One year ago today, on March 28, 2015, Nigerians voted in general elections that effectively redefined democracy and reset the nation’s destiny by defying all predictions of Armageddon and prospects of Nigeria shattering to smithereens. The election held largely peacefully; not without some hitches though, it still was a reflection of the people’s free will. The momentous election and the democratic change of baton it engendered at the center will go on record as a watershed in the affairs of Nigeria. If there ever was any doubt about Nigeria’s capacity for self-renewal and the people’s desire to stay united, the March 28, 2015 election was the answer. If there ever was any fear that only in vain would sportsmanship grace, rooted in a deep love of country over and above mere pursuit of power, be sought in the Nigerian spirit, the result of that election as well as former president Jonathan’s response to his loss were the needed evidence of a nation blessed with true leaders. Jonathan’s historic concession is why the story of the successful 2015 poll is still being told one year after.
By promptly conceding victory to Muhammadu Buhari and congratulating him, Jonathan with that singular act of grace, perhaps, did more to strengthen the nation’s democracy than all of his other actions in office; making the best case for his legacy and revealing a side of him that is totally committed to Nigeria and for which history will judge him so kindly. His best, it could be said, he saved for last. By that gracious act of admitting defeat, he gave himself, Nigeria and Africa a great legacy and a new prism through which leadership on the continent would henceforth be viewed. By the time all was said and done, Nigerians had re-written their nation’s history. Prof. Attahiru Jega’s commendable performance as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was an affirmation of the fact that Nigeria does not lack human capital to drive its institutions.
Beyond the particular victory of one candidate and his party, Nigeria won in an election in which its people, for the higher sake of their country, simply voted for change. Let it be recalled that Nigerians voted out a PDP that was more of a ruling than a governing political party, that was insensitive to the yearnings of the electorate, and that was, while it lasted, both incompetent, yet arrogant to the point of being disdainful. The APC promised a change from all that was wrong with the PDP. If there was one other thing the March 28 election and its aftermath have proven, it is that there is indeed nothing wrong with Nigeria that cannot be corrected by what is right with Nigeria. And if the elections went peacefully, it was not for lack of trying by some self-serving parvenus who did their best to torpedo the process. It is remarkable, therefore, that the right attribute of the nation triumphed over its ugliness.
Nigerians will not easily forget the incident at the INEC collation center in Abuja, when PDP chieftain and former Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Godsday Orubebe, in a public display of untamed anger before worldwide television, accused Jega of bias against the ruling party. It was a discourteous and shameful act of immense proportion. By the way he was hauling invectives at the INEC chairman and ambling in front of the platform, Orubebe’s action was capable of dismantling the whole process and precipitate a crisis. This was an act capable of taking Nigeria two decades back, of discrediting the progress made by INEC, of belittling security efforts, and of needlessly heating up the polity. Had Orubebe’s unruly and irresponsible conduct degenerated into some violent altercation; and had Jega joined in a shouting match with him, the wind of change that had put Nigeria on the rise again would have become an ill- wind that would have driven the nation over the cliff.
Nigeria, having pulled off another peaceful civilian-to-civilian change of government certainly sent out to the world an assuring sign of a maturing democratic culture. Nigerians have been at the receiving end of elite infamy manifested in misrule and election rigging with consequent contentious results which have been the subject of court verdicts across the states and the nation. One year after, the ultimate landings of all the governorship and legislative seats are yet to be fully resolved. Yet, under Professor Jega, INEC was transformed into a better organized electoral umpire that raised electoral conduct to a new level with the introduction of novel features and measures, which reduced rigging opportunities to the desperate use of barefaced violence.
The road to credible elections in Nigeria has been long. Before the historic 2015 polls, the national record, which had it that no opposition political party had ever won power at the federal level since independence in 1960 was unflattering, to say the least. It was a record which advertised a peculiar Nigerian definition of democracy which made a mockery of the ideal and the primacy of voters in the electoral process. A warped political elite had stood in the way and mainstreamed their privileges and private interests to the detriment of the people. The popular mantra was that a ruling party could not organize elections and lose because of the power of incumbency. So entrenched was abuse of incumbency, that ruling PDP chieftains made no secret of their intention to rule the country for at least 100 years. But the APC broke the jinx and provided a credible alternative – in content and in style of governance – to the PDP with which just about every patriotic Nigerian was fed up.
That it took over half a century for an opposition party to win power at the center, raises fundamental question about Nigerian democracy and the character of Nigerian democrats. It is, therefore, critical that one year after, the issues that underlie the change in the nation’s electoral system be examined beyond the scrutiny of how the electoral process managed to send a ruling party packing. It must be about how to further empower the Nigerian people and guarantee the supremacy of their votes in the future. This is significant against the recent backsliding to the dark days of electoral impunity, as witnessed recently in Bayelsa and Rivers State.
Nigerians and the international community would be correct to come to the conclusion that the 2015 general elections ended on a laudable note and that in spite of some challenges, a new culture evolved for the entrenchment of democracy in Nigeria. For one, public morale was evidently lifted in expectation of a brighter future for Nigerians. It is also instructive that the happy ending brought a certain level of stability to the country with palpable peace being the end of a process in which the gladiators at every level of contest literally drew daggers. So, Nigerians were the winners and felt proud to raise their heads high anywhere in the world.
Again, Jonathan deserves the credit for setting the tone through his disposition and utterances in the aftermath of the election results. It is obvious history would be kind to him on his choice. However, no one must lose sight of the big room for improvement and the need to build on the successful 2015 outing. The positives must be taken without losing sight of the inglorious desperation for power as illustrated by the violence that marred governorship and Houses of Assembly elections. Rivers State has remained the worst scenario where lives continue to be lost as elections have been transformed into war; with gunshots freely exchanged among other infractions.
