YEAR 2011 began with a lot of political anxiety. A carry-over of the delicate situations of 2010 gradually matured into full apprehension. There were fears that the polity could flounder if stakeholders did not manage it well. Even the international community expressed worry that Africa's most populated and endowed country could run into trouble in an election year.January 2011 was a busy and restless month for the polity. It opened with the crucial political exercise of voter registration. It took off in a clumsy manner because the Data Capture Machines (DDC) did not arrive in time. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ambitiously thought it could carry out the exercise within two weeks, only for it to ask for an extension at extra cost to taxable citizens.When the registration flagged off on January 15, more than half of the states of the federation did not commence registration. On that day, the DDC machines under-performed at almost 100 percent. It took time for the INEC ad-hoc staff to get familiar with the process and it did cause a stir.Eventually, an extension was sought and the National Assembly had to go back to tampering with the timetable, to accommodate INEC's requests, for both time and money.However, as INEC was grappling with its programmes, politicians left no stone unturned, in their resolve to win the elections at all costs. The political parties contributed immensely to making the polity rancorous.On January 13, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) staged its presidential primaries election. It was the mother of all primaries, as it polarised the country into two separate halves.The Northern Leaders Political Forum, a variant of the PDP, whose sole aim was to enthrone a president from the North, did not mince words in rejecting the aspiration of President Goodluck Jonathan to be elected on his own merit. Members of the forum did everything, including issuing threats, to make him back down.Their justification, they said, was the party constitutional provision for the rotation of the presidency between the North and South. At the time Jonathan's predecessor, President Umar Yar'Adua, died in 2010, he did less than four years, meaning that his zone, the Northwest, was still entitled to another four years, which the constitution guaranteed.The pro-Jonathan groups were also rigid in their explanation that the PDP vague constitutional provisions required exegetic analysis to comprehend. For the first time in the history of the country, a sitting president, who is eminently qualified according to the Constitution, was being asked to drop his ambition, for no other reason than that he did not come from the North.IT was a tough time for the ruling party, as getting all sides to forge a common ground was difficult. At the end, the candidate of the NLPF, former vice president Atiku Abubakar and candidate Jonathan met at the Eagle Square on January 13, to slug it out. The result was overwhelming in favour of Jonathan.But rather than the PDP members working together to win the elections, the house became more divided. Ironically, the other parties appeared to lack the plan to win the elections. When they ought to join forces, to create a formidable opposition, they were in disarray, arrogating imaginary strength to themselves.Still, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) pulled impressive crowds all over the North and recorded feeble appearance in other geo-political zones. Candidate Muhammadu Buhari, a former military head of state, was the toast of the masses everywhere up North; while tough-talking Pastor Tunde Bakare gave the assurance that he could sway Southern voters. So, on paper, the team looked good!Similarly, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) took advantage of the woeful performance of PDP governors in the Southwest to consolidate its gains from judicial pronouncements on its election petitions. But it mistook that for national acceptance.Generally, the campaigns were impressive and life-threatening at the same time, because the attitude was combative, setting the tone for what happened after the polls.The first of the series of elections on April 2 was a disaster because INEC was caught napping, as contractors failed to deliver essential materials ahead of D-Day. After all the grandstanding and promises, the National Assembly election had to be postponed by a week ' after votes were cast in many parts of the country ' and that affected dates of the other elections.INEC quickly recovered from its mistakes and redoubled efforts. The elections became largely easy and less difficult. That was before the presidential election, whose outcome was rejected right at the INEC Secretariat, Abuja by the CPC. The following day, rioters visited mayhem on innocent Nigerians, including members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who were recruited as ad-hoc staff to assist INEC. Scores died, even as government's response was feeble and belated.On May 29, President Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as Commander-in-Chief. He promised to transform the polity through good governance. He also promised to address the security challenges that had become a menace.But it took the president quiet sometime to forward the list of nominees to be screened by the NASS for ministerial positions in the cabinet. And then the list came with a sizeable number of persons who showed some brilliance and capacity to deliver. Others were party members who needed to be rewarded.THE return of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as finance minister was greeted with zest. The former World Bank technocrat was thought to bring good tidings with her wealth of experience and exposure.But that expectation looks misplaced, at least from the perspective of the average Nigerians, who have been finding it extremely difficult to get by, given the famous economic meltdown from 2008, which hit their segment of the society the hardest.Sadly, at policy level, government seems to be in a hurry to make more money at the expense of the people. The same government that reluctantly agreed to pay N18,000, as minimum wage, is in a hurry to introduce a new vehicle plate number, a new driver's licence and a new electricity tariff, even as power generation has dropped.The same government is brutally convinced that fuel subsidy removal is the only way to salvage the economy. Meaning that the hapless citizens have to get set for harder times.The last two months of the year have been spent (wasted) on fuel subsidy debates ' debates that have not won converts to government's side, not for the failure of presenters, but for the fact that they are marketing an expired product.The organised labour, spearheaded by the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) and members of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have promised a swift and sustained protest should government actually withdraw the so-called fuel subsidy and thus increase the pump price of petrol from N65. That schism may occur in April.TERRORIST bombs, which sneaked into the Eagle Square, Abuja on the occasion of the 50th Independence anniversary celebrations in 2010, continued in 2011 with more ferocity and audacity.Terrorists, branded as Boko Haram, took over the entire Northeast geopolitical zone for many months, and made appreciable in-roads to Abuja, the seat of the federal government.In June, the Islamic extremist members got very close to the office of the Inspector General of Police. In August, they brought down the UN building in Abuja, promising to do more havoc as the days go by. And they had been faithful to that threat, as they had taken hundreds of innocent souls since then, throwing bombs at random in Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, Kano, Niger and environs.Meanwhile, armed robbers, kidnappers and other lawless citizens had laid permanent siege to banks in selected areas of the South and Middle Belt, making the smooth running of operations difficult.Government's response has continued to be feeble and slow, leaving citizens in a state of shock and bewilderment.APART from the elections, which were generally accepted to be okay (not discounting the views of the opposition), it is doubtful if there were concrete achievements in other sectors. The yardstick for the measurement of achievements is simply what citizens can lay claim to.What is the level of performance of the 2011 budget vis-a-vis people's wellbeing' Was there more security and were there better services in the social sector'What was the attitude of government to public expenditure' Was there any sobriety in the atmosphere to encourage citizens that the government really cared'And are we likely to get better off in 2012, which begins in just eight day' The signs are not so explicit!
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