December 12, 2008
I heard the outcome of the Supreme Court judgment on Ray Power FM News by
1.00pm, and a strange calm descended on me.
The report which did not give much detail only stated that that the Supreme
Court had dismissed the appeals of Messrs Buhari and Atiku against the election
of Mr. Yar’Adua.
On getting to the office, I went online where I found a report by the BBC
providing more information as to the basis of the Supreme Court decision.
To quote the BBC report “But the Supreme Court has upheld the findings of lower
courts that lawyers had not provided strong enough evidence to overturn the
official result”.
According to the Supreme Court, it did not matter that the conduct of the 2007
elections had been so brazen and condemned by many.
What mattered was that Messrs Buhari and Atiku had been unable to provide strong
evidence of the atrocities that had transpired at the polls in the elections of
2007.
I certain that the Supreme Court judgment will come in for some harsh criticisms
especially from some who only yesterday were hailing the judiciary.
But then when the Supreme Court declared Rotimi Amechi as the (un)elected
governor of Rivers State, many praised the judiciary as the last hope of the
people.
And in the recent affirmation of the election of Adams Oshiomole as the elected
governor of Edo State, the Court of Appeal came in for high praises.
What I am driving at is that with the judiciary, one cannot be too certain which
way the pendulum is going to swing in election petitions.
My point is that the judgment of the Supreme Court affirming the election of Mr.
Yar’Adua should prove to Nigerians that salvation will not come from the
judiciary.
At the point in which an election petition has to go to court, matters are no
longer completely in the hands of the petitioner and the electorate.
There are many other intervening factors, both inside and outside the court room
that can affect or influence the outcome of these petitions.
Elections are mainly won or lost by what is done or not done prior to the
conduct of the polls and on the day of polling itself.
What is evident is that the majority of the voting public has been absenting
themselves from voting and turning a blind eye to the electoral process.
The enthusiasm which greeted the return to civil rule in 1999 has been declining
progressively with every subsequent election conducted in Nigeria.
The waning enthusiasm has seen Nigerian participation in the electoral process
reducing drastically that one political party now talks only of capturing power.
That same political party is now found of declaring that they are going to hold
on to political power in Nigeria for the next 60 years.
Now whether that is a mere boast or is something that can be achieved, I am sure
that is something Nigerians want to be determined by their legitimate votes.
In the just concluded general elections in Ghana, voter turn out was well over
85% of registered eligible voters.
Also the election of Barack Obama as the president of the United States of
America witnessed unprecedented voters turn out driven by the important issues
at stake.
The last time we witnessed such high levels of voter enthusiasm in Nigeria was
during the June 12 1993 elections.
The outcome of that election although subsequently annulled was made possible by
the enthusiastic participation of Nigerians in the electoral process especially
on polls day.
That enthusiasm was partly fueled by rising frustration among Nigerians against
the meandering and dribbling rule of Mr. Babangida.
However, the colorful campaign of Mr. Abiola and the grass root mobilizations
that he embarked on were quite unprecedented in Nigeria.
Mr. Yar’Adua and the Peoples Democratic Party are massively supplying the
frustration element by their (mis)rule.
Baring any sudden transformation in the nature and character in the governments
across all tiers of government, frustration among Nigerians will be at boiling
point by 2011.
The only other ingredient to spark that frustration into a raging fire for
change in Nigeria at the polls come 2011 will be the enthusiasm factor amongst
Nigerians.
It will take an all hands on deck approach to build up enthusiasm amongst
Nigerians to make for a June 12 poll shaking reality to occur in 2011.
This time around, we have all partaken of the spirit of June 12 and imbibed the
mobilizing traits of Messrs Abiola and Obama.
Let charity begin at home and each person mobilize another. As Barack Obama
says, change comes from below and not the top.
He only tapped into the ground swell of discontent against George Bush and the
Republican Party and rode that wave to the White house.
This is the time for that ground swell of enthusiasm of change through the
ballot to begin to gather pace and build up. It is a task for all well meaning
Nigerians of voting age.
Man is not born to solve the problems of the universe, but to find out what he
has to do – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
http://hope2011.blogspot.com/
http://orilechronicles.blogspot.com/
http://omi-gbigbonacollective.blogspot.com/
http://anti-demolitionadvocacy.blogspot.com/
http://israelipalestanianwatch.blogspot.com/
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });