Nigerian politicians and The Myth of Sisyphus

...Since independence, Nigerian politicians have turned every election into a political theater of the absurd, by suspending decorum, truth, and values; by setting aside the constitution and statutes; and by replacing the rule of law with the rule of the street. They then collude with electoral officials and law enforcement agents to recycle various malpractices, including manipulation of the voters' register; shortage, under-supply, or non-supply of voting materials at polling stations; deployment of thugs to harass, intimidate, maim, or kill political opponents and their supporters; the stuffing, swapping, and snatching of ballot boxes; and the falsification of election results.

These malpractices were reproduced in Ekiti the other weekend, when a rerun governorship election ordered by the Appeals Court in selected wards ended in fiasco. Political leaders, who have a conscience, should cringe at the details of the mayhem that greeted the election, more so when such gory details have been documented in print and audio-visual media for posterity. They also should be ashamed of the new twists added to the already abysmal election routines, including the disappearance, resignation, non-resignation, and re-appearance of the Ekiti Resident Electoral Commissioner; the beating and detention of journalists and election monitors; and the withholding of election results by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Coming against the backgrounds of the universally condemned rigged Nigerian elections of 2007 and the universally acclaimed successful elections in Ghana and South Africa afterwards, the Ekiti debacle could only heighten Nigeria's negative image. Its documentation would provide data for future negative ranking of Nigeria on international indices, such as the Failed State Index...

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