ELECTIONS IN THE THIRD WORLD

 Politics is still being operated in the crudest manner in some third world countries till now. Basically, such countries remain under developed because leaders produced through such fraud- ridden systems always fail to perform up to the expected standard and also; they face a lot of reactionary/ resistant forces who use various anti-social/economic means to sabotage the developmental processes of such countries. Example of such cont-ravenous activities include assassinations, smuggling, insurgencies, to mention a few. 

         Generally, elections are not expected to be “Do-or-die” affairs as it is; but a noble opportunity to serve and make positive contributions to one’s father land. However, in countries where election processes are being shrouded in myriads of malpractices, it is quite obvious that the essence of holding an elective office is already misplaced. Many of such political office holders are known to accumulate overnight wealth with a lot of properties acquired both at home and abroad- all to the detriment of the hapless masses who voted for them with high hopes and great expectations!

           In a grim situation as mentioned above, the most effective way to correct the anomaly is to have a well trained and well oriented set of politicians whose mindsets have been defrayed from such ill-intentions as massive misuse of public assets. Rather, they should be able to view critically the available resources and engage the services of relevant experts in order to expand and upgrade such resources for the benefit of all citizens of the country.     

          One basic problem that requires urgent solution in such economies is lack of empowerment. The first aspect of such empowerment has to do with adequate power supply. Most of the citizens are usually willing to engage themselves in various viable small-scale activities if they have basic power supply. Activities such as tailoring, food processing and preservation, metal, plastic and wood-works, welding, electric spray-painting, electrical/electronic and Information/communication technology to mention a few; are prominent among petty commercial activities in which the masses engage themselves every day.

         The second part of such lack of empowerment is in the area of agriculture, where the practice is still in the primitive form. It is a highly profitable venture that can attract youths and ensure sufficient food production as well as having surplus for export. Leaders of such poor economies are usually blinded to the realities of the present-day strides in the profession. Farmers need basic training, equipment and support in the modern methods of mechanized farming… To be continued.