April Election Series featuring Steve Harris and Co.

 

If you missed the interview with Myne Whitman, you can read it here.

As each second passes by, the political cloud thickens and more things unfold. Check out what it is this individuals actually think about April 2011 elections. Where our fate lies, only time will tell.
Another...@ moi frequency. Enjoy!


This is what Lowla Dee, popular blogger and Editor of LowlaDee.Com had to say:

 
"I feel its a great thing. Its a time were Nigerians can truly Identify with their country. The process has been going smoothly. I just know that only the right person will sit on that chair and without bloodshed!
Goodluck Jonathan is my best bet. Lets give him a chance to lead us.

I strongly believe in voting for the right reasons. Why are you voting whom you are voting? Is it because the multitude is? When you vote the right leader, its a chain reaction because every other thing becomes right, including our economy".

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Steve Harris a Managing Consultant at EDGEECUTION gave his opinion also...Let's hear...


"Well, I believe that INEC's making the best of a bad situation, though they needed a lot more time to prepare. But I hear the INEC boss is a man of integrity, so I'm sure he'll do the right thing.

Well, my pick would be Nuhu Ribadu.
He's young, dynamic, has a proven track record of performance and is globally accepted as a reformer against corruption.

Nigeria needs fresh young blood with dynamic vision who can take us to the proverbial Promised Land. We don't need RULERS, Nigeria needs LEADERS who have a track record of competence, integrity and performance.

This isn't the time to vote along ethnic or religious divides. We need to come together as a nation.

With no disrespect to the other candidates, their value proposition is either vague or non-existent.

Steve Harris

I feel that with the candidacy of Mr. Ribadu, corruption will be kicked to the curb, and it will signify a New Order in Nigeria's economy. No longer would we be the sleeping giant of Nigeria and laughing stock of the international community.

That's just my 25 cents!

SteveHARRIS

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Also interviewed was the Team Lead of Youth for Generational Change (YGC) Africa, Tunde David, a dynamic youth whose NGO has been a prestigious nominee of 'The Future Awards'.


Please tell me what your feel about the whole election process (INEC Reg and April elections).

We still have failed to get the fundamental issues right in Nigeria. The regulatory commission that is meant to bring sanity to the processes leading to the April elections and conduct a free and fair election is itself enmeshed in insanity. How else do you explain that N87 billion was spent on “those things” they brought in from China called data capturing machines? We still haven’t got it right!. The registration process I guess went pretty fine with few cases of irregularities except malfunctioning machines.

Tunde David (YGC Africa)

For the very first time in the history of Nigeria, we witness a deviation from the status-quo that has seen young people pioneer mechanisms and platforms to ensure that the election process takes it due course. I’m very proud at this moment to call myself a Nigerian youth as it is obvious that we have decided not to allow some persons that won’t be part of our future decide it for us. Thumbs up to every young person advocating for a fair say in the events leading to April.


Your possible pick if you were to vote?


A candidate?. I still haven’t made up my mind. I would have supported Jonathan but I presently  have issues with his administration as we presently have our debt portfolio at the highest figure ever (about 40 billion dollars) even after several increases in the price of oil in the International market. Sincerely I can’t see any concreteness in his plan for Nigeria.
BB?. That combination came to me as a huge shock and I still haven’t recovered from so I find it quite hard to share my thoughts. All the same, I’ve listened to Pastor Bakare on several platforms and I know he shares a deep passion for Nigeria. Let’s see how it goes…I’ll prefer to be silent on General Buhari for now.
I see the two parties above as major contenders. I’ll have to wish the others best of luck!


Also, please give a piece of advice and how you feel this would impact the Nigerian Economy.

Elections in Nigeria have been unacceptable by all standards. But as bad as elections have been, it cannot absolutely be described as the root cause of Nigeria’s economic woes; Elections, governance and economic development all have a positive relationship. Put in the right man and you get the right results…shikena!

From another perspective, everyone all over the world will have their focus on this year’s general elections as for once, it will no longer be business as usual and we have to put up the best structures for our elections. Statistically, election expenditure is estimated at N5.16 trillion, revenue is put at N3.18 trillion, while budget is estimated at N 4.67 trillion. That to me is a lot of stress on the economy…

I want to encourage everybody  to go ahead and SELECT the best candidate, VOTE that candidate and PROTECT their vote.

