A President And The Parable Of The Goat And Yam, By Abimbola Ojenike

President Jonathan was on air again yesterday on the Presidential Media Chat, the occasional show that Nigerians have begun to enjoy only for the hilarity of the President's incoherent jabber on grave national problems to which he does not appear to have answers. Yesterday's (Wednesday) appearance was expected to be better for many reasons. Coming after a rigorous electioneering campaign which has played up the sob story of this government, many had expected more articulate, whole-hearted and politically correct responses from the President on front burner issues such as corruption and insecurity. Sadly, it was a shoddier show diminishing whatever is left of public confidence in the ability or political will of this government to deal decisively with the problems undermining the destiny of our nation.

The demeanor of the President as well as his simple-minded response to issues was as hilarious as worrying. Interesting stuff! Discourse at the level of the Presidency descended to an all-time low. If you listened to Mr. President yesterday, you now know that the President only eats chickens and does not like turkey. You should also know that your gift of turkey to Mr. President would be given out like he gave "two turkey" (sic) out to someone once upon a time. You should also know that to him, the much-awaited election to choose a leader for Nigeria is like a football tournament; and INEC like FIFA can postpone the match for whatever reasons.

On the criticism that his government is not committed to curbing corruption, the President went on a homily of the "goat and yam". Don't start wondering where Jesus Christ narrated this parable in the Bible. You will only find it in the transcript of the President's chat. It is the President's own construct to justify his belief that it is normal for people to steal and cheat unless you take away the opportunity away from them. Not being corrupt is for lack of opportunity; not a result of any enduring personal commitment to the values of basic honesty or a moral resolve to act right for social good.

According to the President, you cannot put a goat, yam and plantain together and say that the goat should not eat yam. In parallel, you cannot put the President and his cronies in power in charge of our state resources and say that they should not steal or act dishonestly. Corruption by public office holders is inevitable as you would naturally expect your goat to eat yam if kept with the yam. As such, the Jonathan administration, rather than ensuring that there is consequence for corruption, is working with "digital people" on how to use technology to prevent people from having the opportunity to be corrupt.

Prior to the media chat, the President had made a song and dance of fighting corruption with technology in his campaign. He does not believe that people can be incorruptible and believes that technology in itself is an end in curbing corruption. The critical questions are: who will manage Jonathan's anti-corruption technology? Will the technology configure itself and run without any human intervention or will it be developed and operated by the same "goats" that should not be left with the yam?

For a President that has never made any articulate statement on what corruption is, what will his anti-corruption technology classify as corrupt practice? Could the much-vaunted technology have regarded the theft of $20billion oil revenue or Alison-Maduekwe's N10billion private jet fleece as corruption when the President himself and his men have never admitted that all these were corrupt dealings?
It should be a concern to everyone that Mr. President, rather than showing an impressive scorecard on fighting corruption in the last five years, has only resorted to a self-incriminating rhetoric that suggests that there should be no punishment for corruption at certain thresholds that are below the level of corruption under his administration. The President also bungled a golden chance to correct his "stealing is not corruption" mantra and left everyone more confused. I had always thought that what the President intended to say the first time he dropped that quibble was that grey is not black but is a shade of black. At the end of the Presidential chat, I started thinking that what the President was saying is that corruption has no linguistic expression in Nigeria and what we mostly elevate to such degree of heinous criminality is "mere stealing".

The significance of Mr. President's distinction would be lost on you until you remember his various campaign speeches where he publicly denounced the Buhari military regime for the trial and conviction of second republic Governor, Jim Nwobodo, for the embezzlement of $5.2million dollars. He had asked rhetorically, "how much did Nwobodo stole?" (sic). With this, we understand the President better. We can also guess why EFCC and ICPC have remained lame ducks under this government and why all the people of questionable fortune that should come under the scrutiny of anti-corruption agencies are by happenstance associates of Mr. President.

In what is ostensibly an admission of failure, the President is assuring Nigerians in his campaign that corruption would be no more by 2019 if he is given another chance. At the media chat, the President cited no record of successful conviction and he really has none. He also did not say one single thing that would be done differently to punish corruption if he is retained in office till 2019. Can we even wait till 2019 to see an end to corruption in the face of our dwindling economic fortune? How can this government be trusted to eliminate in 4 years the endemic culture of corruption it further entrenched, condoned and celebrated in 5 years?

The goat and yam parable is a self-indictment of the Jonathan-led government. It raises a serious question of how this government perceives its own morality and ability to work for common good in spite of the lure of materialism. Corruption has become so pervasive, and still rising with such a phenomenal pace so much so that even Ibrahim Babangida felt morally justified to say that he feels like a saint seeing the level of corruption under Jonathan's government.

In this latest parable of the goat and yam, we the people and the abundant wealth of our nation are the "yam". We unleash the "goats" on our "yam" when we choose leaders that do not believe that people can be incorruptible and have no willingness to punish those of their own who help themselves to state resources. To break the spell of this grinding poverty that is making the poorest of the poor poorer in Nigeria, we must repel the misfortune of corrupt leadership at the next election. Integrity should define the relationship amongst us, the way the government views its responsibility to the people and how the business of governance is conducted. Another four years of a debauched leadership will further estrange us from this glorious position.

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Opinions expressed above are solely those of the author, Abimbola Ojenike.
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Urhobo Progress Union In Dilemma Over Who To Endorse Between Great Ogboru And O'Tega Emerhor

The hope for the Urhobo ethnic nationality to join forces to enhance the chances of one of its illustrious sons in the 2015 governorship race in Delta State may have been dashed as the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), the socio-cultural union of Urhobos world-wide, has failed to reach consensus on who the body should endorse.

Instead, the influential UPU has split into two factions with one drumming support for the candidature of Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru of the Labour Party (LP) and the other faction declaring Chief O'tega Emerhor of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as its sole candidate in the February 28 election.

This followed a deadlocked meeting of the UPU, held behind closed doors on Sunday night in Mosogar, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, which has torn the apex Urhobo leadership body into two factions with each endorsing the two Urhobo sons as Urhobo nation's sole candidate.

In the same vein, the UPU has been torn between Urhobo's support for President Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP and Muhammadu Buhari of the APC, since Ogboru's LP in Delta State has already announced the endorsement of Jonathan as the LP's presidential candidate.

