The presidential elections will take place this Saturday after the sudden postponement last week. The all important polls will usher the country into another fresh democratic dispensation.
Contesting for the highest office of the land are incumbent President Muhamadu Buhari and a former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
The most populous black nation in Africa will on saturday decide it’s electoral destiny for the next four years. Incumbent president Muhammdu Buhari and erstwhile Vice President Atiku Abubakar are tipped as favorites.
Both candidates are touring the length and breadth of the country campaigning and selling their various party manifestos to the people.
Electioneering in the oil rich nation started with the suspension of the Chief Justice of Federation by the Executive. Justice Walter Onnoghen was suspended for discrepancies in his asset declaration form. Onnoghen’s suspension few weeks into the election came as a shock to the citizens and international observers all over the country.
The suspended Chief Judge was immediately replaced with Tanko Mohammed a close associate and long time friend of the president. This move many say is undemocratic as majority of Nigerians took to the streets to register their displeasure and condemn the suspension of the Chief Judicial Officer just a day before the constitution of the nation’s electoral tribunal.
The move many believe was a political motivated move, the President's popularity in the country has waned over the last few weeks as Nigerians believe the administration has failed on its campaign promises.
The administration which came in 2015 with the promise of change, many say came into governance and changed the entire promise. Today the country with its rich natural and human resources is named the world poverty capital.
Poverty index in the country has tripled since the inception of the Muhammdu Buhari led Government and this is unhealthy to his reelection bid.
The black African country is travelling down the Venezuelan route and this is a very dangerous development. Political crisis in Venezuela has reached an apex point with violence and despair written all over the polity.
Global calls for a peaceful return to democracy has gained momentum in the oil rich country as Venezuelans seem disenchanted with the political turmoil in the country.
Since last year the opposition party and other civil society organizations in the state rejected the reelection of Nicholas Maduro and declared his mandate illegitimate due to widespread fraud.
Maduro's first tenure expired on January 10th, the opposition inline with this, declared the seat vacant and elevated Juan Guaido the leader of the country's national assembly as the new president of the country. Countries like the United States and other democratic allies in Latin America and Europe recognized the government of opposition leader Juan Guaido.
Washington rolled out $20million in humanitarian support for Guadio, the aid is a direct assistance from the white house to help Venezuelans suffering from food shortages, extensive inflation, and excessive insecurity. On the other hand, Nicholas Maduro the autocrat is alleging that the United States is planning a coup on the state.This has since increased the political tension in the country and have battered the country's economic growth.
A look at Nigeria and Venezuela one striking similarity comes to mind, the two countries are Oil producing countries and card carrying members of the Organization of the petroleum exporting countries (OPEC)
Venezuela's decline from riches to rags should serve as a lesson to countries on the need to maintain prudence in public spending. For a country with over 300 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserve, the world’s largest, to slide into poverty in the space of two years, this is an abnormality.
A look at the Venezuelan experience, this economic downturn would be prevented If successive governments in the country were prudent, transparent and accountable in the management of state resources.
The same scenario is playing out in Nigeria as the structure of governance in the black nation has transferred state wealth to a few cabals and this explains why the country has remained in poverty despite the country’s rich oil resources.
As the elections approach faster than expected, the cabals will want the status-quo maintained as against the opposition who are championing for a change in the current state of things.
With the devastating rainy days experienced by Nigerians since 2015 will the umbrella holding opposition carry the day, or will the broom yielding progressives continue sweeping haphazardly?
Nigerians will decide that.
Ndubuaku Breden Kanayo is a Journalist, writer
Tweets @Kanayo_Oap
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