Pyrrhic
from Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, who defeated Roman armies at Asculum, 280 B.C.E., but at such cost to his own troops that he was unable to follow up and attack Rome itself, and is said to have remarked, "one more such victory and we are lost."
Forget all the legal technicalities or 'jagba jantis' as my peeps will say, spewed by the Presidential tribunal judges to justify their decision, we all know no 'real' elections took place last year. I suppose the dilemma facing the judges is the implication of annulling 'elections that never happened'.
Anyone who loves Naija will shudder at the thought of INEC (currently headed by a delusional Maurice Iwu) organising another major election. One doubts if they could successfully organise an 'owambe' party.
T.I.N (This is Naija)Considering the number of election results cancelled, you would think Maurice Iwu and other top officials of INEC would have done us all a favour and resigned, but ahem.. this is naija now, where the concept of responsibility is as alien as regular power supply from PHCN.
So I'm not surprised that INEC, according to news reports, is now "basking in the euphoria of Tuesday's dismissal of the two major petitions against the last April presidential elections".
According to INEC's chief spokesman, Mr. Phillip Umeadi
"INEC has consistently held that the outcome of the 2007 presidential election reflected the intent of Nigerian voters. The firm and consistent assertion by the commission on the outcome of the election derived from an advantaged insight as well as an impartial and unsentimental analysis of the election,"
{snip}
"By the ruling of the Court of Appeal in the Presidential Election Petitions, more so the unanimous verdict of the eminent judges, INEC has been vindicated in the outcome of the 2007 presidential election."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200802280006.html
Excuse me while I go outside and throw up (I'm bullshit intolerant)
but i digress
I found it extremely difficult to support the tribunal's verdict because of its implications, in order to keep the peace, we've all acquiesced to an illegal act, the same thing will probably happen in 2011 and beyond.
There's a funny igbo proverb i heard recently which translates as; "since the hunters have learnt to shoot without missing, the birds have learnt to fly without perching."
We were lucky this time because the main combatants are from the same part of the country. The next time this sort of thing happens, the aggrieved party may choose to by pass the courts and settle the matter Kenya style.
Meanwhile
Some have suggested that this victory will be the much needed tonic Yardy needs to become 'Super' Yardy as opposed to 'Alhaji Go Slow', 'Yawn'Adua', Learner Driver, Yar 'Asleep etc
Somehow i doubt it...
Labels: Kenya, Nigerian Elections, politics, Yar'Adua
Yardy "wins"
A Nigerian tribunal has dismissed both opposition petitions asking that President Umaru Yar'Adua's election last year be annulled.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7263534.stm
No suprises there, the result was as expected.
I guess it's the lesser of two evils, annulling the presidential election will have taken us into uncharted territory, and we all know "uncharted territory" in Africa is an extremely dangerous place.
And another one down, Another one bites the dust
David Mark, President of the senate, and Abia state governor, Theodore Orji have had their elections annulled by the election tribunals.
Unless the appeal court reverses the verdicts it's 'Asta la vista' to the £6 million man (Mark) and Orji, the Lord of the rings oops sorry shrine.
And in the Bizarre world of African politics:
Odinga In Nigeria, Meets Obasanjo (for what????)
Kenyan opposition leader, Raila Odinga arrived in Nigeria yesterday (friday) on a mission to find a lasting solution to the lingering political crisis in his country.
Odinga who arrived at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at about 10.55am in a chartered Cessna jet, rode in a convoy to Ota, Ogun State to see former President Olusegun Obasanjo, whom he described as a personal friend.
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/
Whats that popular saying? show me your friend....
Labels: Nigerian Elections, politics, Yar'Adua
We all get it from time to time, fellow bloggers will know what i'm talking about, the dreaded 'blogger's block'. I have had it for the past few weeks. There's just been so much happening offline, meaning i'm spending less time online.
Reversal of a reversal
I wanted to blog about the 'reversal' of the Nitel sale but then i reversed my decision to blog about it when the whole thing was reversed again.
Is anyone sensing a pattern to the way this government works - go slow, reverse, forward then reverse again. It's official, Yardy IS a learner driver.
Still
Not much has been happening in Naija lately, as in stuff that gets my blood boiling or the positive stuff that gets you thinking about the future, a future where our kids grow up in the land of their ancestors as opposed to the land of their oppressors.
