Scholars at a recent roundtable and mini-conference organised by Fellows of the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA), University of Ibadan, converged to brainstorm on and evaluate the 2011 general election. Lawrence Amaku presents excerpts of key scholarly papers delivered and insightful discussions given at the event.IN an attempt to evolve a viable platform for conducting credible elections in Nigeria, the 2011 general election, no doubt, will for a longtime continue to elicit reactions from various quarters. The elections left trails of conflicting signals that confounded politicians, political analysts and the generality of Nigerians. Just as Nigerians, and indeed the international community, were basking in the euphoria of successful elections with some declaring it the freest and fairest in the annals of our national history, full-blown convulsions began to erupt from certain parts of the country, particularly in the North.It was this paradox that informed the roundtable and mini-conference that was tagged '2011 General Elections: An Evaluation' organised by the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA-Nigeria) under its pet project- IFRA Research Fellows. Papers were presented by researchers on wide range of issues surrounding the elections, including; Institutional Dimension to the Election by Dr Remi Ayeide; Political Corruption in the 2011 Elections by Dr David Enweremadu; Media Perspectives to the Elections by Dr. Olusola Ishola; Security Dimension to the 2011 Elections by Dr. O.B.C Nwolise; and Historical Comparative Analysis of General Elections in Nigeria by Dr. C.B.N Ogbogbo. Lead discussants at the conference included; Professor Olufemi Bamiro, Professor Bayo Okunade, Professor Isaac Olawale Albert, Dr Nathaniel Danjibo and Dr. 'Sola Olorunyomi.The occasion drew a cross section of participants, including students, academics, political analysts, IFRA fellows, the Independent National Election Commission's (INEC) officials, representatives of NGOs, security agencies, among others.Five scholars presented papers on different aspects of the general election; while there were three discussants that had played active role during the conduct of the election. The discussants were: former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Olufemi Bamiro, who was the returning officer for gubernatorial election in Oyo State; Professor Bayo Okunade, the former Head of Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan (UI), who served as a returning officer during the senatorial election and Dr. Sola Olorunyomi, the Sub-Dean, Institute of African Studies, UI, and a collation officer during one of the elections. Dr. Osisioma Nwolise, Head, Department of Political Science, U.I, whose paper examined the security dimensions of the 2011 elections, identified unpopular dimensions of security that had not been integrated into the national security components in the country. He submitted that the professional and non-partisan conduct of the security operatives was instrumental to the conduct of a free, fair and credible election in the election. According to him, the personality and disposition of the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, gave the members of the armed forces the needed motivation to carry out their duties with all sense of responsibility and without being partial or partisan.Earlier on, Professor Bamiro had glowingly commended the security agencies for their timely intervention when tension was high some few hours to the announcement of the election.Viewing the election from the institutional frame of analysis, Dr. Remi Aiyede, of the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan, traced the success of the election, to the institutional reform that was carried out by Professor Attahiru Jega, Chairman of the INEC. He argued that there was need to concretise the institutional reforms in INEC, so that whoever takes over from him will be able to work within functional and effective institutional structure.Another lecturer from the Department of Political Science, Dr. David Enweremadu, interrogated issues of political corruption in the last general elections, asserting that 'the conduct and outcome of the election showed clearly that electoral reform, when accompanied with substantial political will and public support and championed by credible and capable officials, can have substantial impact.'Dr. Enweremadu, however, noted that, despite the huge success of the last general election, Nigeria still needs further electoral reforms in the areas of reforms of regulations on party primaries. Speaking from the historical perspective, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of History, University of Ibadan, Dr. C.B.N. Ogbogbo, historicised general elections in Nigeria. The 2011 general election, he stated, was by far the most credible elections ever conducted in the country. The high point of the presentations was the one that critically analysed the role played by the media in ensuring that the elections were free, fair and credible.Dr. Sola Ishola, a lecturer at the Peace and Conflict Studies Programme, Institute of African Studies, UI discussed how the media contributed to the success of the election. He first segmented the media into three categories viz: print media, broadcast media and social media/Internet. In his words, each of the three played key roles towards the successful conduct of the election. He identified the contributions of each of the identified branches of media, with their shortcomings, limitations or challenges.He noted that some 'newspapers relied heavily on information from wire services for local news without verification.' Some of the identified shortcomings of the broadcast media during the election were: technical hitches that prevented or marred the airing of advertised debates and discussions; poor quality of presentations and discussions, limited exposure of anchors and presenters which hindered the robustness of discussions on the elections. He also identified interferences in the activities of some state-owned stations by the ruling elites before and during elections, as one of the many limitations that confronted the broadcast media in the last general elections.On the role played by the social media/Internet, Dr. Ishola noted that 'some reports dubbed the election Facebook and Twitter election because of the pervasive use of the social media.' The social media, according to him, facilitated transmission and exchange of information thereby frustrating criminal attempts to disrupt elections in polling booths and collation centres.Most interesting among the three discussants, was the presentation of Professor Bamiro, who observed that stakes were higher during this year's governorship election in Oyo State than any other election. According to Professor Bamiro, 'I was able to handle tensions as they mounted because I had developed statistical software which simplified the computation of results as they streamed in.' He said the computational software gives the trend analysis of the results of each political party. He stated further that even before the last sets of results were entered into the system, the software would have indicated the likely winner of the election. The don informed the audience that he developed the software after he was appointed the Returning Officer for Oyo. He noted that the automated computation of the election results, to a very large extent, simplified his task. He further hinted that he had recommended the adoption of the computation software to the INEC and that it has since agreed to make use of it in future general elections.In his own contribution, Professor Bayo Okunade, who subtly compared the June 12, 1993 Presidential election to that of 2011 general elections noted that the 2011 general elections were the best in the annals of Nigerian history. According to him, by annulling the June 12, 1993 election, the then military regime inadvertently over-rated the success of the election. He stressed that the June 12 election recorded some pockets of irregularities, but the annulment made people to overlook them. He was of the view that the use of academic staff as key officers for the general elections by INEC greatly enhanced the credibility of the general elections. The Political Science don, however, noted that though the process of recruiting the academic staff was shrouded in secrecy, the measure was justified in the meantime.Dr Olorunyomi opined that the success of the 2011 general elections indicates that there is still hope for Nigeria. He asserts that if Nigeria could get it right by conducting credible elections, it can do the same in other areas demanding visionary, honest and dedicated leadership.The roundtable on the 2011 general elections was just one of such programmes being put together by IFRA Research Fellows. Over 100 researchers from various academic interest participated in the methodological workshop organised by Fellows.
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