Why elections must hold in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa States

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you, dear reader. I am glad for the grace God has given us to see the year 2015. In Him I live, I move and have my being. I want to appreciate the support from all of you last year. I thank everyone who commented on my posts whether here or on twitter and facebook. I appreciate all the criticisms and commendations and I hope this year I am able to do more than I did last year.

A major issue that dominated national discourse in Nigeria last year, and even the whole world at some point, was the abduction of over 200 hundred Chibok girls and another was the ebola disease. While the country was able to overcome ebola quickly to our own consternation – even the advanced nations commended the nation for the way it handled the outbreak – the case is not the same with the abducted girls. It is sad to say that these girls are still in captivity and needless to say that it was a bleak celebration period for the parents and families of these innocent schoolgirls. I wrote a few posts on the issue: #BringBackOurGirls: Why Government Has Not Rescued Abducted Chibok Girls - Reuben Abati, 21 Reasons Why the Government Must#BringBackOurGirls Now! Why the Government Must Arrest Malala Now! Will Mr.President Still Contest for a Second Term? Captain Phillips, President Jonathanand First Lady Patience. #BringBackOurGirls: One Hundred Days After, #BringBackOurGirls: Mr. President, I Beg to Disagree, #BringBackOurGirls: Mr. President, We Are Waiting for Heads to Roll, #BringBackOurGirls: 7 Questions for PDP and Labaran Maku, #BringBackOurGirls: Operation Entebbe and Why Our Government May not Be Sincere, #BringBackOurGirls: Mr. President, I Hope You Are Not Watching the World Cup

The major issue currently dominating the national discourse in Nigeria is the forthcoming presidential election. Our attention has now shifted to elections and electioneering. One of the most interesting revelations in the build-up to the forthcoming election is the nomination of Professor Yemi Osinbajo as the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). I bet nobody saw that coming. Even Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who has been credited with the ingenuity of bringing Osinbajo out, probably was not thinking in that direction, three, four months ago. But it seems one conclusion that the majority of Nigerians have reached is that Osinbajo is undoubtedly a worthy and sellable candidate. And many are calling for a debate between Professor Osinbajo and vice president Namadi Sambo, and also between President Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari. But apparently that will only take place in the minds of those wishing for the verbal exchanges between these political gladiators.

As the title of this post suggests, my aim in writing this piece is to call for elections to hold in the north-east of Nigeria, despite the insurgency that is threatening the peace and security of the zone, especially the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Nigerians have been wondering if the forthcoming general elections will hold in these states/zone and some are of the opinion that failure to hold elections in these states will be a disenfranchisement of the good citizens of these places. Recently the governors of these states met with the president and security chiefs, and after the meeting, they demanded that elections be held in their zones. They even cited examples of war-torn countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan as places where elections were held despite the upheavals they are experiencing. I agree with these governors that elections must indeed be held in these states.

You will recall that when elections were held last year in Ekiti and Osun states, thousands of armed security men were deployed to those states, though there was no insurgency or upheaval in those states. Concerned Nigerians were alarmed and they condemned what they termed the militarisation of those states. They wondered what over seventy thousand (70000) armed security men were needed for in an election. They accused the federal government of trying to intimidate members of the opposition. But the government responded and justified the presence of the security personnel in those states by saying it was to prevent election violence. If the government could deploy large numbers of troops to states where there was no violence, it should not be difficult to deploy even larger troops to states currently experiencing insurgency. Do you think, if the government sends an 80000-strong troop that is fully armed to each of these states, with concentration on identified attack-prone regions, elections will hold not peacefully?

It seems no excuse will be tenable for not holding elections in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states. So government and security officials should start brainstorming on how to make sure elections are held in these states. Any attempt to stop elections in these states will be seen as an attempt by the incumbent government to prevent elections in states where it believes the citizens will not vote in its favour. I therefore call on the government to please conduct elections in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa and indeed the whole of Nigeria.

LONG LIVE THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA!