₦airaland Forum

step1:
Fashola is not a product of Tinubu. Fashola is a product of ACN. Obanikoro and co are not to replace fashola when Jimi is there.

Funny girl, when last have you lived in Lagos and I am not talking about holiday

Thank you jare, eyan yiiiii

When you ask them questions like that, they all get mad. I asked Katsumoto the same question, he got belligerent.


A lot of people dont know the true state of things. The dont know that Tinubu's influence isnt state-wide. He is hated like mad, especially with the way he governed Lagos.

Anyway, we shall all see.

Desola:
Seriously? He cannot rule Lagos? As a matter of fact, he is done ruling Lagos, but OWNING it! Whether you like am, whether you no like am, Tinubu is the baba Isale and undesputable owner of Lagos state, no one holds that title.
What I wouldn't do however, is go as far as declare him the Asiwaju of Yorubaland. Now, that is a feat he cannot achieve in this lifetime but when it comes to Lagos, he is the DON. Tinubu is what the Queen is to the UK and Fashola is what Cameron is.

I agree with you. Remember how he sent thugs to beat Gani at Igbosere, during the whole University of Chicago/GCI wahala. Fun times I tell ya.  I could not believe it. With Gani's popularity and influence, Tinubu was able to send his thugs to roughen the only SAM we know.

WRT Lagos, his influence is immense. Not even the Military could touch Gani, but Tinubu did.

May God save the SW from this drug lord! The Al Capone of the SW

dayokanu:
No one has told me what is wrong with remi Tinubu contesting and winning an election?


The Kennedy family in America contest elections and win, George Bush has 2 of his children as state governors already. So what has Tinubu done wrong

Anyone who says Tinubu is selfish knows nothing. Tinubu relinquished his [b]Lagos Central Senatorial slot in 2007 for Ganiyu Solomon. Go and check[/b]

When Tinubu campaigned for ACN in the SS they said he wanted their oil money, Now he is supporting A Benue man, Maybe he wants Benue Oil money too

Following the same spirit, Solomon, from his membership of the lower chamber of the National Assembly, moved on to the upper chamber as a senator presently representing the[b] largest district in the state – Lagos West[/b], in an election that put his party, Action Congress (AC), above others in every area of the state.

http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/29360/1/Ganiyu-Solomon-Footprints-of-a-peoples-Senator/Page1.html

really? 

In April 2007, Solomon was elected to the Senate on the Action Congress (AC) platform for the[b] Lagos West constituency[/b]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganiyu_Solomon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigerian_National_Assembly_delegation_from_Lagos

adejoro74.:
First[b] Graduate in the Nigerian army:[/b] Ojukwu

Will you just stop these lies. Like seriously, its getting annoying. It could not have been because, for starters, Yorubas were more, and are still more educated than Ibos, I am saying this with all humility that it deserves.

Anyway:

He joined the civil service in Eastern Nigeria as an Administrative Officer at Udi, in present-day Enugu State. In 1957, within months of working with the colonial civil service, he left and joined the military as[b] one of the first and few university graduates to join the army[/b]: O. Olutoye (1956); C. Odumegwu-Ojukwu (1957), E. A. Ifeajuna and C. O. Rotimi (1960), and A. Ademoyega (1962).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Odumegwu_Ojukwu

Katsumoto:
Ojukwu and Victor Banjo both enlisted in the army at the same time; not sure who enlisted firs[/b]t. Will check and get back; but its not conclusive Ojukwu enlisted first.

This is from Reuben Abati, the strongman of  Ramat House. I want to believe he did his homework before writing that.

Lt Col Victor Adebukunola Banjo, born April 1, 1930, [b]was the first Nigerian Director of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps of the Nigerian Army. He joined the Army in 1953 as Warrant Officer 52 and he was the sixteenth Nigerian to be commissioned as an officer. (NA 16). A product of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, he also obtained a B Sc. in Mechanical Engineering. His travails began immediately after the January 15, 1966 coup, which brought Major-General Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi to power.

http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/reuben-abati/victor-banjos-gift-to-the-nation-18.html

Hmmm, they lived and sacrificed and persevered so we may be proud of them and challenge ourselves to be better than they were, and advance the cause they fought for better than they did. We stand on their shoulders so we may see further. Hopefully, those coming after us would be able to stand on ours!

paraphase:
The 1st and only Nigerians that have been nominated for GRAMMY AWARDS are Yorubas ---King Sunny Ade, Femi Kuti and Tiwa Savage

And SEAL and SADE and Hakeem 'Camiilonaire' Seriki et al

^^^

Can you please demand apology on my behalf too.

After all, agbatan la gb'ole, ta ba d'aso fole, a paa laroooooo

Eko Ile:
It beats me why you keep bashing and trashing your own just to please these NL clowns. They trash you, they trash your people, they even trash your leaders and you join with your own stamp of approval to prove them right? Why? Just why? Do you have any pride in yourself and your own people?  You keep sounding like these haters and SW bashers on NL.

Do you even know the meaning of the word leader?

Now, Who elected Awolowo Yoruba Leader? Or for that matter Akintola? MKO Abiola? Ajasin? Ige? Adesanya? Where and when? These Leaders were not elected but by their actions and proclivities to defend the political rights of the people and their cultural heritage, the people follow them unanimously. There is usually no election. No contention. Leaders do not demand respect or 'capture' their followership like the people you know. Their followership is natural and organic - right from the grassroots. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has shown these traits of leadership over and over again. That is why he is a Yoruba Leader.

Asiwaju left AD with his followers when it was clear that the AD we all knew had been compromised. Since he left, what has happened to the AD? Tinubu should be given credit for his foresightedness in sensing the troubles with AD which - with all due respect - the leaders of Afenifere like Senator Adesanya and Chief Bola Ige did not see on time back then. The old men were too trusting of a wily fox like Obasanjo who came to them with guile and swept the rug from under their feet. It is still unexplainable that a party would lose 5 states at a go in Nigeria.

It is to Tinubu's eternal credit that Yoruba still have a leg to stand on politically today in Nigeria including your Osun and Ekiti. His political sagacity led him to form ACN which today is the only viable opposition in Nigeria. Give him credit.

I know that was directed at Ileke. Having followed you a while now, i see you as a very calculative person. You pick your opponents. Why not direct than crapp to people who know and who understand Nigerian politics, and people old enough to know their right from their left. People with deep understanding of Yoruba culture and western politics. Why not say that to Katsumoto? Or DK or Kilode?

Awolowo was not elected? Ode! Just to humour you, I will direct you to his book: Adventure in Power (page 314), published 1985, by Macmillian.

Ajasin? so what did the Ooni Okunade and other Obas that went to his house to inform him as the choice of Yoruba leader did? To just hang out with him?

BTW, how old are you?

ola olabiy:
Abeg, tell me more jare. I wan no Gbawe welu welu.
E be like sey you know am well

Gbawe:
My brother , you are most certainly welcomed . My uncle is now an ACN senator . He never had to prostrate for Tinubu. He did not take any oath and he was certainly not coerced into pledging blind allegiance to Tinubu. Folks can continue to spread their horror stories that is not at all based on facts . Fola Adeola attested to this when he said that no one is focused on Tinubu at ACN meetings .

I just don't understand how we Nigerian constantly and  regularly allude to a need to see Jesus-like virtues in our administrators when , for now , our Nation is far from a testimony to the most desirable virtues to be found in humanity. We have to manage what we have , currently, to gain progress and development . It is those who pragmatically understand that concept who contribute to our march towards a brighter future.

This and I think he mentioned his brother or another relative sometime on another thread ( will dig it up when I am less busy) also working for the Lagos State government, some padi padi thing like that. I dont mean to cause any embarrassment. I just think he is being disingenuous, for the sake of full disclosure.

ola olabiy:
Tell me more, please. Is Gbawe's brother a politician? A popular one?

Gbawe, talk now. Talk.

Professor of English: Tell this guy to not use Oyinbo dabaru us now. Call him to order.

