No Ndibe, Iwu Must Stay

Daily Sun Opinion
By Melvin Olali
February 19, 2008
...Read the full article.

[philipikita]

Melvin Olali...? Olali? Who is this one?
He wants attention? or he's paid to do this for Iwu?

[slay]

melvin,

because people like you exist, nigeria suffers!
now go pick up your "ghana must go" of blood tainted naira and get ready for the next assignment.

until our nation gets rid of sycophants like you, we are doomed.
unfortunately for the looters, the doers are gradually taking over our society. it is an inevitable occurence that shall not be subjugated by "paid character assasins".

do you, melvin, believe that iwu did a good job with the elections? if you do, you reside alone in a planet different from that of a majority of nigerians. how many election results have been overturned by the tribunals? how many crooks and ex-cons do we habor in our legislative bodies?iwu did his job? please!

for every melvin in our lot, there are a hundred ndibe's ready to fight for the truth.

"the truth shall set us free".

[calist]

Melvin,

I understand your stand clearly;

We can’t all be seeing things from the same perspective

When it does not put food on your table

A man got to do what a man got to do

Keep up the good work;

We can always differentiate an objective view/article from a song of praise.

[tanibaba]

Thank you Melvin for this piece. It is not only rich, very rich in the use of language, it is also rich in terms of persuading a sane mind to adopt/accept your views.
I am proud of you,

Talking about the last elections. While it is true that it was not perfect, INEC performed wonderfully well under the circumstances that she found herself. I have often argued that the success of any election depends on several factors outside the control of INEC; the most critical being the behaviour and attitude of politicians. And majority of our politicians make you remember Fela Anikulapo Kuti all the time. They have conspired to confirm that what we are practicing is “demonstration of craze” and not democracy. Democracy at this point in our country is just about violence and access to the looting of the treasury. Yes INEC recorded some lapses but was it INEC that snatched ballot boxes or caused commotion at the various polling stations. Was it INEC that made it impossible for parties to have their representatives at both the polling and counting centres?
What about the behaviour of Nigerians to work generally, including electoral assignment? What level of commitment do we show to our work and how far can we go in being objective in the face of the brown envelope.

There are serious systemic problems that have continued to negatively affect us and keep us underdeveloped; the electoral process inclusive.

So as you can see only a man who can think, a man who is truly educated that can understand these things. To the uninitiated, to the educated illiterate Prof. Iwu is the problem with Nigeria.

Lastly, is it too much to expect from our columnist a quantitative analysis of the fall out of the last elections. How many elections did INEC conduct, how many were taken to court, how many were upheld , how many were not challenged and how many were upturned.

Melvin I want to assure you that the ordinary Nigerian on the street is not stupid and so no one will follow the undertaker by carrying a placard saying “Iwu must go”.
The dirty guy will have to do that job all by himself so that he can realize that his opinion doesn’t count in the general assembly of Nigerians.

Once again thank you for a beautiful piece.

taslim

[dem]

What beautiful piece? I beg And we like to think the reason Nigeria doesn't work is because of the other person.

Look how people are denuding themselves here and making specious excuses for a clamorous failure. When you have a few inebriated people coming forth to offer support, what chance has the country?

Come here and pontificate smelly rubbish. Iwu is not to blame. Yeah right. Did Iwu just drop from the skies? Was he not aware what obtains in Nigeria before he took the job? (That is if some miscreants chose to forget that he was specially hand picked for the job by Andy Uba). Did he not bust our eardrums hollering that he would deliver a free and fair elections even if it cost his life?

Look, don't annoy me o! Flagrant craziness. Rubbish.

[datuouwadaberechi]

its hard to believe that any nigerian alive and with blood running through their veins would expouse the kinds of views found in melvin's article.

well, to everyone, his own.

it might be true that iwu wasnt single-handedly responsible for the WHOLE mess of the (s)elections that took place in April. but he gets a large chunk of the blame. after all, when u agree to direct and produce a movie and the film flops!!!! (badly), possibly becos u chose the wrong actors and the wrong script and the wrong set and the wrong filming gear and wrong planning (etc,etc), who gets the blame????
he promised nigeria credible elections...he claimed repeatedly that he could pull it off... HE DIDNT!!! ... the least he could do is admit this. and since he was unable to deliver, he should move over and give someone else a chance.

HE FAILED. (assuming these were exams, no one wants to know if NEPA took the light and he couldnt study, or HE got questions that he didnt expect). the fact remains that HE FAILED. that is d outcome of the test.

i dont even want to go into the WASTE, the total and crushing WASTE of resources...is it the so-called electronic voting machines that were not used???? is it the fact that many states didnt even get the voting materials??? is it the millions of ballot papers that were left in south africa, is it the lack of proper registration of voters???? which one will i speak of???

next INEC chairman should please go for OPTION A4. thats one way of reducing rigging knowing our kind of society....(this is for the benefit of melvin who would accuse critics of not offering a suggestive solution).

NOW if iwu had truly planned to succeed (i mean success for nigerians and not success for his employer OBJ and the People Deceive People Party), he would have known that Option A4 would have been a much cheaper and much more effective method of polling in nigeria.

