The last time I checked, the most talked-about Anambra Gubernatorial election in Nigeria had graciously come and gone, to the glory of God. In other words, the concerned electorate are at the moment not unaware of their next Governor.

Life generally is conspicuously characterized by tremendous intrigues and intricacies. This is the reason some persons who truly comprehend the features of nature don’t seemingly hold anything firmly.

They do so, believing that whatever one beholds can depart at anytime, and in most cases, it happens unannounced. This set of individuals, that’s invariably found anywhere across the globe, is often referred to as a group of realists.

Realism is simply the ability to face any ongoing circumstance or trending events squarely as they appear without making any effort to twist their real outlook or value. This school of thought enables mankind to be rational and real at all times.

In elections or electioneering era for instance, several intrigues are usually observed by the onlookers. Taking Nigeria as a case study, each time any election approaches, the concerned aspirants or political parties are – rather than dwelling on issue-based campaigns – relentlessly involved in exposing their dirty lilies in the public domain.

An aspirant or candidate who is expected to inform the people what he/she intends to do towards ushering in the anticipated good governance when he emerges victoriously, would end up telling the electorate why they shouldn’t vote for his/her rival(s), thereby contradicting the scenario.

In a situation whereby the ruling party is contesting for a certain position or reelection and its closest rival happens to have tasted the leadership seat in the past, the two parties – both the ruling and opposition – would be mainly involved in castigating each other as they go about their day-to-day campaigns towards gaining the people’s votes.

They unabatedly concentrate on this wayward style of campaign, and they do so vigorously and doggedly, forgetting what the voters really need to hear from them is their plan on how to position or reposition the country or state, as the case may be, positively if they became elected at the polls.

This character assassination as mentioned above, popularly known as “blame game”, had in recent times eaten deep into the bloodstream of the Nigeria’s political system and its likes. It has hitherto continued endlessly as was witnessed in the just concluded Anambra State governorship election.

In the aforementioned polls, such a game was keenly, though ‘shamefully’, played by three key political parties namely, the All Progressives Congress (APC), the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

At the moment, it’s obvious that after the rigorous blame games that heralded the said election, a victor consequently emerged as was publicly declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer in the person of Prof. Florence Obi on Tuesday, 9th November 2021 after the supplementary poll that took place in Ihiala LGA, the area where votes weren’t cast on the election day being Saturday, 6th November 2021.

Prof. Obi, having painstakingly studied the outcomes of the elections as were separately conducted in the existing 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the State and consequently tendered by the various Returning Officers from the LGAs, graciously announced the former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo of the APGA, which is the current ruling party in the province, as the winner of the keenly contested poll.

It’s noteworthy that the Certificates of Return were presented to the duo of victors Prof. Soludo and his deputy, Dr. Onyeka Ibezim on 12th November 2021, as requested by the extant law.

Millions of people the world over are currently celebrating with the victors, whilst some others are reportedly aggrieved with the pronounced outcome of the polls. Whatever the case might be, the bone of contention remains that a winner had finally emerged from the blame game after the suspense and intrigues that transpired.

At this juncture, I want to candidly appreciate Nigerians, particularly the people of Anambra, for the maturity and patience displayed before, during and after the polls. Election as an exercise is a process, hence entails various sections. The first part of it is for the electorate to collectively cast their votes; the Anambranians participated in this phase with extreme maturity despite the odds.

The second phase entails awaiting the pronouncement of the outcome of the election. This section equally requires to be participated with a patriotic mindset imbued with patience. Anambranians in their numbers also did as expected while in this very phase.

The third phase involves declaration of any of the contenders as the victor of the exercise or competition. It’s noteworthy that the victor is constitutionally the candidate who garnered the maximum number of votes against his/her co-contestants as well as acquired the required spread across the available States or LGAs in the country or State, respectively, as might be the case..

I equally commend the citizens for accepting this section in good faith as we appeal to the defeated candidate(s) who wish(es) to query the outcome or the declaration to use the apt channel, which remains the legal means.

The PDP has already announced its displeasure over the outcome of the election, and may be approaching the Election Tribunal soonest. We therefore enjoin them to remain calm and mature till the entire proceeding is over.

Similar appeal goes to the candidates or political parties who were reportedly defeated. They must endeavour to use the right and lawful channel in showcasing their respective grievances.

So, as I congratulate the Governor-Elect, Prof. Soludo and his Deputy, Dr. Ibezim alongside their entire team, for emerging as the next democratically-elected Governor of Anambra, I equally congratulate the teeming Anambranians for the fantastic and remarkable role they variously played towards ensuring that peace and harmony were maintained across the shores of the State.

