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INEC As Referee For Nigeria 2007, Trust And Optical Illusion By Prince Charles Dickson Jos, Plateau Nigeria
The World Cup...soccer's prestigious tournament for the big boys has been underway in far away Germany, that we are not participating because we are so good is no news, but the news is that for once in a long time the referees have come under scrutiny for very questionable decisions...the referee of the tournament so far remains a certain Valentin Ivanov that gave out a record 16 yellow cards and 4 reds... he dished out cards like it was a meal of tuwo shinkafa with beef scattered everywhere in ewedu soup in typical Yoruba fashion. The referees have made an effort to justify their actions, some quite acceptable, while others I simply see as a function of optical illusion.
Just as a player shoots a ball hundreds of meters away from the goal post, for no reason other than that is where he saw the goal post, or when a player tumbles under merely a touch and gets a penalty, on another occasion with a brutal tackle he hardly gets a nod from the referee. It is in this same vein that referees have also been sometimes fooled by players who either dive or harshly dismiss players that have done little or nothing. In this terrain it is a game of the players, referee, and the fan.
The referee is the man at the center, he is supposed to be unbiased, but the World Cup has produced different types, from the ones that disqualified good goals, to the one that handled the Brazil-Ghana match as if he was playing for Brazil. I do not think we will forget the referee that decided to gift Italy a ticket against the Aussies...referees how much can they be trusted, when can they differentiate optical illusion from reality, when do they not take sides, when do their actions smack of intimidation? For us the game is the 2007 elections, the man at the center, a certain Prof. Iwu, the players, from ACD, AA, DPP, AGPA, ANPP, some twenty nine or so to the present most valueless PDP. And the poor fans, Nigerians off course that suffer the under-performance of players on the field and referee at the center.
The Nigerian World Cup comes up in form of a General Election come 2007, the stakes are high, the chief referee has said to give a free and fair match, he was willing to die...these days the number of leaders that are willing to die for this nation has not changed much. Strange, quite strange. Can the PDP dependent Independent Electoral Commission be trusted, where FEDECO, NEC and NECON failed, can it be trusted to remedy what is remaining of the present crop of leadership, can it be trusted to do a yeoman's job like Dora did and is still doing with NAFDAC? As an official of the tournament can we trust its linesmen, the several resident electoral commissioners in States, can the body as presently constituted and unfunded be allowed to call the shots without being bullied by Uncle?
How many goals will be cancelled, how many offside decisions would be correct, already we have seen a false start, shoddy preparations, injuries already to players before the start of the tourney, the ball boys (security operatives)...what role are they going to play...the teams, would there be complaints of bad weather, to the advantage of others. The INEC boss in the last month has been in a frenzy of media showing, shouting, talking smooth, can he be trusted to disappoint Obasanjo and his PDP led failure to the delight of the masses. He has publicly cried of no funding from the appropriate quarters...just like after all the shakara oloje, ICPC is saying that it may not be able to prosecute stealing Governors. We knowingly create loopholes in the system, few months to a general election, the body supposedly responsible t o conducting the election is cash strapped, so we will once more witness shoddy arrangements with last minute rush, already we do not have any voters' register. One hopes we may not need several days of national holiday like the census period to conduct an election.
To avoid an optical illusion it is necessary to ask now, who is INEC, as a referee responsible to, who pays the piper, will the body take actions with the interest of the game at heart, will it be impartial? The referee that handled the match between the Netherlands and Portugal accepted that it was the most difficult of his life, for INEC this will be the most difficult of matches for them, a PDP that wants to win at cost and is bent at making sure that the ACD and co. remain the adventurers that Ali called them or paper Tigers as Madu'keke' called them.
INEC could be trusted, yes they could be believed to deliver when called upon to do so, but the fact is that which INEC are we referring to here. The elections are almost here with us, but the bitter truth is that we are not ready, the defective electoral bill has been passed and we will use it, the commission that will conduct the elections do not have a modality on how it would go about providing the platform for a free and fair elections. The ad-hoc staff required would be brought in days to the election and will operate like zombie, not moving unless they are told to move...and the movement, I can assure us will be for someone's benefit.
In the midst of players with optical illusions at the World Cup, amidst referees who obviously have been paid to ruin the game for fans, we have seen good refereeing, we have seen a Ronaldo break the all time goals scoring record, like the PDP not good for the finals. We will definitely see a World Champion, that when critically observed deserved to win. Will INEC win, can it win...indeed it can because I know for a fact that we have an electoral body that has men of character despite all the other pawns.
Is it possible that we will have an INEC, Independent as a referee, have no trace of optical Illusion in order to foster public confidence and participation in the democratic process, The World Cup has seen referees that have brought disrepute to the game through their conduct of matches and their actions have smacked of nothing less that an optical Illusion...If INEC is to be trusted, they should be made to know that the 2007 elections will be a test case to see if we can as a nation promote integrity, involvement, and effectiveness in the democratic process. Can the commission copy successful examples from elsewhere not the noise of e-voting and all the Es.
The hallmark of a successful match, elections without optical Illusion is one that has the right balance amongst integrity, involvement and effectiveness, I sadly beg to say that the INEC as presently constituted cannot guarantee effectiveness, the present involvement is one that cannot bring about a vibrant and healthy democracy and install good governance. A good referee takes pride in his independence...players do not molest him, cannot intimidate him, he has control of the office of head of the match, that umpire is passionate about the quality of his work...for INEC as of today, the elections are weeks from now, preparation is next to a man going to Iceland taking hot tea to acclimatize.
Our referee for the 2007 elections have neglected some of the basics of its office...Has INEC, can INEC, publish significant donations to parties, nay PDP and the opposition parties, how has INEC regulated party spending on election campaigns since 1999 till date. The just reviewed electoral law is a contradiction. In our history, our electoral bodies have never thought of reviewing electoral boundaries, rather than advice government on changes, government instructs then on what it wants as results.
The Independent National Electoral Commission can be trusted, it can deliver, it can be the custodian of the ballot box of hope, if it was open and honest, was willing to be allowed to function as supposed, if they would be given a chance to 'run' things in a system that values equality and diversity, listen and work with others to give Nigerians the desired change by being open and honest about their actions and deeds.
Like in the World Cup a lot of players and coaches came with their antics...so also a lot of political parties are planning on how to beat the referee with their tactics, by hook or crook that is the game, survival of the best rigger, winner takes all, those that like Chelsea can buy the toughest thugs and gangsters are seriously strategizing on the battle ahead. In the light of this, is INEC in association with the other officials such as the security operatives ready to tackle with a no nonsense attitude the menace of political violence, ballot stuffing and all kinds of malpractice no matter the player involved. Only Almighty Allah can help us keep watch over those entrusted with providing us with the platform for a progressive tomorrow in this nation of ours. In times like these we need His help |