Postponed election, an act of desperation from an incumbent terrified of losing - Chimamanda Adichie | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

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Wednesday 11 February 2015

Postponed election, an act of desperation from an incumbent terrified of losing - Chimamanda Adichie

In a piece titled "Democracy, Deferred", award winning author, Chimamanda Adichie described the recent postponement of the general elections as an act of desperation from an incumbent terrified of losing. Below is the article published on The Atlantic...
Last week, Victor, a carpenter, came to my Lagos home to fix a broken chair. I asked him whom he preferred as Nigeria’s next president: the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, or his challenger, Muhammadu Buhari. "I don’t have a voter’s card, but if I did, I would vote for somebody I don’t like,” he said. 'I don’t like Buhari but Jonathan is not performing.”

Victor sounded like many people I know: utterly unenthusiastic about the two major candidates in our upcoming election.
Were Nigerians to vote on likeability alone, Jonathan would win. He is mild-mannered and genially unsophisticated, with a conventional sense of humor. Buhari has a severe, ascetic air about him, a rigid uprightness; it is easy to imagine him in 1984, leading a military government whose soldiers routinely beat up civil servants. Neither candidate is articulate. Jonathan is given to rambling; his unscripted speeches leave listeners vaguely confused. Buhari is thick-tongued, his words difficult to decipher. In public appearances, he seems uncomfortable not only with the melodrama of campaigning but also with the very idea of it. To be a democratic candidate is to implore and persuade, and his demeanor suggests a man who is not at ease with amiable consensus. Still, he is no stranger to campaigns. This is his third run as a presidential candidate; the last time, in 2011, he lost to Jonathan.
This time, Buhari’s prospects are better. Jonathan is widely perceived as ineffectual, and the clearest example, which has eclipsed his entire presidency, is his response to Boko Haram. Such a barbaric Islamist insurgency would challenge any government. But while Boko Haram bombed and butchered, Jonathan seemed frozen in a confused, tone-deaf inaction. Conflicting stories emerged of an ill-equipped army, of a corrupt military leadership, of northern elites sponsoring Boko Haram, and even of the government itself sponsoring Boko Haram.
Jonathan floated to power, unprepared, on a serendipitous cloud. He was a deputy governor of Bayelsa state who became governor when his corrupt boss was forced to quit. Chosen as vice president because powerbrokers considered him the most harmless option from southern Nigeria, he became president when his northern boss died in office. Nigerians gave him their goodwill—he seemed refreshingly unassuming—but there were powerful forces who wanted him out, largely because he was a southerner, and it was supposed to be the north’s ‘turn’ to occupy the presidential office.
And so the provincial outsider suddenly thrust onto the throne, blinking in the chaotic glare of competing interests, surrounded by a small band of sycophants, startled by the hostility of his traducers, became paranoid. He was slow to act, distrustful and diffident. His mildness came across as cluelessness. His response to criticism calcified to a single theme: His enemies were out to get him. When the Chibok girls were kidnapped, he and his team seemed at first to believe that it was a fraud organized by his enemies to embarrass him. His politics of defensiveness made it difficult to sell his genuine successes, such as his focus on the long-neglected agricultural sector and infrastructure projects. His spokespeople alleged endless conspiracy theories, compared him to Jesus Christ, and generally kept him entombed in his own sense of victimhood.
The delusions of Buhari’s spokespeople are better packaged, and obviously free of incumbency’s crippling weight. They blame Jonathan for everything that is wrong with Nigeria, even the most multifarious, ancient knots. They dismiss references to Buhari’s past military leadership, and couch their willful refusal in the language of ‘change,’ as though Buhari, by representing change from Jonathan, has also taken on an ahistorical saintliness.
I remember the Buhari years as a blur of bleakness. I remember my mother bringing home sad rations of tinned milk, otherwise known as “essential commodities”—the consequences of Buhari’s economic policy. I remember air thick with fear, civil servants made to do frog jumps for being late to work, journalists imprisoned, Nigerians flogged for not standing in line, a political vision that cast citizens as recalcitrant beasts to be whipped into shape.
Buhari’s greatest source of appeal is that he is widely perceived as non-corrupt. Nigerians have been told how little money he has, how spare his lifestyle is. But to sell the idea of an incorruptible candidate who will fight corruption is to rely on the disingenuous trope that Buhari is not his party. Like Jonathan’s People’s Democratic Party, Buhari’s All Progressives Congress is stained with corruption, and its patrons have a checkered history of exploitative participation in governance. Buhari’s team is counting on the strength of his perceived personal integrity: his image as a good guy forced by realpolitik to hold hands with the bad guys, who will be shaken off after his victory.
In my ancestral home state of Anambra, where Jonathan is generally liked, the stronger force at play is a distrust of Buhari, partly borne of memories of his military rule, and partly borne of his reputation, among some Christians, as a Muslim fundamentalist. When I asked a relative whom she would vote for, she said, “Jonathan of course. Am I crazy to vote for Buhari so that Nigeria will become a sharia country?”
Nigeria has predictable voting patterns, as all democratic countries do. Buhari can expect support from large swaths of the core north, and Jonathan from southern states. Region and religion are potent forces here. Vice presidents are carefully picked with these factors in mind: Buhari’s is a southwestern Christian and Jonathan’s is a northern Muslim. But it is not so simple. There are non-northerners who would ordinarily balk at voting for a ‘northerner’ but who support Buhari because he can presumably fight corruption. There are northern supporters of Jonathan who are not part of the region’s Christian minorities.
Delaying the elections is a staggeringly self-serving act of contempt for Nigerians.
Last week, I was indifferent about the elections, tired of television commercials and contrived controversies. There were rumors that the election, which was scheduled for February 14, would be postponed, but there always are; our political space is a lair of conspiracies. I was uninterested in the apocalyptic predictions. Nigeria was not imploding. We had crossed this crossroads before, we were merely electing a president in an election bereft of inspiration. And the existence of a real opposition party that might very well win was a sign of progress in our young democracy

