I had nothing better to do today so i watched Yar'Adua's inauguration ceremony on Ben TV (it was either that or the usual trash on daytime tv) .
After the ceremony, the station cut back to a studio panel, i don't know what i was expecting but i was really disappointed with the stuff i heard, the discussion, the phone calls, everything was all about us moving forward and everyone hoping that Yar'adua will sort everything out, oh and everyone made a point of reminding us that this was naija's first successful hand over of power from one civilian govt to the other as if that changed the facts about the elections.
There was a bit of a faux pas from BEN TV's Alistair Soyode (who is also the owner of the station) who got slightly carried away and described today as "Nigeria's 47th independence anniversary as well as Yar'adua's inauguration".
Not that anyone noticed with all the high-fiving and backslapping going on in the studio.
but i digress..
what really got me was that some people even defended the whole electoral process that threw up Yar’Adua, by using Obj's lame excuse that our nation is still young and we shouldn't compare ourselves to western countries.
I agree we shouldn't compare ourselves to western countries as they've obviously had many years of practice but whom should we compare ourselves to? We could start with Ghana or if that’s too far away how about Rep of Benin, which had similar elections last year, an election regarded as free and fair. (Rep of Benin also got its independence in 1960)
Like a friend jokingly said, we Nigerians suffer from 'denial of denial', according to wikipedia it's a process that involves thoughts, actions and behaviours which bolster confidence that nothing needs to be changed in one's personal behaviour. This form of denial typically overlaps with all of the other forms of denial, but involves more self-delusion..
meanwhile sorry for the break in transmission it was due to an anomaly in the space time continuum, Please stay tuned as we now return you to our normal 'state of denial' where Nigeria is the giant of Africa and the happiest country on earth..
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Almost forgot about this, courtesy of Solomonsydelle:
In recent history, Nigerians have been overwhelmingly betrayed by those charged with addressing their needs. Instead of serving the people, public servants have served themselves to the detriment of the masses. The result is a nation lacking adequate infrastructure, organisation and security.
The ineffectiveness of Nigerian leaders indicates a lack of accountability to their constituents. Nigerians are no longer relevant to their leaders, thus, leaders do not feel responsible to them.
From this day, all Nigerians are responsible for the future of this great & powerful country. Consequently, all Nigerians must commit themselves to the following:
1. We must demand that elected officials be held accountable for their actions and in-actions.
2. We must expect democratic principles to be honoured, respected and maintained.
3. We must believe that all Nigerians are equal under the law and should be treated as such.
4. We must apply ourselves to improving the lot of every individual Nigerian regardless of gender, religion, tribe or social status.
5. We must strive to maintain a united republic despite our differences.
Only upon achieving these principles can we as a people fully live up to our potential as a land of greatness. For ours is a country renowned for its illustrious people, ample resources and sheer physical beauty.
7 comments:
The next time I hear that sentence, “we are still a young democracy” or “it took the US 300 years to perfect their system”, I will scream. Denial of denial, you couldn’t have put it any better
How far are we from the Nile?
Mali and Mauritania conducted elections in April too - they are literally dirt poor, sparsely populated, but none of this we are a young poor country - the observers said the elections were both free and fair.
This plodding giant of Africa is beginning to look like the ogre at the top of Jack's beanstalk.
I think I would never do business with any Nigerian would does not truthful state the case for what happened in those April 2007 elections.
If such people cannot be truthfully honest about the facts and events of that time they cannot be trusted to be of the kind of integrity to do business with.
You got it there - Denial of denial and we are nowhere near the Nile.
Nigeria...well, our first attempt was a major flop. 1993 is still fresh in our political minds...If things were allowed to go as open as it should, free and fair, then I fear we are trying to return to '93 with the military taking over. I fear something like that may happen, again.
So I've just learned to take what happened in this past election in good faith and hope things get mended before the next one and we can hope for a free and fair election, with little or nothing to worry about unleashing chaos...
@Akin
LoL, whats that saying 'denial is not just a river in Egypt'
@Yosh
"hope things get mended before the next one and we can hope for a free and fair election"
Oh dear, so you think the "illustrious" class of 2007 is going to put its faith in the electoral process in 2011??
April's election raises a lot of issues, moral issues about what is right and wrong, which can not just be swept aside, all in the name of moving forward and 'preventing chaos'.
Interestingly enough Yar'Adua said in his inaugural address that we should "stop justifying every shortcoming with that unacceptable phrase “the Nigerian Factor” as if to be a Nigerian is to settle for less."
Well accepting this election "in good faith" will mean settling for less...
OK, I take back the "in good faith" phrase...but while the election can be open to debate and criticized for how it was conducted, my only consolation prize is that the projection of downright chaos wasn't as bad as it had been projected years ago...If not to anyone, to me, though, that is something worth appreciating,.
A little something something for you, my latest posts.
The Nigerian election was not rigged in Arp2007. It happened long before that, while we sat back and waited.
Your comeback was great. More than I can handle. I concede defeat, I live to draw my sword another day.
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