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One of the ways the ongoing voter registration exercise can be
saved from collapse is for the Independent National Electoral Commission to
hand over its conduct to banks, a member of the House of Representatives, Uche
Ekwunife, has said.

Mrs. Ekwunife, who represents Anaocha, Njikoka, Dunukofia
federal constituency in Anambra State said yesterday in her Nri hometown where
she had gone to register that this had become necessary in the face of the
likelihood of many Nigerians not being registered because of the slowness of
the machines.

According to her, banks have the requisite equipment and
experience to do a better job and at less cost to the federal government.

“I believe the banks in Nigeria can handle what INEC is doing.
They have the experience, the security, uninterrupted power supply and they
open and close early,” said Mrs. Ekwunife, who is seeking re-election to her
seat on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.

She noted that 20% of the money spent in the current exercise
would have been enough to pay banks for their charges and still give the
federal government value for its money.

“All they need do is to send all the required data to the banks
so that people can register wherever they are,” she stated.

Mrs. Ekwunife who regretted the amount of time wasted in
registering people blamed it on the equipment being used and said a lot still
needed to be done by INEC to convince Nigerians they were serious.

Use the old register

She also suggested a return to the old voters’ register if the
current exercise proved too difficult to handle. She said those who did not
find their names in that old register could now come for update. Alternatively,
Mrs. Ekwunife called for an amendment of the Electoral Law in order to enable
INEC to adopt Option A-4 for the purpose of the April elections.

“INEC needs exactly one year to do registration if they must get
it right and we have just three months to go,” she stated.

She said the issue was not about extending the exercise but in
making sure the equipment worked well. Mrs. Ekwinife said even if the
registration exercise was extended, INEC would still need to add at least two
months to get enough people to register.

“It is either they do this or they will revisit the Electoral Act and opt
for Option A-4,” Mrs. Ekunife said.

Five days after the
2011 voters’ registration exercise began nationwide, some registration
centres in Ganjuwa Local Government Area of Bauchi State are yet to
commence the exercise. This is due to the non-supply of the Direct Data
Capture (DDC) machines, which has crippled the exercise in these
centres.

The Administrative
Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Bauchi
State, Aminu Bello told NEXT in Bauchi during an interview on the
on-going voter registration exercise in the state that delay in the
supply of the machines is affecting the work of the commission.

“This problem of
lack of supply of the DDC Machines is not only in Bauchi,” he said. “It
is all over the country. 89 registration centres in Ganjuwa Local
Government Area have not yet gotten the machines because they are in
short supply for now.” He however assured that even though the exercise
has commenced, no eligible voter will be left behind.

“All of them will be registered as soon as the machines are supplied to us because it is their right,” he said.

He pointed out that
the exercise has been going on smoothly in the state, except for some
hitches encountered at the start of the exercise.

“I know that there
is no way the registration exercise will commence on the 15th in all
centres all over the country as planned. In Bauchi, we encountered some
problems before the exercise began and the major challenge we faced was
that of logistics. We had the DDC Machines on ground but moving them
and the registration officers to the field was our great challenge,” he
said.

Projections from the INEC national headquarters indicated that over
2.4 million eligible voters are expected to be registered in Bauchi
State during the ongoing exercise, as against the over 2.1 million
registered in the state during the same exercise in 2007.

The majority leader of the Ondo State House of Assembly, Ifedayo
Akinsoyinu, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a state of
emergency in Plateau State as a way of taking control over the crisis in the
state.

Mr. Akinsoyinu, told reporters that with the crisis that had
engulfed Jos, the capital of Plateau State in recent times, there was no
alternative to the declaration of a state of emergency in the state.

The lawmaker, who described the continued crisis in Jos as
alarming and disgraceful, charged Mr. Jonathan to urgently find a lasting
solution to the problem in the area. Mr. Akinsoyinu, (Labour, Ondo West), said
leaders of various communities in Jos should be probed for the continuous
crises that have engulfed the ancient town in recent times.

“The crisis in Jos is fast becoming too many,” he said. “Government
must brace up and get to the root of the matter. There are many people who are
fueling the crisis that should be brought to book. The solution to the crisis
is in the region because some cabals are behind the crisis, it is only when
these cabals are probed that Jos will enjoy peace.”

The lawmaker also criticised the federal government for not
doing enough to find a lasting solution to the crisis, saying the government
has failed in its duty of providing adequate security for its citizenry.

