On December 1, 2016, Gambian eligible voters went to the polls to elect
\ntheir leader thus ending the long reign of their longtime ruler Yahya
\nJammeh who initially conceded defeat. Barely a week after, Jammeh in a
\nnationwide broadcast announced the annulment of the election citing fraud
\nand irregularities which gave rise to tension not only in The Gambia but
\nin the subregion.<\/p>\n
However, the poll winner a former security guard and estate agent, Adama In a similar vein, Nigerians went to the polls about two years ago amid While the governing party, the All Progressives Congress remained in Buhari did say he would make the Naira, Nigeria’s domestic currency equal Under an enhanced green revolution, Nigerians were promised there would be Almost two years into the APC-led administration, the change Nigerians The major reasons being cited for this crying ineptitude and incompetence Let us examine these in turn. While the looting of the treasury lasted Is there any government in Nigeria where there had not be massive looting? Another reason often cited by this administration is the crash in global As Nigeria now heads towards another elections’ year, 2019 to be precise, Nigerians, I have no doubt, would vote for another change but the question Certainly, hunger neither sympathizes with religion nor ethnicity and you The crux of the matter is, can Nigerians ever be allowed to decided their Elections have been held recently and which calls the role of INEC in Now the question is will the Independent National Electoral Commission No sane-minded person would like to remain with a system whose trademarks There is no denying the fact that he is politically naive, uninformed, With Buhari’s relative as INEC boss, the wishes of the people in the There is no denying the fact that this is what will happen again in 2019 Whereby it is glaring that the wishes of the people have again been toyed *Iyoha John Darlington, a social activist, political analyst and public On December 1, 2016, Gambian eligible voters went to the polls to elect their leader thus ending the long reign of their longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh who initially conceded defeat.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nBarrow, was eventually sworn in two days<\/span><\/span> ago in neighboring Senegal after
\npressure from ECOWAS leaders failed to make Jammeh step down. Although he
\nis reportedly still in the State House amid pressure to hand over to the
\nduly elected president, Adama Barrow the world knows his days are numbered
\nwith West African intervention force on standby to dislodge him from the
\nVilla. And happily enough he has just heeded the voice of reason by
\nfinally stepping down which is none other than a triumph of the peoples’
\nwill.<\/p>\n
\nsubtle threats against the former president. Prior to the highly
\ncontroversial federal elections that saw the emergence of Nigeria’s
\ncurrent President Muhammadu Buhari uncertainty hung in the air the country
\nwas divided along ethnic and religious lines especially in the north which
\nwanted a return of power to the region at all cost. Jonathan’s name became
\near-biting among \u00a0Muslims who had been brainwashed in Mosques that casting
\nvote for him renders them as infidels. Hence the gullible ones amongst
\nthem were taken in and voted to effect a change. Thus the desired change
\nwas effected heralding the dawn of a new era in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
\nopposition prior to the elections, Nigerians were told that their lives
\ncould be much better under an APC-controlled Federal Government with the
\nthen presidential aspirant, Muhammadu Buhari, promising to introduce
\nlasting social and economic reforms. ‘Lives could be much better?’
\nPop-eyed, Nigerians asked, which means they would have uninterrupted power
\nsupply, the Naira would be made equal in value to the dollar, petrol would
\nsell for less than N87 per litre, a tin of peak milk would sell for less
\nthan N40, a bag of rice would sell for less than N8,000, etc. Armed with
\nthese weapons, the gullible minds were conquered and they reportedly
\neffected a change.<\/p>\n
\nin value to the US dollar when it exchanged for N150. The price of petrol,
\nhe said would cost much less. His former Petroleum Minister, Prof Tam
\nDavid West told the nation that with Buhari, his former boss at the helm
\nprice of petrol will be reduced to N40 per litre. The former Lagos State
\nGovernor Babatunde Fashola did also say Nigeria under an APC-led Federal
\nGovernment would fix the nation’s erratic power problems within three
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
\nfood aplenty that would make life superabundant amid bogus promises to
\ncreate millions of jobs. Thus, the then Federal Government under the
\nformer ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) was seen as none other than
\na plague that needed to be rid of but fortunately or unfortunately
\nNigerians threw away the baby and the bath water by voting out the party
\nthat saw the emergence of an APC-controlled Federal Government with the
\nprincipal architects seen as tin gods that have indeed come to liberate
\nthe people from the bondage of PDP sixteen years’ ‘misrule’.<\/p>\n
\nreportedly voted for is still miles away if not totally non-existent as
\neverything has crumbled marvelously.<\/p>\n
\nare looting of the treasury under the immediate past administration, crash
\nin global oil price and militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta.<\/p>\n
\nunder the former party, Nigerians were still able to feed and there was no
\nindication or visible signs that a tin of peak milk would rise to N200
\nfrom N40 at the time. Again, while the looting lasted, there was no
\nvisible sign that a litre of petrol would rise astronomically to N147 from
\nN87 per litre. Again and again, while the looting lasted there was no
\nvisible sign that the Naira would exchange for N500 as against N150 in
\nless than 2 years. I, for one, would prefer a Nigerian government
\ncharacterized by looting that would maintain the former status quo all
\nthings considered.<\/p>\n
\nCould Nigerians cast their mind back to the legal battle between Vera
\nIfudu of the Nigerian Television Authority in 1984 and Major General
\nBuhari as a military ruler? What about the melodrama at the airport of
\nLagos between Buhari and his late second-in-command while Atiku Abubakar
