Is anyone concerned about INEC's attempt to spend 74 Billion Naira for voter registration? The 2011 elections is shaping up to be one of the most expensive elections in history. There is another way for INEC, they just had to be a bit more creative. Check out this website: www.dontspendthatmuchonelections.org

Nigerians wants accountability, transparency, better governance, but not ready to pay for it.

courage89:

Nigerians wants accountability, transparency, better governance, but not ready to pay for it.

You really think the whole 74billion is for the election? A larger chunk is going into our politicians private accounts.

Wake up man this is Nigeria! As I write this, a lot of lobbying is going on in Abuja as to who gets the contract to provide the voter's registration software. Some of us have already presented the most perfect biometric solutions that INEC can ever imagine yet we are still not sure of getting contract. Competence does not count in Nigeria at least with our politicians.

The only hope for some of us now is that Jega does not trust his in-house people. I hope this project will not go to those fcking chinese who
don't know anything.

I'm not saying politicians will not embezzle these funds or not. But if we want free and fair election, we have to give the organizers enough resources to do their job right. If you want quality, you have to pay for it.  If we handicap them by not giving them enough resources, we stand to suffer another 4 more years of bad leadership.

courage89:

Nigerians wants accountability, transparency, better governance, but not ready to pay for it.

My take too.

I agree with Simon Kolawole here: http://www.thisdayonline.com/ncomments.php?id=180211#396119

deb:

You really think the whole 74billion is for the election? A larger chunk is going into our politicians private accounts.

Wake up man this is Nigeria! As I write this, a lot of lobbying is going on in Abuja as to who gets the contract to provide the voter's registration software.[b] Some of us have already presented the most perfect biometric solutions [/b]that INEC can ever imagine yet we are still not sure of getting contract. Competence does not count in Nigeria at least with our politicians.

The only hope for some of us now is that Jega does not trust his in-house people. I hope this project will not go to those fcking chinese who
don't know anything.

Thought they were buying it directly from the manufacturers, and the extra billions is as a result of the tight schedule, hopefully, NYSC members will be well rewarded this time around

these perfect biometric solutions you've presented, have they been used or adopted by anyone before?

Nigcomsat also said they have produced a biometric national identity machines and software but they cant provide a prototype or point to any organisation currently utilising their 'innovative' product

courage89:

Nigerians wants accountability, transparency, better governance, but not ready to pay for it.

I disagree with this assertion. It has never really been the case that we are unwilling to pay for better. What has been the problem is we have paid so many times over for this and it makes sense to be weary of making the same mistake . . . we want to be sure that this time we get it right.

the best argument against democracy is a talk with the average voter - winston churchill said that - free and fair elections, while desirable are not a magic bullet that will solve nigeria's problems - most of the candidates, in the end are not out to change the system but the status quo

Dis Guy:

Thought they were buying it directly from the manufacturers, and the extra billions is as a result of the tight schedule, hopefully, NYSC members will be well rewarded this time around

these perfect biometric solutions you've presented, have they been used or adopted by anyone before?

Nigcomsat also said they have produced a biometric national identity machines and software but they cant provide a prototype or point to any organisation currently utilising their 'innovative' product

wa kwu re!

Kobojunkie:

I disagree with this assertion. It has never really been the case that we are unwilling to pay for better. What has been the problem is we have paid so many times over for this and it makes sense to be weary of making the same mistake . . . we want to be sure that this time we get it right.

It is common to majority of Nigerians, even if the spending is well justified and they are getting more than their money's worth. They’ll still be complaining that the spending is too much, just because they are spending all that money at once rather than saving it. Rather than critiquing and recommending how the funds can be spent judiciously without sacrificing quality, they are ready to kill the spending and impede our progress in the name of corruption. While I do agree with you, there is a high probability of the same situation repeating itself. Why not argue that certain risk mitigation be put in place to curb frivolous spending and focus on value added spending that will cater to the end result.

courage89:

It is common to majority of Nigerians, even if the spending is well justified and they are getting more than their money's worth. They’ll still be complaining that the spending is too much, just because they are spending all that money at once rather than saving it.

Please quit with the bull . . . they complain because there is really a reason to complain. If we had saved all the money we have allowed to go to waste in the last 10 years alone, there will be more money to spend today or whenever we get our act together. 
Rather than attempting to turn this into some US vs. THEM bull, can we please get over our personal ISSUES and deal with/tackle reality as it truly is?

courage89:

Rather than critiquing and recommending how the funds can be spent judiciously without sacrificing quality, they are ready to kill the spending and impede our progress in the name of corruption.

