The African Diaspora Congress (ADC) on Wednesday said Nigeria could learn from the U.S. electoral process, to build on democratic gains in the country.
Prof. Apollos Nwauwa, the Secretary-General and Public Relations Officer of ADC, made this known in a telephone interview in Abuja.
According to Nwauwa, who is also Chairman of the Nigerian Diaspora Movement (NDM), the outcome of the current U.S. election would profoundly reshape not only the United States of America, but the world.
Nwauwa said, “Nigeria can learn from the U.S. electoral system that decentralizes the process and farm them out to the States and Counties.
“There is no Independent National Electoral Commission controlling anything from a central location.
“Centralization of command and control of national election breeds inefficiency, loss of control, manipulation and chaos.
“Nigeria should adopt this process and allow for early voting.”
He explained that majority of the 100 million who pre-voted in the U.S. election, did so by mail and not necessarily electronic, saying others actually voted at various polling stations set by different states.
He said that the U.S. elections was not federally controlled, adding that each state has its electoral laws and guidelines, which cannot be altered by the Federal Government in that country.
He reiterated that such practice could be a lesson for other countries to learn.
Prof. Nwauwa disclosed that there was a massive turnout by voters in the election, as a consequence of President Donald Trump’s policies and behaviour in office.
He said that although Trump’s policies and behaviour angered some Americans, there are others who love him.
“The current U.S. experience with politics is a mixed bag for democracy; on the one hand, efforts to suppress votes have produced unintended consequences, more people than ever have been energized to vote for or against Trump.
“On the other hand, Trump is putting strains on the main tenets of democracy by spreading disinformation about fraudulent ballots and votes that are not really there.
“He has shown that democracy can be manipulated to produce hideous results, but the divide in the U.S. has not been entirely Trump’s fault.
“America has been like this for a while; Trump’s coming only exacerbated the tension and bigotry as he became an unapologetic spokesperson for those he often referred to as silent majority,” he added.
He also said if Trump is re-elected, it would result in remaking the social and political configurations of the U.S. racial intolerance against people of colour, especially Africans.
Furthermore, he said that state sponsored bigotry and violence against people with different political, religious, and sexual orientation will likely increase in the future.
He mentioned that Trump would leave no stone unturned in restricting immigration to the U.S., especially by peoples of colour with Africans on top of his list.
He, however, said another four-year tenure for Trump could consolidate America’s isolation and withdrawal from international community through shunning of agreements and cooperation.
ADC is a coalition of the various groups and concerned citizens from Africa and African Diaspora, while the NDM comprises 20 million Nigerians in the Diaspora working together to build a progressive nation where every citizen is empowered to become and give the best.
