By Chinedu Vincent Akuta.
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
I am sure that most political parties/political leaders in Nigeria, watched as Gordon Brown (Ex British Prime Minister) resigned from his position after accepting responsibilities, for his Labour Party defeat in just concluded United Kingdom general election. Every political dynasty has an end, so did Gordon Brown’s premiership that ended on Tuesday May 11th 2010. I am also sure that most Nigerian political parties/political leaders, watched Obama’s electoral victory, and the opposition victory in nearby Ghana. All these elections mentioned above have thrown a lot of challenges to Nigeria, especially as we approach the 2011 general election. To that extent, Nigerians should demand from all political parties the following(s);
Political Parties/Groups Manifesto(es)
As a matter of necessity, all political parties in Nigeria should produce their manifestoes. These manifestoes should be made available both online and hard copies. Nigerians need to know their programme(s) and why they are seeking power. Political parties should be ideologically based. Mega party or coalition of parties should come up with manifestoes as well. Parties also need to make public their internal constitution. This is with a view to knowing if there are internal democracies within the parties themselves. The should also make public their websites. Interestingly, the last time I checked all the parties, many had no operational telephone numbers talk less of a website. Operational websites should be a basic requirement for Nigerian political parties. This will enable Nigerians in Diaspora to participate in politics.
Campaign Funding
Parties should disclose to Nigerians the sources of their campaign funding. Donations, fund raising, gifts etc to parties should be disclosed. Person(s) or corporate bodies making any donation should also be known by the Nigerian public. Cost(s) of election campaigns should be disclosed. As at October 15th 2008, before the November 4th 2008 American presidential election, the United States Federal Electoral Commission revealed that McCain campaign organization had spent $262 million dollars while Obama had spent $564 million dollars. Methods of campaign (electronic, print, telephone/sms, etc) should be disclosed. Obama campaign organization made use of over 1 billion text messages during his campaign.
Academic Qualifications.
Political parties should make public, academic qualifications of all those seeking to contest under their platform. Party leaders themselves should tender their certificates for the Nigerian public to scrutinize. Academic certificates are now a big factor in politics and elections. People have used fake certificates to gain political positions. In Iran, former interior minister (Ali Kordan) was sacked for faking a law degree from Oxford University United Kingdom. In Nigeria, Salisu Buhari (Former Speaker of the House of Representatives) was forced to resign after discovering that he forged his certificates.
Security Clearance.
Evidence of security clearance from Interpol, Nigerian Police Force, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and State Security Services of each aspirant, should be made public by all parties and the candidates themselves. Nigerians deserve to know if political office seekers have criminal records in any part of the world.
Assets and Liabilities Declaration
Political parties should make public, evidence of assets and liabilities of every aspirant. Sources of these assets and liabilities should be disclosed as well.
Leadership Debate(s)
This is non negotiable. Nigerians should insist on leadership debates by political aspirants. No elective position (councillorships, local government chairmanship, states House of Assembly, gubernatorial, House of Representatives, Senatorial, and Presidential) should be exempted. Parties should arrange live debates for Nigerians to evaluate candidates
Health Check(s)
Political parties should furnish Nigerians with comprehensive medical examination certificates of all aspirants. There is no guarantee against ill health, but Nigerians deserve to know the medical history of all those seeking political offices. Certain sicknesses should not be a barrier to seeking elective positions. This requirement (health check) should be applicable to all elective positions in the country, starting from the ward councilors to the president.
Age
Age MUST become an issue in Nigerian politics. But I will not tell the political parties the age requirements for party members seeking to contest elections. All I will suggest to Nigerians is; there is no point voting people who are above retirement age. McCain (the last Republican Presidential candidate of America) was 72 years when he contested election. His (McCain) age was among the reasons why he lost election. David Cameroon the United Kingdom Prime Minister is 44 years old.
The Electorate (Nigerians)
We owe ourselves and the country a duty to make the right choices during the general election next year (2011). We also need to mobilize one another against electoral fraud. I suggest all electorates to become electoral activist(s). Vote during elections, stay around till the votes are counted, follow the returning officer(s) or delegate people to follow the returning officers till the overall results are announced. Monitor elections in your locality. Go to pooling stations with hidden cameras or spy cameras. Better still; take pictures with your mobile phones.
All Nigerians should be on their guards since the National Assembly has not passed Justice Uwais electoral reform recommendations. I advocate Option A4. We are also yet to see a radical transformation at the Independent (Dependent) National Electoral Commission. Therefore, electorates should get ready to defend their votes. There are two choices for the electorates (Nigerians) to make, either take action that will bring about changes or keep quiet and allow the corrupt politicians to completely destroy us. Our little actions can change a lot. For every action to manipulate election there should be a reaction to counter it.