THISDAY gathered that signs of cracks in the wall of the UPU emerged when dissenting members staged a walkout following at the alleged insistence by the UPU President-General, Chief Joe Omene, for acceptance as the candidate of all Urhobo people whoever emerged from the meeting as "Urhobo sole candidate" between APC's Emerhor and Ogboru of the LP.

Shortly after the storming out led by Chief Tuesday Onoge, UPU's first Deputy President-General, Omene, told journalists that the consenting members who stayed behind had settled for Chief Great Ovedje Ogboru of LP as sole candidate of Urhobo (Delta Central senatorial zone) in the governorship election.
He added that his faction's decision was supported by president-general, youth and women leaders in Urhobo.

However, reacting via a statement yesterday, the Onoge-led dissenting faction alleged that Omene had ceased to be the UPU President-General, claiming that Omene's second-in-command, Chief Tuesday Onoge had been appointed as acting President-General.

The statement further accused Omene of attempting to impose his personal will at the detriment of the collective will and interest of the Urhobo ethnic nationality.

The statement, signed by Onoge in his capacity as Acting P-G of the UPU and Mumakai Unagha, Assistant Publicity Secretary, read part: "After frequent visits to Aso Rock, which clearly have compromised him, Chief Joe Omene was determined to make mockery of the Urhobo nation by dumping the sacred and collective will of the people as expressed in the Uvwiamuge Declaration.

"In spite of the directives by the forum of Ivies (Kings) and Urhobo clergy to the contrary, he is determined to coerce and rush the Urhobo into a fatal decision to support the PDP/Jonathan, Labour/Ogboru (governorship), a ticket alien to the Uvwiamuge Declaration when PDP failed to give it's governorship ticket to Urhobo and Labour is not a national party.

"Not knowing which party will win the Presidential election, the imminent danger is that in the event of a miscalculation, the Urhobo nation will be in opposition and elongated suffering.

"UPU will stand firm and uphold the honour and integrity of Urhobo people by not abandoning Uvwiamuge Declaration and to accord its beneficiaries full recognition. Accordingly, the qualifying ticket of APC/Buhari/Emerhor is hereby endorsed by UPU."

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Source: This Day
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Jonathan's Coup of Feb 9, 2015 Will Forever Be A Date To Remember. BY Tola Adeniyi

Dr Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan is the President of Nigeria. In addition to the big title of President, he is also the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Undoubtedly a very big position, Jonathan is the supreme commander and boss of the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Air Force as well as the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps, the Nigerian Security and Intelligence Services, and of such forces not listed on paper. With the awesome powers at the disposal of Mr President, Jonathan is armed to the teeth to do and undo with the fate of Nigerians.

And this exactly was what he chose to do after meeting with the respected Members of the highest advisory council in the land: the country's Council of State. After allowing the grey-haired former Heads of state and governments of Nigeria to warm their seats at the hallowed chambers of the Presidential Villa, and gracefully allowing them to air their views on the much anticipated national Elections slated for February 14 and 28 2015, Jonathan went to his armoury and calculatedly announced the bloodless take-over of the nation's sovereignty and vested it on himself.

Nigeria had battled insurgency, albeit half-heartedly for 9 years. And under Commander-In-Chief Jonathan's lack-lustre watch the insurgency grew in bounds and leaps. The ravaging insurgents even captured over 300 school girls from their hostel and to date the fate of the unfortunate girls is unknown. On top of that the insurgents had successfully captured and occupied a number of territories in the North East of Nigeria and declared the captured lands their own.

Nigeria's Commander-In-Chief appeared totally powerless and at the height of his frustration announced to the whole world that some members of his Cabinet were members of the terrorising Boko-Haram sect. And at another time when bombs went up at the Eagle Square Commander-In-Chief Jonathan declared that the perpetrators were 'my brothers' meaning the terror groups from the creeks of the Delta region where Jonathan hailed from.

Commander-In-Chief took a good look at his very unimpressive performance as the President of Nigeria and he was worried stiff that any elections in Nigeria would sweep him off his exalted feet. Billions of dollars had been declared stolen under his watch and many horrible things that were hitherto unknown in Nigeria were parading themselves under his presidency: unceasing armed robbery, kidnapping, assassinations,unprecedented level of insecurity and arrant impunity and un accountability in government. All these anomalies weighted heavily against the country's march to development and modernity. It became very clear that Jonathan, the President lacked the ability and capability to run the affairs of Nigeria. It was even clear that he lacked the wherewithal to run the affairs of a Bakery!

Elections to national office were usually, as defined by the Nigerian Constitution which Jonathan swore to uphold and protect, held three months to handing over power to the successors. That period had been fixed for February of every Election year. President Jonathan the Commander-In-Chief was/is very well aware of this Constitutional provision and he, in fact had been canvassing for votes in readiness for the Elections.

The Electoral body which is constitutionally bound to be independent had also for the past four years been preparing for the Elections. On numerous occasions, the boss of that body a most respected intellectual by the name Attahiru Jega had announced their readiness and preparedness to hold a fair and free election. While the whole world was eagerly looking forward to the Elections slated for February 14, the Commander-In-Chief through remote control sent his National Security adviser, his own appointee, to test the waters by suggesting that elections could not hold as scheduled.

A number of megaphones took the queue from the National Security Adviser and they too started mouthing the desirability of postponing the Elections. And a most respected elders'council suspected to have been heavily bribed at the Jonathan stage-managed National Confab also came up, inaudibly though due to the advanced stage of their ages, that it might be a good idea if the Elections were suspended in the last hour.

While this entire shenanigan was going on, the usually very articulate civil societies in Nigeria saw through it all and knew that the Commander-In-Chief had something up his sleeves. They started asking questions: 'What on earth could have led to the Presidency and the president's jolly fellows to begin to chicken out in the face of an imminent election? Why should they be falling down one by one when Death was yet to knock on their doors?

Finally, the Commander-In-Chief struck! The elections would have to be postponed because the Commander-in-Chief had now just gathered his strength to lead an onslaught on Boko Haram now that Chad, Cameroon and Niger had shown what leadership was all about.
The Commander-In-Chief announcing the coup through his service chiefs says that his forces will be commencing offensive against insurgents the very day the whole of Nigeria and the International Community had concluded to hold a most popularised election.