Nigeria is the Big deal….
Let’s make it the Nation of our dreams….
It’s a reality…
Let’s make it happen!


Regards,

‘tunde DAVID

Stay hooked for more interesting feedback in this interesting new April Election Series...You have the say!

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April Election Series with Myne Whitman

If you to conduct a poll on hot topics that concern Nigeria in this crucial period, I'm pretty sure the 2011 Elections would be top on the list.  Lots of awareness by NGOs, the constant media frenzy coupled with political drama  has really set the stage in which all Nigerians are patiently watching to see who is really worthy of the Aso Rock seat and hoping the outcome would be fair.

Feedback was received from notable personalities such as Steve Harris (Management Consultant), Myne Whitman (Author), Lowla Dee (Popular Blogger), Tunde David (YGC Africa) and a couple of others who have shared their candid opinions about the upcoming elections...

Today we bring you the opening of these series by Myne Whitman as she shares her views on The registration process and Election as a whole...
Enjoy as you read @ moi frequency!


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Here's what Myne had to say: 

Myne Whitman 

After much speculation, the INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) set the elections for April 2011 and I think they made the right decision instead of choosing January like some wanted. We have to remember that Jega, the INEC Chairman was only appointed around the middle of last year. The whole electoral body needed some time to put things in order and now with the registration process, we get to see what they can do for the election proper.

The truth is that a lot of challenges will be seen during the elections but I believe that they can be better handled and give us a better result than previous ones. During the voters’ registration exercise, some of the points of interest that came up included that of security, what the parties are doing to sensitize people, the capabilities of INEC, to the role of voters and the ad-hoc staff of the INEC.

INEC was lucky with the financial and legislative support it has received so far but it has to do better. A lot of bloggers reported their experiences and many were not favorable to INEC. While about 80% of them registered, more than half encountered problems that cost them hours and in some cases days even if not outrightly preventing them from registering.

Harry Itie, a blogger and NYSC member, also talked about his experience of being a corper and being made to take part in the registration. Similar stories to his may have led to the news about how using youth corpers gave so much problems, from not being comfortable with new DDC machines, to non-payments, dangerous situations etc.

That said, and even though I was not in Nigeria and so could not register, I want to say that I'm happy at the youth involvement in the whole process. During my visit to Lagos last December, I noticed large billboards by the 'Enough-is-Enough' group in several locations. They had their message of RSVP - Register, Select, Vote and Protect. They are also pushing this message on Facebook and Twitter, where they ran some live commentary on the various places/venues to register.

Also, Youth for Transformation, a Nigeria-based NGO will be hosting a unique Valentine’s Day event titled 'Four Shows in Four Cities' on the 14th of February 2011. What they have done is to tie together Naija hiphop culture and the elections by making the shows free for registered voters. As INEC has been able to get support to continue the registration, I see that more youths will surely go in to be counted.

So I believe that going forward, INEC has to look for solutions to the problems already manifested in terms of staff and machines. they also have to capitalize on the efforts of non-government agencies, especially among the youth, to give a better outcome to the April 2011 elections.

If I could be present at the polls, I will be voting for Goodluck Jonathan or Nuhu Ribadu.

Feel free to share your views below...
You might also like: Good People...Good Nation?
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About Myne Whitman

Myne Whitman was born and raised in Enugu, Nigeria, where she spent most of her time, studying, reading and daydreaming or climbing trees and playing with the boys. She has a Master’s degree in Public Health Research but has chosen her childhood dream of spinning stories. After a few years in Edinburgh, Scotland, she now lives with her husband in Seattle, USA where she writes and blogs, and also volunteers as an ESL tutor for a local charity.

Myne is passionate about using the internet and social media to promote the book industry and literacy levels in Nigeria.

Music Artists' Awareness Poster

To this end, she facilitated a session, "Social Media and the Book Publishing Industry", for the Publisher’s Forum at the 2010 Garden City Literary Festival, Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

She is also the founder and Managing Editor of NaijaStories.com, a critique website for aspiring Nigerian writers.

  

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