Foul!

courage89:

While I do agree with you, there is a high probability of the same situation repeating itself. Why not argue that certain risk mitigation be put in place to curb frivolous spending and focus on value added spending that will cater to the end result.

Why should I or anyone else not involved in this project do that? THINK! THINK!!THINK!!!  At this point, don't you reason that it makes sense for EVERY project put in place risk mitigation steps to curb frivolous spending, and those that do not have it in place be terminated immediately until that is taken care of? Why require the layman to now take it on his/herself to do that when he is, and remains a bystander who has continually been ripped off by the system?
THINK, THINK, PLEASE THINK!!!

Someone presents a proposal and rather than ensuring that the proposal presenter consider risks and present you and everyone else with plans in place to curb risks, you are here urging that those who do not support the project do that? AAAARRGGH!!! lol

Look, the fact that you agree, and even indicate that there is a HIGH(note: not low or even medium, but HIGH) probability of the same situation repeating itself needs to get you wondering if Jega has a risk mitigation plan in place. If not, you ought to be ought there yourself saying no to this unless such is in place, rather than coming on here to tell others how to complain or not complain of this.

That said . . . I am still researching this to figure out if he has more than 120,000 laptops and training planned for this. I am not against any judicious spending of our money, but I am definitely against continued WASTE of our money and Time. I am yet to be convinced that Jega has the right plan for change. This is not the first time we have learnt of voter's registration fraud and spent billions to fix it. Jega's plan leaves a lot of questions for me since I am yet to see and review the actual plan. When I find it, I will be better able to comment on the actual plan. My worry is not necessarily the expense but the haste in which Jega made this decision and the little time we have from now till January or even June to get something next to solid in place.

Kobojunkie:

Please quit with the bull . . . they complain because there is really a reason to complain. If we had saved all the money we have allowed to go to waste in the last 10 years alone, there will be more money to spend today or whenever we get our act together. 
Rather than attempting to turn this into some US vs. THEM bull, can we please get over our personal ISSUES and deal with/tackle reality as it truly is? 

Nobody in this life has the crystal balls to forecast the future. May be if the people have been more supportive in the last year 10 years, all those funds would have been well spent. There is no other way to look at it, whatever concerns Nigeria should be personal to all of us.

Kobojunkie:

Why should I or anyone else not involved in this project do that? THINK! THINK!!THINK!!!  At this point, don't you reason that it makes sense for EVERY project put in place risk mitigation steps to curb frivolous spending, and those that do not have it in place be terminated immediately until that is taken care of? Why require the layman to now take it on his/herself to do that when he is, and remains a bystander who has continually been ripped off by the system?
THINK, THINK, PLEASE THINK!!!

Someone presents a proposal and rather than ensuring that the proposal presenter consider risks and present you and everyone else with plans in place to curb risks, you are here urging that those who do not support the project do that? AAAARRGGH!!! lol

Look, the fact that you agree, and even indicate that there is a HIGH(note: not low or even medium, but HIGH) probability of the same situation repeating itself needs to get you wondering if Jega has a risk mitigation plan in place. If not, you ought to be ought there yourself saying no to this unless such is in place, rather than coming on here to tell others how to complain or not complain of this.

The outcome concerns you, me, all of us and that’s why you should be part of the risk mitigation. Nobody is perfect, and people in charge of these projects are not perfect. They’re prone to leaving one or two things out. That’s where experts, people knowledgeable about the industry come out to offer their own opinion and fill the void. Sometimes CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC extends invitation to experts and get them to analyze and offer insights covering numerous US economic policies so that policy makers /authors can take notes. Similar things happens when experts open blogs, forums to discuss and debate economic policies, regulations et.all  Guess what, we’re also doing the same thing and you don’t know who is reading this site.

I’m not suggesting presenters of ideas should not consider risk mitigation in their proposal, it is part of their job to offer every necessary details required to get the job done. What I am saying is that we should be ready to critique their risk mitigation to ensure successful delivery of the proposal, assuming the proposal meets and addresses yearnings of the people.

