Associate professor of international relations at Seaver College Dr. Robert Lloyd is set to depart next week to observe the 2011 Nigerian presidential elections being held April 16.
Lloyd received his doctorate from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies where he had his first opportunity to observe an international election.
“I have been involved with observing elections since the 1994 presidential elections in Mozambique said Lloyd, who believed at the time that it would be his only election observation experience. This, however, was not the case as Lloyd pointed out that one election observation led to another. I observed the Liberian presidential election in 2005 the Nigerian presidential election in 2007 and now the most recent one.”
This election will mark Lloyd’s fifth time observing an election including one with the United Nations and four with the “International Republican Institute (IRI) a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization funded by the US government to advance freedom and democracy worldwide.”
The most recent election was originally scheduled to occur April 3 but was postponed by Nigeria’s Independent National Elections Commission (INEC) due to logistical problems according to Lloyd. The INEC’s chief overseer Attahiru Jega has come under much scrutiny from officials and citizens of Nigeria but his efforts were backed by current Nigerian president and candidate Goodluck Jonathan.
“Millions of Nigerians had already begun voting in the legislative elections when the announcement was made creating confusion and uncertainty Lloyd said.
Nigeria’s politics have been marked by political instability and alternating periods of military and civilian rule Lloyd explained. The goal of Nigeria’s INEC is to dispel this series of violence and corruption and conduct a credible election.
Nigeria is a critically important state in Africa in general and West Africa in particular. Nigeria is the most populous state in Africa and is in many ways a microcosm of sub-Saharan Africa. The country is one of the world’s major oil exporters and is the fourth largest source of imported oil for the United States Lloyd said. Nigeria has enjoyed sustained economic growth for a number of years. A prosperous peaceful and democratic Nigeria can thus be a model for the entire continent. All this means free and fair elections play an important role.”
Given the state of affairs in Nigeria specifically the violence noted one of the many concerns is the safety and security of all personnel. Lloyd expressed confidence in measures taken by the IRI to ensure the security of all the observers. He acknowledged that his biggest challenges would be learning the politics of the country the extensive travel in a short amount of time and reporting back in a timely manner.
“Being an election observer is physically and mentally challenging but quite rewarding work Lloyd said.
Despite past elections, Nigerian officials and citizens have high expectations for the current elections. Recent polls show that almost three-fourths of Nigerians believe elections will be free and fair. With the established importance of Nigeria in West Africa the hope is that Dr. Lloyd’s work with the IRI and the work of the INEC will help to finally establish true democracy in Nigeria.