Chxta's Space (23 Viewers)

[Chxta]

Where are we going?

Some people Chxta spoke to about the (s)election fiasco are of the opinion that Nigerians should rise up against the ruling PDP. However, they are quite varied in their opinions of how such an uprising should take place. J, a girl from Edo state was particularly saddened by the arrest of Mr. Oshiomhole. Chxta shares her pain. Even from here it was obvious to Chxta that everyone (or almost everyone) in that state wanted the PDP out, so it is difficult to understand how they 'won' especially given that Oshiomhole led in all exit polls available. Koolutemper feels that there should be an uprising. She and Chxta discussed the benefits (or lack of) of that course of action a few days back.

In Ondo state, another case of robbery occurred, with INEC going against the wishes of the people and handing another term to the incumbent Mr. Olu Agagu. The elections were a farce in Delta state, but Mr. Uduaghan who coincidentally happens to be a cousin to the serving governor Mr. James Ibori was imposed on Deltans. In Oyo state, Adedibu has apparently had his way, and Alao-Akala has been declared the winner. Odili has once again bitten Awuse in the butt in Rivers, this time imposing his own candidate on the people.

In the East, it is a story of a wreckage with Ebonyi proving again that it happens to be the sanest part of Igboland. In Enugu, there have been isolated cases of violence, as has been the case in Imo, and the elections there have been declared void. What Chxta doesn't understand though is how PDP 'won' in Anambra. Given that there was absolutely no vote there (Chxta has at least 8 different people saying that), Chxta wonders how that stunt was pulled, and why does it always have to be an Igbo man doing the government's dirty work, Nwosu in 1993, and Iwu now? Why do we always have to appear to be the one's doing the dirty jobs, or being the face of dirty governments (read Chukwumerije, Ofonagoro, Nweke)?

On to the scenario on the ground: Pat Utomi has withdrawn from the race. That is an insignificant withdrawal in Chxta's opinion given that he wasn't going to be able to gather enough votes to affect the outcome. However, Chxta has it on good intelligence that Buhari disagreed with the other opposition candidates on the issue of boycotting Saturday's poll. Chxta agrees with him.

Boycotting the poll at this stage won't achieve much, since the 'people that matter' have already sworn that the vote would go ahead anyway, and apparently don't give a hoot as to whether people come out or not. The question then becomes what is the course of action to take? Where do we go from here?

In Chxta's mind, and based on the majority of the views expressed thus far there are broadly two courses of action that can be taken, and both need the people to for once take a definite stand...

Amongst a lot of people both in the diaspora and at home, there is a boil and a cry for blood. People feel that this government has taken us for granted one time too many. Chxta couldn't agree more, but meeting 'fire for fire' as one guy put it yesterday is in Chxta's view a terrible mistake, for the following reasons:
1) the Nigerian police is not adverse to shooting not a few people dead in the streets.
2) it is Chxta's view that any violent protest (given our history some of which was highlighted here) would be poorly planned, would loose focus, and would degenerate to something else.
3) we would begin to see all sorts of characters (read MEND) begin to manipulate such protests for their own selfish ends, and Chxta wouldn't rule out all kinds of ethnic and religious sentiments coming to the fore, looting of shops belonging to Igbo traders in other parts of the country, or settlement of old scores would highlight such a move.

Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of a properly educated population that can focus on the task at hand, so it would be too easy for the elite to turn what may begin as a legitimate protest against our collective disenfranchisement into some sort of divide and rule gimmick, and in the course of our history, they have shown that they can (and would) do it again and again. Lucky Igbinedion for example didn't go to stuff (or remove) ballot boxes by himself, the people who did that are part of the 'oppressed' masses. If a violent course of action is decided on, Chxta foresees a situation in Benin where it would be too easy for the PDP goons to turn the whole thing into an 'Edo vs Ishan' scenario...

