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“But they were ready before you!” Snapped my father angrily,
early on March, 6, 1957.

I had innocently asked: “But Dad, why did the Gold Coast get
independence before us?” There are two tiny sovereign nations, Benin and Togo,
hanging like strips of spaghetti on the map between Ghana and Nigeria. Yet,
Nigerians feel their real neighbours are Ghana. A bonding factor of colonial
experience in the way we relate to other nationals is pervasive. So, we compare
and measure ourselves with Ghana all the time – in politics and economics,
football and highlife music, education and fashion, cocoa and now oil. Luckily,
it has been healthy rivalry tinged with mutual respect, unlike the state of
affairs with our brothers to the east. Nigeria and Cameroon nearly went to war
over the Bakassi peninsula, even though ethnographically, we are closer to
Cameroon than to Ghana.

I sometimes ask what matrix or criteria are used in measuring
the Ghana-Nigeria competition, but all I hear is a savage rebuke: “Go to Ghana
and see!” Clearly, we live in a comparative world. Physics, biology, geography
and many more subjects have their comparative modules. Every life process is
compared with the other. Yet, in most cases, there is no linearity, no
parameter applied in arriving at judgmental conclusions. Our world subsists on
subjectivity, parochialism, unnecessary competition and naked prejudice.

Meeting the Queen

James Robertson replaced John Macpherson at the Marina as the
ruler of Nigeria, and had the honour of welcoming Queen Elizabeth II to Lagos.
I’ve never seen a human with a head as massive as the new governor-general’s.
He looked like an ox, and I almost ran away in horror the day he visited our
school.

Queen Elizabeth II stepped out to be confronted by the
regimental band of the Nigerian Army that could not have looked smarter and
more professional. They smashed out God Save the Queen, before advancing
through a series of Prussian martial tunes on to the lilting Blue Bells of
Scotland and the melodious Old Calabar. It was a sunny day. A broad Union Jack,
one of the most beautiful flags in the world, fluttered gracefully in the sea
breeze of Lagos. The impressive Royal Yacht Britannia bobbed and bubbled on
anchor in the murky waters of Lagos harbour.

Elizabeth’s visit in 1956 was not the first by a royal to
Nigeria. Her uncle, Edward, the Prince of Wales, was here for a week in April,
1925. I heard stories about him from my parents that he was handsome. They did
not tell me about the king’s huge appetite for married women. There was genuine
fear in England that he was going to turn Buckingham Palace into a brothel.
Eventually, Edward VIII abdicated in 1936 after just one year on the throne,
when the British government objected to his marrying Wallis Simpson, an American
divorcee. She had two living ex-husbands! My mother thought it was great and
gallant for a king to leave his throne in order to marry the woman he loved. My
father just shrugged and withheld his opinion. I asked to know what a
“divorcee” was, but got slapped down by my parents.

What didn’t we see in the way of automobiles during the Queen’s
visit – Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Armstrong-Siddeley, Austin Princess and Daimler!
A Roll-Royce epitomises everything that imperial splendour and authority
represents – silence, reverence, dignity, austerity and quality. But of all the
cars I saw in colonial Nigeria, none impressed me more than the Humber Super
Snipe.

I’ve not seen one again since 1953. A shame the British car
industry doesn’t exist anymore! In her farewell speech, the embryonic Nigerian
Army was re-christened the Queens’s Own Nigeria Regiment by Elizabeth herself.
They were terrific when it came to ceremonial occasions; the soldiers all the
same height – slim, very dark, with slightly bowed legs. Each soldier looked
like the twin of the subaltern next to him. The regiment, in heavily-starched
Bermuda shorts, marched in step like mechanised toys. Not a single Nigerian
soldier at ceremonial parades in those days had a pot belly balanced on K-legs.

“Regiment,” which insinuates command subsidiarity or a component
of a larger unit, attracted criticism in Nigeria. The army of an independent
Nigeria was not going to be something like the Scottish or Welsh Regiment
within the UK armed forces. So, a change was effected to the Royal Nigeria Army
(RNA) under the last British commander, Major-General Welby-Everard.

