Although it could be considered a long night, in fact too long and winding, but every one can see this is the most transparent political democratic decision that any ruling party in Nigeria ever made in the history of the country's partisan politics. If only this level of 'glasnost' (openness) can be put into the current attempt of the incumbent goverrment at the vaunted political 'perestroika' (restructuring) that it made out it is doing, then we can confidently say all the doomsday prediction for Nigeria could be said to come to naught. But then it always is so easy for Nigerians to make out splendid intentions and capacity when they so want to put on airs and polish images. But when the crux comes down, we all know how easy again it is for them to double cross their own splendid plans. Only those that were not old enough to witness June 12 would doubt the Nigerian in this capability to put its own house into ruination.
By all standards of honesty, glasnost and perestroika that anyone could point to in all the world, the June 12 election in Nigeria – from the process of the to parties' primaries to the final decision of the people – can be said to be one of the greatest examples of the majesty of democracy in full flight.
But by the time the very man who had ingeniously put it all together, had ingeniously – also – broken them into several pieces via the annulment, the ability of the Nigerian to being duplicitous had been fully demonstrated.
So if Nigeria is still groping politically, economically, technologically and development wise in darkness at age 50, after a full decade into the third millennium, and is still being used as the dump yard by developed, half developed, emergent and emerging nations of the world, that reality for the countrry is only symptomatic of the kind of people called Nigerians – at least so of most of them.
That is why almost every other founding fathers of the geographical enclosure had always gone to their death bed in wretched futility, knowing full well that the country they had hoped to midwife back in the day when they were fighting for independence, had yet to be given birth to when it was time for them to exit this level of the divide, and does not seems set to emerge in the next 100 year. Talk about South African Alan Paton's 1948 African epic story aptly titled
Cry, the Beloved Country.