In 2011...... the Special Edition

This is a little deviation from the usual stories of Me and Bonn, however it is a matter very dear to my heart. I have almost bitten off all my finger nails from nervously listening and reading through reviews of the events of the forth coming Nigerian elections, its not as easy as i thought it would be monitoring from outside and missing the actual undertones. I go straight to the likes of Saharareporters and Gamji immediately i turn on my computer just to be sure am in the loop, it's a crazy feeling.
I read the following quote from one of my heroes on Saharareporters :
"I am backing Ribadu as the only person, who can tackle corruption to be president. He did it when He was in the EFCC and the fear of Ribadu was the beginning of wisdom, He prosecuted so many Governors, IGP and corrupt people, he prosecuted people in UK and all over the world and was able to retrieve much looting, on this I support him to be the man".~ Prof wole Soyinka
And I was like is it about the loot or about the people? but can it be about the people without being about the loot? I don't think you can talk about the people and not talk about the loot or rather talk about the loot and not about the people.... can it be... and I became dizzy!

culled from NBMP website

Don't get me wrong, I know that my profession puts me in a tight position when it comes to testing my objectivity, but the challenge here is keeping my sentiment where it belongs and my sentiment here is, who or what do we really need to lead us to the "promised land?" A corruption expert, a lecturer, a guidance and counseling expert, a retired military guy, a seasoned banker/economist, a media mogul.... what are their ideals? what do we see when we look at them.... am dizzy again
1960 is the year Nigeria got her independence, 1963 is the year the first republic came into being, 1966 was the first military coup, 1979 saw a second republic, 1999 marked the beginning of the second attempt at democracy, and most significant in terms of the most uniting factor of my dear Naija, 1996 was the year the country won the Gold Medal for football in the summer Olympic games. Apart from the dates .......

culled from NBMP website

 Call me psychic but 2011 is going to join the above years that we have come to remember in Naija, even though it doesn't have a 3, a 6 or a 9 because of the wide spread determination to vote, but the question is, whatever change and however little, will it defy Murphy's law as it applied to the above years and trigger the right amount of sanity the country requires? More so, I am quite unnerved by the political party campaigns because like sales representatives groping for a niche to sell their products, all the stakeholders are using only the "term" CORRUPTION as a tool for gaining votes, at the expense of low Education, dwindling economy etc.
So much has happened in the life of Africa as a whole within the first quarter of the year already, lost lives and properties as a result of natural disasters, mass exodus of tribes and nations from the only place they' ve ever called home due to war and strife. Worse still, silent murders and mass killings. This is without peeking at hunger, negative impacts of climate change and disease. So much backstabbing and disappointments that you are sometimes tempted to turn very religious and pray silently for a good END because these are surely the signs of Rapture!
Ok, call me cynical now or even naive, because in my opinion, although corruption is indeed the major problem I think it is over rated that is why it thrives and I choose to blame it solely on the gullibility of the masses and the apt discernment of our docile elite. 
For crying out loud, since the country discovered oil in Oloibiri do we even have a clear record of oil loot, what was recovered and whatever percentage has been used to do good? and I use good in a "relative" sense.

culled from NBMP website

I tried to explain the extent of power failure to a friend and I said i spent a week in my hometown and during that time only 3 hours of the power supply we got was from the Power Holding Company the rest was powered by generator, however this does not influence the electricity bill you pay at the end of the month, because ordinarily one would make the logical assumption that the bill will be less, since you have an average of 3 hours a week, all things being equal. But am afraid this is only the ideal. As such, while you try to regulate power usage in Europe by switching on appliances only when you need to make use of them and then turning off lights as soon as you finish what you are doing in your rooms, just to save energy and minimize bills, you are often tempted to switch on everything at once immediately the regular light comes on just so that your conscience can justify the staggering bill you pay for the electricity you barely saw let alone used, at the end of every month. 
Cote d'Ivoire is not as heterogenous as Naija, but it has a strong Northern - Southern dichotomy, as such the November 2010 election that was supposed to bring peace became a nightmare. While we do not hope to have such an abominable situation in our esteemed STATE, I still fear! I have come to understand that our strength grows from our weakness but I still echo my pessimism "how long does it take in this case????"

culled from FB

As we look at Jega now, rather than accept him to do his job, we not only see him as a representative of the North, but North-West lol. We even trace his genealogy a step further to know his cultural affiliations, ancestors and or descendants as well as other remote relationships along ethnic lines just to interpret some of his actions in our prejudiced context, after all, his religion is clear! Most importantly though I do not want to go into the reasons we want to vote for the candidates we support, I will simply  assume that the reasons are noble, but in what way are we going about it? I watched the Arabs in awe as they combined strong will, passion, irreplaceable sacrifice and doggedness, to pursue a common goal which has put fear in the most fearless dictator. Analysts attribute their success to their tradition and cultural upbringing. A common thing that our own diverse cultures share is pride and dignity in what we believe, as well as revolt, in the face of dishonor. And what about the religions we profess sanctimoniously......? without even bringing the question of rights into the issue, Why do we lose sight and accept adversity for privilege?

The link below is a text from 2007 election

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkNigeria/message/34482