I hear it said now and again that the most efficient black
soldier is the one commanded by a white officer? True or false, this naïve
belief could have contributed to the downfall of Nkrumah and Abubakar Tafawa
Balewa. One cardinal error the two men made was to retain their British chiefs
of staff, well into independence.

Despite open warnings from Tawia Adamafio in Ghana and Azikiwe
in Nigeria,

Major-Generals Alexander and Welby-Everard remained in charge of
the Ghana and Nigeria armies until 1961 and 1965 respectively. The two Britons
could not have done a good job. Once they left, the armies rebelled!

Champion of the world

“They said that Bassey has knocked him down! The commentator
said the man has got up! I’m not sure what they’re saying now. Eh-hem, now they
said the man is bleeding from the nose. I think the referee is stopping the
fight!” We didn’t wait for a confirmation, screaming, hugging one another, jumping
about like kangaroos. It had been a live commentary of the live commentary on
the night of June 24, 1957 at Uyo.

Our small, robust radio set was never loud enough. Someone, a
second commentator, had to stick an ear close enough to it for better audio,
and then translate the actual commentary to the rest of us. Over 50 people
crowded around this unreliable radio set on that night at the hall of the TTC,
the Teacher’s Training College.

Nigeria’s Hogan Bassey was fighting Cherif Hamia, the French
Algerian for the Featherweight Championship of the World in Paris. Tears still
well into my eyes today when I recall the Daily Times front-page headline of
the next morning that simply read, “Hogan Bassey, Champion of the World!” The
1950s were the golden period for black people in international sports. To my
generation of Nigerians, sports remain the ethos around which our lives are
built. When, in 1958, I returned from the interview for admission into Umuahia
Government College, my father was waiting anxiously, pacing about like a caged
lion on the platform at Aba Railway Station.

“So, how did it go? What questions did they ask you?” I told him
there were three white men:

the principal, Mr. Wareham; Mr. Wilson and Mr. Garrod. After
they confirmed my name, place and date of birth, Mr. Wareham began seriously,
that he had heard I played cricket, and did I know cricket was played at
Umuahia College? Would I continue to play if admitted? It was like a crown
counsel cross-examining a criminal. I answered the questions timidly, but in
the affirmative. The three men looked at each other, and then asked me to call
the next candidate. It had been such a brief encounter I thought something had
gone wrong, and these white men didn’t want to waste their time with me. On the
short train ride from Umuahia to Aba, I sat somewhat dejected.

“Ahhh,” concluded my father, “then you’ve passed!” How? It was
in 1952, when my father was at University College, London and he sent two
cricket bats, a ball and some linseed oil to condition the bats, through the
district officer of Owerri, Mr. Mann to my brother and me. It resulted from a
letter my mother wrote to him that we used the branches of coconut trees for a
bat, and old tennis balls to play cricket. My brother got into Umuahia in 1954 and
was regular in the first team by 1958. The news about a younger brother, still
in primary school, who could use a cricket bat, had filtered into the school.

I kept a scrap book in which sports clippings from the Daily
Times, the West African Pilot, the overseas Daily Mirror and Illustrated London
News were stuck. There is no doubt in my mind over who qualifies to be the most
celebrated Nigerian footballer of all time – Teslim Balogun! He was, simply,
Thunder Balogun to everyone and for a striker to bear such a frightening name
speaks volumes of his exploits, and how goal-keepers must have suffered.

Three important landmark records made the 1950s memorable for me: that West
Indian side with Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott beat England
in a cricket test series, winning at Lords, the cricket citadel; Brazil won the
football Jules Rimet trophy ( the FIFA World Cup) in 1958. There were black
players in their team – Pele, Didi, Djalma Santos and Garrincha. In the same
year, the West Indian, Garry Sobers set a world batting record of 365 not out
against Pakistan. It was a wonderful decade!

The judge sitting over the case of arson and murder brought
against the Akwa Ibom Action Congree of Nigeria (ACN) gubernatorial candidate,
John Akpanudoedehe, Edet Obot said Tuesday he will rule on the case on
Wednesday. He said the poor lighting system in the court made it difficult for
him to give the ruling in the case.

