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01 10th, 2012| 
Michael D Higgins through the years
Duration : 0:5:39
Jan
6
The Independent National electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC) is an electoral body in Nigeria set up to conduct elections in Nigeria . Its origin can be traced to the period before the nation’s independence when in 1960 The Federal Electoral commission was established in 1960 to conduct 1959 elections in the country. This electoral body was however dissolved after the 1966 coup which ushered in the military administration in the country.
Nigeria’s INEC is a permanent body with presence felt in the 36 states of the country including Abuja as well as the 774 local government areas in the country where teeming populations of candidates wait on the body to vie for political offices in the country. It is as a result of this development that INEC asserts to the claim that the body has more than before repositioned itself to deliver credible elections that will sustain nascent and hard earned democracy in the country which many people have since doubted in view of the history of the past elections organized by the body.
The commission as presently constituted is made up of a chairman and 12 national commissioners and established in accordance with section 153(f) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with the major functions of organizing and supervising the elections to the positions of the President, Vice-President, Governors and deputy Governors of a state, to the members of the Senate, House of Representatives, and of the Assembly of each state, registration of political parties etc.
INEC in its history has conducted several elections in the country all of which has been deemed to the besieged with unfairness and without fairness excepting the June 12 elections which even the acclaimed winner in the presidential race, Chief M. K. O. Abiola never assumed office, or better put never lived to claim his mandate because his mandate was unfairly denied him, thus he died in a mysterious circumstances in the hands of the Government of the country while struggling to claim his mandate. INEC is therefore seen as a biased commission not capable of organizing credible elections and an instrument of sitting leaders to achieve their personal means politically.
As noted in this write up, INEC is viewed as a failure in terms of organizations of credible elections into political offices in Nigeria that would produce credible personalities capable of running the nations without first considering their personal interests which to large extent has led to fraud and large scale electoral malpractices in the country. The problem with INEC would seem to begin the fact that the body contrary to the name is not an independent body because the body is firmly tied to the aprons of the Federal Government of Nigeria which uses the body to achieve its personal means dictating who should vie for particular offices and who should eventually win such offices. In this way INEC does not function without undue interference from Government Agencies and even political parties. (This is the view of Otunba Nicholas Tofowomo Chairman of Isedale Yoruba in the Diaspora UK) According to him “INEC is an invisible quasi extension of the presidency”
INEC is also seen as an organization that cannot be trusted by even political candidates vying for offices in organizing credible and competent elections in the land. It would also seem that the appointment of the chairman of the body and other directors by the presidency makes INEC a baby of the government with a natural instinct to act according to the whims and caprices of the Federal Government. The height of this was seen during the rule of Obasanjo when he singly hand-picked the present president of the country to vie for presidential office under the platform of the ruling party, PDP, this candidate went ahead to win in the election much to the surprise of the international monitors and observers.
Again, Babangida, the former military president of the country went ahead to set up to political parties in his years as the ruler, and when it was clear that chief MKO Abiola the presidential candidate of one of the parties was leading ordered his baby-INEC to stop further release of the results, with the then chairman of the electoral body, Prof Humphrey Nwosu later arrested because he would go ahead with the result of the results and was set to officially unveil the Late Chief MKO Abiola as the winner of the election and president of the country. Abiola would later die in a circumstance deemed very controversial while fighting to claim his mandate and assume office of the executive president of the country. It would be surprising to note that only this year Chief MKO Abiola became officially unveiled as the winner of the election by the man who presided over the election, Prof Humphrey Nwosu, fifteen years after the said election.
“ONE major aspect that INEC had admitted not having control over is violence. Despite its warnings to the parties that it will not hesitate to cancel the polls where violence dominates, reported cases of killings dot the terrain, as supporters of the leading political parties- ANPP/ Action Congress (AC) and the PDP are at daggers drawn.” (The Guardian, Saturday March 29, 2008)
From the above quotation, we know that the threat of violence is one major area INEC has failed woefully to establish its control on, people begin to lose their lives at the commencement of mere electioneering in Nigeria, dieing under unknown circumstances, threats to lives and petitions to the police and relevant Agencies also increase with INEC, the police and the judiciaries unable to track downs these killers or even unravel circumstances surrounding the deaths of scores of people. Fear of violence forms one good reason for low turn out of voters in time of elections in the country as people who foresee violence often decide to stay indoor and save their dear lives. The presence of truckloads of fierce-looking soldiers or policeman does not also help matters as people always want to avoid problems and not wanting to risk their lives over what they term nothing.
