On Saturday March 28th.2015, Nigeria Went To The Polls And Voted For A New
President In An Election Which Was By And Large Peaceful And, Which Hence Can Be
Determined As Successful.
Since It's Independence In 1960, This Oil Rich Northwest African Territory With An Atlantic Coastline And Which Has So Much Prospects, Has Battled To Establish Itself As A Liberal Constitutional Society. This Being That Since Independence, Nigeria HasBeen Plagued With Failed Republics And Military Regimes.
The Last Election In 2010 Which Saw The Incumbent Goodluck Johnathan Elected To Office, Although Free And Fair, Was Never The Less Marred By Violence Which Claimed Approximately 800 Lives. So Leading Up To This Election, Concerns About A Free, Fair AndPeaceful Election Were A Given.
Goodluck Johnathan. Incumbant President And Peoples Democratic Party Leader. (PDP)
Muhammad Buhari. Leader Of The Opposition All Progressives Congress. (APC). Leading Presidential Candidate Ahead Of The March 28th 2015 Presidential Election.
What Made These Concerns All The More Real Was The Mood Within Nigeria. That Being The Growing Disillusionment With The Ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) GovernmentLead By Goodluck Johnathan And It's Inability To Address The Ever Growing Threat
Of The Radical Islamic Terrorist Group Boko-Harram, This Being One Of The
Reasons Among Others For Nigerian Disillusionment.
As A Result The Opposition All Progressives Congress(APC), Lead By Former Dictator Muhammadu Buhari Was Now The Popular Alternative. Muhammadu Buhari Was Also A
GeneralIn Nigeria's Military And This Appeared To Make Him The Confident Choice To
Deal With The Growing Threat Of Boko-Harram. That Among Other Issues As Well.
Now That It Appeared That The Buhari Lead ACP Was The Popular Choice To Win The 2015Election, These Real Concerns Began To Figure All The More, This Due To The Fact
That Africa Has A Record Of, And Is Known For It's Liberation Leaders, Their
Notorious Claim To And Their Vice Grip Hold Over Power. That Being, Once They're In Power They Are Reluctant To Relinquish It. Hence They Are Difficult To Remove From
Power. Even Defeat Through The Ballot Box Is No Guarantee That They Will Go Quietly,Certainly Not Without Some Sort Of Struggle Involving A Certain Deal Of Violence.
All Considered, These Concerns Were Real.
But:
In Answer To These Concerns Though, Goodluck Johnathan, Made It Clear That If The
Electorate Voted Him Out He Would Concede Defeat And Would Respect The Decision Of
Nigeria's People.
The 28th Of March 2015 Arrived, And The People Voted:
The Presidential Election Result Was
As Follows:
Candidates: Party: Popular Vote Percentage
Goodluck Johnathan / Namadi Sambo. (PDP) 12 853 162 43.67%
Muhammadu Buhari / Yemi Osinbajo. (APC) 15 424 921 52.41%
Nigerian Presidential Election Results Being Made Public.
Goodluck Johnathan, True To His Word, Conceded Defeat. When It Was Apparent That
He'd Lost The Election, He Called Muhammadu Buhari To Congratulate Him On His
Victory At The Polls. Then He Conceded Defeat Publicly.
The Election Had Gone Down Well, It Was Called Free And Fair With Little To
No Violence Hence All Things Considered, Peaceful. All Things Concidered It Was A
Success.
Although Beaten In This Election, Goodluck Johnathan Had Emerged From It With A
Great Deal Of Respect And Admiration. Under His Leadership, Nigeria Had Raised The
Bar And Set The Standard Higher Concerning Free And Fair Elections, Moreover,
The Standard Had Been Raised In Africa As FarAs Liberal Constitutional Societies AreConcerned.
The Acid Test Of A Truly Liberal Society Is Not Simply Because The Popular Party Is In Power Irrespective Of Whether Or Not, That Party Happens To Be The Popular
Liberation Movement Of The Time. Even So, Just Because That Popular Liberation
Movement Happens To Be In Power, And Even If It Was Voted In, That Does Not Make AndNor Does It Mean That, That Particular Society Concerned Is Truly Liberated.
The Acid Test For A Truly Liberated Society Is When The Society Concerned Is Free
And Confident Enough To Vote Any Government Out Of Power In A Free And Fair
Election. Even IfThat Government Happens To Be, A Once Popular Liberation Movement.
Nice One Nigeria, You've Shown The World And You've Shown Africa That It Can Be
Done. Now It's Up To Africa And The World To Take Note.
Even So Nigeria Has Raised The Bar, And That's Good On You.