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Publications >> International Forum Publications >> The 1999 Elections and the Future of Nigeria
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Thank you very much. As I accept this award on behalf of myself and my colleagues from the Transition Monitoring Group, I am overwhelmed. When in August and September of last year we all sat down and tried to decide on our response to the transition program announced by the new regime that had succeeded General Abacha, who had died a few months earlier, we were not sure what to do. We already had experienced several years of transition in Nigeria that had been unsuccessful. The current attempt had already resulted in the death of Chief M.K. Abiola, who had won the election in 1993. We were all very devastated by that event and very shocked by it. So it was very difficult for us to decide on an appropriate response to the military's transition program. But we felt it was important for us to get together and take advantage of the opening that was there, to push the military regime to do what was right and respect the commitments it had made. So we decided to set up the Transition Monitoring Group. We decided that we were going to monitor the elections and hold the government accountable to its words.
For that purpose we were able to get together with many more organizations. At the end of the day, we had 63 organizations that combined to form the Transition Monitoring Group and to monitor the elections. We had some very difficult moments doing this, some difficult situations to deal with. There was division within civil society about how best to respond to the transition program. Some elements within civil society were seriously opposed to participating in any elections conducted by the military. I am proud to say that the Transition Monitoring Group was able to take the initiative, to influence public opinion, and to lead the network of support for elections in Nigeria. We were able to mobilize public interest in the election, provide civic education, and educate our people about how to vote. We observed the elections around the country with several thousand of our own members and supporters, and we became aware of the severe irregularities in the elections. We issued a report recognizing these irregularities, but we took them also to mean that we must move forward, and make sure that the military respected its obligations. At the end of the day, we felt that what was most important to Nigerians at this time was to find a way to end military rule. Luckily, we have only a few days to go now, and then the military will be relinquishing its ule in Nigeria. But there are still serious issues that lie ahead. A lot of people sometimes think that once elections are held that is the most important thing. For us in Nigeria the struggle for democracy has only just begun. There is the issue of a constitution for Nigeria. I just saw the constitution for the first time a few days ago, and a lot of us in Nigeria haven't seen the constitution at all. We will have debate on the constitution question, on writing a constitution that is generally acceptable o the Nigerian people. The incoming regime will have to work on creating credibility for itself. Most of those who supported General Obasanjo are people who have been associated with the previous regimes; many of them have been known to be corrupt and to abuse human rights. It will be important to examine very critically the question of who constitutes the cabinet of the new regime. . . . Only people who can support a credible transition to genuine democratic rule should be included in the new regime. The incoming regime will have to work on creating credibility for itself. Most of those who supported General Obasanjo are people who have been associated with the previous regimes; many of them have been known to be corrupt and to abuse human rights. It will be important to examine very critically the question of who constitutes the cabinet of the new regime. In short, only people who can support a credible transition to genuine democratic rule should be included in the new regime. The problems of corruption are very well known, and it will be important for them to be dealt with very seriously. The Transition Monitoring Group has decided to remain in being, and we will continue to promote civic education, creating awareness among our people, because we know that at the end of the day it will be the Nigerian people and civil society that can protect democracy in Nigeria. International support, of course, is very important. Yet we know that international support can only work together with local support to keep democracy in place and to keep the military in their barracks. Before concluding, I would like to invite my two colleagues here from the Transition Monitoring Group, Abdul Oroh of the Civil Liberties Organization and Professor Aaron Gana, to join me. We jointly would like to express our very deep and sincere appreciation to the National Endowment for Democracy, which has been supporting our work for a very long time. Even at times when otherdonor support was very, very thin in Nigeria, the National Endowment for Democracy and its staff have been a part of the struggle for democracy in Nigeria. We also want to thank very much the National Democratic Institute (NDI) for its support. We could not have mobilized 11,000 observers and succeeded in having them observe the elections in a very objective, fair, and impartial way without the very strong partnership we had with NDI. They were with us in Nigeria from the beginning of the transition, working with us night and day and helping the Transition Monitoring Group develop the capacity to deal with the elections. We also thank verymuch all the others who supported the work of the Transition Monitoring Group in Nigeria. The journey has only just begun. We have several years ahead of us in which we must begin to build democracy. We in civil society are determined to support institutions that will work in line with the democratic aspirations of the Nigerian people. We call on you to support us again in this task. Thank you very much. |
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