Why should those projects be terminated? Some of these projects; if not implemented today, may cost more tomorrow, or it is even possible that tomorrow may be too late.  What is needed is adequate public awareness and support to realize benefits embedded in such projects.

courage89:

Nobody in this life has the crystal balls to forecast the future. May be if the people have been more supportive in the last year 10 years, all those funds would have been well spent. There is no other way to look at it, whatever concerns Nigeria should be personal to all of us.

WOW! so, you have somehow summiced that the reason why the past 10 years has been an abysmal failure is because "the people" who have had NO VOICE OF THEIR OWN FOR ALL THAT TIME, were not supportive at all?
WOW!
Does one now need to be able to accurately predict the future BEFORE one knows to take precautions today? WOW!

courage89:

The outcome concerns you, me, all of us and that’s why you should be part of the risk mitigation. Nobody is perfect, and people in charge of these projects are not perfect. They’re prone to leaving one or two things out. That’s where experts, people knowledgeable about the industry come out to offer their own opinion and fill the void. Sometimes CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC extends invitation to experts and get them to analyze and offer insights covering numerous US economic policies so that policy makers /authors can take notes. Similar things happens when experts open blogs, forums to discuss and debate economic policies, regulations et.all Guess what, we’re also doing the same thing and you don’t know who is reading this site.

The "NOBODY IS PERFECT" excuse again? eeeeekkkkk!!

courage89:

I’m not suggesting presenters of ideas should not consider risk mitigation in their proposal, it is part of their job to offer everything necessary details required to get the job done. What I am saying is that we should be ready to critique their risk mitigation to ensure successful delivery of the proposal.

a) Have the presenters of this idea CONSIDERED risk MITIGATION according to your knowledge of the plan? YES/NO please!
Oh! I am definitely ready to critique their plan but where is the plan? IS THERE A PLAN? YES/NO

courage89:

Why should those projects be terminated? Some of these projects; if not implemented today, may cost more tomorrow, or it is even possible that tomorrow may be too late. What is needed is adequate public awareness and support to realize benefits embedded in such projects.

a) Projects that are seen to be of HIGH RISK to the STAKEHOLDER but do not consider ways of cushioning the stakeholders in anyway NEED TO BE TERMINATED as they are usually considered, what's the word, not worth the investment.

It makes no sense to invest $16 Billion to fix power problems in a nation if there are no solid plans in place to ensure the success of such goals. We already know this is a fact. Why would you, or anyone else, sanction such an action in futility yet again? It makes more sense to take time to draw out a plan that will benefit us even 40% or more this time around. Not jump hastily into another failure.

Please, in our bid to sound as HIGH AND MIGHTY and PATRIOTIC as we can, we need to be sure that common sense is not allowed to fly out the window while we sit basking in our new found glory for self.

Kobojunkie:

WOW! so, you have somehow summiced that the reason why the past 10 years has been an abysmal failure is because "the people" who have had NO VOICE OF THEIR OWN FOR ALL THAT TIME, were not supportive at all?
WOW!

Ghandi Said "be the change that you see in this world today", if you have an opportunity to voice your opinion or make a change that you believe in and you did not,  the result is wastefull spending, low quality project. Some people had the chance, and they said nothing. 

Kobojunkie:

Does one now need to be able to accurately predict the future BEFORE one knows to take precautions today? WOW!The "NOBODY IS PERFECT" excuse again? eeeeekkkkk!!a) Have the presenters of this idea CONSIDERED risk MITIGATION according to your knowledge of the plan? YES/NO please!

I support precausionary measure today in respective of what the future holds. Are you perfect, please do tell us? That you have find out for yourself

Kobojunkie:

Oh! I am definitely ready to critique their plan but where is the plan? IS THERE A PLAN? YES/NO

According to Jarus's link, there seems to be a plan. Read the article

Kobojunkie:

a) Projects that are seen to be of HIGH RISK to the STAKEHOLDER but do not consider ways of cushioning the stakeholders in anyway NEED TO BE TERMINATED as they are usually considered, what's the word, not worth the investment.

Is that your recommendation. Do nothing to prepare for next election?  WOW!!!!!!!!!!

Kobojunkie:

It makes no sense to a nation to a nation to invest $16 Billion to fix power problems if there are no solid plans in place to ensure the success of such goals. We already know this is a fact. Why would you, or anyone else, sanction such an action in futility yet again? It makes more sense to take time to draw out a plan that will benefit us even 40% or more this time around. Not jump hastily into another failure.

