9jahBoy's Blog

Electoral Reforms in Nigeria – Credible Polls Can Be Acheived Using Electronic Technology

2010-05-16T22:34:00.000-07:00

A universally acceptable election in Nigeria would without a doubt usher in a new era of political stability; the objective of this write up is to suggest a method by which this can be accomplished. Credible elections can be conducted in Nigeria by applying a hybrid manual-electronic electioneering system. State of the art electronic technology has been used successfully in the banking industry, stock markets, manufacturing industry, educational and other institutions all over the world to increase speed, reliability and efficiency of its operations. If carefully orchestrated there is no reason why such a system cannot be deployed in Nigeria’s electioneering process to facilitate a smooth, reliable, efficient and credible polling process..

Registration of voters:
This is very important step in the election process. The validity of an election is highly dependent on the integrity of the voter registration process. The objective of the registration process is to ensure that no individual cannot register or vote more than once. This can be accomplished through the use of electronic devices such as fingerprint and (or) biometric scanners. Without a fingerprint scan no voter would be allowed to register (this would greatly reduce the possibility of ghost voter registration). For voters that are handicapped some alternate unique biometric feature such as an iris scan could be used. During the registration process each voter would have his passport picture taken, and a unique voter registration number assigned. The voter registration information such as name, address, date of birth, passport picture and biometric scan would then be uploaded into a secure database backed up in several remote locations. On completing the registration process, a tamperproof voter’s card would be issued on the spot. This card would contain the voter’s personal information, a passport picture, voter registration number and a barcode of the voter’s registration number.

The Polling Station.
Each polling station would be equipped with a generator, computers, barcode scanners, time lapse cameras, totalizing counters and network access. In addition to the election officials, there would be three representatives from each party who have attended a pre-organized training session organized by the electoral commission to protect the party’s interest and military personnel for security. In the next section we would see how all these come into play in ensuring fool proof elections.

The Voting Process.
The objective here is to ensure a secure efficient, smooth and rapid voting process. The voting process begins by the voter showing his voter’s card in the presence to an election official in the presence of party officials. A barcode scanner is used to scan the barcode on the card, and the voter information is called up. The picture of the voter is compared with that of the voter, if okay and he is then prompted to place his palm on the finger print scanner for verification. If everything checks out correct the voter is then issued a ballot paper and proceeds into the private polling booth where places his thumbprint on the ballot paper after which he drops it into a ballot box. On the entrance of each polling booth there would be a tamperproof totalizing counter which keeps count of the number of voter going into the polling booths. Before the polling commences each party representative would verify that the counters are on zero. The importance of having the counters is that at any polling station there cannot be more ballot papers than the total count of voters that went into the polling booths. In addition to the counters there would be time lapse camera which records the voters as they proceed into the polling booth. The importance of this is that it would present hard evidence should there be any grievances in the outcome of the election.

Closing the polls
Immediately after the polls are closed, the ballots would be counted out loudly by an election official in the presence of the party representatives and a camera. The results are then submitted to the polling headquarters, where the results would be published as soon as all the results are in. The results would be published online for each an every single polling station in the country. The importance of this is that this creates transparency in the results. Party representative have access to the results and can verify that the results are correct. Video files would be uploaded onto a couple of networks drives where they can be retrieved later on (for hard evidence)should grievance proceedings on the results commence at a later date.

Conclusion
The only draw back in this system is that this an expensive electioneering system, but Nigeria is a nation with the resources to implement such a system. There can be nothing more fundamental or more important to any people that the process which selects those which who govern them.

