Some months ago I read a piece in the one of the National dailies where the ex-president, OBJ, was qouted as saying "a few years from now, the nation would look back and thank God for my administration". Back then I laughed and almost cursed the man. But really, thinking about it now, I think the man was probably right. The administration actually accomplished alot, perhaps much more than any other administration the country has ever had.

Forget the various human right abuse accusations, forget the numerous corruption allegations (very few of them were proven anyway). I really think OBJ is the best leader Nigeria has had since independence (at least since 1982, when I was born).

OBJ's administration is the only administration that has really considered the future of this nation in its policy formulation and implementation. Granted the man made Nigerians go thru a lot of hardship, but he laid the foundation for the building of strong and virile nation. Some of the outstanding and remarkable feats the administration accomplished were:

- clearing most, if not all, of the nation's external debts
- inflow of the highest level of foreign direct investment the country has ever witnessed. Thanks to the telecomms industry, LNG industry and many others
- increase in the level of the country's foreign reserve
- setting aside of the excess crude oil revenue fund (which is the country's saving grace in this era of global credit crunch and economic meltdown).
- creation of massive employment facilitated by the increased activities in many sectors of the economy such as the banking, oil & gas and telecomms industry

All these are the catalysts for the building of a virile and strong nation. Save for the energy sector, that the admin. left in a very distasteful state, in my opinion OBJ's administration showed great committment to the development of Nigeria.

Sadly though, all of these accomplishments are gradually been eroded and the country is steadly slipping back to the days of myopic planning. Now u hear news of the country planning to go back to foreign debts, of the country spending deeply from her foreign reserves.

I think what the country really needs at the moment is a man with OBJ's kind of commitment and foresight, but with a lot of human feelings, less arrogance and foolhardiness. Then perhaps the country would finally start its journey to economic and social greatness.

Yes!

better than Abacha's regime!

Yeah

we need someone like OBJ who stole $16billion for power projects,
wasted fortunes on COJA CHOGM and other privolous projects, What of the satellite money,
A president that fuelled the Niger Delta crises,
A president that levelled two towns and its inhabitants (Odi and Zaki Biam),
A president who gave the leeway to Andy Uba and Gbenga Obasanjo to illegally enrich themselves through the government,
a president who has the highest number of politically motivated and unsolved murder till date, Bola Ige, Dikibo, Harry Marshalls and Funsho williams easily comes to mind.
A leader that overtly supported Political mad men like Adedibu and Chris Uba and encouraged gangsterism
A president who encouraged total disregard for the rule of law.
A president who abused power at will
A president who spent more time in the Jets galivanting all over the world.
A president who presided over the worst election in the history on Nigeria.
A president who brought all refineries to their knees.

Dayo

No one is saying OBJ is a saint. Am just saying he's the best we've had. And that fact no one can contest.

Oh Please OBJ? are u serious? The bagger needs to be charged and imprisoned for looting and genocides. rubbish. No dictator who rigged himself in is the best. they are all bad. Its like saying that Osama is better than Hitler because he didn't slaughter 6 million Jews and caused two big wars in the world. He just didn't have it like Hitler. THE Same with OBJ. If he had the chance he woulda been worse.

OBJ's greatest sin against Nigeria & Nigerians - giving us the current administration.

@ poster, there is litttle doubt your observation is correct. I had come to this conclusion a long time ago.

OP. . . you have a swell sense of humour. OBJ, yeah. . . the bloody thief/murderer/sadist. Wake up from your wonderful fantasy world and take a whiff of reality, because there is no such thing as "Good'' when you talk about Nigerian leaders, past and present, living and dead, sick and healthy. Forget about "Better" and don't even think about "Best".

grafikdon:

OP. . . you have a swell sense of humour. OBJ, yeah. . . the bloody thief/murderer/sadist. Wake up from your wonderful fantasy world and take a whiff of reality, because there is no such thing as "Good'' when you talk about Nigerian leaders, past and present, living and dead, sick and healthy. Forget about "Better" and don't even think about "Best".

Thank you. We cannot even relatively judge these crooks.

As far as economic policies is concerned, he is the best. The $16bn dollar is nonsense released by political mafia to our press who do no journalism whatever They just repeat what they are told. There is nothing to support it. The number for the project was brought down to $4bn by Iweala and the only withdrawals shows less than 5% was paid out. What Obasanjo said was that $16bn was budgeted for the project. That is not the same as paying it out or approved. So nobody stole $16bn. And the economy policies has boosted our economy. In 1999, oil was 50% of GDP. In 2007, it was only 12%. That is impressive.

