Lessons From The US Elections

On Tuesday, November 8, this year, Americans went to the polls to elect a new President that would succeed incumbent Barack Obama. It was a most unusual electioneering process characterised by one of the most polarising, vulgar and racist campaigns by the two main political parties, the Republicans otherwise called the Grand Old Party (GOP) and the Democrats.

The defining issues were the economy, jobs, immigration, foreign policy, criminal justice reforms, healthcare and future of the Supreme Court among many others. There were three presidential debates, where, the two leading candidates, GOP candidate, billionaire businessman, Donald Trump and former Secretary of State, Senator Hillary Clinton, pleaded their cases on various issues.

Although some parts of those debates delved into the individual candidates’ private lives, of scandals and flip flops, they afforded Americans the opportunity to truly appraise the candidates’ main ideological differences and help make up their minds.

Yes, the candidate adjudged winner of all three debates, did not eventually win the elections, thus, questioning the efficacy of the exercise, it nonetheless underscored the valid premium placed on the right of the people to be well-informed.

More than that, it reaffirmed the belief in the supremacy of the voter to whom the candidates must plead their cases.

Interestingly, even with all the distractions, actuated by e-mail scandals involving the Democratic candidate and accusations of sexual harassments against the GOP candidate, both contestants remained on points and repeatedly attempted to persuade the people about how the other lacked the temperament, civility and good conscience to occupy the world’s most powerful office.

On the day of the elections proper, as it was during early voting, voters, in long queues, patiently waited and voted for the candidates of their choice. There were no armed security guards neither where there thugs from either sides to intimidate the other.

One significant issue during the campaigns was the disruption of President BarrackBarack Obama’s campaign speech by a protester. Rather than ‘bundle’ him out as would Nigerian many operatives, the security guards took a cue from the President who ordered Democratic supporters to show respect and not to boo the intruder. Obama instead justified the protester’s right to differ and advised his supporters to vote against the intruder’s party and not to boo.

Another striking lesson was the fact that although Barack Obama was not on the ballot, his eight year legacy was, and 50 went all out to campaign for his preferred candidate with unimaginable passion. Yet, he endured the abuses by candidate of the opposing party who at some point questioned Obama’s nationality. And in all those, no one was invited for questioning by security agents or harassed in any way for the exercise of their right to free speech.

In the end, the President’s preferred candidate lost. But it did not push him to truncate the process in any way or encourage his own to challenge the outcome through litigation. Both candidates and the American people have faith in their electoral process, even though the GOP candidate, at some point in the campaign expressed doubts about a fair process, his ploy many saw as a means of discouraging voter turn-out among supporters of his opponents’.

By and large, nearly all Americans consider the electoral process as fair and various poll handlers, credible. This is the biggest challenge to Nigeria’s democracy, an electoral process that would protect every vote, where, all votes count and one that strengthens the people’s faith in the ballot box.

Such is the reputation Nigerians expect of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). They expect the commission to be dependable, trust-worthy and non-partisan in the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities and not submit to the whims of people in authority.

Nigerians are agreed that most of the gains made in that respect by the Prof Attahiru Jega-led INEC have gradually frittered away, with inconclusive elections replacing free, fair and credible polls. Nigeria cannot be America over-night but we must strive to build structures, cultures and institutions that would drive a truly credible electoral process.

The key lesson to be drawn from the November 8, American elections is that the people have faith in their electoral process and naturally consider any outcome as representative of the will of the American people. Nigeria can work towards same. Yes we can.