The imperatives of tackling electoral fraud in 2015

By this time next year, preparations for the inauguration of a new regime would be in top gear. By this time next year, Nigeria and Nigerians would be preparing to usher in new governments at federal and state levels. These preparations however will be preceded by elections. And the mood that will ultimately characterize the inaugural ceremony will be determined by the manner of the elections conduct.

If the elections unusually turn out to be free, fair, transparent and therefore acceptable, euphoria will characterize 29th May, 2015. But if on the contrary the elections are rigged as usual and thus unacceptable, that fateful day will be one of mourning for democrats as our nascent democracy will yet be hit by a heavy blow.

The impact of such blow will be better imagined than mentioned-for it may be felt by even the nerves that transmit impulse to and fro Nigeria`s Central Nervous System. But we hope and pray it doesn’t get to that.

Whilst however we seek divine intervention, we must as a matter of urgency act as well. We know how power thirsty and desperate our politicians are. We know that almost all the politicians here are willing and ever ready to do whatever is possible to either continue to remain in power or get hold of it.

It is common knowledge here that politicians are so insincere that INEC or its officials collaborate with them to conduct sham and thereafter name it election. Election rigging is not new here. It is nothing in Nigeria to deny one their constitutional right of voting.

We are witnesses to how we were denied our rights in 2003, 2007 and 2011. And we are now seeing the results of such daylight robbery; inept and corrupt leadership at all levels. Thus it is incumbent upon every Nigerian to stand up to say no to election rigging. We must collectively tackle electoral fraud.

Irrespective of our religious, ethnic and political affiliations, we must unite to fight for the future of this nation. The duty to fight for the interests of our children squarely rests on us.  We must collectively fight for credible elections come 2015 if we want a better Nigeria for our children. And whilst the election was scheduled for January 2015, the struggle begins now and continues till the end.

This is the time to begin mobilizing and enlightening ourselves with a view to liberating fellow compatriots. At every social stratum, group or nomenclature, programs to sensitize the citizenry on the roles of political parties, the election umpire; INEC and security agencies in democracy and election should be initiated.

Meanwhile, cooperation and unity are very important factors for the success of any struggle. In the past, politicians successfully divided us and happily robbed us of our rights. We must therefore resist any attempt to create religious and or ethnic lines between us.

Jarmajo can be reached via wala_seko@yahoo.com

On Twitter: @mukhtarjarmajo

Sheikh Ahmadu Adamu Muazu Al-Botowi

Isn’t it sheer crass ignorance of the lessons in the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to even begin to compare the inhumane, insensitive, and purposeless PDP with Islam? You are disappointed it was Mua who uttered such filth; you are afraid he lashed his tongue heavenwards.

The National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ahmadu Adamu Muazu last week Tuesday in a rally in Kano said pitching a tent with his inhumane, insensitive and unjust PDP is as good as having faith in the oneness of God and accepting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the messenger of God. This assertion could mean one of two things.

It is either Muazu meant that there is also another religion in the sight of Allah apart from Islam or Islam and the PDP share the same ideologies and thoughts. For the former, it is absolutely contrary to what Allah says in Chapter 5, Verse 3 of the Holy Quran. I quote: “…This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed My favor upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion…”

So let Muazu and everybody else note that Islam is Islam because Islam is Islam and  there is not another religion that is similar to it- for it is either it is or it is not. And for the latter, the PDP shares nothing with Islam much as it cannot be linked with the teachings of Christianity. Whilst Christianity preaches justice, tolerance and peace, Islam means peace. Islam is about peace, justice, fairness, truthfulness and good leadership.

However as can be testified by history, PDP`s ideology is parallel with the ideologies of both Christianity and Islam. Injustice, corruption and graft are the main identities of the PDP. And again you are afraid that were the PDP a human being, it may not survive judgment day.

The PDP is a devil that has not only been witch-hunting Nigeria and Nigerians, but also itself. Internally, it has refused itself democracy because its inhabitants are hungry vultures who without power and money may not live to live.

The news relating that the party's governors have issued three conditions for an automatic ticket for the president is a pointer to this. They want:1. the outgoing ones amongst them to be allowed to choose their successors;2. automatic second term tickets for the returning ones; and3. an automatic senatorial ticket for those nursing senatorial ambition amongst them.

If they can get these, let Jonathan continue. If they are guaranteed these, let bad governance continue because they don't care. If they are guaranteed these, let insurgency, bribery, corruption, theft, loot, laundering and embezzlement continue. If the conditions are satisfied, let Nigeria go to hell they don't care! This is how horrible and inhumane the PDP is.