Who said they haven't taking the time to prepare the plan that will benefit us? Expensive may be, you want quality you have to pay for it.

Kobojunkie:

Kobojunkie link=topic=493967.msg6543613#msg6543613 date=1281391461:

Please, in our bid to sound as HIGH AND MIGHTY and PATRIOTIC as we can, we need to be sure that common sense is not allowed to fly out the window while we sit basking in our new found glory for self.

People can always agree to disagree. There is no need for bashing of any sort, and I will not go down that road with you.

courage89:

Ghandi Said "be the change that you see in this world today", if you have an opportunity to voice your opinion or make a change that you believe in and you did not,  the result is wastefull spending, low quality project. Some people had the chance, and they said nothing. 

What Ghandi said there is beside the point. The point is we are speaking of a nation where the PEOPLE have had no voice for a decade now. So, please explain yourself.

courage89:

I support precausionary measure today in respective of what the future holds. Are you perfect, please do tell us? That you have find out for yourself

Are other countries that have a system better than we have PERFECT? What is the point of your asking that, gosh awful question of me? What feelings did you hope to solicit with that 'despicable' choice of a question? What has PERFECTION to do with getting a voter's registration system that actually works to give us at least 40% more of what we have now?

courage89:

According to Jarus's link, there seems to be a plan. Read the article

I read the article, but somehow I doubt you did read the same with EYES WIDE OPEN  . . .

Thankfully, Professor Jega later took time out to explain to us, unlike the previous professor who felt he owed us no explanations. The current register, Jega explained, is a fraud (he didn’t use the word “fraud” but how do you classify a register that contains names like Mike Tyson and Nelson Mandela?) Also, he said registration must be as close to the people as possible for optimal results. That means having as many centres as the existing polling units. That comes to 120,000 centres nationwide. Every centre must have a laptop, back-up batteries, webcam (camera, that is) to capture voters’ images, a handheld machine and a printer to roll out temporary cards on the spot. The complete set of equipment will cost $2000 each, multiplied by 120,000 centres all over the federation.

Jega said equipment alone would cost about N36.8 billion if INEC goes directly to the “manufacturers” (he means “assemblers”; what computer companies, such as HP and Dell, do nowadays is “assemble”—the parts are manufactured by different companies in different countries across the world). If it is through vendors, there would be a mark-up margin of about 30 per cent, bringing the cost to N55 billion. The other costs which will bring the requirement to N74 billion during registration, he said, are: training, voter education, logistical requirements and allowances, among others. Jega also said for the elections proper, an additional N10 billion would be needed to cover costs such as logistics and allowances for agents and officials across the federation. In summary, therefore, INEC is asking for N84 billion to conduct the 2011 elections—presidential, National Assembly, governorship and House of Assembly. I was impressed with Jega’s openness in breaking down these figures publicly.

My problem, however, starts with the issue of spending billions of naira to register voters every four years. Why? Can’t we have a permanent register? When you clock 18, you just walk up to the INEC centre and register, with your biometrics taken for verification to avoid double registration. Just as you cannot collect the new international passport twice, so also will it be impossible to register twice. It would be a simple administrative procedure, the same way you register the birth of a child or vehicles. We don’t need to be setting aside four weeks for registration every four years. We don’t need to be registering afresh and spending billions of naira every four years. Therefore, Jega would be doing us a world of good by giving us a credible electoral register which will endure for years. If we would spend N74 billion once and for all for this purpose, I do not have any objections at all. As Jega himself has said, the benefits by far outweigh the costs.

Now, what process will produce the registration equipment? If Jega gets it wrong ab initio, he will be repeating the mistakes of his predecessor, Professor Maurice Iwu, and the exercise will be marred as usual. The end result will be a discredited exercise. That means the elections will fail before they are held. That means N74 billion is flushed down the toilet. Jega would certainly not want to go down that road.  One landmine the professor must avoid is patronising traders who call themselves vendors. This is nothing but political patronage. This unnecessarily pushes up the cost of acquiring the equipment. He himself has admitted that it would increase the cost by 30 per cent, a whopping N18.2 billion extra which is more than enough to pay for the allowances of INEC officials during the elections (the budget for that is, in fact, N10 billion).

