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Jonathan, Jega And Juveniles By Danlami Alhaji Wushishi `All people are dead, save for those who knowAnd those who know are dead, save those who practice; And those who practice are all astray save those who act with right intention` ____ Dhul I`-Nuun The year 2011 here! Unfortunately the nation was ushered into the New Year with bomb blast and killings on the Plateau; despite being a year that Nigerians look forward to for the simple reason that it is a year for another General Election. At least Seventy Million Nigerians are expected to exercise their civic rights by electing a candidate of their choice from Councilor to President. The Registration of voters is in progress nationwide, after the conduct of Presidential Primaries by the `giant parties` in the Country. All Presidential hopefuls have retracted to drawing board to strategies on how to win the most exalted seat in the Country. As such in my capacity as an eligible voter, I deem it pertinent to use this medium to draw the attention of President Goodluck Jonathan to the fact that he has a covenant with the future of Nigeria, Professor Attahiru Jega has a duty to assist Nigeria to reclaim her position in the comity of nations, while our teeming youths should desist from negative conducts not jettison their future for little money. With a couple of months to the General Elections, a lot of incidences have become a weekly if not daily occurrences is it the killings in Jos, Maiduguri and Ibadan or the Bomb blast that sniffed away lives of innocent victims atAbuja and Jos,or the incessant kidnaps for ransom, most of these have been blamed on politicians that are desperate to win or return to office at all cost. A reminder to avalanche of killings before the 2003 and 2007 polls where the lives of Chief Bola Ige, Harry Marshal, Sheikh Ja`afar Adam, Hajiya Saadatu Rimi,Funsho Williams were painfully wasted. The latest killings are those reported to have arouse during skirmishes from the PDP Primaries in some States. It is amazing that people choose to use Bullets than Ballots to eliminate one another. There’s also the use of threats and intimidations to woo polls, and where they happen one can imagine the reaction from the general populace; being discontent with the polity. These levels of decay and coercion infringe on Electorates basic fundamental right to vote. We are living witnesses to political impasse in Cote De voire, Tunisia, and Sudan, God forbid if we allow Nigeria to degenerate to such unfortunate level, these would have adverse effect on Africa, in view of pivotal role Nigeria often plays in restoring peace to various sovereign states. In fact, the role currently played by President Goodluck Jonathan allays the fears that he might sit tight assuming the unexpected occurs. In the past few days, it is becoming glaringly clear that the nation is polarize along ethnic and religious barriers, Mr. president therefore have a duty to mend fences by taking the path of constitutionality so that the labor of our past heroes shall not be in vain. With Prof. Attahiru Jega as INEC Chairman there is some level of comfort in the minds of Nigeria, who have cried foul on the role played by past INEC Chairmen, Jega is known to be a strong advocate of a United Nigeria, I agree with him that we can’t have a perfect election, but we can work towards having an acceptable Election by the generality of the people including our foreign partners. I would like Professor Jega to remain focus with a view to maintain his good records in order not to smear his name, he should be mindful of distractions that would emanate from some quarters inform of criticisms. I would like INEC Chairman not to equally undermine constructive criticisms, he should begin by analyzing problems that characterized rerun of Guber poll in Delta State, the current hiccups encountered in the registration of voter ranging from delay in arrival of materials to polling units, non mastery of operational system of machines by adhoc staff towards having a hitch free 2011 polls. These problems can be rectified through technical expertise and sincerity of purpose, hence the slogan now is `let do it right`, INEC Chairman had at different fora that he and his staff in INEC are poised to give Nigeria a free and fair Election. We should all go out and register this being out civic responsibility, while ballot cards remain our instrument to effect positive change we desire. The young ones in our society should play the game according to the rules, they should avoid engaging in multiple registration nor allow themselves to be used in any form of rigging, thuggery, ballot box stuffing, ballot box snatching, they must resist any temptation to buy votes, not accept Arms to intimidate voters or scare them away from polling units. This country belongs to us, and the future is bright for us, do not allow self seeking and desperate politicians kill our future. All these negative trends affect steady growth of our Democracy, if as giant of Africa we are unable to conduct acceptable polls, we would lack the moral basis to support the forceful ousting of Laurent Gbagbo, let’s not engage in acts capable of jettisoning our fragile peace. It is pertinent to note that when you rig for a candidate he immediately shun you on assumption of office because he know he got there not buy the wishes of the people but on the strength of his pocket, he would rather focus on regaining what he spent than acceding to provision of social amenities, this time around lets join hands to make Nigeria Great. Danlami Alhaji Wushishi, is a Minna based Legal practitioner |