By this coup Jonathan has exposed the underbelly of the Nigerian nation to a most unpardonable ridicule. Never in the over 100-year history of the country have Elections been postponed. And it is an irony that Nigeria that used to be the toast of the world in international peace keeping operations and had in fact rescued Liberia, Congo and Sierra-Leone from destruction is now the same country being rescued by land-locked Chad. A greater irony is that the same Security Agents that could not muster forces to quell insurgency in the North East is now battle ready to squash Nigeria's hopes and aspirations. They cannot fight the insurgents but they can terrorise law abiding Nigerian citizens and prevent them from their basic civic duty of electing their leaders.

This coup master-minded by the Commander-In-Chief is billed to throw Nigeria back for twenty years. And it may just be the beginning scenario for more coups to unfold from the arm pit of the Commander-in-Chief.

The Commander-In-Chief has already deployed his armoured tanks to strategic places in the country. This ferocious step is a confirmation of the fears and suspicions which the Nigerian populace had nursed all along; that the Jonathan government being seriously afraid of its own shadows will truncate the planned elections to ensure the unpopular government remains in power for as long as the Commander-In-Chief is in control of all forces of intimidation, coercion and terror and also to ensure for its beneficiaries an undisturbed flow of illicit money to their bank accounts.

The coup of February 9 2015 will forever be a date to remember!

All hail Jonathan, our very smart Commander-In-chief!

The pen is the tongue of the hand,the silent utterer of words for the eyes...Henry Beecher

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Tola Adeniyi wrote in from Richmond Hill, Ontario

Opinions expressed above are solely those of the author.
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Freshly Served! Nigeria: Time To Consider A Unity Government, By Adekoya Boladale

If there is one thing political events in the past few days has taught us about the up-coming general election in Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, it is the fact that the term 'free and fair' may become too expensive for the country to afford if it eventually goes to the poll come March 28th and April 11th, 2015.

Few months ago, in my separate pieces for the South African based The Star International and Nigerian Punch Newspaper, I had opined a crash to death scenario if the general election was to take place on February 14 as earlier planned basing my postulation on the notorious state of politics the opposition party and the ruling party seems to be devising in order to win the electorates to their side. Issues and policies that directly affect the lives of citizens are neglected; propaganda, smear campaign, ethnicity and religious sentiment reign supreme.

While both parties have continuously attacked each other on the failure to concentrate on issue-based campaign, the political adverts sponsored by these two either directly or via proxy have given a new definition to pettiness and dirty politics. The continuous running of a documentary titled 'The Real Buhari' by the ruling party on television stations which shows a grand mixture of lies and minimal truth against the opposition's presidential flag bearer, General Muhammadu Buhari would not have gone pass the table of the censor board anywhere in the world. The opposition on the other hand have also created tonnes of videos online sponsored via ads for a viral effect on social media with some been aired on various television stations, continuously ridiculing the sacred office of the president with some descending as low as attributing the President to a baboon and even the devil!

Both parties even with so much campaign emphasis on the need to discuss inter alia, the downtrodden economy, depreciating naira, skyrocketing unemployment index have continued to pay lip-service to attending a presidential debate while they have both concentrated on cacophony of fact-less, caricature and sweet-tongued promises at various campaign arena leaving the question of the feasibility of these promises begging for answers. This sincerely, isn't the right way to go.

Beyond the pettiness and propaganda, the outcome of the election no matter how transparent and fair it appears will never be accepted by either party.

An anonymous commentator said recently, that the most fearful issue in this election is that each political party believes it has won the election and anything short of that will be seen as nothing but rigging. While granting an interview recently, the presidential candidate of the opposition party, General Buhari in an attempt to answer a straight forward question on what he will do should he loses at the poll said 'I won't lose'. The implication of this is that General Buhari already sees himself as an awaiting President, one need not wonder how he would take a disappointing outcome. Such disagreement wouldn't be fought on the pages of newspapers or television screen but with guns, machetes and cutlasses.

Each political parties have enough excuse to disregard the outcome of the election, even if supervised by Angels.

To the ruling party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has become a close ally of the opposition with the party issuing press releases which in recent times have been aligning with most of its policies and actions. This naturally is bound to create a displeasure with the ruling party as such sudden found love means that the electoral body may be dancing to the tune of the opposition. Evidences have shown that the fear of the ruling party may be in order has INEC claims to have distributed over 80% of permanent voter's cards (PVC) in the Northern part of the country which beyond doubt is the opposition's strong hold while the South only has approximately 55% collections. The implication of this is that more people will be able to vote in the North compared to the South. It will therefore be of no surprise if the party refuses to accept the result of the election.

The opposition on the other hand will not take anything less than a victory. The postponement of the election by six weeks beyond doubt is more of the hand of Esau and voice of Jacob. The opposition believes the ruling party intimidated the electoral body using the security agencies, describing the act as a 'civilian coup'. If such feat could be achieved then how hard it is to turn around results in favour of the government in power especially as most of the INEC officials were appointed by the government.

While the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued a warning to both parties on the need to ensure a peaceful pre and post election period combined with the signing of the Abuja Accord for peace, history has clearly shown that such accord or warning are not strong enough to avert the possibility of chaos.
Even if eventually, the culprits and promoters of violence are brought to justice, the effect of such massive civil unrest on the fragile security of the country maybe a plus for the terrorist group, Boko Haram to fully take over.

All said and done, I believe it will be in interest of peace for stakeholders and decision makers to begin the consideration of forming a unity government to avert the looming bloodshed and continuous waste of scarce resources for the election.

Considering the already deepening division the election is causing the country and the need for peace and unity at this critical state in our war against insurgency coupled with the effect the heated polity is having on our economy with an uncertain market, the opposition party and the ruling party should concentrate on forming a joint government. Nigeria should not be allowed to descend to a nation at the mercy of the western world as evidence in the past few days shows a more than normal interest of the United States and European Union in the affairs of the country and history has shown that countries on such interest list end up becoming a ghost of itself. See the case of Libya, Afghanistan, Iran for details.

The National Assembly being the highest lawmaking organ in the country should as a matter of urgency put up laws to accommodate an all inclusive government of national unity. Due to the level of distrust in our polity, the African Union should mediate the process of negotiation and creation of the offices of the Prime Minister and deputy prime minister. President Goodluck Jonathan can still continue to hold the presidential position while General Buhari and his running mate Professor Osinbajo becomes Prime minister and deputy prime minister respectively.  Both parties should hold a political conference and agree on how to jointly nominate individuals to the various ministries, departments and agencies of government.

It is left to us all to ensure the next few weeks doesn't turn out to be the last for the country. We all must stand up against the greed and selfishness of politicians, for if this country burns, it is the blood of the masses that will be used in setting it ablaze.