Changed dressing

Meanwhile, residents of Jos have adopted various survival
strategies as the warring parties resort to secret killings in the troubled
city. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that one of the strategies,
known as ‘chameleon tactics,’ involved the usage of clothes deemed acceptable
to each of the warring territories.

“I wear my jeans trousers and T-shirt if I move to Christian
settlements and change to caftan, trouser and cap when returning to the areas
inhabited by Muslims,” Shehu Mohammed, an undergraduate of the University of
Jos said.

Mr. Mohammed, whose campus is in a Christian-dominated area,
resides at Bauchi Road, populated by his fellow Muslims.

“The dressing has helped me a lot. It helps me from attracting
the attention of hoodlums,” he said.

Another resident, Bulus Pam, told NAN that he usually changed
his dressing whenever he was going to the market to purchase meat and
vegetables.

“If I want to buy meat, I wear jumper, cap and trousers because those items
are sold in Hausa-dominated areas,” he said.

We are told that successful people and successful nations play
to their strengths.

They analyse what they are good at, what resources they have,
where they can add value and direct their efforts and energy in that direction.

When they make careers out of what they are good at and what
they enjoy, they are likely to be successful and happy doing that. They are likely
to relocate to the most suitable place to run that business or offer that
service; and by their cumulative or combined efforts, the industry thrives.

I was conversing with an architect friend just last week,
enquiring about how profitable it is to make a living from architecture; and
remarking on how fortunate I believe architects are to make a living from their
passion, very much like artists, musicians and so on. The conversation turned
to ways of starting a second or parallel career to supplement one’s income. I
suggested playing to one’s strengths and building an income stream around it. I
asked him what his strengths were and how they had already assisted him in
making a success of his occupation. To my surprise, even though he was
passionate about design and architecture, he said he did not really know what
his strengths are.

He said that most of his peers don’t know what they are good at,
or what their strengths are. They just find work to earn money and put food on
the table and that is why there is so much job frustration and, basically, no
job satisfaction at all. What a revelation! How many of us know what our
strengths are, as they relate to our work and our occupation? For those of us
who do, how did we discover what our strengths are? Let’s take this to the
national level. I am quite sure that eight out of any 10 people I ask will know
what Indians are good at, or what the strengths of the Chinese are.

Ask what Nigerians are good at; what our strengths are; and what
we are known for. Other than the immediate negative responses such as 419 scams
and corruption, people would have to take a moment to think about it. On
reflection, they would say that Nigerians are enterprising, but how has that
translated into a national strength?

Our traders and markets are largely in the informal economy; and
Dangote alone cannot represent the spirit of enterprise in the nation. They
would say that we are excellent at problem-solving and coping, but has this
talent been directed by our policy makers to solving our national challenges?
They would say that we are known for our creativity. Yes, through individual
effort, writers such as Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka, musicians like Fela,
Asa, TuFace and so on have become internationally acclaimed. How are other creative
spirits nurtured and encouraged, other than through private avenues such Terra
Kulture and Nike’s Gallery. Our unappreciated museums full of valuable
artefacts have been left to deteriorate.

Diversity as strength

A wonderful trend is that you can study almost any subject you
can imagine.

Throughout your education, starting in primary school, the
teaching staff are talent-spotting, busy identifying latent or developing
skills, talents, passions, or potential. It is rare for a child to reach age 16
and not know what they are good at, both academically and vocationally and what
kinds of careers they can pursue.

Here, the majority graduate from school having passed their
exams, and that is all. The fortunate minority would have engaged in formal
music, arts, or sports programmes in private schools. Even those who were
award-winners in extra-curricular activities never imagined making a career out
of them and are actively discouraged from playing to their strengths by their
advisers.

We are known for being very intelligent and good at cramming
facts to pass exams. So, for many children, the subjects they get good grades
in are not subjects they have any interest in. What kind of career guidance do
school children get about how the subjects they take for SSCE will affect their
A’levels/JAMB and how their choice will affect their careers?

How can we know what our real strengths are? Without identifying
them, how can we, as a nation, harness our strengths? Natural resources are
just that, resources. Without people and functional systems to exploit and
benefit from them, they will not do us any good. To the contrary, we will be
left to live with all the disadvantages of extractive industries without
enjoying the beneficial effect they can have on a people, as we have seen in
the Middle East.

Let’s start at the beginning, with education and with the
children.

Help those around you in the workplace, who are square pegs in
round holes, to find square holes to thrive in. Employers should use
personality profiling to allocate their human capital where they can perform
the best on their own and as part of teams.