But we all know that both Christianity and Islam are humane. Nazareth and Madina were built to save humanity from the evils of the forces of darkness. The PDP has proved an evil and so cannot be found any where near Islam.

Jarmajo can be reached via wala_seko@yahoo.com On Twitter: @mukhtarjarmajo

Role of the media in a democracy

Nigeria`s constitutional democracy was found on the principles of equality, justice and freedom of expression of view or opinion regarding any matter of the state. This expression of view may be either through the ballot box or the fourth estate of the realm, the media.

For the former, it allows the electorate to verbally assert their choices or opinions regarding the formation of government. In democracy, every individual has a stake in deciding who occupies what seat and at what time. And for the latter, it provides that turf on which issues of state are debated and ideas exchanged. Democracy also saddled the media with the responsibility to objectively report the affairs of government to the electorate and educate them on all matters of election.

The media should educate the people that democracy is not a mere contraption that the game of politics can be played any how but rather a system that seeks to allow the citizenry decides how they are governed. It should also inform the people that we have a powerful tool in our hands that we can correct or reprimand as the case may be, in any instance where any government official errs or breaches the law.

The electorate must learn these for the firm establishment of a true democracy where the machinery of government will be operated only in the interest of the greater majority. But try chat with the people here and one is disappointed that most of us are shorn and bereft of the knowledge of the constitution on which our democracy rests.

And by this our democracy has been defeated because the constitution on which it rests appears not to have, either directly or indirectly a source of authority. As an act of the people, a constitution is made through either referendum; directly or through a constituent assembly elected specifically for that reason; indirectly. So, because it appears we do not know anything in it, the source of the constitution`s authority is in the doubt. This however is not the trouble for now.

The trouble is, without the people knowing the constitution and as well having a sound voter education there can never be credible elections in the country. First we need to have the full idea as to the constitutional responsibilities of the election umpire; the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Nigerians need to know that apart from the conduct of elections, the constitution also saddles the INEC with the responsibility to audit the accounts of political parties and regulate their general activities.

In Nigeria, political parties are not seen to be anything more than turfs where politicians climb only to clinch to power. And that’s why power thirsty politicians run them much like their private estates. But a political party in a true democratic setting is held high that the benchmark of its formation is the coming together of people of the same ideology and principle to form a common front for political struggle.

More so, Nigerians do not know much of what the constitution says regarding the separate responsibilities of the government three arms of executive, legislature and judicature. It is only here in Nigeria that when a legislator is being issued a score-card, his achievements will be mentioned to be construction of boreholes, building of schools and roads, distribution of motorcycle, money and scholarship et cetera. Wrong!

The primary constitutional responsibilities of the legislators are to make-laws and criticize and scrutinize the administration of government. So, a legislator should only be weighed on the number of Bills they have sponsored and or their contributions during debates and committee works. Thus must Nigerian legislators are failures for the simple reason that the legislature of today`s Nigeria is more like a rubber stamp. It has done nothing and it is doing nothing to better the life of Nigerians; it watches the presidency mismanage our resources and betray our trust.

Jarmajo can be reached via wala_seko@yahoo.com On Twitter: @mukhtarjarmajo

Still on Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation

On Tuesday 22 November, 2011 the Dailytrust newspaper published my article with the caption: Revisiting Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation. In that piece, yours sincerely attempted to draw the attention of the general public on the inability of the Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation secretariat to appropriately use the money gathered at its launching to effectively kick-start it. I lamented that “…collecting the money for the project was the easy part of the assignment…” whilst “…spending it appropriately to kick-start the foundation has proved to be the difficult part."

I wondered that 2yrs after the foundation was launched, “…neither the foundation secretariat nor its BOT had for once thought it proper and wise to brief the nation and in particular the north of the activities at the foundation headquarters.” The same piece went further to identify the fact that since the foundation`s launching at Murtala Mohammed Square in Kaduna on 17 November, 2009, where a whooping N5.5bn was realized, we heard of the foundation only a few times.

 Since the foundation was launched, one of the few times anyone heard anything connected to it, I noted, “was when the WeeklyTrust of Saturday 13 November, 2010 reported of the happenings at the foundation secretariat in Kaduna.” I therefore challenged the Foundation secretariat to provide explanations on the alleged N8million fraud perpetrated during its launching, which unnamed "people in Minna" were accused of being the culprits  as contained in the WeeklyTrust reportage.