Above all, as I appreciate the INEC for eventually concluding this labour and cost intensive task, I enjoin the commission to look inwards to ensure that whatever lapse(s) experienced in the last polls isn’t/aren’t witnessed in the impending ones.

Hence, the electoral umpire must tactically go back to the drawing board. The various technical hitches recorded at different localities on the day of the election must be considered, aptly x-rayed and addressed for the sake of future elections.

All in all, as Anambranians collectively enjoy this relative peace, I urge them to continually remind ourselves that there’s no other State, aside Anambra, they can proudly and boldly call their own.

Portugal, a Southern European country recently passed a law called right to rest. This new law bans employers of labour and office bosses and makes it illegal for them to text message, email or call their staff or workers outside the employees working hours for work related reasons. The move is part of changes being introduced to improve work-life balance in response to an expansion of working from home in the country, give people more time to rest and have a good and peaceful family time hence why the new law was dubbed ‘right to rest’. 

Therefore, as of today an employer or boss in Portugal will be breaking the law if he calls a staff, texts a staff, emails a staff or sends for a staff outside working time of that staff for work related reasons and that employer will be made to face the law. 

The Portugal’s Minister of Labour and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho during a press conference in Lisbon while narrating the need for this new law ‘right to rest’ told the news men that “telework can be a game-changer” but its growth needs to be regulated.

It has always been the case that bosses at work feel they own their workers’ time and by extension owns the workers’ lives  and can ring any staff or send for any staff at any time they want and that staff don’t have a say on it unless the staff wants to get punished, queried or even loose his job.

This law should be introduced and adopted in all countries of the world and any country that cares about the good health, peace of mind and longevity of the lives of its citizens. Even the Christian’s holy books says in Ecclesiastes 3vs 1 that there’s time for everything; there’s time to work and time to rest and one should not take the place of the other.

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global, who has been in the bad book of the authorities for months now, is preparing to relaunch its ride-hailing and other apps in China by the end of the year. The preparation is in anticipation that Chinese authorities will end its Beijing’s cybersecurity investigation into the company by then, Reuters reported, citing three people directly involved in the relaunch.

The cybersecurity investigation and possible penalty on Didi is expected to be wrapped up in December, according to the people.

The company has set aside 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) for a potential fine, said one of the sources.

Didi came under investigation earlier in the year over anti-competition and misuse of private data allegations. In the report, Reuters, citing people with the knowledge of the matter, said the company, among other things, is working to wrestle back its drivers, who left to join rival companies following the regulatory restrictions.

In July, the powerful Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) ordered app stores to remove 25 mobile apps operated by Didi – just days after the ride-hailing giant listed in New York. It also told the company to stop registering new users, citing national security and the public interest.

Asked about its preparations to relaunch the apps and the amount set aside for a potential fine, Didi said the information obtained by Reuters was “pure hearsay with no grounds in fact” and that it was cooperating actively and fully with the cybersecurity review. It did not elaborate further.

The CAC did not respond to a request for comment.

Didi shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange rose as much as more 6.7% in early trading on Thursday following the Reuters report before slipping back.

Didi, which has about 377 million annual active users in China, provides 25 million rides a day to users in the country who sign into its app with a phone number and password. Its apps also offer other products such as delivery and financial services.

It ran afoul of the CAC when it pressed ahead with its New York listing on June 30, even though the regulator had urged the company to put it on hold while a cybersecurity review of its data practices was conducted, sources have told Reuters.

Soon after, the CAC launched an investigation into Didi over its collection and use of personal data. It said data had been collected illegally and the apps concerned including for its camera device, as well as delivery and financial services.

NEW DATA LAW

Didi responded at the time by saying it had stopped registering new users and would make changes to comply with rules on national security and personal data protection, and would protect users’ rights.

Didi has since been making changes to the apps to ensure they comply with China’s Personal Information Protection Law which took effect on Nov. 1, the three people with knowledge of the matter said, adding that all staff had to complete training about the new law.

The changes include an updated and lengthy user agreement for customers to sign that clearly defines what data will be collected and how it will be used, said one of the sources.

The company is also working on new strategies to recruit drivers for the relaunch as many moved to rival services due to uncertainty surrounding the business because of the investigation, this source added.

Its shares have halved since its New York debut to leave its valuation at $43 billion. The investigation came amid a slew of regulatory moves by Beijing that have upended norms for a range of sectors from tech to property to private tutoring.

In particular, China has instructed its technology giants to provide more secure storage of user data amid public complaints about mismanagement and misuse that have resulted in privacy violations.

The new Personal Information Protection Law states that the handling of information must have a clear and reasonable purpose, lays out conditions under which companies can collect personal data and offers guidelines for ensuring data is protected when it is transferred outside the country.