A second option is also to protest, but a strong protest of the silent kind. Voting with our feet. On a good day it should be easy to send a strong message to 'our' government that we are not interested in what they are doing. Simple and short if people sit it out in front of the governor's lodge at Dennis Osadebe Avenue in Benin for example, or start a major form of civil disobedience, lock the country down, refuse to go to work. Not a soul turns up for the election (or is it selection) on Saturday, that would send a strong message to the goons running this show that we are displeased. Ultimately, the government is meant to be answerable to the people, but if the government wasn't placed there by the people, there is no way they would feel duty bound to answer to such people.

However, the drawback of this course of action is that Chxta fears that his people do not have the stamina for civil disobedience. It would only last a few days before someone would complain that she is running short of provisions in the house, or that his store at Idumota is loosing millions of Naira. Refer to the almost successful labour strike led by Adams Oshiomhole in May 2004 for a classic example of our laziness or apathy or indiscipline or --insert word here--.

So sadly, from Chxta's 'vantage' point, Chxta doesn't think there is much we would do about the robbery that occurred between Saturday and Monday. Refer to Nkem's excellent post where he gave solid examples/reasons for our current predicament.

Or is there an alternative?

Maybe there is just some light even in this very dark night. You see, last week a public holiday was declared as a pre-emptive measure to prevent a certain character from standing in Saturday's elections. Chxta had expressed serious doubts in Chxta's treatise on that public holiday (which people in the private sector at least didn't obey) that the venerable justices of the Supreme Court would knock out the judgement that we all knew was logical in time. Happily, they have proved Chxta wrong, and they practically threw the case out.

This tells Chxta that maybe, just maybe, the judiciary in Nigeria has finally found its voice. If that is the case, then it is clear in Chxta's mind that that is the route to go. INEC and their cohorts made one error that can be exploited. Before anybody can be sworn in for any position, all cases pertaining to the person's issue would have to be heard and resolved. This means that people should start a rash of cases NOW. Keep the lawyers busy, but let the PDP know that they can't run shows the way they used to before. Sue these bastards. If Chxta's memory of the electoral act is correct, then come what may, on May 29, Olu Obasanjo has to leave, and worst case scenario, the president of the Senate would take over. If that is what must happen for our voices to be heard, then so be it, but we must not allow our collective will to be crushed.

 

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[Lawnchair Bes]

thats post #600 of this thread or post #599 from chxta on this thread

 

[Chxta]

Read the title.

 

[Chxta]

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. ---Anonymous.

So the (s)elections back home have come and gone (with a few reruns expected) and overall, it was bad. There is no other way of putting it. Mass rigging, violence, lack of materials, disenfranchisement, whatever else could have gone wrong, did indeed go wrong and people are complaining. Now this is where I have an issue, and I will address that later on.

Whose complaints do we listen to?

Buhari? Atiku? They failed to unite in the first place, but I won't blame them for that. In Nigeria at the moment, politics is still very much about personalities, not about ideas, which is why we have so many different political parties. It is my opinion that in absolute terms there can only be three parties, one inclined to the right, one to the left, and one leaning to the centre. But, na Naija...

Since we are looking at personalities, we have to point out that not one of the presidential candidates was 'ideal', and it is my belief that the winner, Mr. Umar Yar'Adua got in on the back of a PDP that basically 'outrigged' their opponents. I have focused on his character before, and my opinion of the man remains unchanged at this point, he is basically a good man who is in the ring with devils, on his side and on the opposing sides. The coming test of wills is going to be extremely interesting to watch.

As far as I can see, cracks are already beginning to appear in whatever 'alliance' the opposition would want to come up with. Buhari wants it, so does Atiku, so we are not likely to have a unified opposition court case, and data on electoral fraud would not be shared. Their case would more likely than not fizzle out (by the way a little birdy told me that there is going to be a marriage within the Yar'Adua and Atiku clans in the near future).

The EU and the US have all condemned the conduct of the elections. The EU, I am more than willing to listen to, but as far as I am concerned the US should bottle it.

According to Mr. Atiku's mouthpiece, the Times of Nigeria, a US Senator, Russell Feingold has called on the US government not to recognise the incoming (not certain yet) government as its election was marred by fraud, irregularities, and intimidation. Not that I really care if the Amis recognise the new government or not (and they would recognise a government of any sorts if it would keep the oil flowing), but maybe someone has to remind the guy about how George the Younger got there in the first place...

