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Temitemi1's Posts

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PoliticsRe: GEJ Hates The Yorubas Says This Newspaper Advert by temitemi1(m): 6:38am On Mar 26, 2015
Coming from apc bulletin grin grin grin. GEJ loves NigerianS n Nigerians loves GEJ tongue tongue tongue. GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Rochas Okorocha Escapes Death by temitemi1(m): 1:10am On Mar 26, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: APC Sues Fayose Demands N50 Billion In Damages by temitemi1(m): 10:17pm On Mar 25, 2015
50billion ko, 50 kobo ni! GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Comparing Cumulative Budgets Of OBJ And GEJ by temitemi1(m): 10:15pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Look At This Photo And Vote Wisely by temitemi1(m): 10:13pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: A Former Dictator Or A Failed Leader: Who Would You Prefer? by temitemi1(m): 10:12pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: "Dont Steal Nigeria's Election"---- JEAN HERSKOVITS by temitemi1(m): 10:10pm On Mar 25, 2015
TRASH!
ISpiksDaTroof:
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Don’t Steal Nigeria’s Election


Campaign posters for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, an opposition candidate, in Lagos.

AHMED JALLANZO / EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY

By JEAN HERSKOVITS

MARCH 25, 2015
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/03/26/opinion/edherskovits/edherskovits-articleLarge.jpg
LAGOS, Nigeria — Nigeria’s government canceled the February presidential election just days before it was to be held, postponing it until March 28. If this weekend’s vote is delayed, disrupted or canceled, it will imperil the democratic future of Africa’s most populous country.

This election is unlike any other in Nigerian history. President Goodluck Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party is facing the first credible challenge to a ruling party, and he is intent on staying in power, even though popular discontent with the P.D.P. is rife.

If the election had been held as scheduled on Feb. 14, it is likely that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the opposition All Progressives Congress would have won. The six-week delay broke the A.P.C.’s momentum and gave the P.D.P. time to to reverse the tide. Incumbency guarantees access to the treasury and command of the security forces — the first is in play now, and the second could be during the election and its aftermath.

Nigerian politics can be murderous; Mr. Buhari has already survived one attempted assassination, an October bombing in Kaduna. And if there is another postponement, a contrived disruption on election day that leads to an unconstitutional interim arrangement, or if the election results do not appear credible, Nigeria could erupt in violence.

Although Nigerians have often been divided along ethnic, religious and regional lines, there has been a remarkable change. Until quite recently, southern Nigerians overwhelmingly supported Mr. Jonathan, a southern Christian. That view prevailed in 2011, when Mr. Buhari also ran for president. The influential Lagos press portrayed him as a dictatorial, fanatical Muslim seeking to impose Shariah on the whole country despite the fact that Christians were a majority in his cabinet when he ruled the country in the mid-1980s.

But daily life has worsened and corruption has escalated. Last year, Mr. Jonathan removed from office the respected governor of the Central Bank, Lamido Sanusi, after Mr. Sanusi announced that in one 15-month period at least $20 billion in government funds went unaccounted for. (The government recently claimed that an audit had found that “only $1.47 billion” was missing).


Meanwhile, the same central government has failed to send money it owes to the states, and teachers and other civil servants have gone unpaid. Currency devaluation and inflation mean that unpaid and laid-off workers in the public and private sectors are now in the same boat as the country’s impoverished and jobless millions. They are unlikely to vote for the status quo.

There have been military humiliations, too. Nigerians are embarrassed that their army needed reinforcements from smaller, poorer neighbors like Chad, Niger and Cameroon to reclaim northern towns from the terrorist group, Boko Haram. In fact, no Nigerian troops were present in some of the liberated towns. Worse, the government is hiring South African mercenaries for $400 a day in a country where soldiers are paid much less, often late, or not at all.

Frontline troops have long complained they did not have adequate equipment or sufficient ammunition. But according to the government’s own figures, a quarter of federal budgets since 2010 have been allotted to security. Many Nigerians conclude that the money has gone to enrich the army top brass and their civilian colleagues.

The February election was supposedly postponed so that the military could focus on the offensive it has now launched against Boko Haram. But the government’s priority doesn’t appear to be protecting Nigeria’s people and territory; its goal is to stay in power. The postponement has simply allowed the ruling party more time to spend money the opposition cannot match.

Many Nigerians now see Mr. Buhari as the man who can deliver them from corruption and insecurity. He was Nigeria’s military ruler from 1984-85. He was petroleum minister before that. And in the late 1990s, as a civilian, he chaired the Petroleum Trust Fund. He could have enriched himself, but he did not. In the 1980s, he repelled a Chadian invasion and acted decisively against an earlier extremist Muslim group. As Adeyemi Adefulu, a Yoruba civil servant who was unjustly imprisoned under Mr. Buhari’s regime during sweeping arrests of the allegedly corrupt in the 1980s, wrote recently, “Our jailer has become our hope.” He is now actively campaigning for Mr. Buhari.

