These uber -elections

At Port Harcourt, where the All Progressives Party’s (APC) flag bearer, General Muhammadu Buhari (MB) flagged off his campaign, he looked just like a local boy in the bowler cap and the jumper -the traditional wear in the Niger Delta. In Lagos and later in Abeokuta, where he had gone to pay homage to former […]

At Port Harcourt, where the All Progressives Party’s (APC) flag bearer, General Muhammadu Buhari (MB) flagged off his campaign, he looked just like a local boy in the bowler cap and the jumper -the traditional wear in the Niger Delta. In Lagos and later in Abeokuta, where he had gone to pay homage to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he was in a full buba and sokoto with a flowing agbada on top, complete with a cap made of APC colours. With his entourage similarly so decked, they embody the “and co” or the aso ebi, a Yoruba phrase that has since taken on a pan-Nigeria currency during weddings and festivals, when a mammoth number of people dress in the same colours.
The same thing obtains with President Goodluck Jonathan’s campaign train, where he and his entourage dress in the garb of the locale they are visiting. Outside of Abuja or his Niger Delta region, he jettisons his traditional jumper and the bowler cap for the local wear. The other day he was in Lagos to campaign, one had to look closely to pick him out of the row of PDP big wigs on the podium. When you add this spectacle of dignitaries of the two parties, people who could very well be calling the shots as high government personalities, soon after the elections, dressed in the same colours and trying their best to imitate the intricate steps of the ladies dancing to the drums, the resulting political carnival becomes unmistakeable.
The close observer would see school children and street urchins blissfully oblivious of the import of grownups wearing the same clothes and strutting about. To them these big campaign rallies cannot be more than one big man throwing a big party, a big ariya, and so they join in the happiness of the moment.  
It is hard to think that with so much colour, and conviviality suffusing the two campaigns, people could, at the same time, be anticipating a post -election blowup, so much so that the notion dominates street corner talks and beer parlour discussions. But it happened the last time around in 2011, so it can happen again. In fact sporadic acts of violence have already been reported in parts of Edo State where bands of PDP thugs ambushed APC supporters on their way to a rally, resulting in hospitalisation of many of them. Hence no amount of entreaties in form of ideas and measures to stop Nigeria lurching towards post-elections violence can be too much, until we put the elections behind us.
About a fortnight ago, this column suggested a few ideas towards curtailing violence including political parties, particularly the major ones becoming peace advocates to their supporters by prevailing on them to eschew violence. It also noted that the Nigeria Police and other security organs that would be charged with the maintenance of peace and order, as well as superintend the smooth and seamless voting process should be educated and sensitised that their job is to ensure everyone gets a chance to cast his /her vote without any let or hindrance. The law enforcement bodies must never mistake their duties to mean protecting the interests of the incumbent government. Where there is a blatant and shameless deployment of force to keep out or hamstring voters from other parties to exercise their rights, it should be seen as a serious infringement of the process to warrant redress.       
The time to ensure such a scenario does not occur is now. And this can be done through systematic “education and sensitisation on the demands and limits of their assignments at election time. They must be told that their essential duty is to protect and support the system’s intent to conduct transparent and fair elections.” It is gratifying to report therefore that a workshop organised by the office of the National Security Adviser and the Special Adviser to the president on party affairs has since taken upon itself to facilitate the peaceful conduct of the elections. In attendance at the workshop was Mr. Kofi Annan, erstwhile secretary- general of the United Nations and Chief Emeka Anyaoku who skilfully directed the occasion. The outcome of the workshop include enjoining parties to engage on issue- based campaigns and eschewing provocative utterances and that INEC and other institutions, including security organs having anything to do with the elections should be impartial in the discharge of their assignments. A pact was signed by all parties to forswear violence in the elections.
It is just as well that all stakeholders are being called upon to sustain the tenuous calm that exists right now and to maintain it after the elections are won and lost. It is apposite at this point to draw attention to certain advertisements that have been appearing in newspapers targeted at rubbishing MB’s reputation. These adverts purport to use acts committed by the man when he was in power some 30 years ago to deflate his trumpeted reputation– of incorruptibility, discipline etc. Yet even to the novice the danger of inciting one side against the other inherent in such adverts is so obvious. The ones depicting his ordering invasion of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s residence and the imprisonment of former Vice president Alex Ekwueme which urged their ethnic groups not to trust MB are so distasteful, they require no further comments, only to say that they are capable of inciting  ill-will against the general that could blow into open violence.
Yes, MB and the junta he headed in 1983, trampled on the civil liberties of many people. But he was one among many in the junta and as we have since learnt military governments, even 30 years ago, warts and all, were not a one man show. Issues were resolved and decisions taken by consensus. It is therefore patently unfair to heap all the blame on him for merely being the kingpin of the junta. Much as we may malign military rule, it should not be forgotten why MB &co struck. It was to put a stop to corruption and incompetence of the civilian government at that time and the rot that ensued. One story had it that the invasion of Awo’s residence was to give the junta access to files in which he had copiously documented his plans for Nigeria, which the junta may have thought would be invaluable in running the country it had taken over. The veracity of the story was borne out by Awo’s reaction to the invasion, when he noted that when he was burning the midnight’s oil working to find solution to Nigeria’s challenges many people were wasting their energies carousing in bars into the wee hours of the morning! Though the act of invasion cannot be justified, but to go in search of already made plans upon which the country could be run should serve to mitigate the error somewhat.
Anyway, it is hoped the pact signed by the parties would be made to be worth the paper it was written on, by which I meant such adverts fit to set the whole place ablaze should not see the daylight. Let’s make these uber -elections  peaceful.