The outcome of the performances of the Nigerian team will be known in June 2010.

I cannot give a prediction of the outcome in South Africa but I know that the strategy of Mr. Lagerbäck will be different. Nigeria may end up playing a more defensive-style football and if this happens people are really going to be upset with the coach especially if the Super Eagles are disgraced out of the tournament.

Every Nigerian is a football analyst in his/ her own rights. If Lagerbäck’s strategies fail they will tell him what he doesn’t know about our football. They will let him know in clear terms that next to God, the next thing on the minds of Nigerians is football. To hell with politics and the looting politicians. Give us good football and take our sorrows away.

It doesn’t matter that Nigeria qualified for the world cup by a slim chance. The expectations are the same as if we qualified in a big way. Hence it is clear from the team squad that Mr. Lagerbäck himself is not willing to take chances. But the big question is “will he and his boys deliver when the heat is on in South Africa?”

Football coaches have one of the most fragile jobs in the world. Lagerbäck may not realise this because it took so long for him to get booted in Sweden despite several imperfections. Nigeria’s imperfections have produced coach after coach and the recycling of Amodu is a clear piece of evidence. He’s been there 3 times in the last 12 years !

If Lagerbäck fails in South Africa-not getting to the second round or quarter finals-there will be extreme pressure on his employers to fire him. That sort of failure will seal the automatic end to the international careers of the present crop of Super Eagles, most of whom are already past their primes anyway. If Lagerbäck survives he may eventually get the chance to try and do something new for Nigerian football. In that case, say 3 years from now, it would have become evident what he can do with the bunch of talents that Nigeria boast of. Some of us will get the chance to compare his records in Sweden with the situation in Nigeria if he survives 3 years as the coach of football-crazy Nigeria.

Just before the world cup, Nigeria will play 1 or 2 friendly matches. That is if the Football Authority is not fooling around like they did last month. These matches will not be adequate preparations for a country that is serious in going far in the tournament. If Nigerian plays the friendly matches, they will provide rare opportunities for Lagerbäck to see his squad first hand.

Performances in the friendly matches for those who get to wear the national colours and the few days in training will culminate in final selection of players for the world cup.

My expectations are not so high. Still the Nigerian in me wants Nigeria to do well in this world cup. Nigerians need something to cheer about, something to soothe us despite our political and social worries. Football is our religion and history has it that during those moments when Nigeria could have been torn apart, we were kept together by the common glories that football brought to our troubled nation.

I wish Mr. Lagerbäck and the Super Eagles all the best that the god of soccer can give them. With such a dull preparation, they will need all the luck in the world if they want to survive any game at all in the tournament. Good luck may even come from the seat of power. In Nigeria and for Nigerians, anything can happen!

Goalkeepers: Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv, Israel), Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda, Israel), Austin Ejide (Hapoel Petah Tikva, Israel), Bassey Akpan (Bayelsa United, Nigeria)

Defenders: Taye Taiwo (Marseille, France), Elderson Echiejile (Rennes, France), Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moscow, Russia), Onyekachi Apam (OG Nice, France), Joseph Yobo (Everton, England), Daniel Shittu (Bolton Wanderers, England), Ayodele Adeleye (Sparta Rotterdam, Netherlands), Rabiu Afolabi (SV Salzburg, Austria), Terna Suswan (Lobi Stars, Nigeria)

Midfielders: Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi (TSG Hoffenheim, Germany), John Utaka (Portsmouth, England), Brown Ideye (FC Sochaux, France), Peter Utaka (Odense Boldklub, Denmark), , Kalu Uche (Almeria, Spain), Dickson Etuhu (Fulham, England), John Mikel Obi (Chelsea, England), Sani Kaita (Alaniya, Russia), Haruna Lukman (AS Monaco, France), Yusuf Ayila (Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine), Osaze Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow, Russia)

Strikers: Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton, England), Victor Anichebe (Everton, England), Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth, England), Obafemi Martins (Wolfsburg, Germany), Ikechukwu Uche (Real Zaragoza, Spain), Victor Obinna Nsofor (Malaga, Spain)

PDP-Making a fool of us

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Adeola A.

