rigging in nigeria
Can we still describe the elections as free and fair in the face of the unfolding developments?
That is Nigeria and Nigerians for you: the more you see the less you understand. If we allow the politicians to have their ways we must ensure that we don’t loss our sense of reasoning to love ourselves regardless of our social, political and religious background.
purported picture of Osama Bin Laden
The past actions of Osama Bin Laden before his reported death have been wrongly associated to Muslims even when his country, Saudia Arabia and Islamic leaders have continued to disown his so-called Jihad. Due to the attacks by his group, Al-Qaida on institutions and individuals Arab and Islamic world have being incessantly criticised for the action of few fanatics when in facts some of his victims include Muslims and Arabs.
This stereotype is similar to situation in Nigeria after violent demonstrations in the Northern part of the country over a Presidential election of April 16, 2011. Most commentators tend to generalise and attribute the unfortunate mob actions as either Northern Agenda or religiously-inspired. The views are obviously amplified in some sections of the media who would rather refer to the outcome of the Nigeria’s Presidential election as ‘Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the South defeats Muhammad Buhari, a Muslim from the North.’ This typecast has generated bad bloods among friends, neighbours and colleagues from different faiths and backgrounds who now relate on perpetual mutual distrust.
I was recently alarmed, after the election, when a friend unconsciously though jokingly told me: “you are now defeated and no chance again for you.” I got the message. He knows I neither belong to any political party nor promote parochial agenda of any form. In a sense, he knows I am a Nigerian but at this time he rather mischievously grouped me as a loser because I am a Muslim by religious belief and a Northerner by place of birth in Nigeria.
I had course in the past through my writings to describe senseless attacks especially in the North as devilish antics of politicians, desperation of jobless youths and drug-induced actions of addicted miscreants. Apart from the unfortunate killings of innocent souls, the major victims of the recent attacks after the elections are northern elites including public officers, politicians, and traditional rulers.
I was an electoral monitor who personally witnessed the conduct of the last elections in the North, being a member of a Media and Information Committee on Emergency Management (MICEM), under the directives of Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Muhammad Sani-Sidi. When the crises broke out I was assigned to accompany emergency workers for on-the-spot assessment and for distributions of relief materials to displaced people in Kano, Kaduna and Bauchi. The task gave me the privilege of coming to term with the indescribable destructions.
We moved with security escorts from one town to the other and in different Internally Displaced People’s camps with truckloads of relief materials. There were gory tales and sites everywhere we visited. There are sad stories of members of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) killed during the demonstrations. There is this pathetic story of a Christian corper killed in a Police station and also nauseating picture of a Muslim corper burnt to ashes in a mosque. The maddening mobs in their fury did not spare mosques, churches, houses, markets and business premises from their annihilation. A whole settlement was completely razed. In the presence of emergency workers, pregnant women delivered babies in the camps. These are not exaggeration but tragic realities.
While crook politicians and undesirable elements could be behind the senseless carnage in the North, I must on behalf of other peace-loving Muslims correct the erroneous impression that it was inspired by religion. Nigeria though a secular state is a religious nation where majority of the citizens are either Muslims or Christians with theological differences in each faith. They nevertheless share belief in God Almighty; belief in the Holy Books and the Holy prophets; and they are aware of moral code of brotherhood and the faith in the life hereafter.
Since this writing is from a Muslim’s perspective, my Holy Book, the Quran invites Muslims and Christians to come to common terms that we worship none but God; that we associate no partners with Him in His powers and divine attributes… (Imran;3:64). Similarly even when we should dialogue on the basis of faith, the same Quran warns us against hostile disposition and abusive languages but advises that we should ‘Invite (all) to the way of Lord with wisdom and beautiful exhortation, and argue in ways that are best.’ (Nahl; 16,125).
The Holy Quran also emphatically encourages Muslims to be tolerant towards others, warning that we should not force or intimidate others to our faith when it states that ‘Let there be no compulsion in religion.” (Baqarah; 2:256).Even in the face of provocation and aggression, Muslims are enjoined for calmness but can only take self-defence when it suggests “Fight it, the cause of God those who fight you, but commit no aggression; for God loves not transgressors.” (Baqarah; 2:190). In another chapter in the Quran it reveals that ‘Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for [your] Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loves those who are just. (Mumtahinah; 60:8)
As a Muslim not only do I rely on the Quran, I also take the prophetic words and actions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him who in various Hadith had enjoined Muslims to accord respect to the people of the books, the Christians and even Jews. In a handwritten Charter of Privileges to the monk of St. Catherine Monastery in Mt. Sinai, one of the oldest monasteries still standing today, the Holy Prophet of Islam wrote thus:
“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.