Gbawe:
The only attention seeker I see here is you. Afterall, you started this thread that shamelessly pays homage to attention seeking !!!! I am acting like a[b] normal[/b] citizen of Nigeria but I would not expect you and your ilk to understand that since you loathe everything about your Nation and fellow Nigerians. Folks like you are just shameless. I never asked any of you not to criticise Nigeria. I only wanted you to do so fairly. Obviously , self-hatred led  to the foolish examples you give as indication of how Nigerians are not "smart". You are simply too obdurate to accept you are wrong and move on. As for zstranger/wizardofoz/fstranger , he is simply a [s]deranged lunatic[/s] not worth responding to. Sane and upright folks don't create multiple ID's for the purpose of talking confused gibberish.

Deranged: behaving in an uncontrolled or dangerous way because of mental illness

Lunatic: an offensive word for a person  behaving in an uncontrolled or dangerous manner because of mental illness


You cant even sanely control yourself from using the same word (different versions) twice and you want us to believe you are normal.

I can see you have toned down your rhetoric a bit. Dont forget that, ki gbo gbo soro soro lo mo pe, there are some people with the skills to listen, the patience to calculate, and the wherewithal to reply at the right moment!

Gbawe:
And you are exposed as an ignorant person not even able to intellectually defend what you say. The problem people like you will always have is that you simply do not understand that others , perhaps because they actually prefer to be[b] involved[/b]  players rather than spectators, have a far better grasp of issues than you can ever have. You don't do yourself any favour with how you come into a debate with so much bias when , in reality, it is obvious you don't have much knowledge beyond your Birmingham Tesco !!!!

You are only talking this way to save face.  After all, it is not as if we dont know that your brother is part of the legion of incompetent people (who think they are smart) running this country?

We cant continue to accept the status quo, and the only way to move forward is to remove people like your brother and his cohorts from positions of authority. Come live a day in the shoes of people like me, the OP, kobojunkie, Ajanlekoko et al and see if you would not change your tune. I am not surprised at your slant though, empathy and incompetence/baseless ego dont always go together.

Where did you get the money to go to school abroad? Maybe we should start from there?

Instead of you to objectively look at issues, analyse neutrally, and conclude as would a sentimentally unattached observer would, you have chosen to take the low road, rambunctiously denigrating everyone who dare speak truth to power. I'm sure you've read this quote before: "The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates, the wisest man in ancient Greece, said that at his trial for heresy. That is, to make progress, we have to look inward and analyse our defects, in the hopes of correcting them and moving forward confidently. And the OP, patriotically, has started the discussion in that direction.

^^^

Listen to this song, understand it, digest it, and you'd understand:


[flash=400,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZD1xMxhFGk?version=3&hl=en_US[/flash]

^^^

Obviously, you are still a virgin!

Ignorance is indeed bliss!

Gbawe:
And you are exposed as an ignorant person not even able to[b] intellectually defend what you say[/b]. The problem people like you will always have is that you simply do not understand that others , perhaps because they actually prefer to be[b] involved[/b] players rather than spectators, have a far better grasp of issues than you can ever have. You don't do yourself any favour with how you come into a debate with so much bias when , in reality, it is obvious you don't have much knowledge beyond your Birmingham Tesco !!!!

What is si intellectual about the crap you've writing.

You are no where as informed as you think you are.

What a waste of Oxford's Affirmative Action spot!

^^^^

We both know, you didnt write that!

@Blazay, so you like 69 like that?


I love it too. I can do it all day long. No lelele

Truss me. Lets meet up and 69 each other.

What say you?


Do you like to be fisticuffed from behind? I can do that too.

I got my very first Ph.D is fisticuffing.

The First Nigerian, And Only Nigerian, On FBI's Top Ten List - TobiChukwu Onuora

@OP:


What do phock were you looking for on CL


I only go there whenever I am feeling honey, before they removed the adult section.

Cant complain much, the casual section still gets the job done, just a lil slower.

So @OP, are you a provider or what?

jennifer74:
@Ystranger

You are really sick!

What style do you enjoy most?

Butterfly?

I can do that too!

She is got one up on Bill Gates!

Go girl!


GEJ dey enjoy mehn, no wonder he is always looking forward to Lalale Fridays

So many things I would do to her if I had the opportunity to have her all to myself for one Friday night:

She would be good for this:

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/cm/cosmopolitan/images/mD/the-lusty-leg-lift-md.jpg

See that arse, very well suited for this:


https://www.cosmopolitan.com/cm/cosmopolitan/images/HI/sexual-seesaw-sp-md.jpg

It shouldnt take me long to nut.