In any event, at the moment, I want to highlight the positives we have gained from these elections, no matter how few they are:

First, we have to accept a fact before our very eyes: Nigeria's institutions, that includes the Judiciary and the Electoral body, have been characterised by decades of decay. That the elections were held at all is a victory in itself. That Atiku was allowed to compete, is an even bigger victory because with that it may seem that the Judiciary is beginning to find its own voice. It is very important for progress in the country for the Judicial system to be truly independent. We have to focus on that little victory and put all hands together to make sure it is consolidated. Those who have complaints about the conduct of the election MUST go through the court system. Hopefully they have PROPERLY documented the irregularities that occurred during the vote or else a court case would be an exercise in futility. One of our failings has always been an inability to properly keep records.

Another minor victory would be a successful and hopefully a relatively peaceful handover from one civilian to another. If we successfully pull that off, and things remain relatively calm (sadly in Nigeria a lot of things are relative), then we can hopefully say that we have seen the back of the military in government for good.

Third, in the run in to the presidential vote, the Army launched a successful offensive against insurgents in the far North of the country. I have always maintained that dealing with threats to the country, foreign or domestic, may sometimes require a strong hand. Those guys in the far North have been a menace since before people in the South-South had even heard of guns (all pun intended), and with the exception of the Abacha regime, they've generally been treated with kid gloves. I think they need the services of an iron hand, and besides, if we can always keep the military occupied, there will be no time to plan coups. Then there is MEND...

Anyway, for me all the news hitting me on CNN and BBC about fraud, intimidation and irregularities is just blah blah. There have been small victories, and it is with a sense of hope that I am choosing to focus on those small victories because some form of progress has been made. The fact is that while slow progress isn't as sensational as fraud and violence (especially when it comes to reporting about African issues), in the long term it is much bigger news.

As for the vast majority of people who are complaining about the conduct of the presidential vote, I want to tell them to bottle it. Y'all might remember in the run in to the voters registration exercise I kept screaming one thing which I would repeat here for the sake of clarity: Please register to vote. Even if the election is rigged, you have to go out and vote. You would have no moral right to complain if evil geniuses are elected to power when you could not exercise your civic duties. The power of change is in your hands. The burden is on you. Evil prevails when good people do nothing.

People allowed themselves to get frustrated by the conduct of the gubernatorial votes just a week before the presidential vote. For me, the main shortcoming of the presidential vote was the fact that voter turn out was IMHO unbelievably low. And like I have said in so many different places, if you had the opportunity to register, then to vote, and you consciously refused to take it, then please shut up. Whatever the outcome of the process, you contributed to it.

Progress in Nigeria is going to be painfully slow, and can only be accelerated by a change in the very psyche of the people. There are no shortcuts to it, and the sooner we realise that, the better for all of us.

 

[Chxta]

http://www.bbspot.com/News/2004/04/nigerian_quiz.php

 

[The Arif]

YOU ARE CHXTA

You annoy people on internet football forums. You open useless threads and post articles about which other people on the forum don't care. You have nothing to share.

 

[Dominic]

YOU ARE CHXTA

You annoy people on internet football forums. You open useless threads and post articles about which other people on the forum don't care. You have nothing to share.

Would be funny though if someone, with too much time on their hands, would make a 'which juventuz member are you?' kind of quiz.

 

[Bozi]

YOU ARE CHXTA

You annoy people on internet football forums. You open useless threads and post articles about which other people on the forum don't care. You have nothing to share.

post of teh monthe early candidate here arif

 

[Chxta]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/world/africa/03nigeria.html?hp

Measured one way, Nigeria’s democracy took a giant step backward in April. Its state and national elections displayed a disastrous mix of fraud and bungling, managing to be worse, by most accounts, than the seriously marred elections in 1999 and 2003.

Observers from the European Union said the elections were not credible; Nigerian observers demanded that they be canceled and held again.

The president-elect, Umaru Yar’Adua, faces an immediate “crisis of legitimacy,” according to the Senate president, Ken Nnamani, a member of Mr. Yar’Adua’s party. It is a feeling shared by many Nigerians and analysts, who worry that the country is teetering on the brink of catastrophe.

