The cost and grief of elections

Despite the comments by observers that the general elections were credible, Nigerians were dismayed about reported cases of violence occasioned by bomb blasts, killings and maiming that accompanied the exercise, writes AKINWALE ABOLUWADE

The nation, on Tuesday, April 26, experienced a decline in the applause it got from poll observers as a result of the highly praised general elections when, in the wake of the governorship and house of assembly polls, the electorate boycotted voting in Kano State.

The reduced enthusiasm was also felt in some other parts of the country, ostensibly due to earlier reported skirmishes in the northern part of the country.

Although it was no longer news that polling was postponed in some states in the north due to unrest and bombings that rocked the zone, the fact that the turnout of voters was not impressive in states like Kano and Katsina on Tuesday, for instance, gave cause for concern to stakeholders, including the international observers.

The boycott of elections by a large number of voters in the region, needless to say, was attributed to palpable fear of impending aggression that pervaded the landscape with many people murdered in cold blood and many more maimed while a lot more people were reportedly displaced.

At the moment, while some politicians that were declared winners and returned for various positions by the Independent National Electoral Commission continue to celebrate and bask in the euphoria of fresh and hard-won victory, those who bear the brunt of it all have constantly licked their wounds without any consolation. For instance, families of youth corps members, security operatives, INEC officials and other members of the public who lost their lives in the cause of the violence that trailed the just concluded elections are still counting their losses. Their cry for justice is like a feeble noise from the hollow pit — the cry is like a long whisper that hardly attracted any attention.

Apart from the declaration by President Goodluck Jonathan that the victims of election violence were martyrs, who should be immortalised for sacrificing for the nation, many personalities have expressed misgivings that there was inadequate zeal on the part of security operatives to fish out or bring to book those responsible for the horror in the land. Among those who condemned the killings of some corps members in trouble-torn north were human rights activists and lawyers, civil society groups, parents and other political watchers.

An affected parent resident in Lagos State while giving the account of how his son was killed in the north to journalists on Tuesday, called on the police and the Federal Government to hand over to them the corpse of his son who was on compulsory one year national service. According to him, the deceased had, shortly before he was killed, called on the telephone to alert the family to the incursion of the killer Boko Haram sect to their abode and then to their hiding place.

The frightening revelation generated heated reaction not only in Lagos State but also in the entire southern part of the country. In fact, after he was declared winner of the Tuesday governorship election, the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, in clear reference to the sad incident, said he dedicated his victory to the memory of the youth corps members who lost their lives to the violence that erupted shortly after the presidential poll in the north.

Meanwhile, the governor is not alone in the condemnation. The Civil Liberties Organisation in a statement made available to our correspondent said, “The attention of the CLO has been drawn to pockets of demonstrations in some parts of the country notably Kano, Bauchi, Gombe and Kaduna states following allegations of election rigging.

“CLO gathered that several persons have been killed, while wealth worth millions of Naira has already been destroyed. CLO condemns the destruction of lives and property by the demonstrators and calls on the security agencies, state governments and the Federal Government to be on top of the situation and ensure that the crises do not escalate.”

The statement, which was signed by the organisation’s Executive Director, Mr Ibuchukwu Ezike, further called for restraints on what it regarded as flagrant abuse of human rights and advocated the entrenchment of truth, peace and justice in the circumstance.

But the Federal Government is not leaving anything to chance. Already, it has deployed more policemen and other security agencies to the warring states.

With not less than 600 reported killings and displacement of many other citizens most of whom have reportedly fled to Niger Republic and other neighbouring states in the north; President Goodluck Jonathan said the FG could no longer fold its arms and watch such a dastardly act take place in the country.

However, despite this assurance, there are worries in some quarters that the crises may worsen, especially if the Federal Government does not takes some drastic steps to bring lasting peace to the region. The National Coordinator, Campaign for Democracy and Rights of the People, Chief Amitolu Shittu, called for pro-active measures to forestall what he described as ugly situation.

He said, “Precedent had shown that some people are unyielding in perpetuating evils because the system does not hold them accountable for crimes that they committed. It is a well-known fact that where there is no enforcement of law and order the society will relapse into anarchy. We are witnessing a breakdown of law and order in the north and the situation is not only pathetic but calls for urgent intervention.”

Also, economic experts said unless urgent action was taken to address the crises, it was capable of taking adverse toll on the economy by discouraging prospective foreign investors, who may be interested in investing in crucial sectors like in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Indeed, the Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, and other financial experts added that the crises might affect investors’ confidence and by extension impact negatively on the economy.