In PDP-21st century Nigeria, they have a zoning system for presidency and presidential candidates.

It is the most stupid thing you can imagine and it is a reflection of brainless thoughts.

If the PDP principle works out, what it means that Nigeria should never be conducting presidential elections. This is how it works.

From 1999-2007 Obasanjo a southerner was the president of Nigeria. From 2007-2015 Mr. Yar Adua (may his soul rest in peace) should be the president of Nigeria. From 2015-2023 an Igboman or someone from the East or South East should be the president. So it means conducting elections (assuming that Nigeria becomes a one-party state) will be senseless and stupid altogether.

If you think about these things and if it works out this way, it shows nothing but extremely low intelligence or the absence of it in the Nigerian political scene. It is one of those things I classify as classical insanity/ madness of Nigerian politics.

According to this evil manifesto of the PDP- the unfortunate party of Mr. Jonathan-Mr Jonathan is living on a borrowed presidency. They mean that he must vacate the seat in 2011 so that a man from the north of Nigeria can finish the terms of Mr. Yar Adua. No greater senselessness!

I don’t pity Goodluck and his new predicament. He came and rose to power through the PDP. He knows what’s in for him and I’m sure his biggest dilemma now is how to change the status quo. That is his headache.

For Nigerians, our headache is how to prevent such a useless and senseless way of thinking to become a permanent way of life for us.

Rotational presidency is rubbish. It is very undemocratic and anti-progressive. Unfortunately it was this excuse that was used to perpetrate the criminal-mode elections that brought Jonathan and Yar Adua to power in 2007. Yar Adua is gone, to rest. This leaves us with Jonathan as the president we never voted for.

I will always wish Mr. Jonathan all the Goodluck in his name. But even luck does run out. Nigerians are talking about electoral reforms. But the PDP which unfortunately happens to posses many strongholds is now the biggest problem we have. Invariably Mr. Jonathan will appoint a northerner as the Vice president. This is PDP’s legacy and the way of Nigerian politicians-doing things that will benefit only the political class who have held Nigeria/Nigerians hostage for 50 years.

In an ideal world Mr. Jonathan will appoint a selfless person and a person who is intelligent to tackle the problems of Nigeria. He should be looking for an active man who will work together with him to see how they can move Nigeria forward, at least one step since 1960.

But that is far from what we have on ground. Merits can go to hell! In Nigeria, some people, usually called the cabal are now arranging how to present a VP to Mr. Jonathan the same way that Jonathan himself was presented to Yar Adua by the Obasanjo-led junta. The same cycle of idiocy is rehearsed and repeated. Welcome to Nigeria!

The ultimate task is to wipe out that useless policy of rotational presidency because if we continue to live by that mechanism, we only confirm that political posts are a means to loot, steal and plunder the wealth of Nigeria.

All political parties should allow free flowing democracy that is devoid of zoning. At every opportunity every candidate irrespective of their origin in Nigeria should be allowed to contest freely for offices and positions as long as they are qualified and not found wanting in a criminal court of law.

Are there people with brains in the PDP? Let them speak up now against this evil against man and nature. It is devilish to zone offices, much so the office of the presidency.

The other options that I mentioned in a post long time ago is the strengthening of the opposition party. Rather that proliferate like the babies of rats, the opposition parties should propose a coalition with viable manifesto and wrestle power from the PDP.

This is where fairplay and the influence of Mr. Goodluck will be tested in the forth coming elections either as a candidate for the PDP if the wicked party abandons its zoning system and allow reason to prevail OR as an observer now tired of pushing his luck too far.

In Nigeria, anything can happen. What looks so certain is that we will get a VP, who like Mr. Goodluck, will not be appointed or elected on merits. Of all the names that have popped up, I fancy no one. I don’t fancy Nigerian politicians when at the time you expect much from them; they give you little or nothing.

Our future is always in our hands. The realities of our lives still stare at us. In the midst of plenty, millions are starving. The basic things of life continue to elude millions. Unemployment remains rife. Education is at an all time low, basic health care is still luxurious , social infrastructure in general are damned and the overall quality of our lives despite the combined wealth from oil and natural resources remains despicable and pitiable.