Leadership Concept in Nigeria

2009-10-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

I haven’t blogged for a while so it feels good to be back. Today my thoughts are centered on the kind of leadership we have in our country and what needs to be done to change that kind of leadership. It would be interesting if a survey could be done wherein Nigeria Leaders; those who hold critical public positions could be interviewed to determine what their views of leadership are, and why they have chosen to run for office. We are not new to the “do or die” mentally of many of these so called politicians who would go great lengths to get into office. Do they love their country so much? Do they love their people so much? Why are they so desperate to get into office?
It is time for us Nigerians to begin to question who and who gets elected into office. A party is as good as the candidates it chooses to represent it in elections. Becoming a public leader tends to morph from a lifelong career. Simply put a public leader cannot just appear from nowhere without any proven track record. This is the sort of thing that has been happening in our nation. Is it a wonder that things are the way they are today? We as citizens do have a responsibility. We must ask questions about every candidate running for office. We must ask who this person is. What is his track record? Has he previously held any public position? What was his performance?
Leadership is everything. A nation with bad leadership is doomed, and this has been the bane of Nigeria since independence. On the one hand we see peace loving, hardworking, enterprising Nigerians who want to succeed in everything they do. And on the other hand we see a lazy, cowardly, un-enterprising, kleptomaniac leadership, with no clear cut vision and no grasp of what leadership is all about, the role of a leader, and the deep and far reaching consequences of bad leadership. The primary motivation of these kinds of people who run for office is self enrichment, and they do this so callously at the expense of their own people. We as Nigerians citizens have a role to play, we must say no to this kind of thing. We must not allow people without a proven track record, or people with a proven track record of bad leadership get to office.
How are elections won? Elections are supposed to be won on the bases of performance. If you want to get elected you must deliver to the people, you must perform, plain simple. If you are performing, there would be no need to rig elections. PDP as a party has had almost 12 years to deliver people oriented services and but has failed in doing so. It has failed because it has allowed its dirty internal politics to supersede people oriented politics and ideology. In choosing its candidates to run for office be it at the ward, local government, gubernatorial, senatorial or presidential level, it failed to choose solid candidates who have an impeccable track record, trusted candidates who would deliver services to the people. Elections are won are a promise. A covenant to protect the people’s interest at all times and to do what is best for the people. If you keep that covenant you build trust and confidence in the people. If you break the covenant the people lose confidence in you, and there is mistrust. This simple concept is the bases for free and fair completion in the polls. Any party that is not delivering to the people is doomed to fail at some point, in a democratic dispensation. Elections cannot be manipulated indefinitely; you cannot bribe every single person and you should know that people are not stupid.

Time's Running Out for Northern Leaders

2009-08-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

Time’s running out for Northern Leaders

The only thing that is constant in life is change. As human being we must constantly make choices and our destiny is shaped by the choices we make! We can choose whether or not to adapt to the changes, around us. The World is rapidly changing, and so is Nigeria. In the last two decades we have witnessed the re-unification of Eastern and Western Germany, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the end of Apartheid and even United States of America’s first black president. These are events that could not have been thought possible only some 30 years ago. The World is indeed rapidly changing!
Today my blog is about how leaders from Northern Nigeria have failed see the trend of events in the Nigeria as a nation and the World as a Whole. Nigeria is a very different place today than it was in the 70s or 80s. The socio-political dynamics are changing very rapidly. The tactic of leadership by coercion and deception is becoming played out and would not hold much longer. The country is becoming agitated we see MEND, MOSOB, BOKO HAREM as symptoms of a failing state.
Leadership is about service. It is about the people. It is about creating jobs, providing social ammenities and security for the people. Northern leadership has failed the good people of the North and Nigeria as a whole. Most of the problems we see in Nigeria is as a result of Northern leadership. The North today is the most backward educationally, economically and infra-structurally. Disease and high infant mortality rate are rampant in the North. It is a big shame on Northern leaders that today the North is in the position it is. It is woeful that the North is the position it is today as a result of Northern leadership that have enriched themselves at the expense of the North and the rest of Nigeria.
The consequence of not adapting to change is simple, you become obsolete. The rest Nigeria are clamoring for better resource control and true federalism. The present federal system in Nigeria is a sham. It is the remnant of a fraudulent system coerced upon Nigerians, by Northern leaders for personal gains and not even in the interests of the Northern peoples. It is time for Northern leaders to go back to the drawing board and have a re-think. Questions need to be asked. How can the North be developed? How can the North develop its human resources? How can the North develop its natural resources? It’s time for the North leaders to look away from crude oil, take an example from Dubai; Dubai has no crude oil but today is a beautiful country with a thriving economy. It is an example of what can be done with exemplary leadership. The North does have lots of resources which can be developed,; for example there is agriculture, and lots of resources in the mining sector.

