Date: 2019-02-11

A political Scientist and Expert in International Relations, Professor Hassan Saliu has appealed to Nigerians to embark on a peaceful and acceptable general elections so as to avoid a backlash effect from the international communities.

The don cautioned that any form of unacceptable results as a result of mass rigging and violence and the aftermalt reaction from the international communities might be too difficult a burden the country can bear coupled with the present insurgency , terrorism and the Boko Haram war the nation is battling with.

Professor Saliu who is of the Department of Political Science in the University of Ilorin raised this alarm in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital while featuring on a Radio Kwara personality interview programme "Playing Host".

He urged the political gladiators and the electorate to vote in accordance with their concience and guide against violating the electoral laws stressing that politics and elections have become veritable platform that promotes international cooperation and understanding among countries across the globe.

According to him, election has now become an international event where no nation can isolate itself from other countries but however, lamented that in Nigerian politics, the president has enormous powers and influence above the presidents of all other countries of the world.

Professor Saliu who said the nation is in the course of her twenty years of uninterrupted democracy, but disclosed that Nigerian politicians have been administering their states from their mental maps with only themselves in the picture of their programmes and do not share their opinions or views with the electorate which according to him, is undemocratic.

According to him , the electorate would have expected the politicians to campaign on issues of how to curb poverty and how to generate more employment in a more coordinated manner but with the present situation, some Nigerians have not even made up their minds few days to the elections.

Answering another question, the Political Scientist said the period allotted for political parties or their candidates for campaign or market their programmes is too short for any meaningful agenda and therefore suggested for a period of one year for campaign for all the political parties.

The don commended the executives of the ASUU and the Federal Government for reaching an amicable agreement on their crisis has made the lecturers abd the students to have since returned back to work but expressed the hope that the two parties would respect the agreement they signed.