GEAR TWO: LOOKING INTO YOUR EYES

My compatriot, looking into your eyes after the reign of terror that followed the general elections, I can see once again frustration trickling down your eyes. I could almost feel the anguish of your heart. If not for being a communicator, I assure you that I would have given up reading Nigerian news because it is a recycled scenario that holds no novelty. Yes, you must admit that the elections of this year was one more time worse than the previous one. One of my friends and a great proponent of evolutionary politics might be leaning on the law of diminishing returns to catch up with this massive perpetration of injustice. But what I see is that if the trend is an exponential sophistication of fraud and thuggery, the blatant co-option of 'independent' institutions like Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Security operatives, then we are not in a learning process because in learning each stage improves on the former.

Tears, only but tears trickled down my eyes. It was in CNN, BBC; Aljazeera among others, that this country is a pariah state. Weep not my child, weep not my darling for those who made spirited effort to keep our heads high are not giving up the struggle. We are not giving up the struggle because democracy is not about elections only but the consolidation of democratic values. While others may have chosen to wait again for four years to come out and tell us that God has sent them to take over the affairs of our country, look out for those who after elections are ready to keep galvanizing our voices and to put smile in the face of many downtrodden Nigerians.

We are getting it right, we are resorting to gear two. The first gear was a hard start but the second puts us on a smooter ride. Don't forget that the higher we go, the better it shall be. Tighten your belt and let us ride on.

14th APRIL: SENSA PAROLE!!!! WITHOUT WORDS

After the 'free' and 'fair' elections conducted on the 14th; die hard optimists like us will still insist that the nation is not going to remain the same and that together we can change the situation. Was there elections by the way? My best imagination is that there was only a semblance of election because there was an electoral body, a day for election and political parties. However, beyond these, my mouth is shot. After all, I was not in Nigeria.

If I cannot trust the media reports from both the international and local media perhaps, I could trust my Mum whom I called on the night of the 14th. 'Ikem, I did not vote' she responded. Why didn't you vote? 'My son, we got there(pooling boot) but there was no sign of voting going on, no officials, no voting materials, nothing'. What did you do then? 'Around 2:30 in the after noon some heavily armed uniformed men took over the place and there was a rather sham pretence of voting for 30 minutes and that was it'. 'My son forget this place, we don't really belong'

My poor mother left in desperation, once again disenfranchised and hopeless. Mum, don't worry, I am caught without words just like many Nigerians but the end is very close, I can smell it and as long as we keep the hope, we shall not remain speechless for long.

ARARUME: LEARNING THE HARD WAY

Only God knows what is going on in the mind of Ifeanyi Ararume, the disgraced, disqualified and disdained erstwhile governorship candidate of PDP in Imo state. The poor masses are laughing last obviously. Ararume is not a victim of political grand posturing of the Aso Rock gods, he is a victim of a fallout of a gang to which he belongs. May be governorship candidate was the promise that held him as one of the most vocal supporters of the failed third term for Mr:President. Charles Ugwu the Abuja anointed candidate was also an apostle of third term, if not the first person to mention it during his valedictory speech as the out-going Chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). Now that God has said no to both men, I call it nemesis for Ararume, a failure for PDP and a deterrent to other self-seeking Nigerian politicians. The trade off for Ararume is too costly. We are having the last laugh.

ONE YEAR INTO YAR'ADUA'S ADMINISTRATION

It sounds obviously like a detour, from campaigning for a change to prediting victory for the hawks. Yes, I have to admit to myself that it is a kind of a defeatist approach. Let us look at it this way, a desperate president has seen something about the future of Nigeria that the rest of us have not seen. He is committed to realizing what his best approach to it is and has deployed all the arms in his arsenal to fight the way. One thing that he knows is that he has lost the battle at the court of public opinion and by extension public vote. He arbitrarily declares public holidays to scuttle court processes and constantly positions himself as the Lord of the Mano. The day comes as Mr. President expects and Yar'Adua wins. My People it is not a free and fair election, once again it is going to be a selection, one tainted by hawkish interests.

No, it is too early to succumb. What happened in Imo state is an eye opener, Baba is not having it his way all the way. yet again, before this time, Adebayo Adefarati the deceased AD presidential candidate lost out to a battle between life and death. Our presidential hopeful is to say the least more fragile than the late Adefarati, that is not to predict his death anyway. Democracy has a way of refining itself. While men will keep playing gods in African situation, the dice might swing in a minute.

Ikennamindset is not sold to pessimism and refused to buy into the arguments of several of my friends who are theorists of a social evolution that cannot escape the mistakes of others in the light of new knowledge and advancement in science and technology.

Mark this, one year into Yar'Adua's administration, OBJ will have the course to say, why did I make this type of monumental mistake. His pet dogs will be his ferocious enemies and bite him they must do.

AND IWU DIED IN HISTORY!!!

Maurice Iwu or whatever he is called, is not to be considered an honest man by my own modest standard. Exibiting that usual I-have-soiled-my-hand attitude, the umpire has decided a game that is yet to begin. But does Mr. Iwu know that history is beckoning on him to win a credibility war in 2007 elections or forever be cast in the black book of history? I am hardly a sympathiser of AC (Action Congress) but I have the course to isolate the party as one of those who have consistently told us what Mr. President has not told us about himself. Their courage to wage a war against the War Lords of Aso Rock gives us little hope. Wait a moment, similar reason has made many of my friends to see Atiku as a hero. Much of his heroism are products of Baba's own lack of understanding of the affairs of men and his penchant for the Dudan-Barrack-type of show in Aso Rock. Before AC starts singing, let them be reminded that Nigerians are aware that they belong to the same garbage in which Nigerians want to throw the Umbrella men.

If you are with me, you will almost be asking the same question. Why does obeying court order constitute a problem for Mr. Iwu? May be the alleged Mass he was said to have booked for Andy Uba is getting him so drunk that he wants to help God to see that the victory of Ubah is a prayer answered as prayed. Chris Ngige and other candidates legally reinstated by the court of law should be allowed in the spirit of justice to contest elections.

As doubts hang on the air as to the future of this election, the death of Adebayo Adefarati, the AD presidential candidate has not helped issue. It might be the all-time-needed window for Mr. President to sit-put. While FG is pretending to be against this, we know OBJ too well to dispel these possibilities. Somebody should help me tell Iwu that Nigerian youths are not sleeping and hiding in the US after the election will not save him from the chaos to which he wants to throw this country.

AT ALL TIME, REMEMBER THAT THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF OUR NATION STARTS FROM THE MIND. PROF. PAT UTOMI REPRESENTS THE FACE OF A NEW SOCIO-POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC PROGRESS. VOTE FOR NIGERIA, VOTE FOR PAT UTOMI AND GHANA-MUST GO QUITS THE DICTIONARY OF OUR BODY POLITY