Nigeria is not a poor country. There is enough in this country for everyone if we tackle greed, nepotism, corruption, ineptitude, sycophancy and selfishness in both public and private places.

Our lives and our future will continue to be in our hands and the outcomes will always depend on what we do or neglect.

R.I.P Yar’ Adua: Another Chapter Closes

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

Officially Mr. Umaru Yar’Adua died on 5th of May 2010, exactly 3 years after being declared as the winner of the worst presidential (s)election ever in Nigeria.

Mr. Yar’ Adua has a history of ailment ranging from severe kidney disorders to lung malfunctioning and pericardis. May his soul rest in peace. His death will be an issue for discussions months and even years from now. This is because of the roles played by his wife and fair weather political associates. These people toyed with Umaru’s life and history will not be kind to them.

“Do not speak evil or bad of the dead”. Says who? Whatever! The truth must be told. Death is a debt owned by all living things and nobody will leave this planet alive. The things that will benefit posterity must be mentioned even if we decide to continue in our known deception and foolery.

Mr. Yar Adua shot himself in the foot the moment he accepted to mount the number one position on such a huge controversial ground. His health problems were well concealed when he was a governor in Katsina State from 1999-2006. They came to the front during the campaigns in 2006/7 when he fainted while on the trails. At that point some of us were convinced that the last thing a sick country needed is a sick leader.

At that time when reasoning should have prevailed, Mr. Yar Adua lost control of his reasoning. He never regained it. From the moment he was sworn in, his battles multiplied and magnified. He didn’t find peace until he died. He left Nigeria in November 2009 and was never seen or heard again in public.

My take is that if he didn’t become a controversial ruler (as tempting as that was), he would be alive today in Katsina, managing his fragile health and running his family’s dynasty. My take could be erroneous or seriously faulted. I accept that. Still, power, absolute power corrupts. Even the brightest and keenest of mind are not spared!

Mr Yar Adua’s health was enough reason for concern. To add the worries of 150m Nigerians on that was a suicide mission from day one. Mr Obasanjo and Mrs Turai Yar’ Adua pushed Umaru to his grave, too early. Mr. Yar Adua’s death was highly preventable. He was used by Mr. Obasanjo and by his own wife Turai. Obasanjo dumped him while his wife used him as a national bait in the last days. His political partners aggravated the scenario and he refused to see beyond his nose, blinded by faith or foolishness or a combination of both.

The truth must be told. This Obituary is the least of shocks. Mr. Yar Adua had been declared dead before now on not less than 3 occasions. The secrecy of his last days made this final announcement very trivial. Turai Yar Adua ripped Nigerians of this shock since November 2009. Those who benefited from Yar Adua’s occupancy of Aso Rock took away the sympathy of millions of Nigerians long before the 5th of May 2010. I have a friend who was too convinced that Yar Adua died last year in Saudi Arabia. No amount of evidence pointing otherwise can convince him to change his mind.

Early this year an acquaintance of mine who lives in Dubai and Nigeria told me that he knew something I didn’t know. Then my friend mentioned above told me that: Ade, just wait and see, one day they will just announced that Yar Adua is ________. Then you will say that I told you that this man died since_________.

Right now I don’t know what to believe. I am not a journalist. I do limited investigation that time and space permits me. I react and reflect to news and information. I write what I think. I don’t know when Yar Adua died but I doubt that he died on May 5th 2010. What does that matter now? May His soul rest in peace.

Concerning the presidency of Mr. Yar Adua, it is the worst regime by any president or head of state. It was the dullest and the most inactive in the history of Nigeria. No matter what-truth must always be told. The election that brought him to the number one in Nigeria was the worst in the history of man. It was masterminded by Mr. Obasanjo, perfected by Mr. Maurice Iwu and protected like the Holy Grail by the PDP fraternity. The PDD is the most evil party in Nigeria.