But i digress
Next tuesday Yardy will find out if he will remain in Aso rock. Now, unless you're Buhari or his other deluded partner - Atiku, Its clearly a no-brainer, Yardy (or Yawn'Adua as i like to call him) will still be in Aso rock next week.
Mr "Due process" has been learning a few tricks from his master, Obj (Anyone remember that nice move from Obj, when he suddenly declared a public holiday to delay the Supreme Court ruling on whether Atiku could take part the elections).
Yardy's move has been far more subtle.
Anyway, far from me to cast aspersions on the "integrity" of our President, but i did find it strange that the Chairman of the Presidential Elections Tribunals, Justice James Ogebe was nominated as a Supreme Court judge a few days ago.
Really makes you wonder if the rumours of bribery attempts are true.
100 Worst Nigerians
There is a thread running on NVS where contributors are asked to nominate the worst Nigerians, so far it seems Obj, Abacha and IBB are running neck in neck for the top spot.
May the worst man win.
Just in,
Man found guilty of model's death
A man has been found guilty of murdering teenage model Sally Anne Bowman outside her home. The 18-year-old's body was found next to a skip in Croydon, south London, in September 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7254628.stm
There are times i wish the UK government will bring back the death penalty, this case has gripped the local press (and recently the National press) in my neck of the woods.
It seems the jury did not buy his defence of not knowing his victim was dead until after he stopped having sex with her corpse.
Labels: Nigerian Elections, politics, Yar'Adua
Clearly a 'breeze' of change is blowing across naija, I don't want to get too carried away that's why i did not call it a "wind of change", but anyway sha breeze dey blow small small and so far the main casualties are Etteh (madam speaker finally threw in the towel when the pressure became unbearable - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7069654.stm) and her deputy, the governor of Rivers state - Celestine Omehia, Yardy's In law and Kebbi state governor - Usman Dakingari, Kogi state governor - Ibrahim Idris and Anambra state governor - Andy Uba (who was governor for only two weeks. ouch).so who's next? i bet the following are having sleepless nights:The six million £££pound man - David MarkAdedibu's protege and governor of Oyo state - Alao AkalaThe governor of Edo state - Oserheimen OsunborAnd the governors of Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Enugu, Imo and Abia states. (see Anxiety grips governors)who knows this 'breeze' might even turn into a category 5 hurricane and sweep Yardy himself...Labels: Nigerian Elections, political scandal, politics
Human Rights Watch has released an extensive report on the political situation in Nigeria,
called Criminal Politics: Violence, “Godfathers” and Corruption in Nigeria
click here for the Pdf version
Highlights from the report:
in Yardy's state (and this was while he was still governor)
Direct State Sponsorship of Thugs in Katsina:
In at least one Nigerian state, Katsina, the state government paid money directly to
gangs of youth who were accused of carrying out widespread political violence in
return for those payments.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua served as Governor of Katsina State for eight years until being elected president in April 2007. According to former state government officials, civil society activists and PDP Youth members, his administration used state government money to maintain several thousand “PDP Youth” on a regular monthly stipend of N5000 ($38).
One former state government official told Human Rights Watch that this PDP youth organization was essentially a perversion of an initiative to empower unemployed youth in the state:
"Before 2003 the idea was brought at a Government House meeting to establish
television viewing centers in all of the wards. Some of us vehemently opposed this
on the basis that this was not an acceptable legacy to bequeath on the youth. [We]
suggested computer training centers. The idea was accepted but [later] this thing
suddenly became, “Let’s give them a N5000 allowance.” [These youth] have since
become a reservoir of thugs."
-----------------------------------
Akala suggests new career for Adedibu
The following is an excerpt from an interview with Christopher Alao Akala at his
campaign office in Ibadan two months prior to his election as Governor of Oyo State.
Human Rights Watch asked Alao-Akala to explain his relationship with Chief Adedibu
as well as Adedibu’s role in the politics of Oyo State:
"For God’s sake, this man is an old man, you cannot reform him, you can only manage him. This man has been in politics since politics began in Nigeria. Can you just wish him away like that? If you go to his house you will see pictures of all the past leaders he has worked with…
Chief Adedibu has sponsored everybody—everybody who is who and who in Oyo state politics has passed through that place.
This man belongs to an old school of thought. If, for example, he asked me, Mr. Governor, I want you to kill this one tomorrow I would say, “Yes, sir.” Then I would go back the following day and say, “Why do you want us to kill that man?”