But judged another way, the test is only beginning: will Nigeria navigate the legal and political challenges to the election peacefully, in a way that cements rather than undermines its young democracy?

There are reasons to expect that it is better prepared to withstand the weeks ahead than analysts might think. “Elections do not a democracy make,” said Chris Fomunyoh, director of Africa programs for the National Democratic Institute, a Washington-based pro-democracy group that works in Nigeria, among other countries.

While voting is an essential part, Mr. Fomunyoh said, it is only the first and in some ways the smallest part. As recent successful elections in long-suffering, war-torn African nations like Liberia and Congo demonstrate, organizing a transparent and credible election is possible, producing feel-good moments that the world cheers.

But building a functioning democracy is a very different task. Congo and Liberia, for example, are shattered nations with few meaningful institutions. Only time will tell if they will become true democracies in which the will of the people can be carried out.

Nigeria is much further along that road. Eight years into civilian government after a long spell of military dominance, Nigeria’s institutions are blossoming despite the recent electoral chaos.

Last year the legislature rejected an attempt by the supporters of the incumbent president, Olusegun Obasanjo, to change the Constitution to allow him to run for a third term, despite considerable pressure from those in the political elite who felt the country was better off sticking with Mr. Obasanjo.

Many lawmakers had sectarian reasons for refusing. The unwritten rules, aimed at keeping the peace in a fractious, ethnically and religiously divided nation, dictate that the next president should be a Muslim from the north because Mr. Obasanjo is a Christian from the southwest. But whatever the legislature’s motives, it forcefully asserted its independence.

The courts have shown similar independence. Mr. Obasanjo’s bitter feud with his vice president, Atiku Abubakar, culminated in the president’s allies’ using corruption charges lodged by an administrative panel to bar Mr. Abubakar from running for president. But a last-minute Supreme Court ruling in his favor returned him to the ballot just before the election.

Nigeria’s robust civic and religious groups, driven underground by military rule, have blossomed into watchdogs, freely criticizing and even condemning the government’s handling of the election.

The country’s cacophonous news media deployed armies of correspondents across 36 states to bring back reports of stuffed ballot boxes, intimidated voters and phony results.

And a cellphone explosion allowed for text messages among poll observers, voters and political parties, making instances of rigging and intimidation in far-flung polling places almost impossible to hide.

“There are certain elements of the evolution of democracy that are moving forward” in Nigeria, said Madeleine K. Albright, the former secretary of state, who led a team of observers from the National Democratic Institute. “The electoral element is not.”

But others are, in ways that are unusually robust on a continent struggling for examples of peaceful multiparty rule, Ms. Albright said, and those developments cannot be easily undone in two terrible election days.

It has become apparent that the governing People’s Democratic Party simply seized the apparatus of democracy — ballots, boxes, ink and tally sheets — and rigged its way to victory in a number of places. But the sweeping victories will be challenged in the courts of law and the court of public opinion.

The lopsided victory of Mr. Yar’Adua, with 72 percent of the vote, is likely to stand, analysts said, because of its size and the difficulty of proving that the outcome would have been materially different without the cheating. Short of a rerun, he is likely to become president on May 29, when Mr. Obasanjo steps down.

But he will face a hostile public and stiff challenges from the newly empowered institutions meant to check executive power in Nigeria.

“What this election has resulted in, ironically, is a significant deflation in the P.D.P.’s ability to lead,” said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa Program at the Center for International and Strategic Studies in Washington. “They are coming out of this more vulnerable to crisis and less able to govern.”

The power of the party in the national legislature and the states is also likely to be diminished. A number of races for governorships, state assemblies and the national legislature will be challenged in election tribunals. Some victories by the governing party may be overturned.

The real problem, analysts say, is that most Nigerians have lost faith in democracy just as it begins to take root within the mechanisms of state. Last year the Afrobarometer public opinion survey showed that satisfaction with democracy in Nigeria plummeted to just 25 percent in 2005, from more than 80 percent in 2000. That reflected a smaller but still significant drop across the 18 sub-Saharan African countries surveyed, from 58 to 45 percent.