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Adekoya Boladale is a political scientist and scholar on good governance, a social commentator and consultant on political and intra governmental affairs. He is the Convener, Advocacy for Better Leadership (ABEL), Nigeria.

He wrote via adekoyaboladale@gmail.com. Please engage on twitter @adekoyabee and Facebook www.facebook.com/adekoyabee
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President Jonathan is far from perfect but He Has My Vote, Says Chocolate City Boss, Audu Maikori

I watched Buhari's campaign speech yesterday and I left feeling like I was listening to my father speaking to me- and that's sort of natural. After all, he and my father are about the same age. Buhari is an awesome figure, very impressive in terms of what he stands for as a person . Indeed, I must tell a story – way back in 1998 during the perennial university strikes I was in Kaduna during one of the perennial fuel scarcity episodes. I was at the Ungwar Rimi filling station and had been on a line for 3 hours or so waiting for my turn to buy fuel. And if you can recall those days, fuel lines were like military camps and people were violent if you tried to jump the queue unless you were a friend of the petrol station manager or a soldier. And General Buhari drove into the area in his 505 looking for fuel and somehow people saw him and all of a sudden people started moving their cars out of the way to allow him drive up to fill his tank.

This people did without compulsion – it was out of sheer respect of him, the man, the father figure- that was General Buhari, before he become Chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).

If Buhari was going to be allowed to run the country based on his ideals alone, I would probably change my mind (after I get past the age factor). But honestly speaking , governance is not strictly about a single personality – it's a series of conversations around different interest groups and institutions and walking the fine line between your decisions based on personal interest or moral values and/or public interest- which usually means a politicized decision.

I feel that a General Buhari presidency, though well intended, will not achieve much due to the fact that he will try to purge Nigeria via old school methods which are no longer practical. He will be the face but the real machinery will be run by some of Nigeria's most "pious" politicians – people like Tinubu, Amaechi , Atiku ,etc. The question is will they allow him to stop the business as usual environment they have benefited from to their detriment?

When he spoke about Sharia a few years back, which was seen as very inciteful, and how it was necessary in Nigeria, he spoke as a devout Muslim that he is – but the statement was so politically incorrect especially since you know that same Sharia implementation led to the death of thousands of man and women in Kaduna state alone in the early 2000s. The implementation of Sharia in Kaduna led to the division of Southern Kaduna from Northern Kaduna and the relocation of the people to Barnawa and beyond due to religious intolerance. When it comes to elections, I personally feel that we are asking a man who's ways and actions are set to suddenly become dynamic and new and do so with the support of leaders who were not just part of the PDP's alleged rot but were key players in it. Suddenly the are 'born again" and old things are passed and have become "new".

President Goodluck Jonathan is far from perfect but I see him continuing to make steady inroads especially in the area of the economic advancement of young people because the cliché is true – the youth are the future but the future is now and here!

Has he done well? In some areas yes but in security no. That's the fact. I won't go into the reasons why not but we should note that the rot in the army started many years before Jonathan and the insurgency only opened the cankerworm that was hidden because the need to protect Nigeria against a new age enemy hadn't arisen in over 39 or so.

About corruption having worked around government for almost 3 years I now understand things I never quite understood. Most of the corruption in our country is usually attributed to government and the civil service which is true but we forget that they need collaborators in the private sector to successfully perpetrate these crimes. The best way to fight corruption is to build institutions and use technology to fortify them so they can reduce incidences of corruption- that's the truth. You can't tap an MTN line like we used to tap the box telephones at home in those days. You can't pass the Lekki Toll Gate without paying N120 at the automated gates but the politicians can set up companies to surreptitiously buy the company that owns the gates (hope you get my drift) and that's done at top level. You can't also fight corruption if you tip a policeman at every checkpoint instead of taking the day off and ensuring you get your drivers license so we can stop the extortion – yes that too is corruption.

Why is budget implementation so poor? Because the National Assembly unduly politicizes the process leading to late passage of the bills (in 2013 it was in July / August same as 2014) so when projects don't get delivered its mostly because of slow passage of the bill.

The other reason is that the appropriation committees can tamper with the budget how they like that's why a project like the perilous Lokoja -Abuja Road which led to the death of many Nigerians took over 10 years to be completed because the amounts appropriated by the NASS was simply inappropriate to adequate fund the completion. It was only when the Sure-P Programme intervention came that the road was fast tracked (as most can testify) same with the railways , roads and bridges etc- why? Because the SURE-P funds were better insulated from tampering unlike many other projects approved for completion. There are now policies being put to change this to make execution more effective from the lessons we learnt via Sure-P on a federal level.

But I digress, I agree that GMB is a fine gentleman and leader but I also believe that if I did vote for him I would be doing so nostalgically not realistically because there's a new Nigeria where people are earning a living off their talents and passions and creating a new middle class which was virtually non existent pre-GEJ and that's the Nigeria I want to be part of…

Agriculture is becoming the new sexy and his administration has pushed it even more than Obasanjo (a renowned farmer did). No matter how I explain FB or Instagram or the global economy to my dad now he may not fully grasp it as a person below 35 would and I fear that I would rather move forward imperfectly than go back to the past in search of a non-existent Utopia.

This is just my view of things and I have taken time to state it and not berate GMB – it's my vote , it's my choice. Some will say that I vote for GEJ because of SURE-P. But honestly I do so because in him I see a man who is imperfect, struggling with his imperfections to make things better and I see room for improvement and change… in all fairness we are all sort of like that trying to get a better report card and improve on poor subjects of last semester. In the former I see an upright man of integrity and high discipline who doesn't yet realize that one of his disciples may yet betray him because they don't stand for the same ideals.

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Audu Maikori is the CEO of Chocolate City Entertainment Company. He tweets from @audu.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author

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General Buhari's Scary History And Those Who Are Wilfully Blind, By Shaka Momodu.

Thirty years ago, he faced the cruel and ignominious fate of being tied to the stake and a hail of bullets from marksmen ended his precious life. That person was Bartholomew Owoh (26) who alongside others, Bernard Ogedengbe (29) and Lawal Ojuolape (30), were executed by firing squad after being arrested and tried for drug trafficking. The case of Bartholomew Owoh, the youngest of them all, was particularly tragic. At the time of his arrest, the crime did not carry capital forfeiture -the punishment was six months imprisonment. But Decree No. 20 was hurriedly promulgated and back-dated by one whole year to take effect from when he and others committed the crime and on the basis of that they were all tried, found guilty and executed by firing squad. Someone recently asked me if this actually happened and I said, "read the records of history against Buhari's name".