The Deconstruction of an Economic Hitman

2009-07-22T14:08:00.000-07:00

There is a well know African proverb that goes like this; “the child that says it’s mother won’t sleep would not sleep as well.” As we move towards the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, it is begining to dawn on the World that one part of the World cannot be at peace while the other lives in hunger, poverty, tyranny and oppression.

“Economic hit men,” John Perkins writes, are “highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex and murder”.
"Confessions of an Economic Hitman", by John Perkins; Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 2008 is a book in which the author, a former economic hit man exposes how the U.S. government in the past, manipulated some 3rd world countries of strategic importance into accepting huge loans. These countries now saddled with such loans could now be controlled by the U.S government her benefit.
Who is John Perkins? John perkins was for many years one of the world's top economists. He worked directly with the heads of the World Bank, IMF, and other global financial institutions. He quit his work about 20 years ago because morally and ethically, he felt it was wrong to play such a key role in creating World Empire at the expense of the poor and less advantaged around the world. After being persuaded and even bribed not to write a book about his experiences, Perkins states, "When 9/11 struck, I had a change of heart." The book, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, has now been published and has spent many weeks on amazon.com's bestseller list.

MEND IT OR BEND IT

2009-07-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

History is laced with so many movements or struggles for causes, however the one big difference between a successful movement and one that is not, is a clear cut vision of what the movement hopes to accomplish and the best path in getting there. Examples of visionary leaders who led a successful movement are Mahatma Ghadi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. These leaders were able to identify the fine line between leading a legitimate struggle legitimately and becoming hoodlums or public enemies.
I write about the MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta) cause of which I, as well as most well meaning Nigerians are well aware and have always been sympathetic towards. The recent actions of MEND rebels are however fast depleting the goodwill and sympathy of both the international and local community, and can at best be described as a becoming a nuisance. This is no way to lead a struggle for what is a well known legitimate cause.
MEND leaders do need to do a little bit of soul searching,they need to go back to the drawing board. They need to ask themselves if the tactic of hostage taking, and blowing up oil installations is really working? Who are those really affected by such acts? What can they hope to acccomplish by such acts? is it really worht it? After all Albert Einstein one of the greatest minds of all time did say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. Blowing up oil installations does have an environmental impact on the very land that is being struggled for; such environmental impacts remain unknown as at now but can rest asured that it would be felt for many years to come. Secondly, what does hostage taking really accomplish? A ransom of money maybe. Such an action does have much deeper boomerang effects. It leads to loss of credibility and tends to dis-legitimize the cause or struggle. Most of the hostages being taken are innocent oil workers who are just doing their job! The second and more worrisome effect is that it tends to enhance the proliferation of crime. We are beginning to see an increase in copy cat kidnappings and lootings from mushroom rebels and dissident groups that use the cause as an excuse to carry out crimes for profit. None of this in the short or long term can be good for the Niger Delta region.
The Nigerian State does indeed need to address the issues of Federalism and resource control, however how we get there is another story altogether. In regards to this there are basically two factions in the political class of Nigeria. There are those who would like to keep the status quo for the simple reason that it benefits them, and there are those who would like to see Nigeria move forward and become a true federal state. It is obvious that the present system has failed, it is simply not working. In my previous blog, I talked about, the present state of affairs being asymptomatic of a deep rooted problem in Nigeria.
The MEND leaders need to realize that they are Nigerians, and being part of Nigeria is not the problem. It has never been. The problem is not Nigeria but the cabal of selfish leeching individuals who have clung on to power for the better part of the Nation's 5 decades of existence. We would have found a solution to the Niger Delta Crisis, and a myriad of other problems plaguing the Nation, if we can figure out a way to get rid off these parasites in government. Nigeria needs new talent, young blood, fresh minds, new ideas, new vision. Then and then only would we begin to see the emergence a beautiful new Nigeria, a progressive new Nigeria, a beautiful new Federal Republic of Nigeria. The solution to the Niger Delta problem does not lie in kidnappings, blowing up installations or sectarian acts of violence; it lies in the true political emancipation of the people and citizens of Nigeria.