The deflation was evident among a group of taxi drivers, shoeshine men and hawkers who gathered in the shade of a grimy highway overpass in Lagos. Asked why they had not taken to the streets to protest the election, most said they had no desire to face the powerful military or trigger-happy police officers.

“I am not ready to die for this country,” said Deloa Lawal, 35, a taxi driver with two young children.

Nnaama Idemili, an unemployed accountant, gave another reason, in the form of a Nigerian proverb. It reflected the feeling that allowing the institutions of democracy to do their work would do more good than violent protest, which might prompt the military to intervene and seize power in the name of order.

“A man who breaks a coconut with his head will never eat that coconut with his mouth,” he said.

“I want Nigeria to change,” Mr. Idemili explained. “But we can’t destroy the country in the process. Things are moving. We only pray they keep moving in the right direction.”

 

[Dan]

YOU ARE CHXTA

You annoy people on internet football forums. You open useless threads and post articles about which other people on the forum don't care. You have nothing to share.

YOU ARE ARIF

You post sparodically but factually. You are easily irritated. Most people would assume you are a malfuctioning webbot.

 

[The Arif]

YOU ARE ARIF

You post sparodically but factually. You are easily irritated. Most people would assume you are a malfuctioning webbot.

Good one, Dan.

 

[Chxta]

God is certainly a hard-working deity. As if he didn't have enough on his hands smiting, answering prayers and advising George Bush on the Middle-Eastern situation, the Big Man has always made time to get involved in sports. Normally, of course, he favours the American scene (where he regularly enforces his plan on everyone from golfers to gridiron merchants) but, as Maradona will tell you, he has been known to get involved in soccerball from time to time. And what better occasion to revive his love affair with the beautiful game than Milan's Big Cup semi-final against the MU Rowdies, where, as any self-respecting Italian hack will tell you, the Lord himself didst step in to ensure Milan would get their shot at revenge against Liverpool on May 23.

"The San Siro gave us a blessed rain," hallelujahs Alberto Cerruti on the front page of today's Gazzetta dello Sport. "Water from the sky and goals that were divine." To be fair, the Rossoneri probably feel entitled to a bit of Holy favour - according to Gazzetta's Candido Cannavò, simply mentioning Istanbul to Milanisti sends them "back to the cruellest level of Hell". Which is still probably more enjoyable than sitting through Tuesday's semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool, but Cannavò was quick to heap praise on Liverpool's Rafa Benitez. "Because of you, Milan had in their minds not only the goal of defeating the great Manchester," he kumbaya-ed. "But also the historic and slightly paranoid dream of revenge over Liverpool, over the nightmare of Istanbul. It is the final which the heavens and the people wanted."

Sadly Milan's resident Supreme Being - Silvio Berlusconi - was rather less impressed with God's interference in his domain. "I serve as the motivator for this group whenever I can," wibbled the man who believed refusing to make the beast with two backs with his wife would motivate voters to reject the legalisation of marriage between Godless g@ys. "I always suggested using two points behind the striker as a way of upholding the attacking values of this club and taking advantage of our players' attributes." But talk is cheap. After his three goals helped put the Rowdies to the sword, the second coming of Kaka is what Milan will really be looking for in Athens.

 

[Seven]

Is it just me or does Chxta have too many consonants in his name?

Please, please, don't respond to this with some retarded post, Nigerian loverboy.

 

[Lawnchair Bes]

YOU ARE CHXTA

You annoy people on internet football forums. You open useless threads and post articles about which other people on the forum don't care. You have nothing to share.

thats great

 

[Chxta]

Yeah, I found it funny too...

 

[Dan]

Good one, Dan.

So lifelike

 

[Chxta]

So what do y'all think of Sakorzy's election?

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

Isn't he the Ukrainian aircraft designer?

 

[Menace]

Would be funny though if someone, with too much time on their hands, would make a 'which juventuz member are you?' kind of quiz.

Good Idea

 

[Chxta]

All three!!!