At the last count, more than two dozen presidential aspirants have declared their intention to become president of Nigeria in 2023. That might have been seen as a vital indicator of Nigeria’s attractiveness to its leading elite but for the insecurity crisis which has enveloped the nation since February 2016 and the toll it has taken on well being.
Against that background, an important question to pose is whether the current line-up is that of those who have gotten clean bill of health from the verdict of a one-time helmsman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Prof Maurice Iwu. It is not about whether Prof Iwu has since transformed into an angel but a question of the past informing the present.
Speaking at the Department of Political Science at the University of Ibadan sometimes in 2007 after heavy criticism of the General Elections he presided over that year, Prof Iwu said, inter alia:
“The prospects of a big man politician failing to clinch the office of his heart’s desire is simply inconceivable to him and so almost always there is a resort to extraordinary measures to ensure victory at all costs… With every wealthy and influential politician having a battery of well armed security guards around him round the clock, the capacity to intimidate political opponents and unleash violence is ever present. At the same time, the likelihood of restraining such a citizen from conducts that are outside the orbit of law is highly reduced”
Something to think about in the journey ahead?