Then I will provide another solution— we will not kill him, let us bring him to order. If he asked me for N100, I will say, “Yes, sir.” But then the next day, I will say, “Baba, I am sorry, I
don’t have the N100, here is N20 for you to manage.”
That is only an example.
I will recommend Baba [Adedibu] as a lecturer at the University [of
Ibadan] to teach, to lecture students about practical politics."
----------------------------
The Uba-Ngige's "Agreement"
The following are excerpts from a Human Rights Watch interview with Anambra State
political “godfather” Chris Uba at his Enugu residence in February 2007:
"I have been in politics from 1999 and even before, but 2003 is the time I produced a Governor for the State. Since that 2003 I have been handling the party—the PDP—and we have been doing well and we did not have any problem in the party.
When he [Ngige] became Governor he started playing funny. That is where we disagree, we signed before he became governor. We said that I am going to produce [appoint] six to seven Commissioners. He is going to produce [some] because he is governor already. I am going to produce more; he is going to produce lesser…
I spent a lot of money to put him there but I never asked him for my money back. Ngige was trying to be smart, trying to run the government on his own.…
The problem is Ngige being a politician who did not invest one naira, not even one kobo, wanted to run away with everything and not even share one appointment.
That is why he heaped this blackmail upon me…I cannot tell him to give me N3 billion because I know that he does not have it! The allocation to Anambra in one month is not up to N3 billion!
I am supposed to bring the Commissioner for Finance, this man who funded the campaign is supposed to be Commissioner of Works, I said, look, you signed it, and not under duress.
The problem is the immunity the governors are having, everything they are having, you spend your money to bring them into power and they say “Go to hell.”
It should be just like, you invest in a bank and then you have power to make some decisions because of your controlling shares. But he blackmails you and pays the press to go say all sorts of bad things about you and put it in the internet."
In the annex of the report is a copy of the "agreement" between Chris Uba (Godfather) and the former governor of Anambra state, Chris Ngige.
Labels: Human Rights Watch, Nigerian Elections, Recommended reading
A friend wanted to know about naija's democracy, so i've decided to do a dummies style tongue-in-cheek explanation of democracy naija style.
According to the 1999 constitution (which is sometimes used as a "guide" and is probably used as a door stopper in the presidential villa) Nigeria is a "democracy" and operates a presidential system of government where there's a true separation of powers (i.e Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary)
The Executive
Since the constitution is just a guide, the president doesn't bother reading it and regards himself as the all knowing leader. In naija's DemoCrazy, the president is next to 'God' and the exercise of his power is seen as "God's will".
Anyone challenging his authority is regarded as an enemy of the state.
The Legislature
This arm of government spends most of its time sharing out 'Ghana must go bags' (i.e large bags of money) which is sent by the executive to ensure the legislature rubber stamps all laws. It also ensures the legislature doesn't get any funny ideas (like debating and enacting laws or starting impeachment proceedings)
The Judiciary
This arm of government is always ignored as it tends to take the 1999 constitution seriously.
The Opposition
in politics the opposition is usually an organised political group that serves to offer opposing views to the government. In the naija context, they are regarded as 'enemies of the state' made up of 'disgruntled elements', 'frustrated' politicians, unpaid contractors, ex government officials and anybody who has a bad word to say about the president.
Elections
Naijas don't elect their politicians directly. Instead, the ruling party 'selects' them.
Voter turnout tends to be low but the ruling party always manages to win by a landslide with a result that reflects 100% voter turnout.
for constitutional terms click here
-------------------------
Breaking the law
Not only are naija politicians bad losers they are also bad winners.
Check out the whole charade going on in Lagos state, three weeks to the end of his term Tinubu has decided to get rid of his deputy - Femi Pedro (who has now resigned, according to news reports, his resignation letter was thrown on the ground outside the governor's office when government officials refused to accept the letter)
and what exactly was Pedro's crime?
He broke an unwritten law of Naija's DemoCrazy, a deputy shall not covet his oga's position.
Labels: Nigerian Elections
Sharm el sheikh means bay of the sheikhI'm back from Sharm, had a nice time even though i had to attend a conference as well lol.
The Egyptians are a very nice and friendly people (especially the ones trying to flog some dodgy statute of Ramses with a big 'instrument')
Unfortunately i didn't have enough time to visit the pyramids and the Sphinx, as they are hundreds of miles away from Sharm el sheikh (that’s for another trip)
One thing i was slightly surprised about and i don't know if this is just in sharm, was the subservient attitude of the locals to European tourists. I was quite disappointed, come on, you guys were building pyramids, temples and monuments before the rest of the world even had a clue about anything.
Another slightly annoying thing is the lack of respect by European tourists for local customs. Egypt is a Muslim country and it clearly states in most travel brochures/guides that women should wear appropriate clothing. So imagine my surprise when i saw a woman walking around topless at Nabq bay (I admit it was a great sight LOL) but seriously, i thought it was extremely disrespectful and it really makes me wonder what price Egypt is paying for tourism.
Another interesting thing i also discovered was that there are hardly any Egyptian women in sharm and all the people who work in the tourist industry are men, who travel from other parts of Egypt to live in Sharm during the tourist season.-------------------------------------A Post sElection Analysis 1I suppose if the elections had gone well, many of us in blogosphere will have spent this week looking at the new set of political office holders and what to expect from them when they assume power next month..So assuming nothing major happens before may 29 ; ) I'll be looking at some of the characters the 2007 "elections" has thrown up, starting with my favourite state (at least thats what it used to be before Tinubu became governor) - Lagos StateThe "new governor" is Babatunde Raji Fashola. Anyone expecting anything radical from him for Lagos has probably not seen his website, http://www.tundefashola2007.com/clicking on the link to find out 'His vision for Lagos state' all you get is 'This page will soon be updated please check back' . You get the same thing when you click on 'Accomplishments' (none of the pages has been updated since the site launched last year)Well i guess that sums it up really, it just goes to show you how unimportant 'vision' and 'accomplishments' are in the Nigerian political scene, all you really need is a political godfather (which explains why the site is full of pictures of Fashola with Tinubu) What to expect:He is Tinubu's boy so i expect it's going to be 'business as usual' What NOT to expect:Any meaningful program like the utilisation of Lagos's waterways for mass transportation or a probe of Lagos state's finances since 1999 -------------------------Victims of our own CircumstancesCould Nigeria go Orange?http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6587161.stmThere's an interesting point in the above article from Richard Dowden (executive director of the Royal African Society) as to why Nigerians should not expect much assistance from the international community.
[snip]Mr Dowden also doubts there will be any sanctions, simply because it is difficult to hurt Nigeria. "It is not Malawi," he says.
"You can't take their aid away because there isn't any. It's such a huge, powerful country that there is very little leverage that either the Commonwealth or Britain could deploy against Nigeria, and Nigeria is too powerful for other Africans to criticise.
"Nor do I think the Americans will make too much fuss about this because of the oil and Nigeria's strategic significance."[snip]
Labels: Nigerian Elections, sharm
In light of last weekend’s embarrassing fiasco, sorry "elections", I've resigned myself to the fact that Obj has intentionally sabotaged the fourth republic and it looks like we're heading for another 'june 12' like scenario.
It was not surprising that the organisation of last week's presidential elections was equally as bad as the previous elections on April 14 despite Obj and INEC's pathetic excuses and promises. Infact it was a classic case of 'rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic', things were further compounded by the late arrival of the ballot papers from South Africa (the whole fiasco has to be the most humiliating thing that has ever happened to our country and in any decent society heads should roll starting with Obj's)
But enough of the grammar and the adjectives, We know our history very well, when politicians turn elections into a 'rofo-rofo' (i.e dirty) fight then its time to call in the naija politician's kryptonite - the Nigerian army to sort out the mess they've created.Don’t get me wrong, i'm not calling for a coup in the traditional sense where some idiot takes over power and then promises to handover in "a few years time", but a simple army takeover of government to conduct an election (a sort of interim military government). The army steps in for an extremely short period (not more than 6 months) organises new elections, handsover to the winner and returns to the barracks.
The army seems to be the only organisation in Nigeria that is able to organise 'credible' elections. They did it in 1979, 1993 (although annulled by IBB, its still considered the most credible election held in the country) and in 1999. Compare these elections with the elections of 1965, 1983, 2003 and 2007.And now to the Bangladeshi optionBangladesh: No going back The army exiles the country's leading politicians
I've used Bangladesh as an example here because of what the army has done to the country's leading politicians. It has asked them to go into exile so the political environment is free of any sort of influence from the old brigade.
It's an option that definitely makes sense in Nigeria, we've been ruled by the same set of people in different guises since 1960.
Imagine what will happen to the political environment in Nigeria if all our leading politicians are stripped of their assets and kicked out of the country.
They've fucked up Nigeria for so long, won't it be great if Nigeria told them to fuck off somewhere else too..----------------------------------And The Man Spoke..
Soyinka urges new Nigeria polls
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6600945.stm
Couldn't disagree with Wole Soyinka when he said "I wish he [Mr Yar'Adua] would carry his decency even further by publicly renouncing this poisoned chalice to say: 'I'm not a receiver of stolen goods',"
if ijebuman was Yar'adua i'll be watching my back or in his case his dialysis machine.
And if the calls for the elections to be cancelled is not bad enoughits been almost a week since Yar'adua was declared winner and the response from the international community has not exactly been warm.
South Africa is the only country i'm aware of (at the moment) that has congratulated Yar'adua. No surprise there, it's definitely in SA's interest to continue to deal with a Nigeria that never rises to its full potential, or where else will they get such lucrative last minute contracts like last week's ballot paper print job..Labels: Nigerian Elections
Letter From The President: 419 elections
By: J. A. Fukuor/Daily Dispatch, (2007-04-27)
http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=123107
Countrymen and women, loyalists and opponents,
I suppose you have all been following with keen interest the recent happenings in Naija. If you haven't, you should. Naija is our "big brother", it is Africa's most populous country, we get a lot of oil from them and, of course, they've promised to give us some electricity. We've recently seen a lot of Naija-owned businesses opening in Sikaman - providing employment for many.
Historically, we've been friends with Naija and as I heard someone say recently, 'when Naija sneezes, Sikaman catches a cold.' So we all need to follow what's happening there with keen interest, give praise where it is due, speak out against any injustice and do all we can to help them get through these trying times they seem to have brought upon themselves.
I have kept my ears and eyes wide open, following every bit of the unfolding drama in Africa's most populous country and in doing so, I have been bombarded with a flurry of emotions ranging from anger, amusement and shame to disappointment and regret.
I am angry because I believe both the legislative and presidential elections were rigged and everything was done to make sure that Olu's government continued to stay in power - from the ludicrous decision by the Electoral Commission to overstep its bounds and ban one of the candidates from contesting to the ill-conceived plan to print the ballot papers in South Africa and have them delivered less than 24 hours before the day of the presidential polls.
I am ashamed at the sheer scale of disorganisation which characterised the whole process. It appears very little thinking and planning (if there was any) went into the exercise. Instead of concentrating on the logistics of organising an election, the Electoral Commission decided to do the ruling party's dirty job by banning one of the presidential candidates from contesting. The ensuing legal battle, I believe, made them forget that there were more serious and challenging issues to deal with.
Fortunately, the Supreme Court did not kowtow to the government and ruled that the EC had no power to ban any candidate. This ruling was issued just a few days to d-day and under normal circumstances, one would have thought that the elections would have been postponed because for a country of 60 million voters, it is virtually impossible to reprint new ballots with re-instated candidate's name. But the EC claimed that they had a ˜Plan B". That plan meant that the new ballots would be printed in far away South Africa. And I am quite angry with this decision as well. In the spirit of sub-regional co-operation, I think our brothers and sisters in Naija could have printed their ballots here in Sikaman; we would have delivered the ballots much earlier than the South Africans did. As things turned out, the ballot papers were delivered less than 24 hours before the polls and if you consider that the EC had no contingency plans (say aircraft and helicopters) for distributing the papers within such a short space of time, you would very easily laugh at their folly and ask yourself: 'what do they have in their skulls: brains or grains?.'
The massive organisation failures meant that for so many polling stations, the ballot papers were delivered several hours after the time the polls were supposed to have ended. In other areas, voting materials were in very short supply. I have never seen such disorganisation in my life and that's why I am disappointed. I am disappointed that Africa's most populous country and one of its richest (in fact, Naija is considered a continental super power) was not able to organise a smooth election devoid of logistical hiccups.
Most annoyingly, amidst the chaos of disorganisation and the unanimous verdict of several election observer missions (including that of the African Union) that the polls were a charade, the chairman of the Naija EC was urging his compatriots to 'be proud.' Proud of what? That they succeeded in showing the rest of the world how to organise ˜shambolic" elections?
The more I thought about it, the more I realised that the organisational failures were all part of a grand plan to rig the election in favour of Olu's party. But why rig an election in such a blatant fashion, with all the major international news networks watching? Couldn't they have done it in a more intelligent fashion? I believe there are more subtle ways of rigging elections not that I am an expert, but I have seen it before.