God bless Dr. Dame Patience Goodluck

www.nairaland.com/attachments/463190_first_lady_jpg6f2bb6f6fd01a155b50b1a7f1e08a877



See waiting GEJ dey enjoy every night? See that Ikebe super.

Just for a second, imagine her wrapping her legs around GEJ's waist?


Oluwa mi ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The First Nigerian Father Of The Internet To Be Featured On The LSAT (US Law School Exam) - Philip Emeagwali



http://emeagwali.com/education/law-schools/Letter-Top-US-Law-Exam-Focuses-on-Emeagwali.pdf

The First Black/Nigerian/Yoruba/Yo'oba/African Woman To Publish An Article In The Annals of Mathematics - Katherine Adebola Okikiolu

The First Black/Nigerian/African/African American/Yoruba/ SW'er To Win The Most Prestigious Award For Young Mathematics Researchers In The US, A Sloan Research Fellowship -  Dr. Katherine Okikiolu

Anyhoo,


The First Nigerian Successful/World Renown Father-Daughter Combinations in Mathematics - Dr. George O. Okikiolu & Kate Okikiolu


The First Nigerian Mathematician To Publish Over Two Hundred Papers, More Than Any Other Black Mathematician - Dr. George O. Okikiolu

Kola Jamodu, president, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, however, believes that it is a price worth paying for an enduring democracy, which will promote a business-friendly environment through the election of capable hands. “MAN has a long-term view of Nigeria. So, we cannot be laying emphasis on short-term losses incurred during elections. Our members understand that our businesses would be better for it if the elections work out well and Nigeria becomes better entrenched in the comity of nations. If there is no Nigeria, there will be no MAN,” he said.

In his view, it was not out of place for INEC to restrict movement during elections; the ultimate target should be that in the future people would be able to vote online. Nkwocha also believes that if the elections at the end of the day produced credible leaders at all levels, it would more than make up for whatever the economy lost as a result of the temporary shut down.

The lessons for the federal government and Nigerians generally is to borrow a leaf from advanced countries and, perhaps, Ghana and refine the process of conducting elections without grounding the economy. The consensus is that the overriding objective of preventing rigging by restricting movement on election days would no longer justify the colossal losses to the economy.

Just like the UK and the US, elections in Ghana do not require restriction of movement and shutting down the economy. Adu Koranteng, a Ghanaian journalist, said the Ghanaian government did not declare a holiday during the presidential election in 2008. “We vote every 7th day of December in an election year, businesses are not closed and people go and vote only to resume back to their work. So, the election does not shed anything from the economy apart from the money spent on it,” Koranteng said.

Chuks Okoroezi, Lagos-based businessman, advised the federal government to show more interest in the impact of restriction of movement on the economy during elections. “What government needs to do is to set up a study to find out exactly what the country loses each time movement is restricted to conduct an election. If we know that X billion is usually lost on a single day when movement is restricted, we would be able to say whether the economy can cope when this is done four times consecutively within a month in an election year. Otherwise, we may have to stagger the elections for different levels to hold in different years, so that we can give the economy time to recover before we inflict another damage to it by way of a fresh restriction of movement,” he argued.

Stevenson expressed optimism that with the increasing level of political consciousness demonstrated by Nigerians during the elections, the country would soon toe the line of its counterparts in the developed world, by embracing a voting pattern that would not necessitate shutting down the economy. “In the future, Nigerians would definitely go to vote while they are working with the level of political awareness now raised unlike in the past. Maybe technology would have been introduced where people can go in, slot in their cards, do their voting and go back to their offices or back home," he stated.

Oladapo Awosokanre, executive director, African Development and Advocacy Centre, AFRIDAC, United Kingdom, UK, who was in the country to monitor the elections, said it was quite unfortunate that the elections were carried out without consideration of its effect on the economy. "It is quite unfortunate that we actually had to halt all commercial activities. Elsewhere, especially in the UK and the United States, US, elections are held while all commercial activities go side by side. That was why it was quite alarming when Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, cancelled the April 2 election suggesting a postponement to Monday, the first working day of a week. I see that as quite unfortunate because the cost of losing so much money in the economy is not something that our leaders actually consider when they are doing things," said Awosokanre.

