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2007 Election: Nigerians Are No Fools By Jide Ayobolu First, it is a very great pity and indeed a travesty of democracy and a mockery of the rule of for the U.S Ambassador to Nigeria could pay a courtesy call on Yar’Adua. This is because America is the bastion of democracy the world over, that people look up to, so, why will such a country allow her foreign envoy fraternize with rogue regime that has stolen the collective mandate of the people of Nigeria through massive rigging of the election. Presently, the country is sitting on a keg of gun powder as a result of the unprecedented electoral fraud that is threatening the very continued existence of the Nigerian state. It is therefore neat and proper for the U.S. government to come out of its shell and make categorical statement on the seriously warped electoral process and election. Moreso that, NDI and IRI observers have roundly condemned the election as a sham and a charade. Nigerians are no fools, they will never vote for a wrong man to preside over the affairs of the country. This is because if indeed they vote for his, it means therefore that that the party that put forward such a character is sick and in the same token, it means the country is sick. Or can a sick man cure the country of its plethora encumbrances? Definitely no. This is a man who has been sick for most past of the last eight years. In fact, Aremo Segun Osoba in an interview in The Sun recently said, he only attended the State Executives Council meetings twice between 1993 and 2003. But quite frankly, he is a gentleman, who would have wanted to retire to the confines of his home to enjoy his private life that would enable take good care of his unfortunate sickness. And as a matter of fact, he is ill-prepared for the onerous task of governing a country like Nigeria. He was imposed by president Obasanjo on the PDP and by rigging on the Nigerian people. He has no clear direction of how to perspicaciously manage the affairs of the Nigerian state. It is in this regard that he has said in several interviews that, it is when he assumes the mantle of leadership that he will then set up various committees to look into the various problems bedeviling the country. In the build up to the 2007; during the campaign, he virtually pilfered from the economic blue-print of the vice –president titled. From reforms to prosperity, but lacks the profundity and pragmatic experiential acumen to really understand the details contained therein. This is the worst election ever in the history of Nigeria, presided over by the worst civilian government and which will therefore lead to the worst government dictatorship if the fraudulent election is allowed to stand. All the appointments that have been mentioned on the pages of the paper, not a single person can be said to be a Yar’Adua person. It is really a continuation of the Obasanjo’s government whose reform agenda and misanthropic economic programmes that reduced the average Nigerian to a piece of bread, a very worthless person. The UNDP said its report that over 70 per cent of the entire Nigerian population live on less than $1 per day. Yet, Obasanjo through Yar’Adua wants to hang on to power, against the wish and desire of the people of the federal republic of Nigeria as well as the laws of the land. This is no denying the fact that, Yar’Adua is a thief who has robbed the Nigerian people of the right to vote and be voted for. Again, the Nigerian government has officially ended the so-called war on corruption. It means that the war in the first place, is nothing but façade. Electoral frauds cum political corruption are the worst forms of corruption. This has been so blatantly done, yet both the EFCC and ICPC have kept mute as if all is well. It means both agencies are nothing but a tool in the hands of the executive to even up with perceived political enemies. Painfully enough, Nigerians are taken for a ride by the government led by Obasanjo, by PDP and by the INEC. And, very dangerously Nigeria is gravitating towards a one –party state. Obasanjo is not just retiring, he wants to assume limitless executive powers to be able to continued to protect his newly acquired wealth, it is for this reason they call him the life leader of PDP and the father of modern Nigeria. This is nothing but an insult on the sensibilities of Nigerians. It is an established fact that voting did not take place in several places in the rural areas, ballot papers were wantonly thumb printing by agents of the ruling party in conjunction with security agents, INEC officials, etc, stuffing of ballot bags, killing of political opponents, and what have you. It is a gratuitous insult that Professor Iwu has the audacity to accuse the critics of the exercise of both mischief and shallow thinking. Yet, The Economist in one of its editorials urged AU not to allow Nigeria to continue to project itself as the mouth-piece of the continent. And, this is a signal to the dismal morass the country has fallen with the fraudulent election that was conducted which has be roundly condemned by both the local and international observers. It goes without saying therefore that this election cannot stand the test of time as anything predicated on falsehood will crumble like a pack of cards. The election no doubt is not a true reflection of the wishes, desires, expectations and yearnings of the people of Nigeria. The people are generally fed up with the prevailing scheme of things and they earnestly ask for a change to better their lots and give them a better life. Nigeria is greater than Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, PDP and INEC. Their own will is not one and the same as the collective will of the Nigerian people. This has been ably demonstrated by voter’s apathy and voter’s fatigue in the 2007 election. Nigeria is not a banana republic where anything can just happen. Nigeria is governed by laws, hence, the exigent need for aggrieved people to go the election tribunals to contest the result of the elections as declared by INEC.
By
Jide Ayobolu Abuja-Nigeria.
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