The Professional Politician

2009-07-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

The use of public office, to carry out sharp or corrupt practices is a serious crime; it is a crime against humanity. Today we see the evolution of the some politicians into professional politicians.
There are three types of professional politicians.
Type 1: The background professional politician. This type of politician has not really held any public office and most likely has very little work or entrepreneurial experience. He is more of a hustler type politician with the expectation that should his party win, he is able to feed of party connections, securing contracts or money making opportunities.
Type 2: Ex public officio now background politician. This type of politician would have amassed some wealth from previously held office, and welds a more influence than the type 1. His primary objective is to make more money through government and probably to scheme his way back to public office.
Type 3: This is the professional politician in office. This guy believes it’s his time, and his objective is to make as much money as he can before his term ends. He is bound by allegiance to give his cronies as much money making opportunities as well.
These types of politicians have one thing in common; they have no intentions of public service, they are in politics for selfish reasons and they can’t survive outside government, because they are very low on the human resource scale. They have no intellect, no useful skills, no ingenuity, little or no education, and are very insecure. For such, politics is a do or die affair.
Public positions should be offered to people who have a proven, exception track record. We must probe the history or track record of individual who mount the podium to represent their parties. A political party has the responsibility of presenting credible individuals to run for office. Any party who cannot do this is a sham and not worth voting for.

Address Both the Root Cause and the Symptoms

2009-07-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

Those in the medical field would understand the term symptom. I quote verbatim Merriam-Webster’s definition of symptom as: 1 (a): subjective evidence of disease or physical disturbance; broadly: something that indicates the presence of bodily disorder (b): an evident reaction by a plant to a pathogen. 2 (a): something that indicates the existence of something else < (b): a slight indication: trace. As a practical example, if you’ve ever had malaria, some of the symptoms that follow are headaches, fever, loss of appetite, dizziness, vomiting, etc. The root cause of malaria is a protozoan parasite vectored by mosquitoes. In treating malaria a good doctor would prescribes medication to relive the symptoms, in addition to medication to fight the parasite. He knows fully well that simply trying relieving the symptoms is not sufficient; the real solution lies in getting read of the parasite from the patient’s body.
There is a parallel or analogy between the Nigerian situation today, and the malaria victim. Nigeria has for a couple decades been bedeviled by parasites largely vectored by the military and is very sick. We have for a while been, and we still are witnessing the symptoms of a very sick nation. Some the symptoms are a dilapidated electrical power infrastructure tantamount to an almost none existent electrical power supply, almost no-existent water supply, dilapidated and poorly managed telecommunication infrastructure leading to an overly congested cell-phone network, a dilapidated and poorly managed health care system, dilapidated and seriously under-funded educational institutions, a dilapidated and outdated police force with no public credibility, a dilapidated military of no honor, her citizens being maltreated all over the world, ever rising crime, rising secessionist movements, pockets of religious violence here and there every now and then, and the list goes on and on. It is a sad, sad, tale of woe that every Nigerian knows, but nonewithsanding the parasites refuse to acknowledge.
Nigeria’s problem must be addressed both from the root cause as well as the symptoms. If we choose to continue relieving symptoms as we have largely been doing, we would continue to get short term temporary relief and those parasites would keep getting stronger.
For Nigeria to be a healthy nation once again we must not only figure out a way to rid the nation of those ugly parasites, but how to make it impossible to for such to come back. We must all get our hands on deck, do something in your own little way; otherwise just like the malaria victim who is not treated dies, Nigeria would eventually die.

The Old Nigerian National Anthem

2009-07-10T13:21:00.000-07:00

Nigeria we hail thee
Our own dear native land
Though tribe and tongue may differ
In brotherhood we stand
Nigerians all and proud to serve
Our sovereign motherland

Our flag shall be a symbol
That truth and justice reign
In peace or battle honour
And this we count as gain
To pass unto our children
A banner without stain

O God of all creation
Grant this our one request
Help us to build a nation
Where no man is oppressed
And so with peace and plenty
Nigeria may be blessed