The man responsible for that "judicial murder and crime against humanity" is today the APC presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, who has shown no remorse, no regret and has tendered no apology for his actions. Furthermore, he has sought no remission or restitution for that act of pure evil. He is the same man being daily burnished in the media by revisionists as the new face of "change."

I sometimes wonder how he has been able to sleep, eat and wake up every morning for the past 30 years knowing that his hands are stained with the blood of these young men.

Before the promulgation of Decree 20, drug offences were bailable and it is instructive that Bartholomew Owoh was even on bail when it was promulgated. My personal investigation reveals that immediately the decree was promulgated, the young man expressed his desire to escape from the country. But his father prevailed on him to stay back, promising that he would protect him from the grave injustice. The young Owoh heeded his father's advice and stayed. But his father clearly underestimated the deadly resolve of General Buhari to implement the new decree against his son and others. I can imagine the horror the poor father must have felt on hearing that soldiers had marched his son to the Bar Beach firing range to be executed.

I can imagine the last few moments of Bartholomew's earthly life as he watched soldiers march around in a choreographic and synchronised parade to carry out the orders of General Buhari. What was going on in his mind? Did he have the moment to say goodbye to his family? Definitely no. He must have been too shocked by what was about to happen. What were the last word(s) he heard on this earth before the hail of bullets hit and silenced him forever? Have any of Buhari's supporters bothered to ask or imagine? Have any of them put himself on the receiving end of such grave injustice? I guess the last word Owoh heard was: "fire"! And the last sound? The crack of gun shots as hot lead pierced through his body ripping him apart. He probably twitched for a few seconds and his precious life ended just like that. Where and how were he and others buried? In an unmarked grave perhaps! Expectedly, their families were denied the privilege of paying last respect to their loved ones.

If Bartholomew Owoh, the youngest of the three were still alive today, he would have been (56) – about the same age as Buhari's running-mate, Yemi Osinbajo. He would have been married with children; somebody would have called him father; somebody would have called him uncle. But he died in his prime, as his life was brutally cut short by no less a brutal regime with the red hand of murder. What is a life worth to those who casually say Buhari has changed when the evidence points to the contrary? What is the value for human life to the revisionists and those uninformed bloggers who spread fantasies of Buhari's daughter who is alleged married to an Igbo Christian man all in a bid to sell him?

I can imagine the eternal guilt Owoh's father must have felt and probably still feels, that's if he is still alive for prevailing on his son not to escape.

The irony here is that Bartholomew Owoh and his co- travellers were no saints; just as Buhari who ordered their execution is no saint. But the difference is that while the supporters of Buhari tell us that he has changed and are willing to forgive and give him a second chance, the same Buhari never gave Bartholomew and his co-travellers the opportunity for a second chance – to change and be good citizens of the society. Each time my mind drifts to this monumental injustice, I still freeze in shock and a cold chill runs through my body. How could this have happened in our country? But I am a witness to this part of our history.

I doubt if many Sai Buhari! crusaders feel the same way. But I know for sure that they won't be so supportive of Buhari if their relatives were among the three Nigerians executed by a back-dated law. Can anyone of his supporters out there stand up and be counted on this score? Needless to say that many of them were too young to appreciate the gravity of the injustice while many others were not even born then. So, they can be excused for not being witnesses of records but they can't be excused for refusing to use the lessons of history as guides to the future.

The frenzied campaign to dress Buhari in borrowed robes and foist him on Nigerians must be interrogated without let. Buhari's critics must never allow themselves to be intimidated into silence by those who attack them for daring to interrogate the past, present and acts recorded against the general. More so, as the Sai Buhari have the right to air their opinion and support for the general without molestation. It is the fairest minimum for a healthy debate.

It is in this regard that I take exception to Buhari's supporters who would rather re-write history and shout critics down for daring to air contrary views from the make-belief narrative being used to dupe a new generation of Nigerians, especially bloggers, facebook and twitter savvy youths. Whatever the case, facts remain sacred, comments are free but the records of history endure.

One of the often forgotten victims of Buhari's high-handedness is Busari Adelakun. Does that name ring a bell? If it doesn't, let me introduce him to you. Busari Adelakun was a grassroots mobiliser like no other. He was so instrumental to the emergence of the late Chief Bola Ige as the governor of old Oyo State in 1979 that he was appointed Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs despite his low academic qualifications. But Adelakun was to fall-out with his boss, Ige, and pitched tent with his estranged Deputy, the late Chief S.M Afolabi. Alongside other former Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) stalwarts, Adelakun moved to the rival National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and worked for its candidate, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, in the August 13, 1983 governorship election which he won. Olunloyo was sworn-in on October 1, 1983 and three months later, December 31, 1983, a group of soldiers led by Buhari, overthrew the democratic government.

One of those arrested by the new junta was Adelakun. He was herded into jail alongside other politicians. While Adelakun was not put on trial, he was nonetheless kept in jail despite his poor health, he was an ulcer patient who needed regular treatment and a special diet.

But he was denied proper treatment and food; leading Adelakun to suffer in prison until he died. Even after his death, the military junta would not release the corpse to his family. He was yet another Second Republic politician who met his untimely death as a result of the in-human conditions he was subjected to in Buhari's detention camps.

The same man is now being canonised by a cabal of primitive wealth accumulators, money changers and flawed progressives whose motivation is anything but altruistic.

APC, Buhari, Change, And Corruption

For God sake! How can a man who, according to Professor Wole Soyinka, "Built a career out of human rights abuses" suddenly become the change agent for the New Nigeria? He has become the man who will cure Nigeria of all afflictions such as corruption, insecurity, etc. The only message coming out from Buhari is: "I will fight corruption and insecurity," but he has been short on details on how he plans to achieve these twin objectives. He is yet to give Nigerians an economic blue-print, five weeks to the presidential election. In the face of dwindling revenue, General Buhari is yet to articulate an innovative, and creative road map on how to move the economy forward. It is not enough for Buhari and his party to tell us that he will fight corruption without telling us how. Of course, that is the easiest claim any politician can make but the statement cannot be taken as a commitment. It is all talk, and talk is cheap if it is not backed by an action plan which is currently missing.