Oh yes, one of our strengths is our diversity. We haven’t yet figured out
how to play to it yet. All I have seen is pandering to different groups instead
of pulling the strengths of our diverse ethnicities to propel us into G20
status and achieve our Millenium Development Goals.

A few politicians who defeated incumbents in the just-concluded
primaries of the People’s Democratic Party might not have had the last laugh
yet, as the battle for who represents the party in April’s general election
remains open according to sources within the party.

NEXT investigations reveal that following the removal of
Okwesilieze Nwodo as the chairman of the PDP, the new leadership of the party
plan to use a two-pronged approach to prevail on some candidates to drop their
ambitions in favour of a certain line up of contestants who hitherto failed at
the primaries.

The plan includes capitalising on some petty larcenies at the
primaries and utilising a window in the 2010 Electoral Act that gives the
opportunity to replace candidates either by death or voluntary withdrawal.

The Electoral Act gives parties up to February 14 to withdraw
and replace contestants under section 35(1) of Electoral Act, 2010, an
opportunity the party plans to utilise either by persuading or coercing
unwanted contestants to back out. The Electoral Act demands that candidates can
withdraw voluntarily or be replaced if they die before the deadline.

A couple of senators and House of Representatives members could
be the intended beneficiaries of this plan, which is already causing rancour
amongst party members. Some of the lawmakers likely to benefit from the plan
include senate spokesman, Ayogu Eze, whose ticket was initially sacrificed for
the truce between Sullivan Chime, the Enugu state governor and Mr. Nwodo.

Mr. Eze recently said that it was preposterous at this point to
conclude that any candidate has won or lost because the nomination process of
candidates in the parties is still ongoing, till January 31, 2011. The
Independent National Electoral Commission fixed January 31 as the deadline for
parties to submit the list of candidates they intended to sponsor for the
forthcoming general election.

“Until that list is submitted, no candidate is assured of
victory,” an official of the party said.

Fighting for his right

Other planned beneficiaries of the plot include the Senator
Teslim Folarin from Oyo state and Annie Okonkwo of the Anambra Central
senatorial district, who was initially reported to have lost the election to
Chudi Offodile, a former House of Representatives member who was earlier
declared winner based on a parallel congress result.

Dino Melaye and his main antagonist in the House, Eseme Eyibo,
the chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs,
would also benefit from the scheme.

While Mr. Melaye lost to Shaba Ibrahim, Mr. Eyibo lost to Bassey
Dan Abia. Mr. Melaye is said to have been favoured by the new scheme after
officials recounted the votes and found some previously invalidated votes
bearing inscriptions like “Duno,” which is thought to be intended for him.

He had petitioned the National Working Committee of the party
over the irregularities of the primaries claiming that a fake delegates list
was used for the election, instead of the one certified by the PDP National
Secretariat.

“If the votes are ascribed to me as I contend they should, it
will change the result,” he said. Mr. Abia, who will likely lose his ticket to
Mr. Eyibo, on Tuesday vowed to defend his mandate after receiving the
intelligence about the plan.

“I can and will never surrender the ticket that was massively given to me by
the people of Eket Federal Constituency,” Mr. Abia said.

The Ekiti State governor is not daunted by the N40 billion debt
profile left behind by the ousted administration of Segun Oni, the Deputy
governor of the state, Funmi Olayinka said yesterday in Ado Ekiti.

Mrs Olayinka, who disclosed this at a press conference to mark
the 100 days of the Fayemi led administration in the state, said the debt
profile has made the state government more creative and determined to tackle
the challenges confronting the people of the state. She noted that the
government is desperately fashioning a way of building up its Internally
Generated Revenue to supplement the low federal allocation into the state,
stating that the state will soon recover from the debt burden through the
holistic approach being employed by the government.

She added that the state is now partnering with the British
Department for International Development (DFID), which she said is now on
ground for feasibility studies on how to develop the state.

“Though, as much as we are not comfortable with the N40 billion
debt , this government will not be weighed down,” she said. “We are taking
initiative on how to develop the state by increasing its IGR, which is a strong
criterion in allocation formula and we are partnering with international
agencies on how to save the state from perennial poverty.”

Reviewing contracts

She said a contract review committee has been set up by the
state government to review contracts awarded by the last administration,
assuring that some contractors would be compelled to refund some money into the
state’s coffers, having allegedly been mobilised more than the level of work
done. The deputy governor said the committee was set up following the
‘outrageous’ N27 billion debt burden incurred by the immediate past
administration on contracts.

Mrs Olayinka said the state Governor, Kayode Fayemi has, in his short time
in office, put smiles on the faces of the people through the payment of N750
million backlog of pension arrears to retirees, as well as N120 million to
former political office holders.

