By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK, 11 April 2023 (IDN) — Rage is brewing, trust is lost and national elections have not only been rigged, but done so in such a shoddy, shabby manner that it insults the intelligence of Nigerians.
Those were the uncensored words of noted writer Chimamanda Adichi, winner of numerous prizes and awards including the PEN Open Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle, the Women’s Prize for Fiction as well as a MacArthur Fellowship.
This time, she aimed her slings and arrows at U.S. media, the U.S. President and the State Department for their unqualified praise of the highly-flawed Nigerian polls while claiming the mantel of democracy around the world.
The election, on 26 February, was rife with infractions, with numbers crossed out and rewritten, some originally written in black ink then rewritten in blue, some blunderingly covered in White Out.
“Why would the United States, which prioritizes the rule of law, endorse a president-elect who has emerged from an unlawful process?” she asked. “American intelligence surely cannot be so inept.”
“A little homework and they would know what is manifestly obvious to me and so many others: The process was imperiled not by technical shortcomings but by deliberate manipulation.”
“You have spoken of the importance of a ‘global community for democracy,’ and the need to stand up for ‘justice and the rule of law,” Adichi said addressing President Biden.
Yet in this case, the election “had been not only rigged but done in such a shoddy, shabby manner that it insulted the intelligence of Nigerians… The discontent, the despair, the tension in the air have not been this palpable in years.”
Finally, Chimamanda tore into the Washington Post for using what she called an infantilizing tone. “As though intended to mollify the simpleminded, we are told that technical glitches, not sabotage, were the issue,” that “much good” came from the Nigerian elections, which are worth celebrating because, among other things, “no one has blocked highways, as happened in Brazil after Jair Bolsonaro lost his reelection bid.”
“We are also told that “it is encouraging, first, that the losing candidates are pursuing their claims through the courts,” though any casual observer of Nigerian politics would know that courts are the usual recourse after any election.
Chima then turned on the paper with both barrels. “The editorial has the imaginative poverty so characteristic of international coverage of African issues—no reading of the country’s mood, no nuance or texture.
“But its intellectual laziness, unusual in such a rigorous newspaper, is astonishing… There is a kind of cordial condescension in both the State Dept. and The Washington Post’s responses to the election. That the bar for what is acceptable has been so lowered can only be read as contempt.”
“A global community for democracy cannot thrive in the face of apathy from its most powerful member. Why would the United States, which prioritizes the rule of law, endorse a president-elect who has emerged from an unlawful process?”
“There is a kind of cordial condescension in both the State Department’s and The Washington Post’s responses to the election. That the bar for what is acceptable has been so lowered can only be read as contempt.”
In a rejoinder, Dele Alake, special adviser communications to President-elect Bola Tinubu, said the novelist will be lucky to avoid being asked to prove her allegation in court.
Adichie concludes: “Congratulating (the election’s) outcome, President Biden, tarnishes America’s self-proclaimed commitment to democracy. Please do not give the sheen of legitimacy to an illegitimate process. The United States should be what it says it is.” [IDN-InDepthNews]
Photo: Chimamanda Adichi. Source: Vanguard.
Visit us on Facebook and Twitter.
IDN is the flagship agency of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate.
We believe in the free flow of information. Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International, except for republished articles with permission.