RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 4 reasons you should care about Nigeria¹s election

SB,
Thank you for your comment. The redistribution of wealth and access to basic human needs go
together. A lopsided pattern of development very often makes this impossible.

It seems to me that redistribution of wealth can be done by force eg Mugabe, Mengistu, Chavez or Castro style.
Or it can be done by judicious government expenditure on social programs and infrastructure

to facilitate access at local, regional and national levels. The Scandinavian countries have been credited

with doing this successfully.

Gloria



Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of nikesohe@hotmail.com [nikesohe@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2015 1:05 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 4 reasons you should care about Nigeria¹s election

Hello Prof Gloria,

I am in full agreement. Can you kindly look at the concept of redistribution of wealth as you have indicated it and compare to assuring "access to basic human needs" for a population.

I am of the opinion that wealth of an individual will most probably be used to secure needs (primarily) and acquire additional wants (secondarily).

Therefore if the objective of wealth redistribution is to ensure as many more people as there currently are, have access to basic needs, could a denomination of government expenditure be determined on a per capita basis.

Will appreciate your thoughts.

Sbaba
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN

-----Original Message-----
From: "Emeagwali, Gloria (History)" <emeagwali@mail.ccsu.edu>
Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2015 12:39:05
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com<usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Reply-To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 4 reasons you should care about Nigeria¹s election

Agreed. I believe also that the greatest challenge is for the redistribution of wealth
so that benefits in health care, generous access to clean water, jobs, education and
resources would be enjoyed by a majority of the population. This in itself may undercut support for
Boko Haram.

Nigeria is Africa's largest population. Ethiopia is second. These two countries must
forge ahead in a meaningful developmental trajectory for the continent to blossom fully.

During my recent visit to Ethiopia, last week, I noted a great deal of focus on
infrastructure development. I travelled throughout the north to Gondar, Lalibela, Bahir Dar and
Axum and noted road and building construction throughout. I was still aggrieved at the
vagrant children in Lalibela but recognized great improvement compared to my previous visits in
2010, 2012 & 2013. I noticed also that Ethiopians were at the forefront in the activities this time
around. The Ethiopian government had clearly set new goals for China to follow - given
earlier complaints against China's underemployment of Ethiopians.
There is an election coming up in May in Ethiopia. The impresssion I get is that most
people seem to like the present government. Of course I could be wrong.
In the case of Nigeria, Boko Haram has complicated the issue of governance but the government has the
capability to prevail. The government must focus on wealth distribution so that citizens will
have access to basic needs and more, as earlier stated. Nigeria still has the resources to diversify its economy.
Either of the two Nigerian presidential candidates should aim to achieve this.


Professor Gloria Emeagwali
History Department
CCSU. New Britain. CT 06050
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries on
Africa and the African Diaspora

________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John Mbaku [jmbaku@weber.edu]
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2015 10:56 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Cc: Yoruba Affairs
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - 4 reasons you should care about Nigeria¹s election

What is missing from this list, and I think it is the most important, is that Nigeria needs more effective laws and institutions to replace what, so far, has been a set of dysfunctional and anachronistic institutions that are not capable of effectively governing a modern, highly diversified, and dynamic state. The hope is that the next leader and government would recognize the country's present development quagmire and opt for process-driven state reconstruction to provide the necessary institutions. A "good" leader is necessary, but is not a sufficient condition for effective governance.

On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 8:12 AM, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu<mailto:toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>> wrote:
4 reasons you should care about Nigeria's election
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/03/27/why-nigerias-election-could-be-the-most-important-in-africa-this-year/?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1
By Kevin Sieff<http://www.washingtonpost.com/people/kevin-sieff> March 27 at 3:30 AM <mailto:sieffk@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20%274%20reasons%20you%20should%20care%20about%20Nigeria%E2%80%99s%20election%27>

A man walks in front of posters of candidates of Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan's People's Democratic Party in Kano. (Reuters)

ABUJA, Nigeria — On Saturday, Africa's most populous and oil-rich country will go to the polls. The election looks to be the tightest in the 16 years since military rule ended in Nigeria – and it appears likely that the contest between President Goodluck Jonathan and former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari could devolve into violence.