Killers for political reasons are usually not known and are therefore not prosecuted, these killers once describes as nest of killers in PDP by the Nobel Laureate for Literature, Prof Wole Soyinka as a result are left free to continue with their killings in view of the inability of the police to properly identify them.
INEC has also been noted for not adequately creating awareness before, during and after elections causing electorates to strictly rely on scanty information available to the literate and illiterate public, in this way, runour becomes the order of the day, with the electorates sometimes preferring to rather sit down in their houses and watch or sometimes decide to participate when after neighbours have participated. This is not good because a situation like this may hardly sustain the nascent democracy in the country.
Often times too, we have never in this country witness anyone bag a sentence for stealing mandates or in the first place finding his way in an office where he did not rightly belong, the result therefore is that, judicial maters on INEC are not taken seriously and are only believed to at worst, order such fraudulent person to step down or vacate the office. We want to see a situation whereby mandate thieves are sentenced to several years of imprisonments.
The presence of electoral reform committees is quite necessary in putting the country forward in electing credible officers; this will no doubt improve how public desires are expressed in election results in the country and ultimately increase voter participation in our electoral matters, safety of citizens to vote should also be improved upon. The impact of electoral reform committee in achieving this development is therefore very vital to cause of sustainability of the country’s nascent democracy.
Quite a lot of observers have advocated for the involvement of the participation of political parties in the appointment of the chairman and directors of INEC to increase the confidence and participations of voters. At present, the ruling party of PDP appoints the chairman and directors of INEC which is very unfair to other political parties who usually enter into the race having prejudice at the back of their minds against them. It would also be befitting if the members of political parties comprise of the directors of INEC so that imbalance in the organization will be eliminated greatly. This composition of INEC should be improved without further waste of time if the body is to arrange credible and fair elections in the country because the body as presently constituted is assumed to be lacking in trust and tantamount to mockery.
INEC from inception to this day has always been in learning process as a result of which the people of the country has lost sense of confidence in INEC as presently constitutions. Because the people believe that INEC encourages the rigging of elections into vital positions in the country and makes selections of individuals favourite to them. When this is done no particular political partu will find it easy to manipulate elections in the country as positive changes will be impacted on the country as whole but until this is done typical rigging and selection of candidates will continue and this will consequently continue to act as a threat top the nascent democracy in the country which all have believed has come to stay. INEC for sure needs electoral reform committee to im[pact positive changes on the country.
Emeka Esogbue
Nixon just edges Humphrey.
Dec
24
Shelby Steele says Barack Obama won the presidential election by successfully basing his candidacy on race. We know very little about the content of Barack Obama’s character, although we will come to know it with every decision he makes as president. Obama represented an opportunity for white voters to dispel the stigma that this is a racist country. Black voters, by contrast, voted for Obama to dispel the idea that they are inferior. Either way, the November elections revealed how this country is obsessed by race.
Duration : 0:37:25
Dec
21
Within every society, groups of individuals come together to support deserving causes. Social activism is most common in the political arena, where groups bound by shared public interests act in concert to deliver votes for political parties. Societal and technological change has accelerated the evolution of such large scale instances of social collaboration with the advent of Internet. In particular, the internet has transformed the value of information, by distributing it across interactive platforms which facilitate unprecedented participation from users and in the process enhancing the value of information multifold. One area where the Internet has significantly empowered groups of individuals with information is the socio-political scenario of the nation.
