By Chimezie Godfrey
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has commended Prof.Adele Jinadu for his invaluable contributions in the development of electoral democracy in Nigeria.
Yakubu made the assertion Wednesday in Abuja at the colloquium in honour of Professor Adele Jinadu tittled,”Adele Jinadu and Electoral Democracy in Nigeria: Knowledge and Praxis.”
He noted that Prof. Jinadu’s contributions to knowledge in general and to democracy and elections in particular within Nigeria and in Africa is unparalled.
He said,”I join the friends, well wishers, students, colleagues, and mentees present and those who joined virtually to celebrate a great scholar, Professor Adele Jinadu, who has contributed immensely to democracy and democratic theory in Nigeria and beyond.
“To refer to Prof Jinadu as a fountain of knowledge, humility and a champion of the improvement of the human condition would certainly not be an under statement. His contributions to knowledge in general and to democracy and elections in particular within Nigeria and in Africa is unparalled.
“For Jinadu, scholarship is a sustained engagement not just with writing and theorizing about the social world, but also about engaging and connecting with that world. For him, theorizing is a ‘lived’ and ‘living’ experience. It is, in the true sense of the word, praxis, an integral relationship between theory and practice.
“Prof Jinadu’s contributions to democracy and electoral governance, defined as the attempt to understand the mechanisms, operation and interconnections of a broad ensemble of relations in an electoral eco-system is incalculable and has impacted all aspects of election management from EMBs, to political parties, civil society, security, media and the judiciary.”
The INEC Chairman added,”Having served as a National Commission during the Professor Adele Jinadu served as a National Eme Awa Commission (1987-1992 ?) as a National Commissioner provided him a considerable practical insights into the operations of an EMB. He Chaired INEC’s Registration and Election Review Committee (RERC), an independent Committee set up to assess the 2011 registration of voters and the General Election, many of whose recommendations became the backbone of the reform process in INEC rolled out by the Jega and now continued by the Yakubu Commissions.
“I am happy that Professor Jinadu continues to support INEC through his membership on the Board of The Electoral Institute (TEI). He applies his vast knowledge of the electoral process to bring tangible innovations and technical know-how to support the INEC. His contributions have immensely influenced the Commission’s activities.”
Yakubu revealed that Professor Adele Jinadu is also deeply rooted in civil society, adding that he was a member of the Civil Society Election Situation Room, Nigeria, in 2011 and 2015; a member of the Technical Advisory Group on Election (2010 – 2016) supporting the Office of the Chairman of INEC, and the Convener, Nigerian Election Working Group (NEWG), (2015-2019).
“He continues to provide leadership through the Centre for Democracy and Development Election Analysis Centre and The Electoral Forum. Through these mediums, Professor Jinadu has continued to positively contribute to the theory and practice of democracy in Nigeria and beyond.
“I must commend Prof Jinadu’s efforts, as I believe his endeavors have been felt not only in Nigeria but also around the world. He has shown outstanding leadership in the positions he has held. I am certain his work would continue to resonate in the electoral ecosystem and to scholars, election managers, observers and other stakeholders.
“I wish Prof a fruitful Commemoration and hope that the knowledge, recommendations, and resolutions acquired and adopted during this colloquium will continue to serve us all as we move towards building democracy in Nigeria,” the INEC Chairman said.
Former INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega described Jinadu as a beacon of hope owing to his tireless commitment to ensuring electoral democracy in Nigeria.
Jega said Nigeria is in a state where the promises of democratic development are systematically undermined and eroded. One of the best ways to receive hope in the project of democracy he said, is to elect knowledgeable and passionate people who believe in using governance to address the fundamental need of the people.
“Joining politics doesn’t really mean contesting election, but becoming very active in the political terrain or the civil society terrain in other to promote electoral reforms, promote civil public enlightenment for the cleaning up of our electoral and democratisation process.
“People like professor Adele Jinadu who we have celebrated today have been shining beacons of hope; he is passionate about his belief in democracy and the need for the reformed electoral processes which can ensure the election of good people so that we can have good governance that can address the fundamental needs and aspirations of Nigerians, and he’s been very active, ” Jega said
Adele Jinadu who has several publications to his name is a professor of Political Theory and practitioner of electoral democracy. In his remark, he thanked his family, friends and well-wishers for honouring him with a colloquium instead of a casual birthday celebration.
Jinadu emphasised the need to reclaim and reinvent the democratic impulses that found expression in knowledge production about democracy and development. He added that the message and the symbolism of the colloquium were imperative.
“It is an imperative and a reinvention that must urgently be pursued with intense vigour if we are to advance ‘the feasibility’ of democracy and take bold action to unlock the heavy fetters placed on democracy and development by our political class, the country’s party system, and the frightening loss of direction in our pro-democracy civil society organizations, ” said professor Jinadu.
He underlined the importance of proactive energy by pro-democracy stakeholders in state and society to resist now more than ever, on-going attempts by anti-democracy forces in state and society in and outside Nigeria, to derail the electoral process by launching a coordinated attack on INEC.
He said, “In a society, where intellectual work has been sacrificed on the altar of crass materialism and philistinism, and with it the commodization of the intellectual vocation, we must reaffirm our faith in and commit ourselves as an expression of our social responsibility to the transformative power of knowledge production as a force for electoral democracy and development in our country.
“It must be realized that INEC is not the enemy of democracy but those who are afraid of INEC’s daring attempt to routinize electoral integrity as the core of our country’s electoral process and electoral governance and whom we must expose for their diversionary tactics to shift attention from their undemocratic, unpatriotic agenda.”
Also speaking, a former INEC National Commisioner, professor Okey Ibeanu who described Jinadu an icon, said the celebration came at an auspicious time as Nigeria would conduct its general elections come 2023 and “Professor Jinadu has had a very accomplished history working on electoral democracy.”
Furthermore, Director, The Electoral Hub Princess Hamman-Obels said, “You cannot talk about electoral democracy and not talk about professor Adele Jinadu. Electoral democracy and professor Adele Jinadu are synonymous, not only in Nigeria but Africa at large.
“When you’re also talking about Professor Adele Jinadu you will be talking about issues of integrity, accountability and knowledge production which is the theme of the discussion. Professor Jinadu stands for love, he works tirelessly to improve electoral integrity is why you see him in civil society, you see him supporting INEC, supporting the process in different ways. Any time you call upon prof, prof is there.”
Several other friends and well wishers in their goodwill messages sang praises of Jinadu, describing him as “a consistently good man”.