Then, on Saturday, the elections were delayed for six weeks. Nigeria’s security agencies, we were told, would not be available to secure the elections because they would be fighting Boko Haram and needed at least another month and a half to do so. (Nigeria has been fighting Boko Haram for five years, and military leaders recently claimed to be ready for the elections.)
Even if the reason were not so absurd, Nigerians are politically astute enough to know that the postponement has nothing to do with security. It is a flailing act of desperation from an incumbent terrified of losing. There are fears of further postponements, of ploys to illegally extend Jonathan’s term. In a country with the specter of a military coup always hanging over it, the consequences could be dangerous. My indifference has turned to anger. What a staggeringly self-serving act of contempt for Nigerians. It has cast, at least for the next six weeks, the darkest possible shroud over our democracy: uncertainty.

239 comments:

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Unknown said...

Chiamanda stay out of politics and don't make political statements like this or u will soon lose ur respect and public honor. This is Nigeria leave d politicians alone my dear

heytheredelilah said...

High five Anonymous! !! Guy's really chatting bull. Chimamanda is right... those two aint gud enough as president.

Laundry enthusiasts said...

Chimamanda should be apolitical till her old age like Achebe & Soyinka

Anonymous said...

Madam write! Sell! Make ur money and leave gossip alone!

Unknown said...

Voting for GMB or GEJ is like taking space outta time. Its so sad nothing holds humour in their wooly outfit. Democracy has always been in denial,more like aspirin to cancer.

Anonymous said...

Do we wonder why people those that matter aren't supporting GEJ? Can we ask GEJ why a camera phone of less than 10,000 naira have clearer video than NTA and the coverage for his PRESIDENTIAL interview tonight?

Anonymous said...

Beautiful piece.after all said and done,the incumbent will still win.no doubts about it.but dt nigga asking of Anna ebiere is sick sha...in d middle of a serious matter?

Utuocha said...

Everything that is truly wrong indeed. This is so depressing. How does our youths intend to take over the world when the blatantly refuse to read?

Unknown said...

Lol in the words of papa ajasco "ajigbi jigbi jigbi"..

*cough* to translate... Aunty here is saying both candidate are equally useless.. And Oga Jona is afraid to lose...

Mr Ibu for president!!

Anonymous said...

Karma is a nasty little bitch

ADA said...

Very very immature. People cant even reason. You have not even achieved a quarter of her achievements.

Anonymous said...

Well said!

Anonymous said...

Why is that so if they did not want,it to be so. Who old you,inec was not ready for election.

Unknown said...

Lady chi, concentrate on your area of core competence. Good grammar though, but meaningless content. I love your work but u wasted my time here. Your knowledge of Nigeria politic needs to be upgraded. I'm still your fan anytime. Bayo lawal.

Anonymous said...

Chimamanda comments are her own opinion. She has spoken the truth about her inner thoughts. That's why she is a writer and we love her.

As for me, if not for my believe in God, I think there will be no election again in so far PDP believe they are going to lose.

Remember the ''Maradonic manipulations"of the recent past that eventually led to an interim government before the "dark goggle one" seized power.

What is the fate of our children in the next few years? What is our fate as Nigerians? sigh deeply.

chi chi said...

What about the attacks on Buhari? Isn't because he's a northerner. Double standard. Smh

Anonymous said...

I have a lot of respect for Chimamanda but this her political rambling lacks foundation. Please madam, dont just join the bandwagon of the 'pull him down' campaigners. Get your facts right on why the election was postponed and speak in the interest of Nigeria. God bless you

Unknown said...

Corruptin! corruption!! corruption!1! GEJ is far far better.

osa said...

absolutely love this lady..

Anonymous said...

Just the same.thing I was thinking the remaining half of yellow sun

Ada said...