In 1992 and 1996, Jerry Boom and his people used cunning and various other machinations to win the elections, forcing us to write the ˜Stolen Verdict". Remember? Olu and his cohorts should have consulted with Jerry's people and I believe they would have saved us all the embarrassment of being associated with them. I am now even reconsidering the folly that made us name a street in Accra after Olu.
I thought he was a sensible, forward-looking African president who would graciously step aside when his term ran out. But, alas, I was wrong. He doesn't want to go. He wants to rule by proxy and so he has gone to every length to make sure that his anointed one succeeds him. I am very appalled, to say the least, about his conduct. Apart from making his friends (like my excellent self) look stupid and power-drunk 'show me your friend and I'd show you your character' he's made Jerry Boom look like a hero. I mean, if upon all his excesses, Jerry Boom left power graciously without blatantly trying to subvert the will of the people, why would someone like Olu 'who claims to be a champion of the African renaissance ' go to such foolish and undemocratic lengths to perpetuate his rule, albeit through a chosen successor?
Olu might be thinking that he has won. Maybe he has. But his country (and the rest of Africa) has lost. The rest of the world know that we in Sikaman have organised better elections (not the best, just better than Naija's). But from now on, they are only going to associate our continent with late arrival of voting materials, polling stations remaining opened 18 hours after they were supposed to have closed and thugs snatching ballot boxes and running away with them.
What became of Olu's dream of an African renaissance? I want to say that if he really holds the interest of our continent and its people at heart, he should do as many have suggested: order a re-run of the polls. And instead of pulling every string to make his man win, he should just let the people decide. If what I know about him is anything to go by, I think Olu will not listen to anyone and he'll just allow things to be as they are. He won't order a re-run because I believe he's already started preparing his hand-over notes. And that concerns me. As I write this letter, the opposition parties are calling for daily street protests to compel the government to overturn the results of the ˜shambolic" polls. In a country like Naija, daily street protests could spell disaster. Many would die, several would be maimed, thousands would be displaced and lives would be destroyed.
Things are not looking good, and I'd urge you all to spare a moment of prayer for Naija. Let's pray that things do not get out of hand and that Olu's successor (even if he came in through a rigged election) will be accepted by all and he'd be a father to all the citizens of Naija. Most importantly, I hope that Olu's successor will be a friend of Sikaman and he'd give us oil and electricity.
Excellently yours,
J. A. Fukuor
(fukuor@gmail.com)Labels: Nigerian Elections, Obasanjo
I've always found it difficult to take the situation in Nigeria too seriously, certain things happen and you think it definitely has to be a joke, like yesterday's news story about the late arrival of the ballot papers from South Africa (that’s on my upcoming list of reasons why Naija is now the laughing stock of Africa), which Iwu accidentally revealed while responding to reports of soldiers intercepting a trailer full of ballot boxes stuffed with thumb-printed ballot papers. But i digress; i had a bit of a chuckle at this morning's report of an attempted attack on INEC's Hq in Abuja An overnight attack on election HQ in Abuja failed when a petrol tanker laden with detonators failed to explode.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6578499.stmhttp://africa.reuters.com/nigeriaelection/top/news/usnL2116214.htmlhere's a top ten list of the reasons why it failed to explode;
1. The tanker was filled with water instead of petrol (as there was fuel scarcity)
2. The tanker was actually empty as someone had stolen the petrol and sold it on the black market.
3. The detonators were fake.
4. Someone got 'settled' and sabotaged the plan.
5. Its "Gods" will...
6. Someone had a vision, then fasted and prayed to prevent it from happening
7. The detonators were not set up properly but they decided "make we manage am like that"
8. The tanker was full of adulterated petrol as real petrol is too expensive
9. Actually it wasn't an attack, the tanker's brake failed and the driver lost control..
10. This is Naija nothing works-----------------------------
Ben TV now broadcasting onlineI'm not exactly a big fan of BEN TV but kudos to them for making their broadcasts available online (including election coverage from NTA)http://www.bentelevision.com/2007/home/homepage.phpYou can now enjoy Bisi Olatilo's vomit inducing show and more online ; - )
Labels: Nigerian Elections
It's bigger than any Nollywood blockbuster, it has Action, Violence, Intrigue, Drama, Magic and Betrayal. Its tomorrow's exciting episode of Nigeria PDP decides
Will the election be 'free and fair', what does that mean? (I know no book o)
Will there be widespread rigging, yes ke
Will Iwu talk trash and describe it as the best elections ever, definitely
Will the hoodlums, hired thugs and area boys 'keep it real', fo' shizzle
Will there be a lot of violence, gba o
Will it be another 'election landslide' for PDP, of course
Will the opposition try to outrig the ruling party in their strongholds, you bet
Will the ballot papers arrive in time (from South Africa) for the elections ?, if its "God's will"
Will observers describe the elections as 'flawed', no doubt
Will the international community do anything about it, forget dat one
Will Nigerians do anything about it, who wan die?