For the life of me, why should the APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun brand every Nigerian who opposes Buhari's presidential ambition as corrupt? Is that not a gratuitous insult? Is this not a typical example of an elder behaving badly? Why are these people so self-righteous when we see how corrupt they are too?

My worst fears were confirmed after reading news reports credited to the APC chairman recently that Buhari will not probe past corrupt acts because he wants to draw a line in the sand and move on. I chuckled and then laughed. If this is Buhari's position, how then will he fight corruption, when even before the election, he has given a blanket amnesty to those accused of being corrupt? Can anyone spot the contradiction in the public message of "change" and the utterances of the APC leadership? In one breath, they accuse anyone who is opposed to Buhari's ambition as corrupt and in another breath Chairman Oyegun stated that Buhari won't probe past corrupt acts. Hear him: "The only people I can think of, who will fear the Buhari presidency are those who do not want change; they are those who want to continue with business as usual; they are those who want to continue to profit from the level of corruption in the society. The message will be clear – whatever you engaged in before that was detrimental to the people of this country, please stop it. There will be a line drawn in the sand; on one the part is the past, the other side is the future." How will this deter people from corrupt acts if past crimes carry no weight of punishment?

If the signals from Odigie-Oyegun are anything to go by, then the clamour for change by the APC may end up just giving Nigerians more of the same or just selling a bad apple disguised as an orange.

Now, hear Buhari in Port Harcourt where he went to launch his campaign: "I will send corrupt people to Kirikiri." Really? (Probably without trial). That would have made sense if the PTF probe report wasn't so damning. But unfortunately, Buhari's Spartan incorruptible and austere credentials being trumpeted by Oyegun and his supporters have been ripped apart with his indictment in the management of the Petroleum Support Trust Fund, PTF. Based on the probe report conducted in 1999-2000, the PTF under Buhari's supervision was mismanaged. The report was however neither made public nor was it acted upon by former President Obasanjo.

In its summary, the committee had advised Obasanjo to "set up a high powered judicial panel to recover huge public funds allocated to the PTF and to take necessary action against any officer, consultant or contractor whose negligence resulted in this colossal loss of public funds."

According to the report, the sum of N25,758,532,448 was mismanaged by the Afri-Project Consortium (APC), a company contracted by the PTF as management and project consultants. Buhari as PTF chairman was said to have also "delegated to them the power of engineers in all appropriate projects requiring such power-" which made them assume absolute powers to initiate, approve and execute all projects by the PTF. The mismanagement that took place in the PTF under Buhari's watch was said to have been carried out by APC (the company) in their capacity as management and project consultants. Both their management services fees and budgets for several projects carried out during the existence of the PTF were greatly overpriced.

The question now is who will send Buhari to Kirikiri for the mismanagement, corruption and huge financial losses suffered by the taxpayers when he was chairman of PTF? With his indictment for mismanagement by a committee instituted in 1999 by Obasanjo, Buhari's ability to manage the Nigerian economy and fight corruption has been called to question. Will he lead by example by voluntarily surrendering himself at Kirikiri Prisons? Imagine the effects of such an action on many corrupt people who currently walk the streets free.
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The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author, Shaka Momodu.

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Buhari Is NOT The Messiah And President Jonathan Needs To Be Re-elected, By Toks Ero

Who will win next month's Presidential election and assume the position of President come May 29, 2015 is no doubt the most important issue to Nigerians at this time. Nigerians are hopeful for a President that will stem the tide of Boko Haram and provide lasting solutions to the long list of problems that plague the country.

Now that our choices have been narrowed down to incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari, the wise thing for Nigerians to do at this time is to carefully assess the antecedents, character and circumstances of these individuals and what they represent. Engaging in this task will be confusing; however, care must be taken to weigh the pros and cons objectively and as devoid of every form of emotion or sentiment as possible.

President Jonathan sadly has presided over a very corrupt government that has proved incompetent and ineffective at tackling the nation's problems. Arguably though, at no time in Nigeria's history have Nigerians experienced such turbulent times as to seek whatever immediate change is available. However, our quest for immediate change should not becloud our sense of judgment as to what kind of change is expedient.

General Muhammadu Buhari as a serving military officer overthrew a democratically elected government without any subsequent plan of return to civilian rule. Nigerians bold enough to criticize his regime were hounded under a draconian Decree 2. One way to judge a person is by their utterances. Buhari has to his credit statements that indicate subtle display of sympathy for Boko Haram and calls for the promotion of Islamic Sharia law in a secular Nigeria. Buhari represents the age long northern mentality of "born to rule". The unique selling point of Buhari is his supposed character and how that will influence his anti-corruption stance. Birds of the same feathers flock together is a popular saying. Buhari's character is as legendary as it is mythical and significantly flawed by his association and dalliance with the corrupt elements that hold sway in the All Progressives Congress (APC).

I watched Buhari's interview on the programme "Politics Today" aired on Channels TV and all I perceived was an old, slow, inarticulate and uninspiring man; most probably not one to herald the change Nigerians seek; certainly not one to represent Nigeria as President aside other world leaders in this day and age. I saw a Buhari that seemed to have no more than a pedestrian grasp of the issues that a presidential candidate should be able to debate and argue intelligently.

Yes! We want change. But at what cost? Do we want change so much we fail to think that such change could be for the worse? Can Buhari effectively curb the excesses of the corrupt elements in his party if he becomes President? Will these corrupt elements in the APC not have put in place a machinery to shield themselves from probable Buhari anti-corruption stance against themselves? Can Buhari sincerely say that he does not know that the intentions of APC bigwigs concerning Nigeria are not nobler than those of PDP's? Will the emergence of Buhari as President not further strengthen the northern "born to rule" mentality which should be discouraged?

How are we sure a president Buhari will not attempt to promote the spread of Sharia law to all parts of Nigeria as he once advocated? How sure are we that a president Buhari will not operate the authoritarianism he did in the 80's? How are we sure that our National Assembly would be able to moderate the authoritarian and dictatorial tendencies of a president Buhari? These are some of the questions Nigerians must ask themselves before casting a ballot in favour of Buhari.

Our path to nationhood must be based on certain fundamental principles of equality, fairness, competence, justice, transparency and accountability, etc. Politics of ethnicity and religion must be discouraged. All Nigerians must strive to influence the electoral process such that our votes would definitely count.