Trust me no other leader brought so much progress economically.

hahhahha

yemmyse:

Trust me no other leader brought so much progress economically.

Some people have eyes but they can't see

Muza:

Some people have eyes but they can't see

some people no dey understand English. . . . . . the poster say "best" not "great"

If you disagree all you need to do is state who you think is better before u even tell us ur reason.

To write long list of OBJ attrocities without telling us who you think say better pass be like where mumu dey talk.

I agree personally

Raskimono:

As far as economic policies is concerned, he is the best. The $16bn dollar is nonsense released by political mafia to our press who do no journalism whatever They just repeat what they are told. There is nothing to support it. The number for the project was brought down to $4bn by Iweala and the only withdrawals shows less than 5% was paid out. What Obasanjo said was that $16bn was budgeted for the project. That is not the same as paying it out or approved. So nobody stole $16bn. And the economy policies has boosted our economy. In 1999, oil was 50% of GDP. In 2007, it was only 12%. That is impressive.

u be real adult, no mind these kids wey dey come here come type trash.

some people problem na to destroy OBJ legacy so that they go continue to loot.

wetin yar'adua done do since he enter? nada

The things Ya Adua has not done includes

we need someone like OBJ who stole $16billion for power projects,
wasted fortunes on COJA CHOGM and other privolous projects, What of the satellite money,
A president that fuelled the Niger Delta crises,
A president that levelled two towns and its inhabitants (Odi and Zaki Biam),
A president who gave the leeway to Andy Uba and Gbenga Obasanjo to illegally enrich themselves through the government,
a president who has the highest number of politically motivated and unsolved murder till date, Bola Ige, Dikibo, Harry Marshalls and Funsho williams easily comes to mind.
A leader that overtly supported Political mad men like Adedibu and Chris Uba and encouraged gangsterism
A president who encouraged total disregard for the rule of law.
A president who abused power at will
A president who spent more time in the Jets galivanting all over the world.
A president who presided over the worst election in the history on Nigeria.
A president who brought all refineries to their knees.

dayokanu:

The things Ya Adua has not done includes

we need someone like OBJ who stole $16billion for power projects,
wasted fortunes on COJA CHOGM and other privolous projects, What of the satellite money,
A president that fuelled the Niger Delta crises,
A president that levelled two towns and its inhabitants (Odi and Zaki Biam),
A president who gave the leeway to Andy Uba and Gbenga Obasanjo to illegally enrich themselves through the government,
a president who has the highest number of politically motivated and unsolved murder till date, Bola Ige, Dikibo, Harry Marshalls and Funsho williams easily comes to mind.
A leader that overtly supported Political mad men like Adedibu and Chris Uba and encouraged gangsterism
A president who encouraged total disregard for the rule of law.
A president who abused power at will
A president who spent more time in the Jets galivanting all over the world.
A president who presided over the worst election in the history on Nigeria.
A president who brought all refineries to their knees.

@dayokanu, I take exception to much of what you have said on OBJ here. Get the FACTS right:

- What is $16 billion about? Is it money budgeted for the power projects? or, monies already disbursed?  There are available data, why not get them. 

- Where  you in china for the olympic games? At least you watched it. Have you wondered why the chinese pumped in so much money to host that   spectacular event? Was it just to make a show of their new status as an 'arrived nation'? I can tell you, Much more was at stake. SAME applies to COJA.

- Did OBJ fuel the niger delta crisis? A big no! The niger delta has always supported OBJ, in fact, that was his greatest support base in the past elections.

- Gbenga Obasanjo was the president's son. Think about it: he didnt need enrichment from his father to become wealthy. Every body will want to do bizness with someone of that stature. Even as son of an oil company director.

- What refineries were brought to their knees? It was during OBJs tenure that the refineries underwent an outstanding turn around maintenance. One of the refineries was completely transformed-  almost as new. It was only the disruption of the Chanomi supply line that allowed Yar adua to enjoy the priviledge of starting up the plants.

- Did the gallivanting bring the desired results? Look at the Debt relief, the Massive inflow of Foreign Direct Investments, the improvement of Nigerias Image, and a lot more. I think the trips were worth the stress.