With Monies stolen by the likes of Mr. Ibori and other corrupt politicians in Nigeria, the PDP perpetrated the worst disenfranchisement process ever seen in Africa. Apartheid and colonial eras became child’s play. Nigeria never saw anything that cruel since (in)dependence in 1960.

The story of the Obasanjo-Yar Adua era will be insatiable to students of history and political science. They will never be able to get out all they want and the more they get the more they will find intriguing. The emergence of Yar Adua was plainly orchestrated not by the evil machinery of the PDP but with the sound cooperation of the EFCC headed by Nuhu Ribadu.

Ribadu cooked the lies and fabrications that shut Nigerians in the dark while Yar Adua was being smuggled in. The details are too extensive for the scope of this essay. There are no saints and heroes in Nigeria. Our politics encourages a certain form of compromise that will blow away any sane mind in the twinkle of an eye.

Ibori’s role in the emergence and perpetration of Yar Adua are well documented. The roles of Aondoanka and Farida Waziri under the regime are well documented. In short, evil reign supreme in Nigeria. But even with death and sound knowledge that life has an end, looters and thieves in Nigerian political and public life don’t think twice before doing their thing.

Some Nigerians are mourning but take it or leave it the death of Yar Adua is good news to those whose turn it is to loot and steal. Some associates are already smiling to secret banks at home and abroad because we will never find out all the deals made by Yar Adua and these associates get to keep the money designated for some projects or some unknown transactions. Welcome to Nigeria..!

In all, you can ask: what would it take to learn some lessons in Nigeria? What would it take to have people in public service who will really serve? These are some of my worries and concerns over the decades.

My concerns are about the quality of life that we live. My concerns are about good governance and the spread of prosperity instead of poverty and war. How are we going to move this country forward? How can we as 150m Nigerians enjoy our lives with the short stay we have on this planet?

Yar Adua professed to help Nigeria but some of us knew that with his precedents, there was almost nothing he could do to impact our lives positively. Just like Babangida whose wife died in a US hospital recently, Yar Adua himself did not also see the need to build reputable hospital in Nigeria that could cater for his health problems.

Babangida was a dictator for 8 years during which he stole more than 12 billion dollars and he didn’t have any idea that a good hospital could save his wife’s life in the years ahead. He preferred to go abroad. Death has no address. We will all leave this planet, it doesn’t matter if we are rich or poor.

Yar Adua made the same mistake. He was governor for 8 years and ruler of Nigeria for 2½ years. He preferred to fly abroad for treatment. If he didn’t fly abroad so often, who knows what could have happened? No one knows!

Life remains a passage. Nothing last forever. Why loot? Why steal? Why acquire ill wealth? Why possess a mandate that is acquired by violence, evil and blood? The best way to pass through life is to live and let’s live.

In 2011, we’ll see if our votes count and if someone in Nigeria has learned any lesson that it is appointed unto man to die once. That vote-that we die, no man can change or alter.

May the soul of Umaru Yar Adua find peace, at last..!

The Campaign Against Maurice Iwu: it took so long.

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

By Adeola Aderounmu

The campaign against Mr. Iwu the fraudulent and corrupt chairman of the Nigerian Electoral Commission (INEC) must be sustained. To be sure, Mr. Iwu is not the problem with Nigeria. The problems are huge, numerous and enormous. However Iwu symbolizes evil and wickedness. He has been used as a tool to totally destroy the meaning of election in Nigeria. Mr. Iwu has taken rigging, corruption and recklessness of the electoral system to an irredeemable stratum.

Corrupt and Inefficient Iwu Maurice

Image from Nigerian Guardian Newspaper

I’m wondering why it took so long for this campaign to take form and shape. What is important now is that this campaign must be sustained and the eventual removal of Iwu must be achieved. If not, his activities will destroy more lives and souls.

In December 2007 I published the article below in the Nigerianmuse and on the Nigeria Village Square. I also published here on my blog and I’m just going to re-post it again exactly the way it was.
My views about Iwu are the same and I think the man should be facing the court of law by now. His former boss Mr Obasanjo should join him in trial. The crimes they both committed/perpetrated should not go unpunished. Removing Iwu is one thing, making him and his masters pay for their crimes is a bigger issue that should not be swept under the carpet-which is usual for the lazy and inherently corrupt successive governments in Nigeria.

