In the closing paragraphs of his piece last Sunday , Lagos Guardian's star columnist, Reuben Abati situated The Barack Obama Phenomenon currently sweeping America against the reality of politics in Nigeria.
Here are his words: "In Nigeria, party primaries are a charade. They provide an opportunity for party chieftains, self-appointed Godfathers and their band of thugs to impose candidates on the party and the people. Here, the voter is callously discounted and abused."
He might as well have been speaking about the Parisian suburn of Neuilly. According to the blog - Certain ideas of Europe, the elections for local mayor there "reads more like the machinations of a tin-pot republic than those of a serious democratic municipality"
Nicolas Sarkozy is allegedly playing the Chris Uba role in this instance. The drama playing out is "filled with late-night telephone calls, last-minute press conferences and statements cooked up on street corners, exposing all the elements at work in the Sarkosphere".
With elections holding next month, we'll know then if Sarkozy truly pulls it off. Whether the swanky people of Neuilly let their former mayor get away with it is another matter.
photocredit - Reuters
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