\nheaded the Nigerian Customs? Those who were not born then would be better
\nadvised to do an in-depth research about what happened between Buhari and
\nthat young woman at the period under sad review following the news she
\nreported on NTA where Buhari was one of the dramatis personae. On this
\nscore, no government at any time in Nigeria has not been involved in
\nlooting the treasury if we need reminding. The embarrassing disappearance
\nof money running into billions when Buhari held sway as PTF chairman and
\nthe sudden disappearance of huge sums of money that was later traced to a
\nMidland bank account in London are sad cases in point which are all
\nchronicled in the ‘Many Crimes of Buhari” authored by Nigeria’s Nobel
\nLaureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka.<\/p>\n
\noil price. Official figures show that Nigeria produces about 2 million
\nbarrels per day which were disrupted by militancy in the Niger Delta. That
\nis to say, the problem here is two-fold. Firstly, contending with cuts in
\nproduction output and secondly reduction of the oil price. The former
\nCentral bank Governor, Prof Charles Soludo in a piece published by the
\nNigerian Tribune said oil sold for less than $30 dollars when he took
\ncharge as the boss of the Nigeria’s apex bank – the Central Bank of
\nNigeria and as of the time he left, Nigeria with the proceeds from oil was
\nable to save up to over $60 billion in her foreign reserves although
\nmilitancy was unknown at the time. But today a barrel of crude oil sells
\nfor over $45 with an average production output of over one million two
\nhundred barrels per day in spite of the militancy in the region. Hence,
\nwhat’s the problem, if one may ask?<\/p>\n
\nwith frustration staring ominously in faces as a result of failed
\npolitical and economic policies occasioned by gross ineptitude and
\nincompetence of the ruling party, there is no denying the fact Nigerians
\nare fed up with the governing APC overlords that seem to have capitalized
\non their ignorance, conquered and kept them under what could be best
\ndescribed as permanent subjugation.<\/p>\n
\nis would their wishes ever count again? Will Nigerians ever be allowed to
\ntake control of political future? I have my reservations in this regard
\nbecause of what I have seen happen in subsequent elections under the
\nAPC-led Federal Government.<\/p>\n
\nknow as well as I know Nigerians have reached and made a swift volte-face
\nand all yearn under the existing circumstances for a return to when petrol
\nsold for N87 per litre. Nigerians all yearn for the golden era when a tin
\nof peak milk sold for N40, Nigerians all yearn for a return of when a bag
\nof rice sold for N8000, Nigerians and foreign investors alike all yearn
\nfor when there was stability of the naira when it exchanged for N150 to
\nthe US dollar. This year, reports say, Nigeria will officially devalue the
\nNigeria which means the Naira could be exchanging for N1000 for $1 in no
\ntime!<\/p>\n
\npolitical future via the ballot box in future elections using the current
\nhardship and frustration as indices of Buhari’s success or failure?<\/p>\n
\nserious question. No sane-minded person, if we all need reminding, would
\nwant to remain glued to an unworkable political system as obtains in
\nNigeria today. Suicide which was previously unknown in Nigeria has taken
\nthe center stage with many people dying on their own feet as a result of
\nhardship and attendant frustration. Many young women have become women of
\neasy virtue in order to keep body and soul together with many braving the
\nharsh odds of the fiery Sahara desert to the coast of Africa where they
\nembark on dangerous sea journeys to Europe and many have perished in this
\nadventure.<\/p>\n
\nallow the peoples’ will to count with 2019 around the corner? Would there
\never be a free and fair election with Buhari’s relative as the boss of
\nNigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission
\n(INEC)? \u00a0Frankly, I have my reservations here considering what happened in
\nEdo State, Ondo state gubernatorial elections and Rivers’ legislative
\nrerun elections.<\/p>\n
\nare frustration, hunger, suicide, insecurity of lives and property and
\nutter hopelessness being witnessed under the present APC-led
\nadministration. APC, we were told, swept the polls in both Ondo and Edo
\nStates – this had better been told to the marines considering what
\nhappened prior to the elections in these states geared towards completely
\neliminating the opposition and their members who are considered enemies of
\nthe state – a typical example is former Governor Oshomhole whose deeds
\nand actions are not only beastly but marvelously evocative of a
\nmisbegotten Homo Sapiens from an extinct barbarian tribe.<\/p>\n
\ncrude and uncivilized by being very intolerant of the opposition. A
\nvibrant opposition is one of the essential ingredients needed for any
\ndemocratic setting to thrive which he seems to have lost sight of.<\/p>\n
\nabove-named states where elections were held like an unworkable marriage
\nwere annulled and eventually bastardized which is tantamount to a coup
\nd’etat.<\/p>\n
\nbecause no one in his right frame of mind will like to remain aboard a
\nvessel which is navigating perilously through stormy waters by voting for
\nBuhari or APC either by any act of omission or commission, frankly, I do
\nnot think so. Hunger and frustration know not partisanship, ethnicity, and
\nreligion, armed with these weapons, Nigerians will not want to return
\nthese cast of neophyte actors to power come 2019 except the ugly scenario
\nin Edo, Ondo and Rivers elections is rehearsed and craftily re-enacted by
\nINEC and with connivance of the security agents which is tantamount to a
\ncoup d’etat.<\/p>\n
\nwith by INEC Nigerians may be heading for an open revolt and what is
\nhappening in The Gambia today could be replicated in Nigeria to enforce
\nthe peoples’ will by an intervention force in the subregion. This is why I
\nsee what is happening today in that tiny West African nation as a welcome
\ndevelopment because the Nigerian military and other security agencies
\ndominated by northern elements have been politicized and the only language
\nthey understand are Buhari’s partisanship and ethnic bigotry which is only
\ntypical of totalitarian regimes.<\/p>\n
\ncommentator on national and global issues wrote from Turin, Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"