By Nduka Otiono
The generally peaceful conduct of the March 28, 2015 Nigerian
presidential election and the gracious acceptance of defeat by the incumbent
President Goodluck Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) strongly
signaled that Nigeria
Other indicators of a new turn for
Africa’s largest democratic country and economy are the following firsts in the
country’s annals: the widespread innovative use of technology for the
process—the use of card readers; the overthrow of the ruling PDP by the General
Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) through the ballot box
after 16 years of dominance; the election of four none indigenes of a state
(Lagos State) as members of the Federal House of Representatives; and the
above-average performance of the National Electoral Commission in ways that
suggest considerable independence of the electoral umpire.
Although news reports suggested a poor turnout
for the second-tier of the 2015 elections into governorship and state
parliamentary positions, the relative voter apathy did not becloud the overall
plaudits that the current political process has earned locally and
internationally. So, too, did the reports of violence leading to death in
sections of the country and the localized electoral malpractices not detract
from the respectable scorecard of the electoral commission.
*Buhari
Sadly, the euphoria of the victory may have started vanishing sooner
than one had expected, with some critics declaring to the new president that
the honeymoon is over! The anti-corruption ship of President Muhammadu Buhari,
whose mandate is coupled to a campaign promise to eradicate corruption, appears
to be tottering even before it set sail. For as unfolding developments
indicate, the same familiar politicians who had faced various corruption
charges in Nigeria
A high point of the emerging pessimism was the poor public reception
of General Buhari’s ministerial list and the shoddy melodrama that defined
their screening at the country’s Senate presided over by Bukola Saraki, who is
on trial for a 13-count charge on alleged corruption and false declaration of
assets. In a country where everyday people have developed an uncanny ability to
crack jokes out of grievous disasters, the ministerial screening has been
publicly derided by some as a “dramatic show” with “star attractions.”
Others saw it in the light of a Biblical allusion to the sinner in the
Bible whom Jesus Christ simply told to go and sin no more, to the astonishment
of his traducers. And so while Nigerians, many of them young people who showed
unusual active interest in the last election, were hoping for a reflection of
youth in the cabinet, and that the nominees would face tough questions during
the screening exercise, familiar faces in the political landscape were simply
asked to “take a bow and go.”
Furthermore, the embarrassing state of the country’s political
process is amplified by comparing it to the events that unfolded last week in Canada Nigeria 's
case, it took four months for the President to come up with a ministerial list,
and while they were being assigned portfolios, a different set of old
“suspects” were being named as Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen of key Committees
at Nigeria
*Jonathan
A cursory review of the resumes of these fellows reveals that most
of them are suspected architects of Nigeria
Taken together, the ministerial list and the list of chairpersons
and deputy chairpersons of the various Senate committees underscore the growing
pessimism in the political process in the land and on social media. The two
lists highlight the depth of Nigeria 's
political challenges and the need for Nigeria Canada
have the potential of becoming a comparative foil for Nigeria
A friend had swiftly taken to social media to recommend to his
fellow Nigerians, a quick excursion into the real change that just took place
in Canada
Problematic as comparing Nigeria
to Canada may be, given the
stark differences in the histories of the two countries and their uneven levels
of development, the new turn that Canada
*Justin Trudeau
Fortunately, technology continues to offer hope for the possibility of the “Cheetah generation” overcoming the “Hippo generation,” to borrow the felicitous expression of the Ghanaian economist George Ayittey. With the growing application of biometrics and e-governance, the twin monsters of corruption and poor leadership that are choking
But whether the current leadership of General Buhari would
unequivocally demonstrate the will to widely deploy new technologies of change
and appoint refreshing officials to pursue the real change agenda, appears to
be an unsettled question. Perhaps the announcement on Wednesday, November 11 of
the portfolios assigned to the new Ministers may significantly rekindle hope in
the possibilities of some action in leadership at least at the executive level.
President Buhari, almost half way into his first year in office, must go beyond
his anti-corruption rhetoric to the much-needed urgent action. The example of
Justin Trudeau and the Liberal party in Canada
Nduka Otiono is a writer and Professor at the Institute
of African Studies, Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada
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