Is the ineffectiveness not as a result of you south-westerners Nd northerners ganging up against the governmy of GEJ...

The hidden cabal ruling this country for decades, it's oil, shipping and importation...

It is only your fellow daft ones that are following the crowds and refusing to see what is right in your face..people are fighting for their oil blocs, funding campaigns with intentions and getting prepared to further impoverish u and you are clapping for them...

If only because without the support of prominent Nigerians , GEJ has achieved what he has then I will vote for him to consolidate on what he has done....
2019 is only 4 years away..then the Yoruba back stabbers and the Hausa born-to-rule caliphate can do what they please

Ada said...

I'm sure he's a Yoruba back-stabber...they have always been that way, untrustworthy and serving only their race...go back to your history and you will see them for what they are...

I pity GMB, with them all around him, funding his election while preparing for one of them to take over when he passes...they will show him what's up when the time comes....

Ada said...

How can u say there's no change in infrastructural devt...the Benin-ore road which is the singular road leading from the west to the east which was abandoned by previous governments for decades, is it not this govt that has fix that road?...

How abt the Lagos Ibadan express way which the saint Obasanjo of today used to siphon money for years, is it not being fix?

On commodities...be honest with yourself, every Dec before the last four years, didn't you use to panic and buy and stock food stuff and fuel cos you know prices will go up astronomically? How has it been this last Dec for instance.....

If this president has the kind of support he deserves, he would've been able to achieve so much more but what he has achieved now in the face of grave opposition by the north and the west is commendable....

The one thing i know one can say is security and the BH nightmare but I'm sure he thought the demons in the north were people he could reason with and that their godfathers would cooperate not knowing he was not dealing with human beings....

Ada said...

God bless u

Ada said...

Moving the date was necessary...do u know how many people I've no PVC? Go to Ur OfC collection centre and you will see the heaps of cards yet uncollected...

Not to mention the ones they can't find....

Ada said...

God bless u

Goodluck Till2019 said...

1000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000....0000000000000 likes

Bukas said...

This clearly shows this lady is not informed. this is a product of not paying attention to details. even with the statistics from INEC showing poor pvc distribution, she comes here to say its cause of desperation of pdp election was postponed. You are simply ignorant, uninformed and partisan. you are simply playing to the gallery.

Bukas said...

This clearly shows this lady is not informed. this is a product of not paying attention to details. even with the statistics from INEC showing poor pvc distribution, she comes here to say its cause of desperation of pdp election was postponed. You are simply ignorant, uninformed and partisan. you are simply playing to the gallery.

Unknown said...

Please Nigerians wake up..... don't be deceived, lets think about this, is it only PDP or APC party we are having in Nigeria..... VOTE OTHER CANDIDATES FROM OTHER PARTIES.

steve said...

nwata mechie onu!
Millions of people have not collected their pvc,especially from the south east and south west.
chimamanda biko! before u write again, please make sure u investigate and research on situation on ground.

Jasmin said...

Once again, good story telling ability from a talented story teller. However, she failed to identify INEC's Jega role in the postponement, because it was INEC that decided to postpone. She also concluded that the postponement has brought a cloud of uncertainty about the elections. I simply choose to believe that the elections will hold on the new dates, the delay being merely unpleasant.

Jasmin said...

Once again, good story telling ability from a talented story teller. However, she failed to identify INEC's Jega role in the postponement, because it was INEC that decided to postpone. She also concluded that the postponement has brought a cloud of uncertainty about the elections. I simply choose to believe that the elections will hold on the new dates, the delay being merely unpleasant.

Anonymous said...

Sucking up to the whites? For awards, recognition and fame? Pls stick to fiction stop toiling with your country.

Unknown said...

Great work of art. To raise such dust is to reincarnate the spirit of Chinua Achebe. To strike such balance was being yourself and to remain unfoxed by making people's opinion for them is rare wisdom. Nevertheless through these lenses, we still see your ink bleed your heart. Most certainly not uncertainty

Unknown said...

chimamanda made a very cogent points,is better for GEJ to lose honorably than to be messed out of office,i expect him to have resigned before now,but those who are eating from his mistakes will never allow him to.Sincerely,GEJ should be thankful to God for his mercies and blessings.He should quit and return to Otueke,even at Otueke,i know he will not be welcome.

Nkechi J. said...

In other words you can't read English. Stop showing your illiteracy in public. Nothing about what she said even came close to mentioning that, Ode!

Amaris said...

A Nigerian cannot write about her or his own country Nigeria again. Only politicians can speak on political affairs. If you mention Buhari and Jonathan in the same sentence, you're automatically "comparing" and looking for war. Freedom of expression is no longer free, and apparently at the expense of negative LIBs.. Unfortunate.

DoraBelle said...

Lol @ Goodluck Till2019. You're silly. Chimamanda,you need to take a rest girl.

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