“No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.
“No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray.
“Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world).”
This charter has been honoured by Muslims since then and as of today the same monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world together with the Monastery of Saint Anthony situated across the Red Sea in the desert south of Cairo.
With the foregoing, those who allow themselves to be carried away by emotion with combatant outbursts should rethink as actions of misguided elements should not be attributed to Islam and other Muslims, whether by Osama bin Laden group or local thugs. We should understand and respect one another and avoid those tendencies that corrupt our characters and souls. As Nigerians we should be wary of politicians who could use any trick tribal, religious and sectional sentiments to instigate acrimony among us for their selfish interest. As much as we crave for good governance and the dividend of democracy, while Nigerian politicians have their way we should not lose our senses of good judgement.
This is the mobile video recording of shameful massive rigging by a voter for a candidate in River State.
Similar videos are being churned out, though amateurish but say a lot about election rigging in Nigeria in the April 2011.
The questions that need answers are:
a. Who is the person?
b. Who is the candidate/politician being voted for?
c. Which area of Rivers State the incident took place?
d. Who give the suspect huge volume of ballot paper?
e. Where are the INEC officials and Security agencies?
f. Is the NYSC corps member an accomplice in the rigging?
g. What should be ther fate of that election?
Gaddafi and Arab King
Arab World: Between Democracy and Monarchy- By YAShuaib
This article by Yushau A. Shuaib has been widely published in national newspapers and online media in March 2011. He was also in a team to evacuate Nigerian citizens from the trouble spots in some of the countries.
The crises ravaging some Arab countries due to the political crises instigated by a young Tunisian graduate who burnt himself have been in the front burner. The unprecedented protests and demonstrations following Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation in protest against police corruption and ill-treatment in Tunisia have continued to vibrate in the Muslim World of the North Africa and the Middle-East.
Surprisingly most of the countries that are hard-hit by the nationwide protests had sit-tight leaders who have outlived their usefulness in political systems that they claimed were democratic. The protests are largely about the need for democratisation rather than on high rate of unemployment or poverty level, except in Tunisia, where poor economic environment was a major factor for the revolution.
Democracy is recognised as a system of government in which the people, through consensus or representations exercise equal control over issues affecting them as the citizens. Equality and freedom have been identified as important characteristics of democracy. The Mohamed Bouazizi’s self-immolation in Tunisia on December 18, 2010 marked the beginning of what is now tagged the ‘Revolution’ or ‘Days of Rage’ in the Arab World. The incidence was followed by nationwide protest forcing the ousting of President Ben Ali and the resignation of Prime Minister Ghannouchi while political prisoners were released. The nationwide demonstration in Egypt forced President Hosni Mubarak to resign with a set of army officers leading the new cabinet.
Similar incidences occurred in Algeria with major protests and road-blockings forcing the government to lift about two decade state-of-emergency imposed on that country. While President Saleh of Yemen promised not to seek re-election in the next election coming up in 2013, President Assad of Syria was quick to announce major reforms for political participation of the citizenry in government. Libya’s situation is dicey as the country continues to witness armed revolt and rebels’ occupations of major cities, turning the agitations into bloody and deadly confrontations between rebels and pro-Ghadafi after the resignation of top officials of government. While those leaders claim to be democrats, their Executive Powers are constitutionally linked to a single political movement in their respective countries which influence their dictatorial tendencies.
Meanwhile in the same Arab World are countries that practice constitutional monarchy and yet their people enjoy the best of amenities and have high-standard of living. Monarchy is a form of government in which supreme authority is vested in a single individual and usually hereditary figure whose powers can be absolute or acts as ordinary figurehead. Though there are strict hereditary successions in some system, elective monarchies are found in some countries where an assembly of king-makers elects a new monarch out of a pool of eligible candidates. The Vatican is a clear example of this where the Pope, sovereignty of the Vatican City, as the head of State and the head of the Catholic Church, is elected by the College of Cardinals.
A concept of constitutional monarchy is ascribed to modern kingdoms including that of United Kingdom. Absolute monarchy like in the Vatican is retained in Arab world and is practiced in Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab emirates. The monarch or the Head of Government in this regard personally exercises power in concert with other institutions.
But looking at Arab countries that have constitutional monarchies, sometimes with absolute power bestowed on the rulers, they still have better systems with exciting welfare packages and favorable working environment where foreign investors and immigrants are proud to call second homes. We can associate those stable monarchies with their peaceful and tourist cities like Mecca, Dubai, Amman, Kuwait, Jiddah, Doha, Rabat among others that witness large influx of foreign investors and immigrants who eke out living from the conducive environments. The economies of those countries are more stable and better than most countries in Africa and Asia that practice democracy.