It is important that companies being selected to do, for example, IT-related jobs must be established members of related professional bodies. This is to avoid dealing with traders whose focus is maximisation of profit. Since time is not on Jega’s side, he must not gamble with inexperienced companies. He should do due diligence on the companies bidding for the job. Most of them don’t even have addresses in Nigeria. Doing due diligence on them will show their strengths and weaknesses, most importantly their financial strength. I understand that some of the politically selected companies who were paid deposits under Iwu’s administration ran away with the money. It was also alleged that it took some banks more than one month to establish LCs for some of them due to their credit history. I hope Jega will not go down that path.

Also, Jega must look at these companies’ network of offices to support the technology being deployed. Otherwise, it will be one huge crisis nationwide as our people are not generally technology-driven. Many of these bidding companies don’t even understand the peculiarities of the Nigerian terrain. We have 36 states and Abuja. The least we should expect is that these companies are present in the geo-political zones, with capacity to have technical representation all over Nigeria throughout the periods of voter registration and general election. This is very important to the success of the entire work of INEC. We just cannot afford a situation where a contractor dumps equipment on us and we spend the rest of the time battling to get the best output from them.
In 2006, Iwu awarded the contract for handheld/Direct Digital Data Capture (DDC) machines to a Canadian firm. The registration flopped as the firm failed to meet up. It couldn’t just work with the deadline and the peculiarities on ground. There was confusion everywhere. I remember very well that it was Zinox Computers, a Nigerian company, that hurriedly provided INEC with 11,500 units to save the day. The sort of red-hot deadline we always work with in Nigeria does not suit these foreign companies. When the 2007 elections were almost marred by the registration exercise, we were left to our fate by the Canadian company. No Nigerian ever sighted the executives of this firm. They had nothing to lose. They simply disappeared. Did they even refund our money?

Last week, I put the question of local content across to the INEC chairman. He said no Nigerian company manufactures laptops. In truth, even HP, Dell and Acer do not manufacture laptops! When you see a “Made in US” brand, the appropriate phrase should be “Assembled in the US”. The parts are manufactured in Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Singapore and other places. We have a Peugeot assembly plant in Kaduna. Would we rather import Peugeot cars under the pretext that no Nigerian company manufactures them? It would be sad if all the N55 billion for equipment goes to foreign economies. If a chunk of the money is retained here, Nigeria stands to benefit in many ways. Economists often talk about the multiplier effects on the economy—capacity utilisation, generation of employment, reflation of the economy, and so forth.
I certainly cannot blame Jega for all the mess on the ground. It is not his making. But he has a rare chance to do things properly, without fear or favour, and with the national interest at heart. He has a rare chance to write his name in gold. He has a chance to show that indeed, Nigerians can rise up to any challenge. He must be proudly Nigerian.

There is no indication from the article that a plan exists . . . matter of fact, what the author does is give his concerns and possible ways Jega could get around them but he stays away from making absolute statements on the effort . . .

courage89:

Is that your recommendation. Do nothing to prepare for next election?  WOW!!!!!!!!!!

You would have to INFORM me of where exactly ANYONE makes such a recommendation. I know it is TOO EASY to play the "YOU are against what I SAY SO YOU ARE ENEMY OF PROGRESS/DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO BE DONE" card, but come on . . . we need to get past that ridiculousness and focus on what really is being said here. PLEASE!!

courage89:

Who said they haven't taking the time to prepare the plan that will benefit us? Expensive may be, you want quality you have to pay for it.

Actually, it is an issue being raised. Elections in January . . . less than 5 months to test the voter registration SYSTEMS to be BOUGHT, and then train election reps to use the machines . . . for a project that large, it is a short period. By
Well, like I said I don't believe people are as concerned about the expense as they are the potential success of it all.

courage89:

People can always agree to disagree. There is no need for bashing of any sort, and I will not go down that road with you.

I didn't bash you in anyway . . . I simply said cool down with the PATROTIC mantra and see how you may be letting common sense out the window with the way you continue to dissect this issue. Even the article @Jarus posted points out the various problems to this and suggests that Jega do a good job mitigating risk, the same risks so many others have expressed concern about.

