 Published
April 23rd, 2010
The temptation to contend that the best part
of Professor Maurice Iwu’s life so far has not been as Chief
Electoral Officer of Nigeria can be understood. But don’t
bet on that. It is true that striving to create order out of
chaos, otherwise known as administering Nigeria’s political
process cannot be any sane person’s idea of fun, the same
way keeping the keys and jamming the gates on prisoners
cannot be any man’s joy, not for too long. But these are
jobs that have to be done in the interest of social order
and meaningful human development.
Appreciating the essence of such assignments and imbuing
them with interpretations more profound and useful for the
society than the mundane often speak of the caliber of each
person to whom any such job is entrusted at any point in
time.
Depending on profundity of interpretation and the passion
invested on any such task, especially within the scheme of
social development, an assignment around which ordinarily is
wrapped frustration can be redefined into a social goal of
noble dimension, becoming at such instance, a veritable
source of personal challenge as well as a fulfilling service
to the society.
For Maurice Maduakolam Iwu, born on April 21, 1950 and honed
in the world of academia and controlled research
laboratories, transfer to the uncontrolled conservatory of
partisan politics some time in 2003 was bound to present new
challenges, not like what he used to deal with. From being
appointed a National Commissioner at the Independent
National Electoral Commission after the 2003 general
elections, the man who had made a name internationally in
the area of pharmaceutical research soon found himself
appointed to the headship of the electoral management body.
For the research scientist, an opportunity had come to try
to manage and moderate tendencies and conduct of
participants in the uncontrolled arena of partisan politics
which he had watched disapprovingly from afar.
Prof.Iwu came into the job of Chief Electoral Officer of the
country with great zeal and contagious passion. If, however,
he had an inkling of the tortuous nature of the terrain and
the character of the persons he had come to tangle with, he
must have underestimated their talent for mischief and the
matching capacity for ensuring that nothing is done which
ought to be done.
Engaged perennially in plots, either against themselves or
the system, the rambunctious tribe of politicians Iwu set
out to get into an orderly line soon showed him that they
were more unmanageable than any mixture of substance he must
have contended with in science laboratories. He swore to
rein in the politicians and change the old method in doing
things and wining in political contests. They swore in turn
that nothing would change. The examples are there.
He wanted the electronic voting machine. They simply put it
on perpetual hold at the legislature. He introduced
electronic voters register with pictures and thumb print to
check the old order of free for all multiple registration
and ghost voters. They resorted to undermining the system
and feeding voters registers with fake pictures and curious
names, even if the registrants cannot vote. He introduced
various reforms in the electoral process and progressively
moves towards conducting free and fair elections as the
various bye-elections and the governorship election in
Anambra state showed. They turned round to launch a
blistering campaign that electoral reform simply means
nothing unless he gives way.So much capital was made for
long of how an individual, Andy Uba facilitated his
appointment as INEC Chairman and therefore as umpire the
INEC Chairman will be biased., Yet when the same Dr.Uba ran
and came fourth in the governorship election in Anambra
state what does Prof.Iwu get? A protest by leaders of the
Labour Union that Dr.Uba who they endorsed did not win. If
Iwu thought he operated out of Washington for years, his
impaccable foes are showing him that they can get Washington
and London on their side against him as well.
It is most unlikely that Professor Maurice Iwu could have
imagined himself evolving into the juggernaut that he has
unwittingly been turned into in Nigeria’s contemporary
politics. The contention by the motley coalition of forces
promoted by politicians that Iwu has stopped at one point or
the other, that Prof.Maurice Iwu is the kernel of electoral
democracy in Nigeria today gives him a level of visibility
and name recognition that is presently unmatched.
As he turns 60 today, resolute as always, Professor Maurice
Iwu is not surprised at the storm around him. He says he
knew what was coming; that because he touched the root of
the old system of winning elections he knew that the
beneficiaries of the old order will rise against him. But
there are few points to note no less. If Iwu had conducted
the 2003 elections in which virtually all the states of the
South West region were won by the PDP against conventional
calculation, a campaign would have been mounted for him to
face the International Court at The Hague. But he did not
conduct that election. The 2007 elections that he conducted
are maligned more in broad terms than in statistical detail.
For the professor of Pharmacognosy from Umukabia in Imo
State, what seems to matter most to him is that the old
order does not return in Nigeria’s electoral process again.
Whether he presides over it or not is secondary. Today as he
turns 60, Professor Iwu’s wife, the passionately private and
guiless Mrs. Kate Iwu, will, no doubt, vehemently disagree
with the view, but her husband seems to have been made to do
the job he is presently doing for the nation. It takes guts
and conviction. And he has both
Article - Submitted by Aloy Ejimakor |
