I-man:

The man happened to be President at a time of an energy boom.What would Putin be without $90 oil?

@Richy "Guff" Black
Strong leader?Stalin,Hitler,Idi Amin and Saddam were all "strong leaders"

EmekaNaija:

@I-man

I only used today's piece on Putin to make an illustration. Your guess is dead wrong. Stop being shallow

The bottom line is that Russians love Putin. The essence of leadership is to impact the the lives of the citizens and i think Putin has done well in that regards. On locking up opposition leaders, it depends on what side of the fence you sit and what media you choose to believe.
The simple reason for comparison with Obasanjo is to show that high oil revenues is not a guarantee for success of an economy as Nigeria's failure shows.

Either way, credit must be given to Putin for re-invigorating comatose Russia.

EmekaNaija:

The more i studied about Putin all day, the more i realize that Obasanjo needs to be erased from our lexicon. He is an utter failure.

AMID escalating diplomatic feud, Moscow yesterday cancelled a London exhibition of French and Russian masterpieces, saying Britain had failed to guarantee their safe return in the latest diplomatic row between the two countries.

Britain failed to persuade Russia to loan the 120 works by French and Russian painters, including Matisse's "The Dance", said the head of the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, Mikhail Shvydkoi.

London has insisted that all the conditions for the exhibition have been met.

Moscow''s refusal to take London's word is the latest shot in a diplomatic war that escalated after the murder last year of a fugitive Kremlin critic given asylum in Britain.

A failed attempt by Britain to extradite the chief suspect, ex-KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi, prompted tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats this July.

A letter was sent to the British government declaring it was "impossible to accept as sufficient the guarantees of the exhibition's (legal) immunity and the return" of the artworks to Russia.

ndubest:

.Though am not a fan of dictatorship

i think putin deserves the award

he was able to call bluff of all those feeding themselves and their families from the nations oil resources

hope other leaders will emulate his no nonsense attitude, though that comes with a price

EmekaNaija:

Putin, to me, symbolizes what visionary leaders can achieve for their people.
Some fools are already claiming Putin's success was as a result of the recent Oil boom, while forgetting that their father of modern Nigeria, Obasanjo, was in power within the same 1999-2007 that Putin was in power, with all the antendant oil boom for Nigeria. Even in Putin's high handedness, the Russians love him. Can that be said about Obasanjo and his new Nigeria? The more i studied about Putin all day, the more i realize that Obasanjo needs to be erased from our lexicon. He is an utter failure.

I see Putin's Russia dominating world politics for more years to come. This is a man who is not scared to jail corrupt leaders and business men while passing some economic muscle to young men all around Russia while improving standard of living for all Russians. Not Obasanjo who concentrated his efforts in alleviating poverty for his family and cronies. Moscow has the largest number of billionaires than any city in the world, so i learnt today.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1690757_1690766,00.html

I only wish A strong leader would emerge here in America come 2008 to counter the threat posed by a strong Russia in alliance with Iran.

I-man:

If you have always been familiar with Russian politics,why the above?

Russians love Putin?Germans loved Hitler,Soviets loved Stalin,Zimbabwean loved Mugabe,e.t.c

Apart from the obvious question of how you know Russians love Putin.From the media?The same media you dismiss when they tell you about 100,000 dead in Chechnya,Boris Nemtsov and Kasparov's arrests.

You have failed to address the key issue-how is Putin responsible for Russia economic progress?

Comparing Russia with Nigeria is the quintessential apples to oranges comparison.The best measure is a comparison with all the other major oil exporters . . . . . . . . .unless they all have "great leaders",maybe the economic vigour they are experiencing transcends the simplistic attribution of credit to the head of state.For God's sake,even the Nigerian economy has picked up compared to the Abacha years.

