Reality check!!!

A lot of us have congratulated the INEC boss for the success of the just concluded Ekiti state election. If this election is to be taken as a projection of the 2015 general election, then the umpires of election tribunal will have little work to do next year. 

If this widely celebrated success was due to the heavy presence of security personnels, then we might just want to wake up to reality.

Here's a glimpse  of the quantity of security outfits ( man power et al) that were on ground for the Ekiti election:

25 sniffer dogs and horses, Nothing less than 12000 police men, 200 counter terrorism specialist and 200 crime prevention officers, one bomb detector robot, 3 helicopters, 50 vehicles including armoured personnel carriers, ambulances, patrol vans. 

We also had Officers of the Nigerian Army,the Department of State Security and the National Security and Civil Defence Corps massively deployed. There were also several paramilitary agencies on duty, as well as voluntary security organisations and professional bodies and groups, which served as election observers.

Here are my concerns:

Will we need as much security in each state to ensure a similar success?

If yes, do we have that quantity of manpower readily available  in Nigeria? Or shall we request for foreign aides?  

Will every state have 3 helicopters hovering in the air too on the D-day? 

Will 5 commissioners of police be deployed to every state too?

Do we have enough man power for this?

These obviously can't be the case. If it were so then I wonder why our Chibok sisters are still missing with such a great armoury of security personnels at our disposal.

It has been said by the Inspector General of police that the same strategy will be used in Osun state. That's the logical thing to do now, abi? 

If we have all it takes to deploy this magnitude of resources to all the state's at the same time, then i'll say, "please carry go".

But if we can't repeat this in all the state's simultaneously come 2015 , then we should begin to think of a way forward.

Here's what I think:

 Osun state election could serve as another litmus test. This time with a strategy that can be replicated in majority of the states come 2015.

Many will argue that this might jeopardise the fairness of the election, but it might also secure a successful 2015 election and the future of elections in Nigeria. 

Another option will be to spread the elections over a period of time so that the whole Nation won't vote at once! Eg, different geo political zones at different times. 

That way, we can have this battalion of warriors  in every state going to the polls.

Prof Jega has given us a free and fair election in Ekiti, and he received an applause for this ; he will receive a standing ovation and national accolade if he can do it again in Osun and again in the whole Nation.