A Persistent Resident Evil in the Aisle

Adeola Aderounmu
Written on Dec 11 2007

If we don’t do away with Iwu in our public arena and let him be HEARD NO MORE, someone will wake up tomorrow to tell us that Iwu is a hero. At that time, the likes of Babangida, Obasanjo and Atiku would have become saints and ordinary Nigerians would have been totally converted to their footstools. Iwu must go now!

Nigerians should not get tired of reading about one man or one incident day in day out. It is imperative that all of us who feel genuinely concerned should continue to echo our thoughts and actions where necessary until we rid our society of evil and atrocities. Mr. More-rice Iwu is one man we must continue to elaborate on until he is gone. He MUST go! He was quoted immensely by a recent report (10th Dec 2007) in This Day Newspaper

He stated that the conduct of the elections was far better than the June 12, 1993 election which is generally regarded as the freest and fairest in the history of Nigeria. Apart from confirmed madness, I tried in vain to find any other rational reason why any entity would make this kind of reckless and thoughtless statement. Would any sane person compare the worst election in human history with the best election ever held in Nigerian since 1959?

Iwu went further: Nigeria was able to transit from one civilian regime to another for the first time in the history of the country. This is a very, very useless line of argument. What is the value of a history that promotes shame, ridicule, lawlessness and executive madness? The significance of any election is not in the transfer of power; it is in the meaning that it adds to life. The significance also lies in the realization of the wish of the people, the need for a proper and appropriate change where necessary and the hope for a greater tomorrow. I will repeat that the 2007 selections in Nigeria were nothing short of a farce. It is a slap on the face of the intelligent minds that abound in Nigeria and those abroad.

Nigeria is fond of setting bad examples to other African countries and it is a big shame. It appears to me that Nigeria has not made any progress democratically despite the mistakes and shortcomings of the past. We repeat history and never learn from them. It was very stupid of us all as Nigerians to accept the outcome of the useless 2007 selections in the name of civilian to civilian transition.

After the 29th of May 2007, we still couldn’t bundle into jails all those who squandered our future. I am really disappointed that people like Obasanjo and Iwu and the others who have contributed to the demeaning of Nigeria are not investigated or placed on trial. We need to take control of our lives, our destinies and our future. It must start from someone, from somewhere. Yet it seems that we are wasting this opportunity which is still very fresh.

The INEC chief said in spite of the odds against the smooth conduct of the 2007 general elections, INEC was able to organize free and fair elections that produced winners from state assemblies to the office of the president. This is a classical example of what Fela termed “Animal talk don start again, hear o another animal talk”. I feel so enraged each time I read comments from Iwu. Who do I blame? I blame a system where people worship idiots like him. This is a man that should by now be facing the full wrath of the law. Where is due process and where is the so called ruse of law? Where are our investigative police and judiciary in all of these messes? AG nko?

The jargons that keep coming from Iwu went on: “It was a sad moment to say that 2007 elections was the worst elections when we knew what was happening in other parts of the world.” What does this mean? Which other parts of the world? Is it Sierra Leone that just emerged from a civil war and yet managed to conduct more credible elections? Is it France that conducted their elections a few weeks after the scandal in Nigeria? Is it South Africa from where he imported electoral materials days after the pre-prepared results have emerged?

Is it Ghana that had been reaping the dividends of democracy such that Nigerians are now relocating to Ghana? Which other parts of the world was Iwu talking about? Why do we even have to look at any other part of the world? We are talking about madness and lawlessness in Nigeria and he wants us to look for greater madness to see how blessed we are.

At a public forum last week, Iwu mentioned that politicians wanted coup in April 2007. What a cheap blackmail? Which coup in the history of man will ever surpass the one masterminded by Obasanjo and executed by Iwu himself? Why have we done this to ourselves in Nigeria or why are we permitting this kind of persistent shame?

