National Issues
2019 Election: Human Development As A Means To Enhance Electoral Transparency -By Uthman Samad
Corruption of electoral processes has been one of the country’s headaches over the years. Asides the robust population figures, multi-ethnicity and over 500 languages, Nigeria is also blessed with poverty. Corruption in electioneering processes cannot be discussed without a gaze into the country’s population, division in classes and brackets of ends-meet possibilities.
According to UNO fact sheets, Nigeria has 195million population. In contrast, according to a recent Nigeria Economic Report, it has one of the world’s highest economic growth rates in the world with average 7.4% and also the newly crowned world’s poverty capital, taking the lead from India about 7 months ago as reported by Brookings Institution. Figures also surfaced that out of the 190 million Nigerians, 87 million is in extreme poverty, totaling 45.8% of its populace.
However, in a country where the rich are more than the poor, there are high tendencies of inducement by the rich who form the upper class of society. In the Nigerian context, it is crystal clear that poverty has made corruption a rightful offering into the pockets of poor Nigerians which has caused a lot of inimical multiplier effects and consequently militate against good governance.
On a recall account, I zoomed out of Abuja last Saturday by road for
I was at the start not moved till Aminah told me she’s 16 and this makes her 4th year in Nigeria just to get something to her throat by any means.
She later divulged that they made it to Nigeria through the down raze of her family and home by insurgents in the country. I was made to understand the situation of things in her country presently and how poor the nation is, claims of which some have been fact checked to be true.
I wasn’t only moved but carried emotionally when I saw her waving hands to Nigerian Almajiris passing by us, showing how coordinated poverty links Niger refugee turned beggar in
I was also tutored by her expression how brilliant she could have been an asset to her republic if the crisis has been managed by the
In Nigerian context, if Aminah should have PVC and is of suffrage age (18), what do you think will happen to her mandate with #2000:00? If to be induced into commercial sex life( which am still doubting) will she renounce it and stay hungry?
Minutes later, she protested with a
I can say, after the demise of Africa’s front line nationalists, most are just here to devour the treasure and fill their pockets. Some are even saying Africa is under spell, I checked and
Snatching of ballot boxes and stuffing, impersonation, inducement of voters by cash, disenfranchisement by collection of voter’s card through copying of serial number, stomach infrastructure programs et al have formed the mechanisms being in use over time by politicians to take the mandate of the poor and leave their conscience hanging with unfeasible plans across the tenure.
In the third quarter of 2018, Nigeria’s unemployment figure reached 20.9 million. This set of people are being used for all forms of violence as an idle hand is the devil’s workshop. According to the Center for Development and Democracy (CDD), an advocacy group, noted high rate of vote buying in Ekiti and Osun elections
Several governments have been observed by Nigerians as infinitesimal amount since 1963 are trusted. Each government campaign of alleviating poverty, but nearly few
Moreover, to occlude electoral corruption for transparency, peaceful, fair and free election, putting forthcoming election into consideration, the government needs to put a long lasting poverty alleviation control measures in place and
If poverty is alleviated, corruption will be capsized into barest minimum as a hungry man is not ready to think about tomorrow without today’s food.
It will be noteworthy to state that aside poverty alleviation, there’s also a dire need to highlight the impact of the government to fuel the fight against illiteracy in the country. It has been observed that poverty ridden Nigerians and school leavers constitute the mercenaries used by politicians in disrupting elections while their mandate is easily taken with a token of cash and gifts( for Instance, the proverbial Aminah’s story expressed earlier in the article, exemplified as a Nigerian)
Also, the consciousness of the people should be awakened vis-à-vis the enlightenment role of the media. The fourth estate of the realm should be more active in periods like this. Discussion pertaining to election should be issue based and not on frivolities or taking sides as it is currently seen on some sides of some newspapers.
Moreover, election enlightenment programs should be aired in indigenous languages to aid understanding by the contemporary illiterates as election misreporting is an electoral fraud as according to Transparency international just as report misconstrue is dangerous to societal wellbeing.
According to Paul Collier, an Oxford scholar, “without an uninformed electorate, politicians will continue to bottom billion merely for photo opportunities rather than promoting real transformation.”
A nation that masters its human resources, human capital index, sees to the alleviation of poverty and gives education and its management a core sound in the yearly budget tune, is prone to have a transparent, peaceful and credible election coming February 16 and march 2
Uthman Samad is a student Journalist From Obafemi Awolowo University Ile