Mr. Obot had waited for the arraignment of Mr. Akpanudoedehe
for hours after he was supposed to be brought in for trial. The magistrate had
arrived at the court premises early in the morning but information remained
hazy on whether the case would still be heard, as the court does not sit after
midday. Lawyers, ACN supporters and the crowd of people that had thronged the
court were seen leaving the court premises after waiting for some time.

Sources had informed NEXT that Mr. Akpanudoedehe and his
lawyers were still at the police headquarters, located at Ikot Akpannabia, and
that the delay was a strategy meant to check Mr. Akpanudoedehe’s supporters and
forestall any uprising. Security personnel were seen patrolling Uyo since the
morning hours while people entering the court premises were subjected to
extensive security checks.

Intimidation and arrest

Lead counsel Adeniyi Akintola and 28 others who stood in for
Mr. Akpanudoedehe criticised the intimidation, arrest and detention of their
client by the police and the state government saying he was supposed to be
provided with security as a governorship candidate. He condemned the fact that
the state criminal law was amended on March 31, 2011 when the offence for which
his client is being accused happened on March 22, 2011, adding that that was
not only a violation of the law but an intent to implicate Mr. Akpanudoedehe
unconstitutionally. He said the court had no jurisdiction to handle the charges
of murder and arson according to subsection 1, paragraphs a-d of the Akwa Ibom
State Criminal Law cap. 315.

“A law to amend criminal proceeding was sent to the state House
of Assembly on March 31, 2011 and made to deliberate on and passed. They never
investigated the alibi of my client. He was at Ikot Ekpene that day
campaigning, he was not around.” Prosecuting counsel, Raphael Nkem, however
deferred, saying the provisions as contained in the state law was appropriate
for the determination of the offence.

Mr. Akpanudoedehe was granted bail by the Federal High Court in
Abuja on March 31. Shortly after he met his bail conditions, the police
rearrested him on the court premises, without giving reason for their action.

Mr. Akpanudoedehe has, meanwhile, been in the custody of the
state CID.

Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole yesterday protested an
alleged inducement of some troops deployed for last Saturday’s election by
leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State.

Mr Oshiomhole who spoke at a press conference in Benin, said
PDP leaders in the state used the military to arrest and brutalise ACN
supporters during the botched National Assembly election.

“The conduct of the officers and men in various places on
Saturday strongly indicated that their operational order was not to give effect
to Mr President’s resolve to provide adequate security during the elections.
Rather, the Army actively executed the bidding of the PDP, as the various
contingents were deployed to harass ACN leaders and members in order to pave
the way for the rigging of the election,” he said.

“PDP thugs, including those hired from neighbouring states wore
special red and yellow arm bands, which became symbols of immunity even in the
face of the premeditated violence they unleashed. The pre-agreed colours
allowed PDP thugs easy passage.” He alleged that military men deployed to the
state, who were supposed to provide security for the elections, turned out to
be tools of intimidation and harassment of innocent citizens on the orders of
PDP chieftains in the state.

Fair to all

He said even though he supported the deployment of the military
as a way of ensuring credible polls, it was unacceptable for the security
outfit to become a willing tool in the hands of members of the ruling party to
harass innocent citizens.

The governor further alleged that the PDP leaders had boasted
openly about their resolve to use both retired and serving military officers
during the elections in Edo South senatorial district.

“We do not believe that this criminal subversion of the Nigeria Army is
being perpetrated to the knowledge of Mr President. This is why we are compelled
to draw President Jonathan’s attention to this attempt to use the army to
soften the ground for the PDP to rig the elections,” he said. “We plead that
the Commander-in-Chief should strongly prevail on the Nigerian Army to be
neutral and to appreciate that it is a national institution. We also plead that
Mr President should call the Inspector General of Police to order and prevail
on him to detest on subverting the neutrality of the Force by taking orders
from PDP bigwigs in the Presidency.” Mr Oshiomhole however restated his
“concurrence with the need to deploy the Nigeria Army to help ensure free and
fair elections.”