Finally, please remember to participate and join the fight against global warming. Turn off your electrical appliances/lights when not in use. Plant a tree or sponsor one to plant on your behalf. Government and companies should send less paper work and do more email, telephone, and sms. May God bless Nigeria.
I must say this is a great article i enjoyed reading it keep the good work
Beautiful idea indeed. Can there be any other way of diseminating this vital information?
Lovely artical. Can we make these kind of people that write these things more relivant in our policy planning.
i loved it cos it makes us no more of the country and i love reading it great work guys keep it up OK ……
Educative text , you have enjected me to build up.
i pray that God should interven in our nation Nigeria to be able to conduct free and fair Election 2011,
Excellent!
The fire’s of a national revolution is burning, but more hands are needed to fan its flames!
2011 is the timeline!
May this consciousness spread like wild fire!
Long live the land of my birth!
May her days be prosperous!
Black is beautiful.
this information should be sent to tertiary institutions, for the to know what is happening. a lot of young Nigerians are limited to information and may and a need to communicate this is info is important
I like this your article, may God bless you. I will be one of the electoral agent for 2011 Election and i will make sure, i try all my best. May God help me.
we all seehow obama worn the election online before the real election,that shows that
us is credible.we want credibility when it comes to election,so we decide
to design a website that is meant for 2011 presidential election online
want to use it to know the opinion of the masses and at same time
predict who might be the president even before the real election.vote on this site
http://www.henfextech.com for people that couldn’t get to the internet can vote
through there phone.on this following numbers. 08160536320 08059939692 081884916170 07084461062
for people outside nigeria add the country code +234 then choose any of the numbers,eg.+2348160536320
eg.name,emial and who you are voting for.
note:this not the real election,but to use to collect the opinion of the masses on the up coming
presidential election 2011.vote is free!
who will be the nigerian president?
we want credibility and nothing else.
vote online @ http://www.henfextech.com vote is free!
who do you want as your president?vote now
@ http://www.henfextech.com vote is free!
That was very nice,i’m sure if all these were done in Nigeria there will be no problems at all. please keep it up.
The machines are not fast enough for people to register at Ajegunle and the population is much/
Well is good to have you people as a Nigerian But please can we started hoping for unpredictable election then I will believe Nigeria is not practicing one party system.
I am from South South, I have seen all the political drama since my childhood like any other Nigerian has seen! Above article is superb beyond doubts! I guess, PDP is an extension of Corruption. Let me appeal to my brothers and sisters to give the support to Mr. Buhari. As a (former) head of state, he was at least not corrupt. I see no other candidate fit to rule great Nigeria!
PDP candidates are the same throughout the federation,they promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.i will like every nigerian to vote for RIBADU because he is the man who can do it and besides,he has done it before in term of eradicating corruption in the soceity and i have the confidence that he can do it again.VOTE ACN OF NIGERIA ONLY FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
check out wwww.nigeriavotes2011.com fantastic site with loads of information!
Great article indeed.This type of people should be giving chance to participate in Nigeria Policy.I have commited Nigeria politics into Gods hand and this year election will be a peaceful one.
Great article.This type of people should be giving chance to participate in Nigeria Policy.I have commited Nigeria politics into Gods hand and this year election will be a peaceful one.
I luv 9ja
How I wish one day these things you mentioned above will constitute the mandatory part of the Nigerian electoral laws.
Keep it up,may god b wth us.
Let us pray 4 d good of Nigeria and let’s vote for d right man,may God help us
GOD BLESS NIGERIA.
I will like 2 notify the people of nigeria 2 vote 4 general mohammadu buhari on satuday 16 of April 2011. Insha Allah you wil see positive changest.Beta dey come wooo!!! General buhari dey come woo!! A kasa a tsare a raka in a kataba? to sai mu ruki mai sama da kasa ya shigan mana gaba. Allah ga bayin ka, ka taimake mu.
Brilliant article and an interesting read especially in the context of what has happened over the past week with the postponement in the elections.
It is now unofficially reported and expected that Jonathan Goodluck will win the election. Some, prior to the election, even labelled it as ‘Impossible’ for Goodluck to lose it.
@Dikko Sani Bello I see you are a passionate supporter of General Buhari. What do you think of the viewpoints given in this article?
Wow thank for writing this article, it was really interesting! I think we need to talk about new things like this more often. I hope you keep writing like this.
http://www.bribenigeria.com — Fighting Corruption in Nigeria!!! Please tell us your bribe story today!!!
POLITICS IS GOOD,LET BIG ONES,GIVE THE SMALLER ONES A CHANCE TO SERVE THEIR COUNTRY