Making history history On June 12 2011, I wrote a piece titled Nigeria: Time to give June 12 a decent burial [1] for a number of reasons which already appear in that piece. Basically, June 12 1993 is an important date in Nigerian history, it presented the opportunity for democratic self-determination but the military junta of that time made the [...]

Yes, the hope died June the Twelfth, 1993 has for years been marked as the day that Nigeria’s hopes for democracy died or as Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa would have so eloquently put it when he made his speech [1] as Prime Minister of a newly independent Nigeria; our claims to responsible government were rubbished. After many years of military [...]

This is cross-posted from my blog at http://akinblog.nl As we savour the returns As the election season ends in Nigeria it is important to lay out in some form a whole series of ideas for electoral reform to improve on the experiences we had for the elections in April 2011. It goes without saying that despite the view of cynics [...]

One of the many imponderables from the results of the voting held in the country throughout April, is why Nigerians returned to office a party with a great history behind it. The PDP was at its most impressive some eight years ago. That was when we had this slew of reforms: against corruption in public places; to make the public procurement [...]

‘All politics Is local’ – Tip O’Neill Before the presidential elections on the 16th of April, Muhammadu Buhari had said that he would not challenge the result in the courts if he lost. He however said that his party, the CPC is free to go to court, and that is what it seems they have decided to do. It is [...]

  The paralysis of analysis. This is what the recently concluded presidential election has generated for some thinkers and analysts. There is no dispute to the fact that the election was seen to be credible and peaceful. It has been adjudged to be comparatively free and fair, relative to previous elections of the sort. The turnout of voters at various [...]

The spread of the results in the recently concluded presidential elections in Nigeria are a serious talking issue, I present an analysis of the figures that make a lie of the accepted narrative about Nigeria. This is cross-posted from my blog at http://akinblog.nl Where we are There is every need to conduct a thorough analysis of the distribution of votes [...]

This was cross-posted from my blog at http://akinblog.nl Done and dusted A new Nigeria just hatched out of its egg in the last 48 hours wherein the presidential elections took place and all results announced with the declaration of a winner. As it stands, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been declared the winner of the elections having scored the highest [...]

This was cross-posted from my blog at http://akinblog.nl Being aware of rigging opportunities Giving some flesh to a tweet – @boosoolalab The problems could be efficiency, intimidation, access, bias and violence barring people from exercising their rights. In some Twitter exchanges last night I was engaged in a conversation about the prospects for freer, fairer and more credible elections for [...]

This is cross-posted from my blog at http://akinblog.nl INEC failing itself Now over 72 hours since the National Assembly elections were concluded in Nigeria, we find ourselves at crossroads of hope and possibility without the clearest indication of what the future really holds. As results from various Polling Units trickled in from messages sent with the #NigeriaDecides Twitter hashtag, this [...]