Election Still Undecided

Nigerian Election Still Underway

I followed Nigerian election results on Twitter last night, right before going to bed.

President Buhari’s wife Aisha was the first to vote in their polling unit, and the president was second.

According to the Nigerian Premium Times, Buhari “scored 523 votes while the Presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar got only three votes.”

But the APC candidate for senate lost to someone from a smaller party in that polling unit, the article said.

BBC has a fairly comprehensive view of the situation as of Sunday evening, Nigerian time. There was sporadic violence, and a few polling places said they may have to hold voting again. We’ll see what the international observers say in the next few days.

Our son Sam didn’t vote; he failed to get the voting registration when it was required a long time ago. There’s no same day registration. He did visit a polling station near his house for a couple of hours to see what was going on.

He said a fair number of people stayed around after voting. They wanted to watch the vote counting when the station closed. Despite the one week delay, there was still poor organization, he said.

Several Twitter posts called for electronic voting by 2023. Others called for the ability to cast absentee ballots, which does not exist today.

The earliest we will know results is Monday, news sources say.

Nun from Nigeria Addresses Vatican Gathering

Meanwhile, a choir friend asked me this morning if I had seen the news about the Nigerian woman at the Rome gathering. I had not, since I was focused on election news.

Now I’ve read about her. Sister Veronica Openibo, a “prominent Nigerian nun,” according to the AP, “blasted the culture of silence that has long kept clergy sexual abuse hidden in the Catholic Church, telling Catholic leaders Saturday that they must transparently admit their mistakes to restore trust among the faithful.”

PBS also reported on her.

An article in The Guardian quotes her.

Openibo, who has worked in Africa, Europe and the US, said: “Too often we want to keep silent until the storm has passed. . . This storm will not pass by. Our credibility is at stake.

Good for her! She was one of just three women who addressed the gathering.

Being a Singleton

I’ve been clearing papers from my two years at the Yale School of Management. Yesterday I found notes from Group Dynamics, a class I took in my second year.

There was a conversation about race and why the professor did not allow one black student to enroll because he would have been the only person of color.

Black people who strive to advance in the US have to live in the “white world” all the time, whereas we who are white never have to live in their world if we choose not to.

An article in The New York Times describes the problem with the story of a mathematics PhD who is one of very few blacks with that distinction, Dr. Eldray Goins.

The writer of the article, Amy Harmon, describes some of the mini-aggressions Goins has endured. She said, “There was the time he was brushed aside by the leaders of his field when he approached with a math question at a conference.” Sometimes, she reports, others in his field were unwilling to make eye contact with him.

“The hostilities he perceived were subtle, the signs of disrespect unspoken,” she explains.

She reports that even he has occasionally questioned whether the slights have been because of race. But he is not alone. Many black professionals report similar experiences.

TEAM Westport, our town’s multicultural committee, encourages our school board to hire teachers of color. But if they hire only one for a school, that individual will face the same situation. And that person may well decide not to stay.

There are many school districts eager to hire people of color.

How can we improve this situation? We who are white must pay attention, learn about and be aware of micro-aggressions, examine our own actions and have the courage to confront our peers if necessary.

My Book Launch March 7

I told you I’m launching my second book, Breaking Kola: An Inside View of African Customs, on March 7. Did I mention this is an American book launch, not a Nigerian? You may wonder what the difference is.

Nigerian author Elnathan John explains in his piece in Brittle Paper:

“A book is not complete without a book launch. In Nigeria, a book launch is a fund-raising ceremony. It is not important to have writers at this event. Well, maybe the book reviewer. You need your state governor (who may not come but will send a representative with a cheque or a pledge); your Local Government chairman; your Pastor or Imam to bless the event; and any minister, senator or rich person that you know. It is important to find a Chief Launcher who will encourage others to donate to your hustle. Do not leave it to chance or the discretion of the Chief Launcher, unless you are sure of his capabilities. In Nigeria, nobody is allowed to embarrass the Chief Launcher by giving more money. So, if you can, gently hint that you know he will set the bar high for others to follow. That is the job of the Chief Launcher – setting the bar as high as possible.”

At my book launch I am not expecting people to give me money, though I probably wouldn’t refuse if someone offered!

I will have two Igbo men to demonstrate breaking kola, and I’ll have kola nuts for all the attendees!