According to a recent insightful post at Nigerian Curiosity, there is a looming civilian coup in Nigeria, and we are not paying enough attention. According to several clear pointers, it is not likely that the next election holds on schedule if it holds at all. A new chairman for the electoral commission has not been appointed, and the acting one has confessed that there are no enough funds, infrastructure or time to conduct the a free and fair election next year. The next president is expected to be signed in on May 29, 2011 and the electoral body needs at least six months to prepare for the election if it must be credible. INEC must also leave at least four months (I don’t know if this bit is in the constitution) between the time the new politicians are elected and the time they’re sworn in – so as to give room for all needed litigations.
The questions are:
When will the new chairman of the electoral body be announced by the president?
When will the new Electoral Laws be passed by the Senate in time to guide the new INEC head to conduct a free and fair election?
What does the constitution say about a situation where polls are inconclusive by the end of the four years tenure of incumbent politicians?
Is anyone really listening that none of these seem feasible in the next couple of months due to the nonchalance of politicians that stand to gain so much from the chaos that will mandate them to retain their seats in the absence of an election?
My Suggestions
Let us all send strong letters, opinions, articles and phone calls in the way of our elected officials to do the right thing right now. Let’s have your own suggestions. The time to act is now.
VN:F [1.9.1_1087]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.1_1087]
Remember Henry Iwenofu, the Nigerian proprietor of the African food place at St. Louis that first gave me an experience of home? You can read the post here.
He is now the candidate again for the State of Missouri’s House of Rep. 71st District under the Democratic Party
His Meet & Greet Fundraiser event will take place in St. Louis tomorrow. I’d like to drop by there if I can. A great guy. I wish him all the best.
VN:F [1.9.1_1087]
Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
VN:F [1.9.1_1087]
The news of the recession in the United States has never hit so close to home as it did for me last week when I read this article on Clarissa’s blog. Clarissa is a professor in my department. Apparently, the state of Illinois has been holding out on its workers for so long a time that now it is so hard to pay fees, and the Universities are going to have to suffer in the coming months. Coming from a country where it is commonplace for Professors to be owed many months salary by the government, it is a painful reminder. But in a country where order, probity and accountability are virtues expected at the highest level of government, it is a totally upsetting news.
In some way, I am immune to this situation because my pay is not tied to the state of Illinois, but the prospect of downsizing a department already understaffed for required languages is not one that I would look forward to with glee. It is very easy to throw out the words such as depression, recession and financial crises, but when it hits home in its ugliness, words fail in conveying the pain it brings to the folks involved.
I doubt that the case involves only the state of Illinois, but a few people I’ve spoken to about it seems to believe that it is a reflection on the dirty politics that has marked the state for a very long time.
VN:F [1.9.1_1087]
Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.1_1087]
Alton, IL