McKren:

Richyblack

Heard there is an American sponsored terrorists militia in Iraq, but what does this organisation do that the police does not do and why are they necessary?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7153563.stm

cute9jaguy:

Did you guys see ''Amanpur christiana'' s report on CNN about CZAR PUTTIN? it was quite revealing. my suprise is why KASPAROV,my mentor ( i play chess) will think of standing against such man in an election?chess greats always have their moves calculated! Thank God Garry is not yet dead,everyone that goes against this guy dies!over 200 investigative reporters have died,on Puttin's a/c that is. by the way,the award for man of the year says it is a recognition and not an endorsement! nobody can endorse that guy,he has no regard for nothing,if you r against him,your against the air you breathe in!

cute9jaguy:

Did you guys see ''Amanpur christiana'' s report on CNN about CZAR PUTTIN? it was quite revealing. my suprise is why KASPAROV,my mentor ( i play chess) will think of standing against such man in an election?chess greats always have their moves calculated! Thank God Garry is not yet dead,everyone that goes against this guy dies!over 200 investigative reporters have died,on Puttin's a/c that is. by the way,the award for man of the year says it is a recognition and not an endorsement! nobody can endorse that guy,he has no regard for nothing,if you r against him,your against the air you breathe in!

RichyBlacK:

I-fool,
You must be a demented idiot to bring up Chechnya when your father Bush has slaughtered close to a million in Iraq!

RichyBlacK:

Where did you get that information from?

Please don't point to this (for obvious reasons):

The investigation will carry out a review of the killings of more than 200 journalists in Russia since 1993, including unexplained disappearances, which have caused concern to the international community of press freedom defenders, journalists and media organizations.
http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2007/05/journalists_of_the_world_gathe.htm

Also, what do you expect from CNN? A Western media source that is shamelessly biased! Make we hear word bo.

Don1DeMaco:

wouldnt make a definite opinion on this one but one thing strikes me in all these
if Putin has not done something significant be it positive or negative would he have been endorsed by time as person of the year
what are the reasons for the endorsement these are the things we should look at and not throwing bitter diet tribes at one another

personally for me whether the man fortunate or unfortunate the truth of the matter is Russians are in a better position now than 8 years ago when he took over, he saw the oppourtunities and he took them and used it to the benefit of his people, though that does not mean i now support everything that is Putin the poin is he has bettered the lot of Russians hasnt he?

History will judge him for the impact he has made for the people and not whether oil boom dey or not, i hope he does not spoil everything though with this power of a thing, i think even the people of the west are beginning to take a cue from us here in Africa, International election observers most of them from the US come nigeria to observe, the following year America do election Bush rig, Bush papa na persident for 4 years, clinton commot am do 8 years, bush sef turn president do 8 years, another clinton sef wan take over beginning to look like an adedibu and his people's script to me, make we dey look sha

But the point is he has bettered the lot of his people hasnt he? over to u guys to educate me on this issue because as i said i no too get info or knowledge in this field, just dey talk my own personal opinion.

TIME's Person of the Year is not and never has been an honor. It is not an endorsement. It is not a popularity contest. At its best, it is a clear-eyed recognition of the world as it is and of the most powerful individuals and forces shaping that world—for better or for worse. It is ultimately about leadership—bold, earth-changing leadership. Putin is not a boy scout. He is not a democrat in any way that the West would define it. He is not a paragon of free speech. He stands, above all, for stability—stability before freedom, stability before choice, stability in a country that has hardly seen it for a hundred years. Whether he becomes more like the man for whom his grandfather prepared blinis—who himself was twice TIME's Person of the Year—or like Peter the Great, the historical figure he most admires; whether he proves to be a reformer or an autocrat who takes Russia back to an era of repression—this we will know only over the next decade. At significant cost to the principles and ideas that free nations prize, he has performed an extraordinary feat of leadership in imposing stability on a nation that has rarely known it and brought Russia back to the table of world power. For that reason, Vladimir Putin is TIME's 2007 Person of the Year.


http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1690757_1696150,00.html