AWAY WITH IWU!!!!!!!!!!!!. i concur. i know he wasnt totally and ALONE to blame, but he took the office, he bears the responsibility. HE MUST OWN UP TO IT BY RESIGNING SINCE HE OBVIOUSLY FAILED
and as far as i'm concerned, the justices would be well within their rights and duties to TOTALLY ANNUL THESE FAILED ELECTIONS.

especially that one that has now been underhandedly offered appointment to the supreme court.

nigeria is an amazing country.....judge-tampering in broad day light!!!!!

[Skyblue]

I really don't even know how to react. Is this piece really aimed at excusing the complete and utter disgrace that was the Nigerian election last year? Are we really trying to have this debate? This just reminds me of the excuse that Lucky Igbenidion's father used when lucky was going for a second term. Apparently to answer his son's critics who were complaining about the incompetence of Lucky Igbenidion, Lucky's father had this to say "Lucky fail, Lucky fail, abeg make i hear word. If una pikin fail exam una no go make am take the exam again"? And now after two terms with Lucky, look at Edo state. How can we make an excuse for evil. To criticise Ndibe is one thing, but to try to defend last years elections to me is simply appalling. Defending PDP thugs who made sure elections did not even occur in some states? Defending some INEC officials who actually took part in the rigging? Defending thuggery and violence? Maurice Iwu should not be allowed to run the new elections. Why do some people plant thorns and expect oranges at harvest? Maurice Iwu has already run re-elections of some local governments and it has been marked again with violence and thuggery and rigging. If he re-runs the re-elections, should we really be surprised when we are back to square one? The i am sure some will say he tried and that he should re-re-run the re-re-elections. God Have mercy on us

[RAYNOSA]

[QUOTE=Robot;4294990370]Daily Sun Opinion
By Melvin Olali
February 19, 2008

Attn Admin,
My candid advise /opinion is to take this article off and return to sender.
Not in full peice but in shreads/peices.
What the writter has confirmed is that IWU is not the problem and even if IWU is sacked their are a MILLION and ONE IWU'S out there ready to do the same job including himself.

[ariteni]

Melvin, Excellent piece! Objective analysis of the elections and comments on Professor Okey Ndibe. My point of disagreement is on the "sub-judice" part. Okey Ndibe and his cheer boys have been begging the Presidential Tribunal to void the Presidential election. They should be free to! Sonala, too begged them in his recent article. The reality is that, Nigerian courts do not accede but are guided by different considerations.

If the elections are sustained, the "beggars" will condemn the Tribunal "well, well". Their scape-goat Prof Iwu would have escaped! (and would now collect his own National Honour denied him because of current litigation) In Ndibe's context, Yar'adua is a nice man "drafted" for the job by "evil" Obasanjo using Iwu to perfect the job. (Igbo-man is always an easy target but "minorities" get away with murder in Nigeria so, forget the fact that 2003 and 1999 elections under the same constitution were also disputed.) The beggars guarantee to Nigerians that once Iwu is removed, free and fair elections would occur in Nigeria. (remember, they said corruption would vanish once third term is killed and - of course- Obasanjo did nothing for Nigeria but Okonjo Iweala, Dora Akunyili, Nasir ElRufai Nuhu Ribadu Soludo and Atiku did a lot.)

But you know what, Nigeria is marching on inspite of iconoclasts like Okey who want us to be going in circles just because they reside overseas. Prof Soyinka and others have said that President Yar'adua is a good man for the job. But Okey and his friends are going into "prayer and fasting" to get rid of the good man even though Professor Okey's mentor His Excellency Rt Dr Orji Uzor Kalu has relented and is now working hard for President Yar'adua through PPA party. It is only a matter of time for them too, to fall in. If the elections are repeated today, it would not result in victory for Atiku, Utomi or Kalu. The Presidency has been zoned just like we zoned it to Yoruba in 1999 to pacify them for Abiola's murder. So for argument's sake, let the tribunal void it so we can repeat the election just to convince the skeptics like Okey Ndibe and to have a "well organised" free and fair election but same outcome.

Some people are going to develop hypertension if they fail to remove him "Anambra style" and Professor Iwu serves his full Constitutional Term but they really don't mind Yar'Adua as President. That is what really matters. I hope Okey's would favour Uwais Electoral Reform Committee with his brilliant ideas about electoral matters in order to "move Nigeria forward"!

[denker]

To the uninitiated, to the educated illiterate Prof. Iwu is the problem with Nigeria...

taslim, with dis statement, you have acted precisely as i have anticipated...

..methinks, you're psychologically, psychiatrically impaired human and illogically inclined dimwitted creature...no offence intended, anywaz!