I also challenged the foundation secretariat to tell the world whether or not all the pledges made during the launching have been redeemed. And in a response to my article, on Tuesday 29 November, 2011, Dr. Shettima Ali the foundation head deliberately attended to the issues I raised with disdain which I understand is the only tactic left for him to handle them for inadequacy of points to buttress his position. He noted that regarding the “…finances, the concerned public should rest assured that they are being managed well, safely invested, realizing good results from the investments to be used for more intervention activities. Redeeming of all pledged amounts is also vigorously being pursued with significant success. As an institution bound by the rules of best practice and good governance and inspired by Sardauna`s legacy of forthrightness we shall publish our audited accounts when ready.”

It is now over 2 years since these statements were made that is 5 years after the foundation was launched and  the concerned public is yet to see anything that justifies that the finances are being “…managed well, safely invested and realizing good results…” In plain terms, since the concerned public is yet to be told whether or not all the pledges made have been redeemed, we are as much unaware of what was being managed well and safely invested. Much the same, no one is aware of the investment kind that is realising the good results.

Still, despite an inspiration “...by Sardauna`s legacy of forthrightness..” the concerned public is yet to have the foundation`s audited accounts almost 5 years since it was launched. This gives room for several assumptions. For instance one will be forgiven to assume that those at the helm of affairs at the foundation secretariat only run the place much like a private estate. And with this assumption, Dr. shettima will surely be worried that I feel “…so negative about the north`s capacity to get good ideas off the ground”.

But I never doubt the North's capacity to deliver. Even the last time I wrote on this, yours sincerely was rather explicit about the fact that it is for graft and corrupt tendencies and belief in falsehood that our leaders will find it difficult to ever get it right. The North's capacity to deliver has never been in the doubt. In fact, I am of the firm conviction that the North has all it takes to get good ideas off the ground. The North has all the intellects and human resources needed to provide it the requisite leadership capable of  repositioning it to greater heights.

Jarmajo can be reached via wala_seko@yahoo.com On Twitter: @mukhtarjarmajo

As puzzled as horrified

Between 1929 and 1933, the national output of the United States declined without a justifiable reason. There was neither earthquake nor epidemic; nor was there any inadequacy in labour or capital. But the economy was in depression. Thus in his book "A coincise to Macroeconomics", the Harvard Business School Professor David A. Moss in 2007 describing the situation economists at that time caught themselves in said "they were as puzzled as they were horrified". But to me that situation was not as puzzling and  horrifying as the Nigerian politician.

The most puzzling and horrific thing or better still human being presently on the earth is the Nigerian politician who is as insensitive as he is selfish. You are puzzled by  their attitudes just as you are horrified that you can't find justifiable reasons for their behaviours. At every top of the hour, their ambition and desperation for power increases at an increasing rate. At every gotten opportunity they shout that democracy is in practice here just as they thwart the process at any instance. 

And that is why a look at the happenings in the country only ends with the sad note that things only change for the worse. The ordinary man perpetually suffers untold hardship amidst insecurity. And unfortunately, the very politician who at every gotten opportunity shouts that democracy is in practice here, cares not about us. Almost all the politicians here are only desperate for power so that when they rule they please themselves.

It is this desperation for power that turned our political atmosphere into a mess. Hence the reason why our nascent democracy is in danger much as the future of the nation seems horrific. For reasons not far from the desperation to either continue to stay in power or get to it, certain politicians promote disunity along religious and ethnic lines so that they rule while the people remain divided.

 The president himself demonstrated this in 2011 and since then, it had remain his political tactics. No thanks to ethnic and religious champions such as E. K. Clarke, who only think that their son must rule our nation whether or not he is competent and courageous enough to do so.

With thoughts and attitudes like these on our political turf, political parties must be run like private estates so that candidates be imposed on party members during primary elections. In the same vein, the public till must be looted so that rigging during general elections can be financed with ease. More so, security apparatus must be used unconstitutionally to threaten political opponents and the electorate as well to ensure smooth rigging.

Thus, with this preparation in the background, it is pretty sure that no matter the preparedness of INEC and it's willingness to be sincere and truthful in an election exercise; no matter the extent to which the electorates have knowledge on election and their willingness to participate in the process, the election will never record any success. It is thus not proper to blame INEC or its Chairman alone for the failure of an election in this country.  Most at times, it is the handiwork of the Nigerian politician who cares not about us.

And the end result is that apart from INEC and political parties that participate in elections, the other institutions of democracy have been reduced to mere machines. The National Assembly has the mandate to ensure check and balance in the affairs of government through enactment of laws and oversight function. But it does nothing because  most of its members are a product of rigged elections and so they are being remote-controlled by the presidency.