Some monarchs, due to the current agitations in their regions, have conceded to provide more economic incentives and political reforms to further improve the well-being of their people. King Abdullah of Jordan was smarter as he sacked his Prime Minister after a minor demonstration and promised to undertake more reforms. The Sultan Qaboos of Oman announced major economic concession. King Abdullahi of Saudi Arabia on return to his country from medical treatment approved huge financial packages to stimulate the economy and provide more welfare to the people. While King Mohammed VI of Morocco provides Political concessions, King Hamad of Bahrain agrees to more economic concessions and improvement of welfare of the people.
Some of those Arab countries, apart from their professed religion of Islam have huge oil reserves. They are among most-developed economies in their respective continents. Their exchange rates are stable and have high per capita income and gross domestic products (GDP). Apart from having relatively high Human Development Index, they are classified as high-income developing economies. Their investments at home and abroad are shining examples of how a government should serve the interest of its people and environments with stable power supply, flow of potable water, superb health facilities, standard educational system, cultural and political stability, good transportation, enviable housing schemes, buoyant economy and financial prudence that are attested to by global financial institutions.
For an average African or Asian or even from particular European nations who lives in poverty-ridden and corrupt-infested society, any form of government could be welcomed if it could provide the basic necessity of life and good standard of living with resources to meet basic human needs.
Yushau A. Shuaib
yashuaib@yashuaib.com
The most respected woman politician in Nigeria
Sarah Jibril: When Women Betray A WomanBy Yushau A. Shuaib
This article by Yushau A. Shuaib has been widely published by national press in Nigeria and some online journals in February 2011
“Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, ‘She doesn’t have what it takes.’ They will say, ‘Women don’t have what it takes.’” - Clare Boothe Luce
The above quotation by Clare Boothe, a US Congresswoman aptly captured what happened at the last Presidential Primary of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja. There were three presidential aspirants: President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a respected Nigerian woman politician Mrs. Sarah Jibril.
Though there were allegations of manipulation of the electoral processes and the intimidation of some delegates to the convention, the insolent solitary (one) vote for Mrs. Jibril out about 4000 delegates comprising males and females, means that Sarah Jibril was the only person that voted for the womenfolk in Nigeria; invariably she was the only person that voted for herself.
The question that continues to disturb me and which will continue to haunt Nigerian women is; where are the women activists, the feminists and the women politicians who were lousily disturbing the airwave with their so-called women liberation when they could have influenced their husbands, fathers, brothers, man-friends and boyfriends to vote for the woman?
The Nigerian First Lady Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan, the Minister of women Affairs, Josephine Anenih, were obviously visible, before the PDP’s primary, calling for women empowerment and the need to support women in the next elections. It could be recalled that while launching one of the state chapters of her Pet Project; Women For change Initiative (W4CI) in Yola, the First Lady challenged Nigerians to believe in the immense capacity and capability of the women folk in nation building in order to bring about the much needed positive change the country is yearning for. She said her initiative was created to bring about a change in the lives of women through giving women soft loans for small scale businesses, provide support for those seeking political offices and generally changing the lives of women for the better.
On her part, the Minister of women Affairs, Mrs. Josephine Anenih was reported to have endorsed two- time Presidential aspirant Mrs. Sarah Jibril for elections at a Ministerial Press Conference in Abuja. She said the endorsement was to achieve the 35 per cent affirmative action come 2011 general elections and beyond provided for in the national gender policy so as to increase the number of women in appointive and elective positions come 2011. She added that the political empowerment of women is one of the ministry’s highest priorities.
They made promises of providing logistics and material supports, but the awful outing of a woman aiming for the highest political level with one-single vote calls to question the sincerity and commitment of feminine campaigners for gender equality in the polity.
Could there be some conspiracy by women against women or did they just demonstrate sheer jealousy against a woman of courage and determination who has courage to have consistently come forward to prove that a woman has a right to aspire to any position of authority.
Sarah Jibril herself asked a rhetoric question she put forward to womenfolk when she said: “What offence have I committed against the women of Nigeria? They should tell me so that I will know? They should check my records right from when I was a commissioner right from when I was chairman governing council and all other positions I have held in the past.” She added that: “Nigerian women should tell me what I have done wrong and how I have misrepresented them that made them afraid to vote for me.”
While only the Nigerian women should respond to her emotional outburst, it is necessary to point out that it seems they are not ready for real socio-political challenges as exemplified by this singular act of selfishness and selfishness against their own.
Why should men for instance, who have noticed how women politicians betrayed a female aspirant at the last PDP primary, have trust in voting for female candidates in the next elections when womenfolk themselves are in conspiracy against themselves?
