Monday, December 15, 2008

The gorillas are naturally bigger in Nigeria

Of course Nigeria’s president Umaru Yar’Adua welcomed the Supreme Court decision vindicating his 2007 election. But will a 4-3 vote quell the spirit of dissent by factions loyal to Atiku Abubakar and Muhammadu Buhari?

Nigerian-born Washington, DC attorney Emmanuel Ogebe says, “This was the 11-hundred pound gorilla in the room. This was the closest Nigeria has ever been to losing the presidency by just one vote. So if the president assumes that this is a mandate, it’s not. If anything, it should send him back to the trenches."

Ogebe says if President Yar'Adua, Vice President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and the Nigerian state governors would drop their guaranteed immunity from prosecution while in office, it would send a strong signal for reform. If Blagojevich goes to prison, it would give hope to all Nigerians.

This item inadvertently suggested by a College Park sociologist from a colloquy with a Baltimore biomedical researcher, but it all sounds damn familiar from somewhere.

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