The Chairman of the Ado Ekiti Local Government Area, Sunday
Ibitoye, has declared that the security of a former governor of Ekiti State,
Ayodele Fayose, can no longer be guaranteed in the state.

Mr Ibitoye, a member of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN),
said Mr Fayose has provoked the indigenes by his inciting statements against
the traditional council of Ado Ekiti.

Briefing newsmen in Ado Ekiti yesterday on the statement
allegedly made on a radio station, Mr Ibitoye said it was wrong for the former
governor to be inciting the non-indigenes against the traditional chiefs in the
name of politics Acting on the information that some Ado Ekiti chiefs were
moving round farms and allegedly threatening the Ebiras, Tivs and Igedes living
in the farms that they would be banished from Ado Ekiti if they voted for
Fayose during Saturday’s senatorial election, the former governor was said to
have told the non-indigenes to disgrace whoever spreads such information in
their domains.

Fayose lashes out

Mr Fayose on the live programme was said to have told the
non-indigenes in the state to vote for candidates of their choice, saying
nobody under the law has the power to banish any other Nigerian.

The statement, according to Mr Ibitoye, was unfortunate and
provocative, which he said was capable of heating up the polity and degrading
the respect for the traditional ruler of Ado Ekiti, Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe “The
provocative statement is highly unfortunate and condemnable. We condemn it in
its entirety. It has provoked the indigenes of Ado Ekiti. So, due to this high
level of provocation, I can no longer guarantee the security of the former
Governor in the state capital,” Mr Ibitoye said.

Mr Fayose, who urged his supporters to disregard the statement,
said “I remain a leader in Ekiti more than any personal interest. I have no
reason to disrespect the traditional institution. I want to caution desperate
politicians against blackmailing me for them to have their ways “I have done
enough for Ado Ekiti and up to now, I remain committed to its development. So I
urge politicians to play politics of maturity rather than character
assassination. “For me and Labour Party, we remain law abiding. No party can
wish us away on the politics of this state. So, Mr Sunday Ibitoye is not in
position to guarantee my security. The people are behind me and nothing can change
that “And I want to say that Mr Ibitoye will be held responsible if anything
untoward happens to me and members of my party,” Mr Fayose said.

Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel yesterday denied any
agreement with former Lagos state governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to work for the
victory of the Action Congress of Nigeria {ACN} in the upcoming election as a
way to give him {Daniel} soft landing at the expiration of his tenure.

Mr. Daniel, who reacted through his Commissioner for
Information and Orientation, Sina Kawonise said reports that the governor
recently had a meeting with Mr. Tinubu is ‘absolute falsehood’. “The truth is
that both Daniel and Tinubu have not had any meeting together in the last few
years. As such, any claim that Daniel met Tinubu to reach an accord between the
Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to work
together in the forthcoming election is false in its entirety,” Mr. Kawonise
said.

Desperate propaganda

The state official also said the claim of the meeting is a
propaganda by desperate politicians in the state to cause confusion and deceive
people in order to sway their votes He called on voters not to be deceived into
voting for the wrong party. Mr Daniel, although nominally a member of the PDP,
has been campaigning for the PPN, on which platform his candidates are running
for office after they were rejected by the PDP. ‘‘Gbenga Daniel therefore urges
voters in Ogun State, who trooped out last Saturday to vote for PPN and its
candidates, to do so again on Saturday and ensure the continuity of good
governance, progress and a better future for our children,” he said”. the
release emphasized.

Meanwhile, a group of young professionals in the state, Light
To Nigeria Group {LNG}, yesterday called on the national chairman of
Independent National Electoral Commission {INEC}, Attahiru Jega to distance
himself from politicians as the elections draw nearer. ‘‘This is national
assignment, don’t misuse the power, you have to be faithful to the nation and
not to any individual or group,’ the group said. The group also called on the
INEC Chairman to properly monitor his subordinates at the state level so that
they don’t derail the plan for free elections that would usher in credible
leaders.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday
denied that specific states will miss Saturday’s National Assembly due to
ballot paper issues, saying the commission will be certain of the affected
areas after an ongoing assessment ending Thursday.