I wonder what could befall other women seeking top public offices like governors of states. I just imagine the miracle Senator Gbemisola Saraki, a gubernatorial aspirant under Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) in Kwara State can deploy to defeat formidable male opponents like Barrister Muhammad Dele Belgore, a philanthropic lawyer dearly loved by the masses under Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Alhaji Fatai Ahmed an unassuming former Commissioner of Finance who is supported by the governor of the state under People Democratic Party.
Going by this action against the only respected and recognisable woman politician of substance in the country, Nigerian men must have seen the writing on the wall and take appropriate actions accordingly by advising their wives, sisters, mothers and daughters to be wary of politics or they might embarrass the entire family through woeful defeats in elections.
By the way, has Sarah Jubril’s failure at the PDP Primary gone to further reiterate the old adage that a woman’s role ends in the kitchen and at home to take good care of the family while the men take charge of external forces? Where are all the money and other resources set aside to support women’s cause in politics go to? It is appropriate to constitute a panel, excluding women in membership, to prove how those resources voted to champion the cause of women were utilised or diverted for other purposes. Exclusion of women in the committee is to guard against their conspiratorial antics against themselves.
Yushau A. Shuaib
yashuaib@yashuaib.com
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 6,800 times in 2010. That’s about 16 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 21 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 30 posts. There were 27 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 19mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.
The busiest day of the year was September 15th with 141 views. The most popular post that day was When Benedict Southworth Talks on Public Relations in NGO Sector.
The top referring sites in 2010 were mail.yahoo.com, en.search.wordpress.com, digg.com, mail.live.com, and bigextracash.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for ethics, ethics pictures, philosophy and ethics, right and wrong, and pictures of ethics.
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
When Benedict Southworth Talks on Public Relations in NGO Sector March 2010
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How Media and Political Elites Influence the Electorate In Britain and Nigeria November 2010
5 comments
More PR Students Enrol for Social Media Course March 2010
7 comments
Partisanship of British Media in Electoral Campaigns April 2010
8 comments
Practical Exercise on Social media in Public Relations February 2010
7 comments
Partisanship of British Media in Electoral Campaigns
By Yushau A. Shuaib
Brown, Cameron, Clegg
It is not strange in some climes that politicians engage in electoral malpractices to win elections by hook-or-crooks, but it beats one’s imagination to suspect respected media outfits in the United Kingdom of being involved in manipulations of their readers and viewers through excessive partisanship.
Few days to British election, The Independent sends a daily free copy of its newspaper to householders in London. As a student I do not find the gesture as being generous because I read the online version apart from getting free copies of Metro and Evening Standard newspapers in the morning and afternoon respectively while on my way to- and-fro University of Westminster.
The freely distributed and low-priced newspapers like the Sun owned by the Australian media baron, Rupert Murdoch, have the large chunk of the British readership. This is evidence by commuters who take delight reading the papers in trains, buses and taxis.
It must be emphasised that The Independent always claims it is the only newspaper in Britain that’s free from proprietorial influence and political allegiance. That superior argument could not be claimed by other publishers and editorial teams of the major national newspapers. It is observed that the Labour Party and its leaders, Gordon Brown received editorial sympathy from The Mirror and the Guardian; the Conservative Party and its Leader, David Cameron received supports of Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Time and the Sun, while Nick Clegg of Liberal Democrat has no major newspaper’s official backing except for public goodwill and sincerity of some reporters.
The unbiased Independent newspaper, in its story on Friday April 23, 2010, with a title: “‘Sun’ censored poll that showed support for Lib Dems,” reports an allegation that the Sun failed to publish a credible and authoritative YouGov poll that “voters fear a Liberal Democrat government less than a Conservative or Labour.”
The Liberal Democrats and other electorates have accused the Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the Sun for suppressing the finding. The development further confirms how the Sun has nakedly and excessively exposes itself by campaigning for the Conservative Party against others in the past and for the forthcoming May elections.
Does media have the right to condemn countries like Nigeria where politicians are notorious in stage-managing electoral processes, when the British media deliberately manipulate consciousness of voters for certain political parties to satisfy the agenda of their respective proprietors?
The media may protect business and political interests of their patrons, as the Fourth Estate of the Realm, they should be cautious in their public endorsements of politicians for electoral offices since they are not newsletters of the political parties.
As a PR student in UK, I am baffled by the antic of British media towards the election and doubt if they are influenced by hidden persuaders, the Political Public Relations people.
Welcome to yashuaib.wordpress.com. You are free to send comments on the postings and give other perspectives to the issues. Thanking you for visiting the blog.
YAShuaib
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