Joshua King's Free Press

The first to present his case seems right until another comes and examines him.  Making cases as to why a candidate should be hired to take office for a term is often what happens at a political window. But we can only assume that such cases are right, we do not truly know how effective they are until there is a challenge or when it is too late. It is this challenge of ideas, cases, positions, propositions and even character that make democracy tick. The formal setting to present voters with an opportunity to test these cases, positions and propositions is a debate. On Friday 14th December, 5 vice presidential nominees spoke at the BON/NEDG debates. It was carried live by most local media stations in Nigeria. Make no mistake though, what we saw and listened to were no debates only group interviews. It was a mockery compared to what debates are supposed to be and what obtains elsewhere. Recent comments before the debate showed that many Nigerians, some of whom yours truly conside