Are we normal in Nigeria? Is this what it means that Africans are less intelligent? I don’t know what more to ask. Really it is very annoying and frustrating. I mean we went to school in Nigeria and we knew how intelligent our teachers and lecturers are. So, why do we get all these nonsense from those parading our public life? It is hard to understand but if this is what the outside world will hear in order to judge us, then where is the intelligence? Where is the non-fraudulent mind if one of it exists in Nigeria public arena? Help me!
Just when I thought I have read all the nonsense that Iwu had to say, he dropped another line of lunaticism.

He said:
“The 2007 elections we agreed were not perfect, it was a human undertaking. It won’t have been perfect. But I still maintain to the annoyance of some people that the 2007 elections were free and fair.” Yes Mr. More-rice Iwu, I am seriously annoyed and if I was a lawyer, I would dedicate the rest of my life to your prosecution until it shall comes to pass. Free and fair? Is this man normal? Iwu said that he is resolute in actualizing his missions of reforming the country’s electoral reforms, in line with what was obtainable in other developed countries. This is ridiculous.

That takes me to Yar Adua who has been talking about electoral reform. Is it the same reform that Iwu is referring to? Is the anticipated electoral reform Yar Adua’s project or Iwu’s mission? Iwu’s mission remains evil in nature and will never achieve any good or positive results. He will only end up setting more tasks for the judiciary who will continue to annul and rule in favour of re-election or resuscitation of proper candidates.

That will also plunge Nigeria into deeper crises. Similarly, if the power to appoint the chairman of INEC still resides with the presidency, then it looks like Umaru is going to leave Iwu to continue with the imaginary reforms he has been talking about. It would be a nice way to pay back Iwu who presented the certificate of office to Umaru when everyone was still shouting foul play. Anyhow, Umaru Yar Adua lacks the foundation to orchestrate an electoral reform as the battle for the soul of the presidency remains undecided. So, Iwu’s reform or Yar Adua’s reform, Nigerians loose either way. What a tragedy!

When Iwu mentioned that … when we knew what was happening in other parts of the world and then…… in line with what was obtainable in other developed countries. I knew for sure that he was absent minded. This is a man who said that we should be happy with our election by comparing it to other parts of the world and at the same forum saying that he wants to make electoral reforms that would compared to what is obtainable in other developed countries. So, the developed countries are in another planet or what? Truth is constant, it is not malleable. Inconsistency and heresy are clear symptoms of a die-hard liar. Iwu is a hardcore liar!

What are the terms governing the operations of INEC? Can the National Assembly do something about it? Apart from an unwillingly and a slow presidency, who else can we turn to for the removal of this cankerworm called Iwu? What about the Integrity Group? This man MUST go! The removal of Iwu is one of the steps we must take to move Nigeria forward. Let us rise up against all the evils in our society and their platforms.

If we don’t probe and try the previous and serving administrations and their key players, we will be taking steps that will only reveal that we are not destined for greatness. We need to stop thieves and deceivers like Iwu in high and low places and put everybody on alert for national revamping. Making Nigeria great is not going to be a day’s job. It will be a collective duty on virtually on frontiers of our lives. But Nigeria will never be great if we don’t resolve to take the first step. Many more generations will be wasted and people will continue to wallow in poverty despite the wealth of the nation. My heart has been bleeding for Nigeria, a rich country where values are not placed on human existence but which instead has become a place for the glorification of sycophants.

Let us not coat evil with honey. Nigeria must do away with Iwu, he is the resident evil, the remnant of the 2 dream killers who disenfranchised 140m people in a world record scandal and farce called election in April 2007. Let us continue to make all the sincere and necessary inputs that are needed to salvage Nigeria even if we have to do that a million times on the same issue.

We are living with many evils in Nigeria, from Babangida to Obasanjo, and the rest of them. One of these evils is very much at large and for as long as he remains relevant and influential in the order of things in Nigeria, this country will know no peace and the disappearance of the entity called Nigeria can be catalytically enhanced by such a fellow. If Iwu remains in charge of elections or electoral reforms, Nigeria’s doom day is surely at hand.