OPINION

NORTH AFRICA, NIGERIA AND HER 2011 ELECTIONS
Over the last few weeks, widespread uprisings, revolts and protests in the North Africa and indeed the Arab World have resulted in the deposing Of Presidents Ben Ali of Tunisia and Hosni Mubarack of Egypt respectively! Although the causative factors of the uprisings in both countries were different- while the Tunisians want the enthronement of liberal democracy, the Egyptians were bent on seeing Mubarack out the door- the consequences are the same! And the reverberations are being felt in other parts of the Arab world; with tensions on the rise in Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia and Libya. In addition, a major morale in this saga is that change is always inevitable and that the will and aspirations of the people are supreme! And that brings me to the subject of Nigeria! Can the current trend in North Africa be replicated here it the most populous black nation on earth? Given the legendary docility of the average Nigerian- especially toward issues of state and governance- it would be an uphill task mobilizing Nigerians to take to the streets in mass protests, against perceived imbalances in the governance of the nation!
However, there is a platform that Nigerians can express their desire for change and that avenue is the 2011 General Elections. So instead of taking to the streets, Nigerians must take to the ballot box. The power of the single vote must be exercised in its entirety and must be protected. Exercising such powers will entail carrying out detailed background checks to unearth the suitability or otherwise of candidates seeking elective offices. The uprisings in some countries in North Africa commenced at the behest of the common person; there were no promptings from opposition parties, civil society groups or non-governmental organizations. The same must be replicated here in Nigeria! Nigerians must amass in groups and press for deep-seated amendments to the nation’s constitution in areas such as the provision of social security and welfare package, a periodic assessment bill for public officials and so on!
In protecting our votes, we must cast them only for candidates that scale pre-determined parameters and shun the lure of exchanging our votes for financial and/or material inducements! Any candidate or party that canvasses for votes by financial inducements cannot, by this very act, mean well for the electorate.
In summary, we can begin our own revolution by ensuring that our votes put only officials of integrity, vision, passion and a willingness to serve the masses in public office! As the uprisings in North Africa have shown, power ultimately lies in the hands of a people! They and only they, can determine the fate of that nation!