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Living with ghost in both USA and Nigeria
ANDY IKE EZEANI
United States
of America (USA) came out of its presidential election in 2000 with a badly
bruised ego. The bruises were deeper and wider than just on the ego really. For
a poster nation of modern democracy, the very basis of its pre-eminent standing
as an advanced democratic culture came under serious jeopardy by the
unflattering circumstances of the 2000 election.
It was not as if Americans are not humans.
Or that politicians in that society are no longer politicians in the very
meaning of the word. Nor could it be that electoral ‘fast ones’ have never been
pulled off in United States of America. After all, the reference is still there
in the records, even if couched in hyperbole, that in some places like Chicago
during the hotly contested presidential election of 1960, "every living person
voted at least twice and dead people voted at least once". But then that was in
the 1960s and the mob still had a substantial hold on few critical aspects of
the American society, including how elections went in various precincts.
2000 was an entirely different era. It was
the threshold of a new century and a combination of technological advancements
and social developments of awesome proportions has catapulted USA to heights
almost beyond the imaginations of most other societies of the contemporary
world. If an election debacle of the nature of the 2000 presidential contest
presented a national embarrassment to America therefore, the basis for a
national embarrassment and anger can be understood.
It was very apparent from the very moment
the bickering over the result of the 2000 presidential election was officially
brought to a close that America will go the extra mile to obliterate the ugly
face of the last contest. That is the nature of the American society and the
institutional frames that power it.Indeed, many Americans couldn’t wait for the
next time. Now it is here.
Four years down the road, with another
presidential election around the corner, the determination to vanquish the
spirit of 2000 is remarkably pronounced in various facets of the present
campaigns, at least on the side of those who felt offended by the outcome the
last time. The massive hiring of lawyers and the listing of election monitoring
volunteers by candidates and parties for example, form one step to guard against
eventualities. The idea here is to deploy these guards to critical locations so
that no eligible voter is disfranchised. The challenge is to ensure as the
slogan now goes among Democrats, that every vote counts. Reference to Florida in
2000 is unmistakable. Then, not all votes counted or were counted.
A congressman recently capped the feeling
of disdain for the conduct of the 2000 election with a suggestion that the
United Nations be invited to monitor the November 2 election. Expectedly
reactions to the suggestion by some of the law maker’s colleagues were vehement.
The trust of their logic is simple; to bring in UN to monitor US presidential
election tantamount to the great nation dropping its claim to global
pre-eminence.
In all these protestations, contention of
views and fortification of structures for its next presidential election,
America is making a critical point; that it is alert and always out to contain
and rectify any systemic error that threatens to diminish its profile as a great
nation.
Across the Atlantic, in the country whose
leaders love to delude themselves that they are a pre-eminent state of sorts
within another continent, Africa, the last general election was no less tainted.
Nigeria’s 2003 election will, in the fullness of time be recorded as the most
brazen and most unconscionable assault on the will of the society. It was not a
matter of every vote not counting or being counted as Americans mourn in their
own case. In the Nigerian case in the 2003 election, actual votes were not meant
to count and they did not count in majority of the cases. Yet results came in,
reading in most instances of marvelous performances by candidates who were
manifestly not the choice of the people.
Between USA and Nigeria the shenanigans in
their last elections, varied as they were in dimensions hold up instructive
differences in prevailing values in the two societies. In one, disapproval of
the conduct of an election in one state left the result of the whole election
flawed, with all the country battling to remake what its people see as a
tarnished profile. In the other setting, a wide uproar against the obviously
distorted outcome of the elections across the land has been largely and boldly
ignored while the structures of the state and the people move on in their
undulating, morally burdened swerves. That is the story of Nigeria’s life and
future.
While it makes sense to often focus on the
institutional frames that propel the society in various spheres, such as the
electoral commission in this instance, the willingness of the larger Nigerian
society to tolerate moral assaults and live with sundry blemishes is most
astounding. The impact of extended ethnic rivalry and suspicion among the
constituent peoples of this land is indeed exerting its maximum damage.
For Americans, 2004 is certainly not
behind them yet. For Nigerians, 2003 may well be behind them. They are that
blessed.
It may make every sense against such a
backdrop then to strengthen such critical structures as the Independent
Electoral Commission (INEC), knowing full well that whatever they produce as
election result is as good as ordained. The recent suggestion of an electronic
voting system and such technology-driven measures may in the long run hold the
future for more credible elections in Nigeria. This does not completely
eliminate possibilities of fraud though, especially in such a setting as this,
where fraud often walks away without sanction or qualms.
Making INEC truly independent beyond its
name and giving its leadership the necessary resources and freedom to chose and
perfect any acceptable means of conducting elections has become an urgent step
to take.2007 is not far away by any means. Indeed it is already here with
Nigeria. The realization that when all is said and done, the civil society in
Nigeria is badly maimed makes the need to strengthen such institutions as INEC
imperative. With a full two terms behind him, may be President Obasanjo will see
the need now to direct the multi-dimensional target of his reforms to this
crucial area.
Watching USA gear up to tackle the ghost of 2000 in its
2004 election, the discomfort here is that for Nigeria, the ghost of 2003 may
re-emerge in 2007, more vicious and more brazen. And who knows what will give?
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