Officials said the announcement specifying the areas affected,
which the Chief Press Secretary, Kayode Idowu, had earlier said will be “few”,
will be made by the commission’s chairman, Attahiru Jega on Thursday, two days
before the rescheduled elections on Saturday.

Mr Idowu said the position will be clear after an internal audit
of the materials deployed on Saturday which will enable the commission to be
certain of the extent of the errors recorded on the ballot papers, and where
there are needs of reprint.

“It may not even be states or local governments, but it may be
mere wards, just a few places,” he said yesterday.

The situation ahead of the shifted election nationwide remained
unclear yesterday after a prolonged meeting between Mr Jega and the 36 Resident
Electoral Commissioners (REC) in Abuja which lasted for more than seven hours.

Chairman shuns conference

Mr Jega shunned a press conference earlier billed to hold after
the meeting with the RECs late in the evening, amid a waft of speculations
spreading from an overhaul of the states’ logistics mechanism, to allegations
that he again offered to resign. His aides denied any of such came up at the
meeting. “We do not respond to rumours,” said Mr Idowu.

The commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Emmanuel Umenger,
and Mr Idowu, said Mr Jega took “far reaching” decisions at the meeting with
the RECs, issuing fresh directives particularly on logistics and transportation
plans for the elections.

A review of the process of last Saturday, when massive shortage
of materials forced a postponement of the election, was made and each REC was
asked to present a report, they said.

They added that Mr Jega delayed an address after the meeting to
allow for the completion of certain directives on the RECs who will deliver a
feedback before Thursday. However, staff conversant with the discussions at the
meeting, said the delay was to conclude the assessment of the materials to
allow the commission to be certain on the areas where elections will not hold
on Saturday.

Osun State
Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, yesterday gave out grants and relief
materials to some returnees from crisis-turn Cote d’Ivoire. He blamed
the crisis in the foremost cocoa-producing country on the failure of
leadership.

Addressing the
Osun State indigenes who recently returned home in Iwo and Ejigbo Local
Government Areas of the state, Mr Aregbesola stated that, “If some of
our leaders in Nigeria and those of their counterparts in Abidjan had
been responsible, the crisis in Cote d’Ivoire could have been properly
managed.” The governor, however, called on the Federal Government of
Nigeria and all other African heads of state to quickly intervene in
the crisis.

The governor, in
his bid to alleviate the suffering of the returnees, released food
items to the displaced Osun State indigenes.

In Iwo, the Mr
Aregbesola said, “We urge our people to support their brothers and
sisters who have just returned from Abidjan, we in our capacity as
government, will do all we can to alleviate the stress of the displaced
people in Cote d’Ivoire.” He also assured the returnees that the
government will support them. “As a responsible government, we have
decided to share in the plight of the returnees by ensuring that they
settle down quickly. We have arranged with their local governments how
life would be made better in the state,” he added.

I would go out and vote for the
Presidential and Governorship elections, but for the National Assembly,
I have no interest again. I don’t know what is really going on in this
country so I would not bother going out on Saturday because there is no
point going there to waste my time.

–Esther Baiden

I don’t even know who to vote for. Right from time,
I’ve been confused about the National Assembly elections and I don’t
know any of the candidates. I don’t think I will bother myself on
Saturday. I’m not going to vote.

–Gloria Olorunyomi

As a Nigerian citizen, it is my right to vote. When I
heard the election was postponed, I was really disappointed about it,
but as a Nigerian, there is nothing I can do. I’m not interested in
anybody’s money to vote, but I will vote for the right person.

–Abdulkabir Salaudeen

I won’t vote. I went out on Saturday. They even came
to the place that I registered. I will vote for the Presidential and
Governorship elections but I won’t vote for this one on Saturday.

–Rachael Ogunseyin

I didn’t go out of my house at all on Saturday. In
the area I am living, I don’t have anybody that I should vote for. I
don’t have any interest in the campaigns for the Senate and House of
Reps. They are not doing anything. They just go to Abuja to go and
share the money in Ghana-must-go bags among themselves. There is no
need voting.

