The independent national electoral commission (INEC) has just called off today’s elections, citing logistics.
Yes, it has been very easy for the lame commission to make this pronouncement without considering the impact and huge losses associated with it.
Increasingly, logistics is becoming a nebulous concept in Nigeria. Everytime an incident of this magnitude happens, it is blamed on logistics. What really makes up logistics?
INEC had the last four years to prepare for this election only to discover a few hours to the election that it was not prepared.
People’s minds and money have been committed to this election. Now, the election is shifted. How will anybidy adjust to this?
Many organisations, especially the media, have spent money sending their people out for to cover the elections,a lot of people have traveled from their base to various parts of the country to cast their votes.
Many companies have shut down operations to give way to the elections. How much such companies might be losing in this process is simply unimaginable.
A lot of incalculable losses have also been incurred, including international community”s perception of Nigeria as a country incapable of organizing itself in any front.
The questions on every lip now is who pays for these losses, who assuages the pains and who calms frayed nerves?
Again, many of the electoral materials had been dispatched and deployed to various parts of the country at very huge cost.
At the moment, it is difficult to imagine how much the economy will be losing because of this unfortunate incident, because already the entire country had been shut down for the elections.
Where do we go from here? The explanation from the INEC needs for depth to convince Nigerians that the action was really in their interest and that of the country as a whole.
