this forum than the hundreds of news items that were posted here about
the post-election Ivory Coast between January and April this year.
In my opinion the Nigerian elections must be allowed to be discussed
in this forum without the kind of censorship that has been disallowing
some relevant entries for no reason that I can imagine .
Anyway, the furtherance of the discussion may perhaps be allowed with
this my two kobos worth expressed herein out of love and concern, so
that my drumming still well within respectable and respectful bounds
does not have to get shrill in many other media outlets that are
available to me, although I am not there voluntarily, because I am
mostly here. I have not been banned, nor can anybody ban me from the
sorts of places (such as Israpundit) and many other venues that I
have in mind.
http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/corneliushamelberg/2011/04/24/nigeria-africas-biggest-democracy-5/
On Apr 25, 3:52 pm, Jaye Gaskia <ogbe...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> It is a refusal to make use of the class analytical framework in the first place that led all those who have been eager to see ONLY ethnicity and religion not only in the pattern of voting but also in the response to the results, to the conclusions they so willingly jumped to: Muslim North versus Christian South: Muslim candidate versus christian candidate! Per haps it is also an expression of class interest to view these developments only as such.
> Regards,
> JG
>
> From: Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelb...@gmail.com>
> To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
> Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 12:10 AM
> Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RE- Nigeria: Fair vote, Fragile Future
>
> A balanced and forward-looking opinion. Dele Olojede has lifted the
> veil to dissipate the myth that the riots in Northern Nigeria depict
> angry machete-wielding Muslim Jihadists hell bent on slaughtering as
> many children of Christ as possible on Good Friday. On the contrary :
>
> "But the current fury in Nigeria's north is
> different and alarming: the population, long
> ruled by a conservative religious and political
> elite, has for the first time turned on its most
> revered institutions, burning the palaces of
> emirs and the homes of religious leaders seen as
> "collaborators" with the corrupt political
> establishment in Abuja, the capital.
> Even the Sultan of Sokoto, the most powerful and
> respected Muslim religious figure in Nigeria, was
> pelted with satchels of water in the street - a
> hitherto unthinkable act of public humiliation.
> Powerful Muslim businessmen, suspected of bribing
> voters and attempting to rig elections in Mr.
> Jonathan's favor, also had their homes set ablaze.
> Over the past few days we have seen the old order
> go up in the smoke rising over emirs' palaces. "
>
> Is there any justification for describing Muhammadu Buhari as "a
> taciturn and somewhat
> ascetic leader " - with just that much of a hint, suggesting perhaps
> something more sinister and in keeping with the image of that
> especially austere , fundamental Muslim type of being?
> Mahatma Gandhi was ascetic in a very Hindu kind of way, but Buhari?
> Mahatma Gandhi practised Mouna ( Hindu vows of silence) – whole days
> of silence, but that would not justify his being described as "
> taciturn" either - or, that like Buhari, he did not have powers of
> self-expression when he had occasions to speak and make himself heard.
>
> Just because Muhammadu Buhari does not go shooting his mouth all over
> the place like some political chatterboxes does not justify him being
> described as "taciturn" - and he cannot be respectfully described as
> "voluble" either – like some of the political loudspeakers and rooftop
> amplifiers, always blaring their message at the highest volume,
> trying to communicate with the whole street , as if we've all suddenly
> gone deaf.
>
> "The very future of the country, whether it
> remains unified or the cleavage demonstrated in
> voting patterns becomes concrete, depends on the
> leadership skills displayed by Mr. Jonathan and
> Mr. Buhari over the coming days and weeks." ( Dele Olojede)
>
> We all love Nigeria. For the love of Nigeria, for the love of peace
> and quiet the demands are high to quell the spirit of anti-corruption
> and the revulsion with which it views vote-rigging on the one hand
> and the hunger for power which promotes the vote rigging and boasts of
> democracy at the same time. In my view the love for Nigeria and for
> peace and quiet should be predicated on fair play and Justice. So
> before strewing any ridiculous demands along the path of Mr. Buhari we
> had better address the issues raised in a spirit of fair play and
> Justice: look into the allegations. Then the spontaneous outbreak of
> anger which is not orchestrated by Mr. Buhari ( and I'm feeling it
> here in Stockholm) – that anger could subside.
>
> What has puzzled me most is that , as we know, Buhari's second in
> command at that critical junction in Nigeria's political history, was
> Tunde Idiagbon -a Yoruba man - and yet Buhari did not win any of the
> predominantly Yoruba states and in fact accuses "Lagos State Governor
> Bolaji Ahmed Tinubu of trading off the South West region to President
> Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in the last Saturday's Presidential election
> in a secret deal struck shortly before the poll."
>
> http://www.osundefender.org/?p=15215
>
> When a man described as "a taciturn and somewhat ascetic leader "
> makes such an accusation , it should be taken seriously by the bodies
> that are legally equipped to investigate and of course to provide the
> material evidence to support these charges and to deal justice.
>
> How many ways to skin a cat? The accusations are about "very
> sophisticated rigging strategies"
>
> On the whole the media is agog with reports that the election was
> reasonably free and fair and some go as far as saying that the
> elections were the freest and most fairest in Nigeria's history.
> What can asserted without contradiction is that it has been the most
> peaceful presidential election so far and not marred by violence. But
> the absence of violence and strife, electricity blackouts and the
> disappearance of ballot boxes in counting houses or the disappearance
> or the change of hands of ballot boxes in transit to counting
> centres - from lawful hands to more dubious hands - and many other
> such anomalies that characterized the last election when Goodluck
> Jonathan was running mate to Umaru Yar'adua - the absence of all
> that melodrama does not mean that Mr. So-and-So can place his hand
> of the Bible and solemnly swear that there was no rigging whatsoever
> this time round.
>
> Previously I asked by what miracle could Goodluck Jonathan harvest
> over a million votes in Kaduna? Check the population of Kaduna. Check
> the number of people registered to vote in Kaduna. Add up the number
> of votes cast and there you have a problem.....not an answer.
>
> If we are really interested in Justice and in the free and fair then
> these are serious allegations, and here Muhammadu Buhari alleges
> rigging from the air
>
> http://www.google.se/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3A...
>
> http://www.google.se/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3A...
>
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