Here are four reasons why the elections are critically important for the country and the region.

1. The results may affect the terrifying Boko Haram insurgency

Nigeria is in the middle of an unfinished counterinsurgency campaign against the Islamist extremists, who have become famous for their acts of brutality<http://www.cfr.org/nigeria/boko-haram/p25739>, including kidnapping schoolgirls and attacking churches, schools and the police and army. Now, the tide appears to be turning. Militants are on the run. Their territorial control in the country's northeast has dwindled, thanks largely to the cooperation of the armies of Chad and Niger, which have launched offensives after the rebels crossed into their territories. A fleet of private military contractors are also helping to fight Boko Haram.

But what will become of the anti-Boko Haram campaign after election day? Many here believe that President Jonathan will lose interest in the effort if he's elected, leaving the rebels to strengthen as they have in the past. If Buhari wins and redoubles focus on the fight, he will still have to transform a military with systemic flaws including poor training.

The next chapter of the Boko Haram fight will be the hardest. Now that militants have fled their former areas of control, they will have to be rooted out of their hideouts in and around the Sambisa Forest – a formidable task. It's much easier for Boko Haram to wage guerilla attacks from the forest than to occupy territory. That fight will go on for some time – and will be a massive charge for whomever is elected.

2. What happens in Nigeria, doesn't necessarily stay in Nigeria

What happens in Nigeria will resonate across the region. It is the largest economy on the continent, and an exporter of film and music to its neighbors. As President Obama said this past week<http://nigeria.usembassy.gov/pr_03232015.html>, Nigerians "won your independence, emerged from military rule, and strengthened democratic institutions."

If Nigeria's elections devolve into violence or result in deep political division, the financial engine of West Africa will slow. The continent's biggest oil-producer will be disrupted. Neighboring countries, whose own economies are linked to Nigeria's through imports and exports, will suffer. And political uncertainty will no doubt creep across borders.

3. The elections could provoke violence. Lots of it.

There's a good chance that things will not go well. After Nigeria's 2011 election, nearly 1,000 people were killed in three days of rioting. Supporters of Buhari, who also ran that year, were accused of carrying out protests which "degenerated into violent riots or sectarian killings," according to Human Rights Watch<http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/05/16/nigeria-post-election-violence-killed-800>.

Flaws in the electoral process fueled allegations that the elections were illegitimate. According to International Crisis Group<http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/africa/west-africa/nigeria/B81%20Lessons%20from%20Nigerias%202011%20Elections.aspx>, the polls were "riddled with malpractices, logistical deficiencies and procedural inconsistencies."

This time, those same challenges exist, but the contest appears to be far closer – what many consider a recipe for postelection violence. Already, Buhari's party has said that if Jonathan is declared the victor, it will set up a "parallel government." There will almost definitely be legal challenges, no matter the result. Many Nigerians are already arguing that millions have been disenfranchised by the ongoing fighting, which has left them displaced and without voting credentials.

In Nigeria's history, an incumbent has never lost a presidential election.

The ethno-religious regional divide in Nigeria is already pronounced between the mostly Muslim north (and its Buhari supporters) and the Christian south (and its Jonathan suporters). Disputed elections could worsen that tension, playing on the idea that the next president will marginalize the area outside of his power base.

4. Nigeria badly needs a good leader.

The next president of Nigeria faces a series of enormous challenges, even beyond Boko Haram. Oil production, which accounts for 70 percent of Nigeria's economy, is no longer as profitable as it once was. The wealth that has been generated here has not been shared – rather it has been concentrated in the oil-rich south, from which Jonathan hails.

Nigerians are outspoken about the failings of the country's corrupt public institutions. Billions in oil revenue, for example, have disappeared. The wealthy fly private jets while the bulk of Nigerians continue to struggle financially. Security forces are theoretically allocated billions, but somehow are poorly outfitted.

Now, Nigerians will choose between a former dictator who is remembered for detaining his opponents (Buhari) and the incumbent (Jonathan) who many see as responsible for the country's most recent failings. It's a choice that could be bitterly divisive.

Kevin Sieff has been The Post's bureau chief in Nairobi since 2014. He served previously as the bureau chief in Kabul and had covered the U.S. -Mexico border.

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