Janus was the Roman mythological god that had two faces,
front and back. One looked backwards into the past, with the other gazing
forward into the future. Heaven help you if you lost your way and ran into Janus
at a crossroads. He would blight your plight. For, his mien would indicate two
directions, when all you required was one to lead you to your destination. But
alas the ancient Romans celebrated this god of guile, elevating him as inspirer
of ‘’auspicious beginnings.’’ That’s how the month of January was imposed on us
in honour of Janus.
And that is what the European Union Election Observer
Mission, EU EOM, that came for Nigeria’s 2019 poll has given the nation: a
report with two deceptive sides. The document has been hailed and contemned by
the country’s two major political parties, All Progressives Congress, APC, and
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, suggesting that there are two angles, each
suiting or damning one side or the other. You go home with what gratifies you
and drop that which offends. Yet it’s one report.