I feel sad being forced to choose between Buhari and President Jonathan. It is having to choose between a rock and a hard place; between the devil and a deep blue sea; a classic case of having to choose between two evils. However, based on my perception of both candidates and their circumstances, President Jonathan is a lesser evil.

Dear Nigerian, Buhari is not the messiah!!!
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Toks Ero blogs at www.toksero.org. He tweets from @toksero.

Opinions expressed above are solely those of the author.

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Exposed: President Jonathan Changes Tactics, Plans To Mop Up Permanent Voters Cards

Having pressured INEC to postpone Nigeria's general elections by six weeks, President Goodluck Jonathan and his inner circle of political operatives are focusing on new strategies to counter the groundswell of opposition to the incumbent president and to snatch the elections, a few high-profile sources have disclosed. One such strategy is to use huge funds put aside by Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison Madueke as well as donations from refined fuel importers and private operators of power distribution companies to buy up permanent voter cards in the states where Mr. Jonathan and the ruling PDP are most unpopular.

One of the sources stated that increasing public backlash and fear of the unknown had pushed Mr. Jonathan to accept that Nigerians are determined to have elections. Consequently, said the source, the incumbent president has abandoned original plans to scuttle elections altogether in order to form a so-called government of national unity presided over by him. "He [Jonathan] knows that there is no option now than to allow elections to hold," said the source. He added that the president would assure Nigerians of his preparedness for election at a choreographed media parley scheduled for later today [Wednesday] in Abuja.

Other sources revealed that Mr. Jonathan and his handlers would focus on healing rifts within the ruling party in order to present a united front that would make rigging more possible. For example, the president's associates are expected to push to resolve the internal crises bedeviling the PDP in Adamawa and Taraba States. In addition, the president is planning to reach out to the governors of Enugu and Bayelsa to mend fences with them.

One source said the six-week postponement of elections has helped Mr. Jonathan to "soften the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega." He said the president's team now feels confident that they can have their way with some INEC officials, including Mr. Jega, as the PDP fine tunes its rigging strategy in some key states.

One INEC source said that, despite postponing the elections to serve Mr. Jonathan's wishes, Mr. Jega had so far received little or no cooperation from the military high command. "They [the military] are not giving Professor Attahiru Jega the necessary assurance of security support to hold the election. We think that the powers-that-be have ordered the military to withhold the support until much later," the source said.
Meanwhile, one of our sources said operatives of the People's Democratic Party intend to use the current lull to mop up permanent voter cards across Nigeria as part of a broad mechanism to rig the polls.

The source claimed that agents of the ruling party were sending fronts to buy unclaimed voter cards. The cards would then be handed to ghost voters expected to help rig the election. The party has publicly stated that it is now opposed to the use of card readers for the purpose of validating legitimate voter card holders

In addition, President Jonathan's confidants were strategizing about the use of security agents to arrest, detain and intimidate major opposition figures as the elections near. One source disclosed that the arrest last week of former Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa was supposed to inaugurate a wider clampdown on political opposition figures. However, the security agents were forced to jettison the plan to pick other opposition officials after SaharaReporters released an audiotape of a similar strategy used in rigging of elections in Ekiti State. The tape exposed a meeting between several PDP officials close to Mr. Jonathan, including former Minister of State for Defense, Musiliu Obanikoro, Senator Iyiola Omisore, and current Governor Ayo Fayose, and Brigadier General Aliyu Momoh. In the tape, PDP officials can be heard instructing the army officer on the arrest of APC officials and supporters.

Mr. Sylva told a correspondent last Friday that he had prepared to spend the weekend at the offices of the Department of State Services (DSS) only to be told to leave a few hours after his arrest.

Our sources said the logic behind the planned detention and intimidation of APC members was to keep the opposition party sufficiently distracted to enable Mr. Jonathan's team to finalize a broad rigging plan.

Part of Mr. Jonathan's strategies, to be unveiled over the coming weeks, includes the announcement of "job creation" initiatives aimed at luring back youth voters, many of whom are vehemently opposed to Mr. Jonathan's re-election.

Our source said the president's other deft moves over the next weeks before the elections would feature a barrage of lawsuits against some opposition figures, including Muhammadu Buhari, the APC's presidential candidate, the release of economic palliatives, and the harassment of INEC chairman Jega by government-sponsored groups. In addition, the Nigerian military would engage in a series of military operations against Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria's northeast to enable Mr. Jonathan to claim that the Islamist terrorist group was on the cusp of defeat.

In addition, the president and the ruling party reportedly plan to use their hefty war chest to woo a few opposition politicians to defect to the PDP. The president's team was currently searching for a few high profile endorsements from Northern politicians, one of our sources said.

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SOURCE: Sahara Reporters
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I have No Intention Of Staying Beyond May 29 If I Lose March 28 Elections, President Jonathan Says

President Goodluck Jonathan has debunked rumours being peddled on the social media insinuating that he intends to hold onto the presidency at all cost, by saying that he will handover to his opponent should he lose the forthcoming presidential election next month.

The president made his intention public on Wednesday in a live media chat which commenced at 7pm and was broadcast on the Broadcast Organization of Nigeria (BON) stations.

President Jonathan said, "Let me assure Nigerians that a new government will be formed on May 29.

"The rumour that I will not hand over or that I am scheming to prolong my tenure are insinuations; they are not true. Those are insinuations; it is quite unfortunate that so much wrong information is floating in the system."

President Jonathan recalled the commitments he made during the build-up to the general elections in 2011 when he insisted then that he would vacate Aso Rock should he lose. He equally mentioned then that he was determined to conduct a free and fair election.

President Jonathan said, "In 2011, I said I will conduct a free and fair election and that if I lose, I will happily move on and that it should be recorded.

"Then I just concluded the late President Umaru Yar'Adua's tenure. I said I will be happy to go if I lose. I said this nation is more important than anybody. Anyone who wants to hold the office of President and feels he is more important than the nation is not right.

"So if as of 2011, I made a commitment that if I lose I will go, it should tell you more about my stand on free and fair elections.

"But now, Nigerians have given me the opportunity to be here for four good years and so if the elections are conducted and I lose, of course, we will inaugurate a new government.

Anyway, the president has spoken; critics and speculators are eagerly waiting to see if Mr President fulfills and keeps to his promises this time around.

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Nigeria’s Postponed Elections Is An Embarrassment Of Bad Choices, By Chimamanda Adichie

Last week, Victor, a carpenter, came to my Lagos home to fix a broken chair. I asked him whom he preferred as Nigeria's next president: the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, or his challenger, Muhammadu Buhari.

