The commentary below is one of hundreds of contributions to "Nigeria, What Next?", allAfrica.com's debate on the best way forward for Africa's most populous nation after April '03's contested election.
This is a time of great caution for our great nation and people in Nigeria. While there are no doubts about some of the irregularities stated, are these enough to question the whole process? Posterity will not forgive us all, if we let some few selfish, disgruntled and bad losers derail this transition process.
The reports on the last elections are quite disturbing as people continue to over-emphasize only the negative aspects of it. Most disturbing is that fact that the views being expressed are simply of three groups; (i) the politicians; (ii) Nigerians living abroad, and (iii) the International Observers, without anyone seeking or presenting the views of the average Nigerians who actually made their choices through their votes.
It will be foolhardy for anybody to suggest, or expect that the elections in Nigeria at this stage of our political life can be devoid of rigging. I totally agree with an earlier writer who said "it was all a question of who had the upper hand in the perpetuation of fraud. Different parties had their different strongholds, and it would not have been possible to penetrate such strongholds to perpetrate fraud.
Interestingly not all the political parties have engaged themselves in this inglorious act, only the ANPP and APGA who are contesting the presidential elections, with the AD rubbishing the gubernatorial elections. Like everything else in Nigeria today, they would rather not contest the outcome and leave this to God. Where was God when AD governors were misappropriating funds meant for the people they were supposed to govern? Where was God when the people of the South West witnessed probably the worst level of governance since independence notably in states like Ogun, Oyo and Osun States? How can anyone who lives in these areas do otherwise than to vote out these greedy and incompetent fools?
In the same vein, how in the world can APGA or Ojukwu claim that he won the elections? Who is APGA, when was the party formed and where are their roots? We need to realize that we are not talking about a Local Government election in the Easter part of the country, where even on a good day APGA will lose. If the East does not see the light and put a stop to their political naivety, they will continue to play the errand boys in Nigerian politics.
The same is the case of the ANPP, how can ANPP win these elections in Nigeria with a combination of a Muslim fundamentalist, who at one point earlier in the history of Nigeria had helped to truncate democracy and a greedy, dishonest and failed Senate President?
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It is clear that these are just bad losers going for the spoil. In some of the disputed states even the indigenes rejoiced in the outcome of the elections.
Nigerians leaving abroad must not just sit down in their comfortable homes abroad, and believe all what they hear on CNN and BBC. By now they must have realized that these cable channels always report negative news, they never see anything good around them and most especially Africa.
While I am not in support and will never support cheats or inappropriate actions/deeds, this transition is a learning process for us as a nation, and we must take learnings from this experience/experiment. We will not get this right in one day; even America, with her several years of independence and the biggest advocate of democracy had her shares of the spoils at their last elections.
We Nigerians must realize that Nigeria is bigger than all of us, and we must do what is right for the nation. For the aggrieved ones, if they have their facts they should go through the appropriate processes to obtain re-dress. They should learn to shut their big mouths and do the right and proper things for once.
Dipo, Lagos, Nigeria
24 Apr 2003
