The Ndi Igbo Intellectual and Cultural Development Organisation (NIDO) has urged the Federal Government to immortalise a former Chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu.
NIDO, a pan-Igbo sociopolitical pressure group, said this in a statement signed by its Director of Communications, Mr Christian Afulike, and made available to newsmen in Owerri, on Wednesday.
Afulike, who described the late Nwosu as the “unsung hero of Nigeria’s democracy”, said that it was imperative to honour the Anambra-born academician as a way to boost the morale of serving staffers of the electoral umpire.
He argued that failure to honour Nwosu would betray double standards as the June 12, 1996 presidential election has already been acknowledged by the government to be credible and its outcome recognised, hence the adoption of June 12 as Democracy Day.
“ It reeks of double standards to recognise the election as the most credible in the history of elections in Nigeria; recognise the outcome of the election; and at the same time pretend to forget the brain behind the entire process.
“ This is unacceptable and is surely at the heart of the abysmally poor performance of Nigeria’s electoral body in all other elections conducted in the country since then.
He called for the naming of a befitting national edifice representative of any of Nigeria’s democratic institutions after the late Nwosu.
This, he said, will serve to encourage serving and future electoral umpires in the country to serve with diligence and integrity, thereby strengthening the nation’s democracy.
He also urged the Anambra government and other state governments, particularly those of the south east geopolitical zone, to ensure the immortalisation of the late Prof. Humphrey Nwosu as he was “a worthy Nigerian deserving of such honour”.