Elections in Nigeria!

My Gosh! I have been soooo remiss!

How did I fail to inform your good selves that Nigeria's elections (gubernatorial) took place today?! Preparing for these exams is literally driving me bonkers. Well, at least, now you know. The elections for the states' Houses of Assembly also held today.

There have been reports of violence in certain parts of the country. Port-Harcourt, River State has been most reprehensible. Police stations have been burnt and voter's cards have been stolen prior to the elections. I guess the thieving candidate's rationale is that, if he'll get very few votes, the least he can do is ensure his adversaries get none at all!

Ingenious thinking - when you consider it dispassionately.

In Delta State, they went one better by burning down the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC]. I wonder how that brings the voting closer to the perpetrators. As Nigerians, we are disenchanted by the government. So, government property is government's property - not public property. If we burn the INEC office, the government loses! It's Nigerian logic and it assuages an otherwise helpless mind.

I saw this picture-slide on the Financial Times. It shows a town called Aba, in the Eastern part of Nigeria. I am always torn on whether to praise or criticize the one-sidedness of the perspective international media give Nigeria. One would think Aba was a slum from those pictures. In fact, Aba has a concentration of some of the richest Nigerians! On the other hand, I imagine that showing Nigeria as a rich nation undermines concerns about the glowing disparities in human capital and wealth distribution in Nigeria. Anyways, international coverage of Nigeria is a matter for another day.

I am confident of the positives in these elections. The ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will find itself undermined by its inability to lift its candidates to victory. Many states will be close calls - which will naturally lead to more activity in the courts. However, one thing is certain - power will change hands. I hope this means that we will inch closer to the rule of law.

*John Donne's poem in a later post.

*Pictures Courtesy of Yahoo! Photos.