According to him, it is only in Nigeria that "we have holidays at random without any concern for the economy. I understand that we lose almost N70 billion everyday there is a halt in commercial activities. And I am sure that is just a conservative estimate in a country where we don't usually keep data." While recalling his experience in the last election in the UK, which brought in David Cameron into power, Awosokanre said people were able to cast their votes and at the same time carry on with their normal commercial activities, "because all you need to do in an election is to go to the polling booth at the appointed election hours, and vote accordingly. We do not have total clampdown like it operates in Nigeria.”

Yusuf Adamu, manager, Red Roses Restaurant, Kano, is of the view that Nigeria has not reached a level where emphasis is placed on time. “We have not yet come to the recognition that time is money. Restriction of movement during elections amounts to shutting down the economy because it leads to loss of man-hours, which inflicts an incalculable damage to the economy,” he noted.

In countries like the UK, Adamu said businesses were allowed to go on while elections held between 8 am and 10 pm. “The time span usually allocated to the exercise allows everyone to vote at their own convenience without necessarily shutting down the economy. In our own case, the fear of rigging is the reason why this cannot be done for now,” he added.

Long before the elections, experts observed that government officials had jettisoned governance, relegating the problems of the country and the management of the economy to the background. For many months before the elections, the National Executive Council, NEC, presided over by the President Goodluck Jonathan, failed to meet regularly and when it met, no critical economic decisions were taken nor progress made. Public sector projects and contracts were not attended to. The President once castigated his ministers who often left their duty posts for campaign trips.

Indeed, the election dealt a heavy blow on the 2011 budget, which is yet to be passed, making Nigerians to doubt the performance of the budget if eventually passed. The budget may yet suffer more delay, as the President will be preoccupied with appointments and the task of forming a new government up till May. "This has implications for projects that should be executed to improve the investment environment as well as the welfare of the people because planning and productivity are affected in some segments of the private sector," observed Femi Deru, president, LCCI.

The colossal cost of the elections to the economy has led to calls by Nigerians that President Jonathan must work with the national and state assemblies to restructure the electoral process because Nigeria cannot afford the current cost of elections to the economy. "For each day the economy was shut down, losses are suffered in terms of output and incomes. Informal sector businesses are even harder hit as many of them depend on daily incomes," Deru said. He noted that investors' confidence was weakened before and during the elections due to uncertainties that come with elections, particularly since the country has a poor track record in managing political transitions.

Many Nigerians considered it absolutely unnecessary to declare election days work-free. Nigeria is described in some quarters as a holiday nation, which Ugo Stevenson, an Owerri-based actor, decried last week. "Consciously or unconsciously, we push ourselves into celebrating more instead of working. I don't think it should be so because it takes a heavy toll on the economy," explained Stevenson. According to him, as a nation in dire need of economic growth and development, Nigerians should work more especially since there are only two ways an economy thrives: from the services it renders and the products or goods it produces. "So, if we are not producing anything as was the case dduring the holidays for elections, and leaning on what other economies are giving us, it means we are losing and it is affecting the economy," continued Stevenson.

Experts, including Mike Itegboje, president, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, fear that the capital market might not witness meaningful activities long after the elections are concluded. Foreign investors are reportedly also watching and waiting to see how the elections would go and their impact on the economy, expressing fear that if something negative came up as a result of the elections, they might find it difficult to move their funds from the market.

Olufemi Awoyemi, managing director, Proshare Nigeria, was emphatic last week that the period of elections was a bad time for the Nigerian economy. Analysts at Meristem Nigeria, a securities firm, forecast that the downturn in the capital market might continue well after the elections. They said apart from the fact that many investors sold their shares to fund their campaigns; others had adopted a sit-and-watch attitude to know the direction that things would take.

Daniel Nkwocha, lecturer, Criminology, Evan Enwerem University, Owerri, also said that on the days the various elections were held, all business premises, offices and shops within the country were shut down, even as international flights were restricted, which resulted in heavy losses to operators in all the sectors of the economy. He hinted that an average of N90 million was lost by a single airline, while at the Lagos ports, a lot of money was lost to demurrage as about 1,500 containers could not be cleared.