[Papino]

Melvin,i wonder who your masters are at the moment?What happened to common sense when you decided to write a rebuttal that is at best,a display of ignorance?.
Even Iwu would be dazed that you did not see the obvious rape of election and the electioneering process in the last jamboree called general elections in Nigeria.Iwu accepted,INEC officials accepted flaws throughout the federation including in Yenagoa from where you wrote.Why then did UMYA form an election committee?
I could only gather from your article that,you have something against Prof Okey Ndibe and unlike others that stay thier hatred on his stance on Andy Ubah,you chose an issue that might look national as basis for your pro-establisment and ignorant mind.
@Alibaba,why would you resort to a smear on your image?Humphrey Nwosu once had an oppurtunity like IWU has and Nigerians saw that he was responsible for everyway that the election was organised and conducted.Meanwhile,Nwosu was working under a military regime.Go figure where my discussion is heading to and please respect yourself.You deserve it

[Palamedes]

Personality-centred articles is becoming a yawn. Ndibe is not the issue; he is a critic and it is the critic's job to write critique about problems that require solutions. But Ndibe-centred articles like this one personalizes an issue by placing him at the centre of the issue.

One cannot always blame Ndibe for the undue coverage he receives; but enough of these critic-criticizing-critic articles. This trend will only lead to critics lining up with articles to criticize previous critics, and reducing serious issues to discussions about how well one critic did in comparison to another and point scoring.

The beauty of the Internet forum is that one can write instance response to an article: The article is discussed, debated, criticized or commended there and then. There is no need [at later date] to start a fresh article just to criticize author[critic] and article.

[Donn]

This article does not deserve comments. It is evident that this writer is in Iwu & co's payroll. I wonder the Nigerians he was refering to in his aricle.....

Why am I even wasting my time commenting on this.....................cRaZy

[ALORAINIDDEVIL]

Who is this fool? Where did you come from?? If I lay a curse on u now, admin will remove my post… anyway I thank God Nigerians are not as stupid and dumb as you are…

[overdryv]

This article is one of the many indications that Nigeria as a failed state needs to be put in her rightful place-in a deep political grave. What the author is doing is merely provoking the Nigerian masses. ON's criticisms are quite in line with a staggering majority of Nigerians and the international community. Anyone who holds a contrary view is simply a paid agent. That Iwu till now remains the INEC chairman, proves that Yar'adua is a part of the 2007 electoral heist.

People who would have us believe that Iwu did his best under the circumstances, are being deliberately mischievous of the fact that he was given a mandate by Obj and Andy Uba to rig in PDP by any means possible. All the back door intrigues leading to the 2007 elections would never be known but one could speculate that a series of meetings were held by Obj, Iwu, Yar'dua, Uba and top notchers of the PDP on the modalities of rigging the elections. Since the elections, Iwu continues to throw mud at Nigerians by even declining invitations from our highest law-making bodies and committing contempt of our courts. He had shown an arrogance never equaled by a public officer.

Except we want to dabble into quantum physics, there is no other to look at the crime Iwu committed against Nigerians at the behest of Obj and PDP. Iwu knowingly committed the crime and no attempt would alter this. For now, we are just looking at the tip of the iceberg. What of the financial crimes involved in all this? How many billions of naira has he pocketed given his dubious nature? Iwu certainly belongs to the group of people like IGPs Tafa Balogun and Ehindero who were given billions to aid and abet rigging of elections.

[okwute]

I really dont see where okey ndibe missed it.Ndibe, no doubt might have his shortcomings but to the extent of his criticisms of INEC and Prof Iwu ,i am very convinced that he is on the right track.

It shouldn't be surprising that periodic attacks on the person of Okey Ndibe and his position on such national issues be experienced especially by unknown assailants,i equally wont be surprised if it is eventually discovered that Prof Iwu has been writing and defending himself under a borrowed name.

My take on the whole saga is for nigerians to disregard some of this articles which tends to discredit advocates of real democracy in a bid to enthrone or justify the 'dark era' regimes and their inglorious architects.

We are definitely too matured to be swayed by the reasoning or smooth talks of same of the same or their paid pipers because at the end of the day,the defenceless masses bear the blunt of it.

WE SHOULD LEARN TO DISREGARD SUCH WRITE UPS RATHER THAN FLATTERING IT WITH OUR COMMENTS WHICH INVARIABLY GIVES IT SOME MEASURE OF RELEVANCE

[ALORAINIDDEVIL]

Originally Posted by okwute

i equally wont be surprised if it is eventually discovered that Prof Iwu has been writing and defending himself under a borrowed name.

Can Iwu really write this kind of article himself with his FAKE cameroun Degree?

[Kabikala]

Until Iwu ends up in jail for crime against the Nigeria nation, Okey Ndibe should not cease his attacks.

Well, Melvin, you are getting the popularity you want. You emerged from nowhere and suddenly became the issue here out of 140 million Nigerians. Congrats!

To Ariteni and Tanibaba: If the 2007 elections were perfect, would you be against anyone commending Iwu for such a feat?

[RAYNOSA]

Originally Posted by ALORAINIDDEVIL

Can Iwu really write this kind of article himself with his FAKE cameroun Degree?

It's very possible you know anything is possble in Nigeria.
Some people on this forum would the worse than IWU if the price is right.
Forget all this the boy is good attitude or comment some of us write on this forum.
Let someone honesty tell me who would not do the IWU thing if offered just $1million(USD).
Let's stop blaming IWU rather ourselves and system that allowed him succeed and thrive we all know it's not possible for any seed planted in rocks/stones to germinate let alone bear fruits.