Dayokanu

No need for big gramma

Tell us which past President wey better past OBJ

That na him be the topic of this thread

the performance of a leader is judged over time.
obj if am not mistaken is the only nigerians to have enjoyed eight ( uninterupted years as an elected president in nigeria so who else are we comparing him with?
the massage sent by the murder of his attorney general without a trace till date shows that our lives had no security under obj.
the states of our roads in the eight years showed that we were like 20 years backward.
the eradication of two communities during this regime crowned the regime as the highest killing administration.
the awards of contracts and the managments of offices as we saw with Bode george (npa) and tony annenih(federal contracts) proved that if you were loyal to obj, you could do anything and remain a saint.
the emergency of adedibu in oyo and chris uba in anambra showed the regime sponsored legal thugs.
a do or die affair election and the mess of april polls and the idea of forcing yar adua on nigerians showed his goodness to nigeria and nigerians.
the failed third term agenda was a great evidence of how nigerians loved him an the amended pdp constitution that made him the only legible candidate for the post of BOT chairman in pdp showed how allegic he was with living his life outside the corridors of powers.
the accusation of sleeping with his own daughter inlaw showed his moral background.
someone said he was an insider in the developments of our refinaries during obj's tenure, i hope you were party to the sale of nnpc, npa, nigerians airways, aso rock, oil wells and the name nigeria which later had to be revoked by yar adua?
the changing of a winning team in the place of okonjo iweala and the retaining of the likes of borishade in the govt showed his greatness.
poster and readers, i do hope that i have been able to confuse you instead of conviencing you that obj is not only the best nigerian president, rather he is the world's no 1 president

This Chidicris is a pure mad man

Is democracy the only form of Government

China is not a great democracy, dont they have a leader

Russia is not a great democracy, dont they have a leader

Venezuela is not a great democracy, dont they have a leader

Lybia is not a great democracy, dont they have a leader?

So your argument is because OBJ served for 8years he is the first leader Nigeria has even produced. I did not know that Nigeria gained independence from Britain in 1999.


This is not rocket science, if you think OBJ is not Nigeria's best leader just mention who you think is the best . . . . . . . otherwise you have no argument.

A leader is judged right from day one, Yar'adua is a weakling . . . . . 18months is enough to figure that out.

@ Post,
in my candid opinion,
the word "best" is not to be used for any comparison of achievements of the past leaders.
instead the word bad, worse and worst should be employed.
for anyone to cross the fairly good line, considerable achievements in all ramifications must be seen.
all of the above stated achievements of obj are minute to the damages and havoc he wrecked in 8yrs.

d poor have remained poor.
more strikes in our tertiary institutions ( i personally was a victim)
still no power
daylight robbery by telecommunications companies
increase in crime rate
increase in prices of grocery items and food items
poor wages
total decadence in the education sector
depletion of federal roads (unable to recover till date) - Ore/Benin as an example
victimisation of lagos
setting up the EFCC as a personal medium for vengeance and intimidation
approved genocides

someone wit a better vision and style of governance would have transformed this country within those eight years.
most of his economic policies were surface, not deep and not sincere enough thus we can see a gradual collapse.
even his top helms anti corruption general (ribadu) cannot stand d test of time obviously because of the wack team (yaradull and co) obj maliciously, wickedly and forcefully put in place or maybe because of the skeletons in his (ribadu) cupboard too. tym wil tell.
except the masses are adequately harnessed and accomodated in2 a better level of comfort, d polity tagged nigeria remains a failure in governance.
he did his best but his best was bad enough. yaradull's administration was scripted by obj thus all blames still go to him.
shelter - food - water - education - power (electricity) are key. till then all our leaders are wack.

While it is true that there are still a lot of problems in nigeria, i dont think that makes OBJ a failure. I dont think even the best would have achieved significantly more in that space of 8 years, considering the peculiarities of this country.

Governance is a continuum, and there is no way all the problems can be solved in one tenure.

No form of true change could have been achieved without dealing with foundational issues. Always, even when you are building a house, you must start with the foundation, or else, u know the result. In fact, the taller the structure, the deeper the foundation.

There is a tendency for us as onlookers to imagine and complain that the building project is slow, or not going on, because we see only foundational work is going on. This will smack of ignorance. The sucess of OBJ's tenure lies in the foundation he laid. And more too.

For instance, how would there have been economic revival when the Macroeconomic parameters were not favorable? or even with the debt overhang? How do you deal with infrastructural issues like roads without the massive funds required? Or you think that nigeria has the funds?

