Lagos — In the past few weeks, the nation has been inundated with reports of violent political clashes as rival political gladiators engage one another in supremacy contest. The political prize is the tickets to stand for elections on the party platforms. The desire to secure party nominations at all costs has led to a situation where political aspirants are ready to deploy violence at the least opportunity.

This negative social conduct borders on high level political intolerance and desperation. If the reports of the violent clashes within and among parties involving rival political contestants are anything to go by, then there are definitely genuine fears for the 2011 General Elections. What evolving scenarios signpost is that grave danger lies ahead in the coming months.

In Zamfara State for instance, eight political operatives were reportedly killed last week in an inter-party clash involving the supporters of former Governor Sani Yarima of All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and the incumbent Governor, Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, previously of the ANPP but now a stalwart of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the center.

Similarly, in Edo State, an aspirant to the House of Representatives on the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Oghogho Ayo Omoregbe was assassinated after conducting a rally in Benin City where he declared his intention to seek the ticket of his party for the position. The aspirant was trailed home by gun men who defied all pleas by the wife and members of the aspirant's family and killed him in what was clearly seen as a politically instigated assassination.

Also in Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State recently, a political aspirant and some unfortunate indigenes of the area were brutally killed in what the community called "externally instigated violence".

It is in deed frightening to note that this wave of violence is being unleashed on the polity even when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was yet to release the time table for the commencement of the processes leading to the 2011General Elections. What the present turn of events suggests is that we have learnt nothing and we have forgotten nothing from the previous sham elections.

Up till this moment many aggrieved Nigerians are still lamenting the 2007 elections conducted by the former Chairman of INEC, Professor Maurice Iwu as the worst in Nigeria's political history. The outcome of the elections was condemned locally and internationally as lacking in credibility and transparency on account of State-sponsored riggings and massive violence that characterized the conduct of the polls nationwide.

The current militarization of the polity in which armed militants, kidnappers and various hoodlums have taken the nation hostage is widely seen as fallout of the electoral heist of 2007. The desperate and unscrupulous politicians who armed these bad boys to rig the elections could not retrieve the guns and ammunitions from them after failing to settle them for the assignments they executed. The illegal weapons in the hands of these hoodlums, today, constitute a direct threat to national security and well being of the society.

Some urgent and concerted actions need to be taken now to nip in the bud the incipient culture of violence and hooliganism which is fast becoming the electoral norm in our land. It is not enough to reconstitute INEC with men of impeccable integrity and unimpeachable character like Professor Jega and co. What is needed is complete sanitization of the political process to rid it of all the bad elements in low and high places that make election conduct in Nigeria a lamentable experience.

In this regard, the security agents, civil society and in deed all Nigerians have a role to play in breathing a fresh air of hope into the system. The assignment cannot be left to INEC alone. To start with, the security agencies in Nigeria at all levels should be empowered by Government to launch a nationwide operation to retrieve illegal armaments circulating in the country.

It is widely believed from intelligence sources that a lot of light arms which many politicians brought into the country for the prosecution of the 2007 elections are still very much in circulation. The truth of the matter is that until the circulation is drastically curtailed, a free, fair and credible election may be impossible in 2011.

If the security agents are encouraged to the work, they can break some new grounds. They have successfully done that before. And I don't see any reason why they cannot do it again. I am aware that in the aftermath of the Nigeria-Biafra war, a nationwide operation was launched by the military authorities to retrieve all the illegal arms that were in circulation then.

A similar operation was launched in Kano during the Gen. Sani Abacha regime following a bloody clash between some religious fanatics and non-indigenes in the State. Undertaking such a move will be the first step towards making the coming 2011 polls crisis-free.

This should be followed up with serious public enlightenment campaign and voter education across the country. This responsibility should not be left to INEC and other statutory agencies of government like National Orientation Agency (NOA) alone. The organized civil society and other agents of socialization in our polity must be brought in to assist in the sensitization and re-orientation of the citizenry, particularly the youths on the need to shun violence, thuggery, and other acts of impunity and embrace peace, orderliness and Godliness in their conduct.

All these efforts, however, will come to naught, if no credible voter register is provided by INEC before the 2011 elections. The old register used in the 2007 election has been discredited as it contains many fake names and names of under-aged voters which were used in the massive riggings of that election. Besides, some new voters who have attained the voting age of 18 would need to be accommodated. And also the names of voters that have died since 2007 would need to be expunged from the register. This makes a new voters' register imperative.

Against this background, therefore, it is heartwarming to note that the National Assembly has approved the request of INEC for the whooping sum of N87.7 billion to carry out fresh voter registration. The data arising from the new voter registration will form a valid basis for a reliable conduct of the 2011 General Elections. The country has a golden opportunity to get it right this time. All hands must, therefore, be on the deck to ensure that the 2011 election is free from violence and manipulations. The votes must be made to count.