Today the National Assembly is not far from a rubber stamp for it allows the presidency do as it wishes. President Jonathan has committed one thousand and one impeachable offences but nothing was done on any of them. The inability by the president to tackle the security problem in the country alone is enough a reason to call him to order. But because the Nigerian politician cares not about us, nothing will ever be done about that.

 The Judiciary too was not spared by the Nigerian politician. It has been politicised. Being the last port of call for redress of any social injustice, the judiciary is to hold to its ethics and extant traditions so that at every instance the people will have the confidence that our learned Justices will interpret the laws without any fear or favour. 

But then, most of our judges here are corrupt. Most judgements were simply political. And this was unfortunate. A nation can survive any travail  other than that inflicted by a corrupt judiciary. Injustice remains the worst nightmare to ever befall any nation. God save Nigeria!

Jarmajo can be reached via wala_seko@yahoo.com

On Twitter: @mukhtarjarmajo

Leadership failure reason for Nigeria`s woes

In this country Nigeria, virtually nothing is working today. Sure, the Nigeria  system has collapsed and that was why most Nigerians today only suffer untold hardship. Economically, most of us live below poverty line; we are in abject poverty, education here is not only expensive but also substandard, our healthcare delivery system is in shambles, the polity is not secured, and so we only live to perceive the miasma of hopelessness. And because the Nigerian people are naturally always happy irrespective of the circumstance, things seem well.

          

However, Nigerians today have a sad story of leadership failure to tell. Leadership failure was the reason why all the institutions in the country are on their knees; leadership failure was the reason for Nigeria’s woes. And worse of it all, it was not for reason of mediocrity but for the disheartening reason that those at the helm of affairs only rule to please themselves. And that was why leadership is now meaningless in this part of the world.

          

Leadership is the planning and or organizing of the financial, human and informational resources of a government or an organization to achieve set goals. Hence, as Danmasanin Kano would put it, leaders are those who study the problems of their people with a view to solving them; they are those who use the philosophy of the herdsman who sacrifices his comfort and health for his cattle. They give and not take, and they serve and not are served.

          

In contradiction to the aforementioned, leaders here have not had the intention of solving the problems of their people and they prefer to be served rather than them serving. Almost all of them aspire to political positions simply to gain access to public funds so that they could steal the country poor. They want to have mansions to live in and buy luxurious cars to drive on the accident-prone-filthy roads of Nigeria. They want to send their children to the US, UK, Canada, Malaysia etc to study. And that was why when in power, they never have respect for the constitution of the land let alone that of their political parties. For most of the leaders in this country, Nigeria is but a contraption that could be manipulated any how to achieve any self-centered objective.

          

Government has failed to protect the life and property of Nigerians. The country is not secured; no one is safe either at home, in the office or on roads. Security gurus say the polity can never be secured if the youths are restive. And this could only be achieved when employment opportunities are available and education accessible to all.  Here there are no employment opportunities and education is not only substandard but also inaccessible.

            

It was because of leadership failure that today education is in a state of rot in this country. First, instructional materials are insufficient and qualified teachers scant in our nursery, primary and secondary schools. In our institutions of higher learning, teaching facilities are inadequate. It is only in this part of the world that education is not given any priority. In budgets, not enough funds are voted for education. For too long a time now, successive governments have shown little concern for education.

Consequently today, graduates in Nigeria are half-literates. Very few can read well and only a little can effectively communicate. This situation is only indicative of the fact that Nigeria has no future for the future of any nation solely depends on how its youths were nurtured.

There is also nothing to write home about our health institutions. The hospitals environments are filthy, drugs which are expensive are unavailable and doctors insufficient. And so we do not have access to quality healthcare delivery system. The situation is same both in rural and urban areas. Hence the reason why the rich and well to do only seek medical services elsewhere, outside the country.

Today, because of bad leadership, Nigeria imports food despite that it was blessed with a vast arable land that could be used for the cultivation of crops and rearing of animals. Our country has been a good importer of agricultural produce for too long a time now. The agricultural sector has got less needed attention of succeeding governments and so the country cannot feed itself as I write. Agricultural machines and implements are unavailable and so it is with fertilizer. Government watched while the National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON) Ltd, Onne, Port-Harcourt was systemically grounding.  The agricultural sector was put to neglect for the simple reason that the petroleum sector has been giving the country easy money.

            

And worse of it all, the petroleum sector is today not thriving; corruption has eaten it up. The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is not without problems. Our refineries in Port-Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna have run down for almost a decade now and are yet to be fixed. And so, we are now a major exporter of petroleum and paradoxically also a good importer of petroleum products. What an absurdity!

On Twitter: @mukhtarjarmajo