THE Academic Union of Universities, ASUU, on Thursday, February 7, 2019, called off the strike it embarked upon on November 4, 2018 shortly after resumption from the long holidays.

From all indications, our ambition of meeting and even surpassing the success of the 2015 general elections that brought President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, to power was dashed last weekend.

Expatriates linked to the oil industry and some workers in the upstream sector were often kidnapped for ransom. The militants resorted to this crime as their own way of getting back at those who allegedly mindlessly exploited the resources of their communities without helping to develop them or employ the indigenes.

It is in this light that the timely warnings issued to Nigerian politicians by the United States, UK, EU and other countries concerning the possible rigging of the 2019 general elections and promotion of violence can be viewed. The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ms Catriona Laing, had on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, warned that politicians who incite or carry out violence during these elections will be banned from visa issuance and have their assets in UK confiscated.

In addition to its own internal contradictions, the INEC is made to carry the perceived malfeasances of political contenders. The two major political parties – the All Progressives Congress, APC, and the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, – have, expectedly, been accusing it of colluding with their opponents to “rig” the general elections.