Following the successful outcome of the 2015 general elections, The Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Lagos Mainland and first Nigerian professor of Robotics, Rev. Adebayo Akinde in this interview with Joe Agbro Jr, speaks on why Nigerians must utilise the power of the ballots and the efficient use of technology in elections, among others. Excerpts:
From the reports you’ve had, how has the election been going?
The elections today (April 11) were much better conducted. INEC was clearly better prepared for this election. Having seen what happened at the presidential elections and the national assembly elections, the electorates are better poised and informed. The polity was heated. Everything was just charged unduly.
We thank God that at least Jega turned out to be a solid man. And he stood firmly. He was transparent enough. He was humanist given the conditions that he worked, dependable, solid, unwavering. One wasn’t disappointed at all.
You said INEC was better prepared for the governorship elections but we’ve been getting some reports of pockets of violence in some parts of the state. Have you heard any of such?
Well, I haven’t heard of any. I have walked down to Herbert Macaulay (road), it was peaceful everywhere. And the electorates were better prepared, more determined now to speak. I must say Nigeria has every cause to thank God. Before March 28, the whole atmosphere was uneasy. Tension was building up. One could see enormous desperation from both the PDP and of course the opposition parties. It was more of a situation of ‘do-or-die’. It must be a time of decision for the country. That was the sort of atmosphere that was created during March 28.
What one has been praying for is that Nigerians must realise the power of the ballot box. I am beginning to see light at the end of tunnel. That at last the Nigerian electorate is beginning to know they hold the ace. It’s going to bring good dividends. Politicians would now go into office and know they must keep faith to the people that have elected them. Nigerians are going to evaluate their performance. Anyone who gets to power and fails to deliver in accordance with what Nigerians want, at the end of four years, kick such people out.
And that is the stage where we can start saying, ‘yes, we’ve arrived.’ We are beginning to get to that. And thank God President Goodluck Jonathan showed what many people didn’t know he had – integrity, magnanimous, large mind, statesmanship which he rarely displayed. He displayed by conceding defeat ever before the results were officially announced.
He saw the handwriting on the wall. And the best in him came out by conceding defeat. He could have done otherwise. But we thank God he did what he did. Not only did he douse tension, everybody, including his party saw the need to toe his line of peace. So one is delighted not that the PDP had been kicked out but because one could see Nigerians spoke and wanted a change. It’s a sign of maturity. And this time around, clearly the electorate is beginning to appreciate this value.
A number of people believe that Nigeria is more divided today than ever before. That if you look at the voting pattern of the last election, you saw the PDP winning in a part of the country and you saw the APC sweeping the polls in another part of the country, what would be your advice to the incoming president in view of this?
First, we must appreciate the fact that Nigeria is a massive nation. In terms of geographical size, it is a massive country. Numerically again, Nigeria is a massive country. It is going to be very, very difficult, yes, some people have been warning and crying out about the danger of a one-party state. It can never happen in this country. We are simply too massive to go a one-party direction. It won’t happen. Nigeria is simply too massive a nation. You’re not going to have a one-party state. It can never happen in this country. And then, there are too many bright, agile, articulate Nigerians that would hold their views convincingly, even when they are wrong. So, where you have such a nation, a one-party system can never thrive. There would be re-alignments and it is always happening. Just see what is happening in the UK.
We must pray that this culture of people expressing their desire through performance to continue in the country. But, now, we are beginning to re-align ourselves along ideological lines.
The introduction of the card readers and PVC has been the major feature of the elections. the electronic system of voting. What advice would you give INEC in this regard for the next elections?
First, we must commend Professor Attahiru Jega. As an academic myself, I’m very proud of him and he is someone one has known for decades. He has remained consistent – an activist, an anti-establishment person. If you know Professor Jega, he has not disappointed us in the academia. So, we must congratulate him and thank God that the government was able to call upon someone of his own calibre to head our independent electoral body.
Secondly, Jega is an accomplished renowned political scientist who has brought his own experience to bear in the excellent performance of INEC. He has made use of technology at the highest level. But for our own local peculiarities, the result of the last presidential elections and the national assembly elections could have come out much earlier. But in his desire to be extremely transparent, of course, such a procedure would take time. But he has made use of the highest technology – the card reader.
I know INEC cold have made better use of the computer in collation of results. But then, transparency could be lost. So, he decided to do it literarily manually. If he had done full electronic, the results would have come out much earlier. If there is any drawback in the last election, it was the length of releasing the results.
Elections were concluded on Saturday, the official results did not come out until four days after on April 1. America is a much bigger nation in terms of land space, in terms of population. Their election doesn’t take that long for the results to come. Nigeria could do it with what Jega has done through INEC if the whole procedure from the beginning to the end had been computerised.
So, I think the only thing that needs to be added to the excellent arrangement that he has done is the computerisation of the collation of results. It’s a matter of you getting the authentic results from the polling booths. The first set of collation would be done at ward level. From the ward level to the state level and all these have to be computerised.
From the state level, then you get to zonal. We have the six zonal structures in our country. And from the six zonal headquarters, then you get into Abuja, which is the national headquarters. A hierarchical type of computer network would have hastened the result much better than what we have. But then, as the maxim goes, ‘Rome was never built in a day.’ So, we should not be so much in a hurry.
The Anglican Church has shown concern over the conduct of the elections. What is the motivation?
It is concern. I don’t know of any greater concern on the part of the church than any other denomination. As far as our church is concerned, we want Nigerians to be godly, to be patriotic, to work for everything that is noble. The bigger the better, there is strength, there is power in unity. Nigeria as an entity is bound to be much more influential, much more powerful than any component in the event of a break-up. We must know that.
So, no single part can gain or will gain in the event of a break-up. It is a fact of life which Nigerians should appreciate. And the earlier we see ourselves as brothers, the better. What I believe should be uppermost in the mind of every Nigerian is to pray a simple prayer. ‘God, teach us as Nigerians to know the true meaning of brotherhood in the spirit of love, of justice, and of equity.’ There will be no peace without righteousness in any human society.
