Date Published: 03/26/11

The Planned Boycott of the NEDB/BON organised Debate by the Opposition Presidential Candidates of ACN, CPC and ANPP - An Avoidable Mistake and A Wrong Move!!!

Less than 48hours ago, the Presidential Candidates of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu; the Congress for Political Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd); and the All Nigerians Peoples Party (ANPP), Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, announced their plan to boycott the forthcoming Presidential Elections Debate slated for March 29, 2011 which is to be jointly anchored by the Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDB) and the Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria (BON). According to the Spokesmen of these Presidential Candidates, their decision to pull out of the proposed Debate is premised on the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to participate in an earlier Debate organised few days ago by the Cable Channel, NN24. They also alluded that the President Spokesman demanded for the questions of that earlier Debate prior to the Debate itself; which according to them, they rejected as granting that request will no longer make it a Debate, and that they believe that; that is the real reason the President never turned up for that Debate. And they also said that they have every reason to boycott this forthcoming Debate because it is being driven primarily by the government owned BON.

We believe that the decisions of the Presidential Candidates of these Opposition Parties are ill-timed and wrongly motivated for the following reasons:

First; the President, through his spokesman, barely 24hours after the Debate organised by NN24 on March 18, 2011, refuted the insinuations that he shunned that Debate. As he said then, he didn’t attend the Debate because the NN24 platform is not broad enough; that he believed the forthcoming debate being put in place by the NEDB/BON has a wider outreach and that it wouldn’t make sense to attend the NN24 Debate when the NEDB/BON proposed Debate is just a few days away. Now let’s be clear: we are not in any way saying here that the President was right in not attending the NN24 Debate, and we not Spokespersons for anybody other than the voiceless, the forgotten and the disinherited of our Land; but the truth here is that NN24 actually does not have a wider outreach; for it is just a Cable channel on DSTV or some other Cable Television and the masses of Nigerians; the common man and the humbled members of society which we in Conscience Reports represent do not have access to DSTV or other Cable Television, and as such millions of Nigerians couldn’t watch that Debate; indeed, several millions of Nigerians could be seen complaining days after the Debate, wishing the Debate had been aired on Local Television and Radio Stations. As far as we are concern, that Debate was watched only by a few; notably the elite who can afford DSTV or Cable Television Subscriptions. On the other hand, the proposed forthcoming Debate being organised by the NEDB/BON would be aired by BON and all FRCN Stations, which includes the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), and all Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) Stations which are mostly Local Stations. And a whole lot of Private Television and Radio Stations in this Nation, both Cable and Local Stations are affiliated to the NTA and the FRCN, meaning that they too will be able to hookup and broadcast the Debate. This will eventually engender a wider outreach nationally, regionally and even globally, thus providing a much stronger platform for all Candidates to articulate their Programmes and sell their Agendas to the Nigerian people.

Second; the Opposition Presidential Candidates expressed their fear that since the BON is a government controlled Agency, the forthcoming Presidential Elections Debate being organised by them in collaboration with the NEDB may not be fair as it will give the President an undue advantage, as they would have likely caved in under pressure to hand out the Debate questions to the President beforehand. Granted; this allusion could be true and their fears may not be misplaced, as such fears have equally been expressed by some other Nigerians we have talked to in the last couple of hours, but we contend that any Candidate and indeed any person worth his or her salt would not be mindful of that as he or she would still be able to defend his or her Programme and Agenda irrespective of whether one Candidate already have an idea of whatever questions would be asked because he or she would definitely have a proper grasp of the issues confronting our nation and exactly how he or she intends to address the issues. Besides, we also think that if indeed the BON could be compromised by the President as they have said because, it is a government controlled Agency, then they too may be equally compromised as their Parties are also part of the government at all levels even if they are not in control of the Federal government. Moreover, how can they convince Nigerians, that NN24 is truly independent as they claim simply because it is a privately owned Station? How could they be so sure that it was not also compromised?

Third; the Opposition Presidential Candidates had by their Statements in the last few hours signifying their intention to boycott the forthcoming Presidential Elections Debate made Nigerians believe that it is payback time for the President because he started it by earlier boycotting the NN24 organised Debate. The President in their view has no respect for them, and as such they too would not be attending the forthcoming NEDB/BON organised Presidential Elections Debate. This is not good enough, as they are throwing away the Baby with the Bath Water and treating with levity a very golden opportunity of showcasing their worth and how they can do better than the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) led government of the last twelve years of Democracy. What we are simply saying in a nutshell is that these Opposition Presidential Candidates may not be wrong in their assertions, and they certainly have every right to shun the Debate or do whatsoever they so pleases, but the reasons they are giving for their planned action in our opinion are not good enough.

In the final analysis, the forthcoming Presidential Debate, and indeed the General Election in our view is not about any Presidential Candidate but about the Nigerian people who have been suffering and groaning under the iron feet of oppression in the last fifty years of Independence; in particular the last twelve years of Democracy. What we therefore need are Candidates who places the people above self interest and not this ongoing Retaliatory Campaign and Campaign of Calumny from all the Presidential Candidates, including off course the President, who seems to have lost a grasp of what this whole thing is all about; a Campaign devoid of substance; a Campaign not based on issues but one that smacks of pettiness and vengefulness. The Opposition Presidential Candidates should therefore avoid this disservice to the Nigeria people by reconsidering their stand on this crucial issue.

Eneruvie Enakoko

Editor in Chief and Spokesperson

eenakoko@consciencereports.tv

{Enakoko is also a former Chairman of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) in Lagos}.

The views expressed in this Special Analysis are strictly of Conscience Reports and must not be misconstrued or attributed otherwise.

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