My original argument was premised on what i think is necessary to move the country forward, and that is good and credible election. I believe this should top Jonathan priority list, higher than power (because it’s difficult to achieve power issue within a year). If we want good and credible election that can elect disciplined mind, disciplined era, and we understand what the stalemate was in the past. Why not strife and make sure we put first thing first, institute necessary plan (that is debatable) and enough resources that will ensure that credible election. If 10,000 naira is needed to organize, construct quality election, and we shortchanged the course by 1 naira. We've already flawed the election from the beginning. Please, understand that i am for scrutinization of public spending, and as a matter of fact i believe constructive criticism bring the best out of people (public officials). But we have to get our priority right, understand what it is required to do the job, ensure quality election, and not just election. Some people don’t want credible election to take place, and they are ready to thwart any credible and viable option laid down just to ensure their will takes precedence. I’m not saying the current plan laid down by Jega is perfect, or not too over bloated in any way, or does not need to be scrutinized … but while arguing, let’s understand what is at stake and what is necessary to achieve that objective.

74 Billion Naira for voter registeration is pure day light robbery. Why do we continue doing these sort of things ourselves. and we all thought GJ was doing a good job.

courage89:

My original argument was premised on what i think is necessary to move the country forward, and that is good and credible election. I believe this should top Jonathan priority list, higher than power (because it’s difficult to achieve power issue within a year). If we want good and credible election that can elect disciplined mind, disciplined era, and we understand what the stalemate was in the past. Why not strife and make sure we put first thing first, institute necessary plan (that is debatable) and enough resources that will ensure that credible election. If 10,000 naira is needed to organize, construct quality election, and we shortchanged the course by 1 naira. We've already flawed the election from the beginning.

Don't get me wrong here. I completely understand the point you are trying to make, and I agree. My problem is that we have no guarantees offered us yet on the success of this costly exercise but you seem to have made up your mind that spending all this money will improve things. So, I proceeded to inquire of the actual plans or proposals or anything to help us get to where you are on this.

If money has always been the solution, we would have gotten this right from the beginning. When Iwu was in, he spent quite a lot too during his last exercise. Fast forward to today and we all know that all that money did not go anywhere close to even putting a dent in the problem. If anything, problems were created with that money.

courage89:

Please, understand that i am for scrutinization of public spending, and as a matter of fact i believe constructive criticism bring the best out of people (public officials). But we have to get our priority right, understand what it is required to do the job, ensure quality election, and not just election. Some people don’t want credible election to take place, and they are ready to thwart any credible and viable option laid down just to ensure their will takes precedence.

Do you really believe that this group, demanding a stop to this spending are against credible elections in Nigeria? I hope not. Because if you have been following the news on this lately, you will see that there is real cause to be concerned. The number has been rising and rising for a while now. And only today, I read somewhere that despite the commitment to go straight to manufacturers for the equipments, 30% of the Naira 88 billion cost involved will be applied to vendor fees. We are speaking here of paying vendors(their own share) about Naira 26 Billion of the approved money.

courage89:

I’m not saying the current plan laid down by Jega is perfect, or not too over bloated in any way, or does not need to be scrutinized … but while arguing, let’s understand what is at stake and what is necessary to achieve that objective.

How is this plan perfect? Explain it to us please . .  we want to know what this perfect plan is. I know what is at stake and I bet you millions do too. Only I don't know what the actual plans are other than we plan to purchase 120,000 laptops, also transport vehicles, pay off bills, train persons to use the laptops, etc. How all that gets us Free and Fair election is still to be explained. If you do have access to the plans, please help!

To those who say they want "accountability, transparency, better governance" it really doesn't cost money really, it costs/takes "good people" in the right places. Comfortable Nigerian are always under the impression that Nigeria is a rich country. unfortunately they are the only ones that feel this way, the millions of unemployed and impoverished in Nigeria certainly don't think so. Just like a family budgets its financial resources so must a country. I can list probably 100 things in Nigeria we could spend the money on that will benefit the citizens way more that spending that much on voter registration. I strongly believe that there is a very deep lack of insight and creativity in the way we approach problems in Nigeria so we just throw money at everything thinking that is the solution. Our government spends money like drunken sailors, the term cost effective is antithetical to their nature which is right in line with that erroneous feeling of national wealth being confused with personal wealth. We are not a rich country we are just rich in natural resources, there is a big difference. Dubai is rich they have natural resources (Oil) like Nigeria and then looked into the future and planned for a day when oil will no longer be premium so they transformed their society and economy. Sincerely folks between the cost of elections every 4 years and what we pay our elected officials down to LGA level we are running an unsustainable democracy that will fizzle out sooner or later. Do we even think 20, 30 dare I say 50 years down the line, if we did I guarantee you that we wont spend 74 billion to register voters.