As the voting public of the United States looks forward to the Presidential election on November 4, 2008, all of the information gathered and analyzed about the activities, policies of and public attitudes towards both Barack Obama and John McCain acquires immense value. Election web sites now encompass a wide range of topics and services, including debate analysis, poll results, voter turnout ratios, and predictions about voting behavior. The newspaper industry represents one form of media that has maximized the access and reach of election information over the internet. Opinions, blogs and buzz are all examples of new forms of media and information dissemination which have been spawned by the internet, and which empower groups with the means to reach new members and influence election outcomes. For instance, the New York Times has a dedicated section on politics that caters to all citizens, delivering market analysis, and blogs with news and commentary serving local markets. Additional services provided by publications like the New York Times also offer online, interactive and live chat rooms with market analysts and electoral consultants who provide deeper insight into the economical policies of each Presidential candidate.
Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter now host a diversity of forums that are dedicated to the posting and sharing of ideas and opinions about the coming election and each candidate. On Facebook you can find photos, discussion boards and career biographies of both Obama and McCain. The network also empowers local groups with the organizational tools to host events, and a powerful platform for promoting candidates and their respective policies using posters and cards. Featured also are blogging arenas, and the capability to host national call groups for each candidate, to which friends and family can be invited, and which make it much easier to reach out to other like-minded people across the country. These sites also nurture friendships within groups by gathering together women, veterans and students and giving them the tools to form their own communities. On Twitter, there are streams of messages from users about each candidate’s performance on the campaign trail. Both Obama and McCain have also used services like Facebook and Twitter as forums to generate support, solicit funds and propagate their policies and opinions. Minekey, Facebook’s popular application which fuels a discussion community of over two million people, recently launched its own election site to provide a forum for U.S. and global citizens to discover, vote upon and discuss the policies and positions of both candidates.
Clearly, the internet is the driving force contributing to the promotion and advance of public awareness of national issues. Socio-political activism on the net has instigated widespread cultural change, by surfacing all election campaign activities, events and issues available in the virtual world – to all people, wherever they live.
ajax
Dec
20
What presidential election do you think was the most interesting?
I liked watching all the voter fraud in the 2008 election. I also liked to see Carter get crushed so hard he withdrew before the California results when the media kept telling us he would win.
Dec
16
Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes won the 1876 presidential election over Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York by a single electoral vote in one of the most disputed American presidential elections ever. Their contest produced the highest voter turnout in U.S. history — 81.8 percent of males over 21 cast a ballot. Just what was the dispute about? Michael Holt — a University of Virginia history professor — addresses that question.
Duration : 0:2:59
This is just for entertaining purpose only.
Dec
5
As we await the results of the biggest US Presidential Election we have ever seen, I have found an interesting article on how car choice reflects how Americans vote.
Kelley Blue Book Market Research surveyed almost 12,000 US car owners and how they planned to vote in the election. They found that owners of larger trucks and traditional luxury cars are more likely to vote for John McCain, while owners of hybrids and station wagons are more likely to vote for Barack Obama.
Backers of Arizona senator McCain typically own American brands – GMC (61%), Chevrolet (60%), Buick and Dodge (58%). McCain voters are also more likely to drive luxury brands like Lexus and BMW.
Barack Obama followers prefer imported vehicles, with the most popular being the Mini with 70%, Subaru (61%) and Saab (59%).
McCain supporters are most likely to drive full size trucks and SUVs, while Obama voters drive station wagons, hatchbacks and hybrids.
Rick Wainschel from Kelley Blue Book said “Car ownership says a lot about a person, and can even be an indicator who they are likely to vote for”. I do agree with this to an extent. While all this data may seem like a sweeping generalisation, some of it does make sense.
Sales of domestic and large trucks (McCain) are higher in traditionally Republican ‘red’ states whilst import and hybrid owners are predominantly located in Democratic ‘blue’ states.
Wired Blog claims all American brands like GMC and Chevrolet, as favoured by McCain followers, represent a blue collar ethic and fit with McCain’s image as a war hero with years of experience.
Throughout the campaign, Obama has stressed the importance of renewable energy, so it’s not surprising that eco-conscious hybrid car owners would vote for him.
So while some of it makes sense, I’m sure there are a lot of exceptions to the rule. I imagine a lot of American car choices reflect personal budgets and need for space rather than their voting preference.
Car Guru
Dec
1
Watch president-elect Michael D Higgins’s acceptance speech in the Dublin Castle count centre.
Duration : 0:9:53