The Osun State
Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oloruntoyin Akeju has attributed the
malfunctioning of some of the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC)’s Direct Data Capturing (DDC) Machines to the variation in the
weather condition of the country where they are manufactured and
Nigeria where they are being used.

Mr Akeju made the
disclosure while fielding questions from newsmen at INEC headquarters
in Osogbo yesterday when the zonal commander of the Nigeria Security
and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in charge of Oyo, Osun and Ogun States,
Mudu Bunu visited him in his office during an inspection tour of the
state on the ongoing registration exercise.

The electoral
officer said the difference in the climate of the country where the
machines are manufactured is responsible to a large extent on why there
were some initial problems.

“The machines
originated from a temperate region where the weather was extremely cold
and with our own weather which is extremely hot, there are bound to be
this kind of initial problems,” he said.

Mr Akeju however
disclosed that the commission is gradually overcoming the initial
problem as majority of the machines are now operating at maximum
capacity.

“There is
improvement on a daily basis on the number of people we are able to
register. For instance on Sunday we registered about 60,000 voters
while the number had increased to 90,000 by Monday,” he said.

Responding on the
allegations of some pockets of crises in some registration centres
across the country, the NSCDC zonal commander said security will be
reinforced with security agents at all the centres in the country.

“We will seek the
assistance of our colleagues, the police and the SSS to help us secure
the safety of the machines and protect the lives of the personnel from
being attack by hoodlums,” Mr Bunu said.

Tough on the elderly

However, an INEC
registration official, Raphael Ezike, on Tuesday said that senior
citizens, above 60 years old, were mostly the ones that were having
problems being registered in the ongoing voter’s registration exercise.

“The scanners are
finding it difficult to recognise the finger prints of voters who are
60 years old and above, while those under 60 years have little
challenges,” he said.

The officer in
charge of Ward C, Alausa, Ikeja told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
that while it took less than five minutes to register younger
Nigerians, those above 60 years took much longer.

“It takes us about
five minutes to register people under 60 years old while those above 60
years old take longer minutes with the Direct Data Capture (DDC)
machines,” he explained.

The INEC official attributed the low figure recorded at the centre to the lack of power supply to recharge the machines.

“Before now, we
used to charge the only battery at other wards where there is power
supply and during such time we did not register anybody,” he said.

He, however, said that with the provision of a back-up battery now, they will be able to register more voters.

The court of appeal
sitting in Yola has fixed February 10 for its ruling on a 2007 election
related matter brought before it by Danladi Baido, winner of the PDP
governorship primaries in Taraba State, against INEC, in which the
appellant is asking the court to compel the electoral body to issue him
with the certificate of return issued to the state governor, Danfulani
Suntai.

The case, expected
to determine the fate of Mr Suntai of Taraba State, has been described
by counsel to the appellant as already running out of time. Falade
Bankole told the presiding judge of the appeal court that “time is of
an essence” after Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa, who initially disqualified
herself from handling the case, was asked by both parties to continue
with the case at yesterday’s sitting because of time.

Mrs Zainab had
disqualified herself in apparent protest about the procedure of the
court after she discovered the other judges were in possession of
document missing in her own brief.

The case against Mr
Suntai has already thrown the governor’s camp into panic, said a
supporter of Mr Baido who said they were optimistic of favourable
judgement because of the precedent set by the appeal court ruling in
Rivers State, which is similar to that brought against INEC in Taraba
State.

Electoral watershed

The crux of the
matter, according to the plaintiff’s counsel, is that Mr Suntai was
illegally substituted as the PDP candidate for Taraba State and
presented by INEC with the certificate of return. Mr Baido,

who wants the court
to, among other things, declare him as the candidate for the 14th April
2007 governorship elections also wants the court to set aside the
purported change or substitution of his name as PDP governorship
candidate for Taraba State.

“The mandate won by the appellant was wrongly denied him by his party in collusion with INEC,” the plaintiff said.

But Mr Baido’s
resort to the law court, sources said, is not without its own riddle as
the appellant had agreed to a role in the Suntai administration as the
chief of staff before political disagreement reared its head. Some of
the governor’s supporters also claim that Mr Baido is being instigated
by a former governor, Jolly Nyame who is estranged politically from the
incumbent governor.

“The judgement on
the appeal court case reserved for the 10th of February is seen as one
of a few cases connected to the 2007 elections expected to be another
watershed in election jurisprudence,” Desmond Adebole, counsel to the
appellant, said.