This won't be showing at your nearest multiplex, it'll be happening in real life...
----------------
saving face
a week they say is a long time in politics, it seems Obj has already begun to implement the face saving measures i hinted about early this week (see previous post)
Nigeria's president has admitted there were flaws in last week's state polls and urged election officials to prevent rigging in the presidential vote.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6574869.stm
After presiding over one of the worst elections in the history of Nigeria, all Obj could say was ''no election could be regarded as perfect, but said progress had been made in Nigeria since elections in 1959''
I'm assuming the progress Mr President was referring to, was election rigging 'Cause if he meant anything else then he must be using the same mind-altering substances Maurice Iwu has been on since last year.
Labels: Nigerian Elections, Obasanjo
Obj playing the African nationalist, while his own House is on fire
For someone who wanted history to remember him as the man who "saved Nigeria", i doubt he ever thought things could turn out this way. His options now are quite limited and all he can do is to try and 'save face' so he can at least retire and spend his 'loot' in peace.
Obj has always wanted to be remembered as a "national" leader, well he is now, as in almost everyone in the country now hates him. That's not an easy achievement in multi ethnic, multi religious, multi everything Nigeria. Even in his backyard - Abeokuta, praise for him is muted. Abacha, horrible as he was, still had support in his hometown...
Labels: Nigerian Elections, Obasanjo
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable...."
Nigeria PDP Decides
While NTA has called its election coverage Nigeria Decides, the reality on the ground is that the ruling party -PDP has already decided who won the "elections".
The results of the state elections has started trickling in and our worst fears have been confirmed. There has been widespread rigging on an unprecedented scale. INEC as usual was completely unprepared, which was not exactly surprising. (see top ten signs)
Maurice Iwu (INEC Chairman) was on NTA (i would have used this opportunity to say thanks to BEN TV for hooking up to the NTA network yesterday but as usual they messed up by cutting to another programme halfway through Iwu's verbal vomit) claiming INEC has "done well in this election, and nobody should take our success away from us, the process so far has been wonderful"
whatever drugs this guy is on i want some of it. LOL
If yesterday's election is an indicator of what will happen in the presidential election next week then its safe to say that any administration sworn in after Obj gets his old ass out of Aso rock will not finish its term. If there's a constant factor in Nigeria's embarrassing history, a fraudulently elected government never lasts long.
somewhere out there like a hurricane forming out in the sea, a violent revolution is brewing....
Labels: Nigerian Elections
obj countdownAnd so the elections begin, no doubt the elections will be ‘flawed’ but lets face it a ‘free and fair election’ in our part of the world would be nothing short of a miracle with our level of political development. Our politicians don’t understand the concept of ‘living to fight another day’ so when they lose they start throwing their toys out of the pram. It’s hard to be optimistic about the end result of this election. How can a corrupt system produce anything but a corrupt leader ? But we don’t really have an alternative; all we can hope for is that the election is credible enough for us to live with.
Personally I’m quite interested in the outcome of the “elections” in Lagos and Oyo states. It’ll be quite interesting to see whether the good people of Lagos will allow that idiot called Tinubu to impose his candidate on them. And in Oyo state, if the people will allow that old scarecrow Adedibu to hold them to ransom by imposing Akala as governor or if they will finally free themselves from his oppressive power.---------------------The real meaning of PDP NL has a funny thread about the various meanings of PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) Nigeria's ruling party
Here's a list of the best ones so far:
People Distributing Poverty
Poverty Distribution Party
People Destroying People
People Disappoint People
People's Destruction Party
Papa'sanjo's Deceitful Party
Pigs Demanding Power
Power Drunk politicians
Politically Desperate Parasites
Pain Distribution Party
People Depraved Party
People's Demonic Party
Politicians Deceiving PopulaceLabels: Nigerian Elections