It is almost impossible to correctly quantify in numerical terms the losses suffered by businessmen, government agencies and the economy generally while the country was shut down on election days. However, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, estimated that Nigeria lost N210 billion. The organisation figures that for each day of the election that the economy was shut down, losses totalling N70 billion were recorded in terms of output and income, mainly in the informal sector businesses, which depend on daily incomes. The calculation is that since the nation's gross domestic product, GDP, is $173 billion, about N26 trillion, Nigeria would have lost N71 billion in one day.

No company in the semi-formal sector depicts the despondency of the election days like Kamasco Nigeria Limited, a big consumer and general electronics store based on Ahmadu Bello Way, Kaduna. According to Joseph Panaki, the sales representative of the company, the election and the violence that followed it cost his shop over N10 million as it was forced to close down both on the election days and the violence it generated. Adejohnson Ventures, an electronic store located on Ahmadu Bello Way, had its share of misery during the elections. According to Semi Azeez, its accountant, the store lost about N500, 000 each day it closed during the elections. He added that the store was closed for more than seven days due to both the election and the violence that ensued. “The election has cost us a lot. Election should not make people to lose their businesses,” said Azeez. In states like Kaduna and Bauchi where riots broke out after the presidential election, there was an added trouble. The curfew imposed to curtail the riots added further damage. According to Azeez, “The effect of the curfew has also been devastating on our businesses.”

Sales also nosedived for Destiny Bookshop along Ahmadu Bello Way, Kaduna. “The election crisis has also affected us because we could not open. Then came the curfew, which has incapacitated our business. Everything has cost us about N10 million because I have two other bookshops in Kaduna,” said Celestine Destiny, owner of the bookshop. In fact, Ahmadu Bello Way alone has over 70 stores, which specialise in goods ranging from electronics, furniture to home and offices. In the views of many residents, the elections may have cost the businesses on that street alone over N500 million.

The elections also took a huge toll on the capital market. After a sustained appreciation of crucial indices of the capital market since late last year, particularly with an 11 per cent leap in January, the indices began to drop steadily in April, giving investors concerns. For instance, the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s all share index fell from 27,797.39 basis points recorded on January 25, 2011 to 24,733.38 in the first week of April, wiping off the earlier gains. Similarly, market capitalisation fell from N8.885 trillion in January to N7.902 trillion in April 2011. A key reason for the downturn in activities of the capital market, analysts said, was the fact that many investors who doubled as politicians sold their stocks to raise money to fund their campaigns. A lot of investors were said to be sceptical about investing in the market, especially during the elections, following the uncertainties that may surround the outcome of the elections

To Tawakalitu Usman, a petty trader dealing in Fura, a local milk drink, the election days proved to be bad days for her business. “I lost well over N7,000 daily on these days, and that is a lot of money. To minimise my losses, I opened my shop immediately the voting ended.” She counselled, “Voting or elections should not be planned to affect businesses.”

By late last week, Tolani Iredele, a trader in Akute Market, Ogun State, who deals in provisions, was yet to recover from the losses she suffered during the elections. As far as she is concerned, nothing compares with daily earnings, which she was deprived of for four election days. Abimbola Oyegbenro, managing director of PIC Computers, Computer Village, Ikeja, Lagos, thanked God the elections came to an end last week because it almost crippled his business. “The election slashed my total income, I make an average of N50,000 daily from sales of computer and accessories. But in the last three weeks I have lost about N150,000 from my sales for the three Saturdays and Tuesday the federal government declared curfew and restricted movement.” What was particularly painful to him was a big business deal that coincided with the election. He said, “I imported some computer components and accessories from China and my client from Katsina who is supposed to come and pick them up has not come because he can only travel on Saturday but the restriction of movement and post-election violence have wrecked everything. And these are goods worth hundreds of thousands of naira,” said Oyegbenro.

The client too will have some story to tell, like other businessmen in cities across the country. Oyegbenro is even lucky that he had cleared his consignment ahead of the elections. This is because the closure is not limited to restriction of movement within the country; the federal government also closed the borders at every election. The ministry of interior says that the closure and the restriction order form part of designs to ensure a hitch-free exercise. What that means is that while the exercise is going on there will not be any form of business transaction in the country, even as business across the border will be frozen.