With so much at stake, the United States must play a constructive role. Secretary of State John Kerry has stressed that the election must take place on Saturday and that it be “free, transparent and credible.” And Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. last week expressed support for the electoral commission and urged electronic authentication of voters.

More is needed. America must publicly insist on retaining the head of the electoral commission, preventing any election-day violence or intimidation by security forces, and announcing results at each polling place. And voters should not be prevented from using mobile phones to photograph local results as a precaution against later rigging.

This election must not be stolen from the people. Mr. Kerry has suggested that visa restrictions could be placed on anyone who interferes with the electoral process. This policy, along with a threat of targeted financial sanctions, should be announced now and it should include members of Nigeria’s security forces.

The global fall in oil prices, Nigeria’s squandered foreign reserves and the draining of an account intended to cushion price shocks mean that Nigerians face hard times ahead. They deserve to choose who will lead them through those times.



Jean Herskovits, a research professor at the State University of New York, Purchase, has written on Nigerian politics since 1970.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/opinion/dont-steal-nigerias-election.html?_r=3&referre
PoliticsRe: Election Precautions by temitemi1(m): 10:07pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: UPN Faction Endorses Buhari Two Days To Election by temitemi1(m): 10:06pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
RomanceRe: Does She Really Loves Me Or Just Keeping Me? by temitemi1(m): 10:04pm On Mar 25, 2015
Ameachi own don finish for this country grin grin grin. GEJ tilll 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Things To Remember As Chief T.a Orji Goes To Senate. Scripted By Don Ubani by temitemi1(m): 10:00pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: You Will Be Amazed To See Apc's Change In The Holy Bible by temitemi1(m): 9:57pm On Mar 25, 2015
TRASH!
Millionjazz:
I never know buhari and APC was spoken about in the bible untill today. Pls before u vote read prover24:21-22... U will be suprised and will agree with me that there is nth new under the sun!...after reading, use your discretion. Esp verse 22
PoliticsRe: With Change We'll Move From Bad To Better - Dame Jonathan by temitemi1(m): 9:55pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Five Things General Buhari Should Do If Elected President - Yahoo News by temitemi1(m): 9:36pm On Mar 25, 2015
Wake up! Wake up! U have been dreaming all day grin grin grin. GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Prophecy: The Next President Of Nigeria Is Going To Be A General (PICS) by temitemi1(m): 9:32pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: PDP Accuses APC Of Planning To Rig The Election - Read Statement by temitemi1(m): 9:30pm On Mar 25, 2015
All eyes on them shocked shocked shocked shocked shocked shocked shocked shocked. GEJ till 2019!!!
RomanceRe: SELF SERVICE ADDICTION: Which Of These Should Take The Blame? by temitemi1(m): 9:28pm On Mar 25, 2015
Yourself!
PoliticsRe: There Are Juju Worshippers In My Entourage - Patience Jonathan by temitemi1(m): 9:26pm On Mar 25, 2015
All hail mama peace! GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: The People’ S Time Has Come The Commonsense Revolution Is Here by temitemi1(m): 9:24pm On Mar 25, 2015
Asiwaju of corruption grin grin grin. GEJ till 2019!!!
RomanceRe: Is It Wrong For A Girl To Ask A Guy Out???? by temitemi1(m): 9:23pm On Mar 25, 2015
No big deal!
PoliticsRe: We Will Recapture Gwoza By Friday, Says Jonathan by temitemi1(m): 9:08pm On Mar 25, 2015
Capture by friday n election will be won on saturday grin grin grin. GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Do This And Nigeria Will Change by temitemi1(m): 9:02pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Jonathan, PDP Waste N1tr On Hate Campaigns - APC by temitemi1(m): 9:00pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Lost In Reality by temitemi1(m): 8:58pm On Mar 25, 2015
TRASH!
hablink:
Sometimes I wonder if am really a Nigerian or lives in Nigeria. Like is it not this same country where there is massive increase in insecurity, unemployment, inadequate electricity supply, poor oil condition, unstable economy, CORRUPTION and the likes and yet some folks still believe GEJ is worth voting for. Like seriously?! Can someone please lemme know when Nigeria got splitted into real and virtual realities, I believe am witnessing the real reality while some (esp GEJ supporters) are lost in the virtual reality or is it vice versa?
PoliticsRe: Jonathan's Transformation Agenda Has Led To Improvement In The Country by temitemi1(m): 8:56pm On Mar 25, 2015
Even pope confirm am grin grin grin cheesy. GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Why Jonathan Will Get Majority Votes In South-west! by temitemi1(m): 8:54pm On Mar 25, 2015
Because majority loves him. GEJ till 2019!!!
RomanceRe: Is It Even Possible by temitemi1(m): 8:47pm On Mar 25, 2015
Someone like what undecided undecided lipsrsealed
PoliticsRe: APC Campaign: Live Update In Front Of Tinubu's House (Photos) by temitemi1(m): 8:42pm On Mar 25, 2015
Head office of corrupt people grin grin. GEJ till 2019!!!
PoliticsRe: Cute Girls Supports GEJ by temitemi1(m): 5:10pm On Mar 25, 2015
GEJ till 2019!!!

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