"I don't have a voter's card, but if I did, I would vote for somebody I don't like," he said. "I don't like Buhari. But Jonathan is not performing."

Victor sounded like many people I know: utterly unenthusiastic about the two major candidates in our upcoming election.

Were Nigerians to vote on likeability alone, Jonathan would win. He is mild-mannered and genially unsophisticated, with a conventional sense of humour. Buhari has a severe, ascetic air about him, a rigid uprightness; it is easy to imagine him in 1984, leading a military government whose soldiers routinely beat up civil servants. Neither candidate is articulate. Jonathan is given to rambling; his unscripted speeches leave listeners vaguely confused. Buhari is thick-tongued, his words difficult to decipher. In public appearances, he seems uncomfortable not only with the melodrama of campaigning but also with the very idea of it. To be a democratic candidate is to implore and persuade, and his demeanour suggests a man who is not at ease with amiable consensus. Still, he is no stranger to campaigns. This is his third run as a presidential candidate; the last time, in 2011, he lost to Jonathan.

This time, Buhari's prospects are better. Jonathan is widely perceived as ineffectual, and the clearest example, which has eclipsed his entire presidency, is his response to Boko Haram. Such a barbaric Islamist insurgency would challenge any government. But while Boko Haram bombed and butchered, Jonathan seemed frozen in a confused, tone-deaf inaction. Conflicting stories emerged of an ill-equipped army, of a corrupt military leadership, of northern elites sponsoring Boko Haram, and even of the government itself sponsoring Boko Haram.

Jonathan floated to power, unprepared, on a serendipitous cloud. He was a deputy governor of Bayelsa state who became governor when his corrupt boss was forced to quit. Chosen as vice president because powerbrokers considered him the most harmless option from southern Nigeria, he became president when his northern boss died in office. Nigerians gave him their goodwill—he seemed refreshingly unassuming—but there were powerful forces who wanted him out, largely because he was a southerner, and it was supposed to be the north's 'turn' to occupy the presidential office.

And so the provincial outsider suddenly thrust onto the throne, blinking in the chaotic glare of competing interests, surrounded by a small band of sycophants, startled by the hostility of his traducers, became paranoid. He was slow to act, distrustful and diffident. His mildness came across as cluelessness. His response to criticism calcified to a single theme: His enemies were out to get him. When the Chibok girls were kidnapped, he and his team seemed at first to believe that it was a fraud organized by his enemies to embarrass him. His politics of defensiveness made it difficult to sell his genuine successes, such as his focus on the long-neglected agricultural sector and infrastructure projects. His spokespeople alleged endless conspiracy theories, compared him to Jesus Christ, and generally kept him entombed in his own sense of victimhood.

The delusions of Buhari's spokespeople are better packaged, and obviously free of incumbency's crippling weight. They blame Jonathan for everything that is wrong with Nigeria, even the most multifarious, ancient knots. They dismiss references to Buhari's past military leadership, and couch their willful refusal in the language of 'change,' as though Buhari, by representing change from Jonathan, has also taken on an ahistorical saintliness.

I remember the Buhari years as a blur of bleakness. I remember my mother bringing home sad rations of tinned milk, otherwise known as "essential commodities"—the consequences of Buhari's economic policy. I remember air thick with fear, civil servants made to do frog jumps for being late to work, journalists imprisoned, Nigerians flogged for not standing in line, a political vision that cast citizens as recalcitrant beasts to be whipped into shape.

Buhari's greatest source of appeal is that he is widely perceived as non-corrupt. Nigerians have been told how little money he has, how spare his lifestyle is. But to sell the idea of an incorruptible candidate who will fight corruption is to rely on the disingenuous trope that Buhari is not his party. Like Jonathan's People's Democratic Party, Buhari's All Progressives Congress is stained with corruption, and its patrons have a checkered history of exploitative participation in governance. Buhari's team is counting on the strength of his perceived personal integrity: his image as a good guy forced by realpolitik to hold hands with the bad guys, who will be shaken off after his victory.

In my ancestral home state of Anambra, where Jonathan is generally liked, the stronger force at play is a distrust of Buhari, partly borne of memories of his military rule, and partly borne of his reputation, among some Christians, as a Muslim fundamentalist. When I asked a relative whom she would vote for, she said, "Jonathan of course. Am I crazy to vote for Buhari so that Nigeria will become a sharia country?"

Nigeria has predictable voting patterns, as all democratic countries do. Buhari can expect support from large swaths of the core north, and Jonathan from southern states. Region and religion are potent forces here. Vice presidents are carefully picked with these factors in mind: Buhari's is a southwestern Christian and Jonathan's is a northern Muslim. But it is not so simple. There are non-northerners who would ordinarily balk at voting for a 'northerner' but who support Buhari because he can presumably fight corruption. There are northern supporters of Jonathan who are not part of the region's Christian minorities.

Delaying the elections is a staggeringly self-serving act of contempt for Nigerians.
Last week, I was indifferent about the elections, tired of television commercials and contrived controversies. There were rumours that the election, which was scheduled for February 14, would be postponed, but there always are; our political space is a lair of conspiracies. I was uninterested in the apocalyptic predictions. Nigeria was not imploding. We had crossed this crossroads before, we were merely electing a president in an election bereft of inspiration. And the existence of a real opposition party that might very well win was a sign of progress in our young democracy.

Then, on Saturday, the elections were delayed for six weeks. Nigeria's security agencies, we were told, would not be available to secure the elections because they would be fighting Boko Haram and needed at least another month and a half to do so. (Nigeria has been fighting Boko Haram for five years, and military leaders recently claimed to be ready for the elections.)

Even if the reason were not so absurd, Nigerians are politically astute enough to know that the postponement has nothing to do with security. It is a flailing act of desperation from an incumbent terrified of losing. There are fears of further postponements, of ploys to illegally extend Jonathan's term. In a country with the specter of a military coup always hanging over it, the consequences could be dangerous. My indifference has turned to anger. What a staggeringly self-serving act of contempt for Nigerians. It has cast, at least for the next six weeks, the darkest possible shroud over our democracy: uncertainty.

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Chimamanda Adichie is an award winning writer and author of bestsellers including Purple Hibiscus, Half of a Yellow Sun, The Thing Around Your Neck and Americanah.

Opinions expressed above are solely those of the author.
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