–Paul Oladotun

I am a good Nigerian and I have to vote. Nobody is
above mistakes. Jega has already explained the cause of the delay s so
we must give him more time. I will go and vote on Saturday.

–Tope Babalola

Many Lagos
politicians believe the chairman of the Independent National Electoral
Commission, Attahiru Jega, did not tell Nigerians the whole truth
surrounding the cancellation of last Saturday’s National Assembly
election.

Fake register

“When Jega said the
cancellation was because materials were not available, I like you to
understand that it goes beyond that,” said Ganiyu Solomon, Action
Congress of Nigeria’s candidate for the Lagos West Senatorial District,
who was shocked that his name was not on the register brought to his
polling unit in Ilupeju. “He said he will tell Nigerians the truth; no,
he has not told us the entire truth, because in my polling units for
instance my name was not there. I am a candidate, and my name, in a
place where I have registered since I turned 18, now suddenly
disappeared. We had about 500 registered voters but INEC came with a
register containing only 153 names.”

He said such “grave
error,” having happened before to Chris Ngige of Anambra State, should
not even happen again, if the electoral commission is actually learning
from history. “This thing is avoidable if the verification exercise had
been done faithfully by INEC,” he said. “Jega requested for money and
more money, he was given. He requested for more time, he was also
given. He requested that the constitution be amended, it was done. He
asked us to send students home during registration, we did that.
Everything he asked for, he was given.”

The chaos

In many polling
units, the number of accredited voters was not up to half of number of
registered voters. In Governor Babatunde Fashola’s ward, 273 voters
were accredited out of 870 registered voters. In another polling unit
in Ikeja, 200 voters were accredited out of 828 registered voters. Many
voters claimed they could not find their names on the register.

Electoral materials
meant for Imo State were reportedly found in Badagary. In Lagos Central
Senatorial District and Ikorodu, Labour Party was also missing on the
ballot papers, National Conscience Party’s name was also omitted in
Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area. Tunde Agunbiade, the state chairman
of the National Conscience Party, said the voting that took place in
Lagos not only exposed the electoral commission’s ill- preparedness,
but also revealed a high level of irregularity. “If the election had
run as scheduled, the level of disenfranchisement and irregularity
would have been worse than 2007 elections,” he said.

Mr Solomon
complained that there were not enough vehicles to convey electoral
officials to polling units. “Why provide three vehicles to officers
manning about 300 polling units spread across a particular local
government and you expect them to reach there at 8am?,” he said. “So
they will be dropping from the vehicle as if they are in Molue buses.”

Mr Agunbiade wanted
“INEC to be completely independent by also providing needed furniture
for electoral officials” because the officials will “likely be
favourably disposed to whoever provides ancillary support and this may
be a source of rigging.”

More fears

Emmanuel Fadele,
the Executive Director of Justice, Development, and Peace Commission,
the largest indigenous electoral observer group, wants to know how the
commission will replace the used ballot papers. “We are worried
particularly over the security of the issued electoral materials in the
hands of various electoral officials who may collude with mischievous
politicians to perpetrate electoral fraud,” he said. “We are equally
disturbed by the fact that this can discourage the teeming electorates,
who trooped out [on Saturday], from coming out to vote during the rest
of the voting exercise.”

Former Bishop of Akure Diocese of the
Anglican Communion and a member of the National Democratic Coalition
(NADECO), Emmanuel Bolanle Gbonigi, has described the cancellation of
the National Assembly election by the Independent National Electoral
Comission as a national disaster. Mr. Gbonigi, however, expressed
sympathy with the INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega, whom he described as a
man of humility and integrity. “I symphatise with INEC and its
chairman, Jega, because up till now, I am convinced that he has done
his very best. By this unfortunate situation, I imagine that his heart
is bleeding, because the situation is the opposite of what he stood
for. “He deserves our sympathy because over the time, he had proved to
be a man of integrity. He has apologised and accepted responsibility.
He deserves our understanding. He should take courage and not to be
angry to ensure that election takes place successfully,” he said.

Mr. Gbonigi urged politicians to take
it easy with the INEC Chairman and examine themselves on why they want
to contest for the election.

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