What about sustainability of projects? We all know that govt is bad in bizness. The best approach is to have the private sector come in. As in telecoms. Same could be applied to power, energy and refineries, etc, etc. However, the issue comes down to having the right environment - legal, constitutional, policy, etc, for private investors to make such change. These are all foundational issues, and here OBJ did excellently.

It is not only a movement from 1 to 10 that can be considered progress. Even greater progress is made when you move from -20 to -1.

As i said, govt is a continuum, let Yar adua continue from where OBJ stopped.

OBJ levelled 2 communities tell me any president who did that

Did anyone remember the $900m for Turn around Maintainance of the refinery in 1999-2000? Yet we still import gas

Buhari, Abdulsalam and Muritalas regime were better

Whatever the case, what is really important is to see whether since General Mathew Olusegun Obasanjo came to power in 1999, this around time as a civilian, he has done anything good, for which he will be remembered after he leaves office. On this, there are several camps. The first and perhaps the most vocal, claim that, Mr Obasanjo's rule has been characterized by his wickedness or hate for the poor and love for the rich. While a second camp see nothing to reproach Mr Obasanjo and there is a third group as always, that behaves like a weather cock.

Whether one is in support of Obasanjo or not, it would be unfair to rule out right that, he has done nothing in the almost eight years that, he has been occupying Aso-Rock ( the seat of government in Abuja, Nigeria's Federal capital). It would also sound as though one is the praise singer of Nigeria's president, if one simply concludes that, his rule has been unblemished. He has certainly done well, but he still has aspects that, he would have wanted to do better or improve on. Hence, his attempt at tinkering with the constitution of his country at some point.

Obasanjo will nevertheless be long remembered as one or the only Nigerian leader who freed his countries from the $32 billion debts she owed to the Paris club and also the one who freed his country from the London club. Already, to this last club of creditors, his administration last January, paid the lump sum $1.4 billion and would soon complete the remaining $90 million. In so doing, settling all debts contracted by the former military rulers of Nigeria.

Obasanjo has also excelled well in the area of privatization. In 2006, the Nigerian government was able to rake into her coffers the whopping sum of $ 7.07 billion, being sum generated from the sales of many state own companies. What is more pleasing is how the current administration has been able to manage the windfall from high commodity prices and the result is that, Nigeria's external reserves stands currently at $ 41 billion and may reach an all time high of $60 billion by the end of this year.

By comparison, in the 90's, when General Ibrahim Babaginda was in power, Nigeria had similar oil windfall, but the proceeds from the sales developed eagle wings. The administration of Obasanjo has also appointed foreign fund managers in collaboration with the Nigerian Central Bank to partner local banks in the management of Nigeria's foreign reserves. The banking reforms is also an area that credits deserves to be given to the administration of Obasanjo. Today, Nigerian banks have been recapitalized and the number brought down from 89 to 25 viable banks.

Under Obasanjo, the non Oil sector has grown and diversification of the economy and the refocus on other minerals has been given greater attention. Foreign investment as at 2006 directed to Nigeria stands at more than $ 4 billion. And finally, controversial as this part may appear, the administration of Obasanjo has given sleepless nights to corrupt officials and the rating of the country in 2006 was BB- and it is believed that, in 2007 Nigeria's rating will be bettered.

Therefore anybody who succeeds Obasanjo, must try to clear local debts just as the external ones have been cleared, and also try to continue with the reforms and prudent macro economic management of the current administration.

Yeah OBJ did a lot.

Made sure Bola Ige did not see today.
Made sure Odi and Zaki Biam are historical places.
Made sure Adedibu and Chris Uba are worshipped.
Oversaw a do or die election. Count how many cases are in court right now.
Gave billions to Ghana and Sao Tome as a big brother measure while we Nigerians wallow

Dayo

Economic-wise the guy has outdone every president in Africa.

I appreciate some of ObJ's deeds but detest some like unsolved murders, little trust in nigerians by hoping many outsiders do many of d jobs, n not being able to run sincere government/ election n also giving traditional rulers excessive powers by almost always acknowledging them at every turn. Very debatable. My pick for the best president in Nigeria so far eventhough the bar is so low is one who hasn't run out his term yet and you all know dat is Yar adua. I honestly believe dat yar adua has d best intentions for Nigeria without any loophole like OBJ but with loopholes. Yar adua's problem is dat he's surrounded by lots of rogues which are not his fault but the society's problem.; He's d only one to come up with a straight forward plan (7 point agenda) but have come to realise dat he has to be everywhere at everytime if he just goes ahead which can be hard. At least Obama can appoint some people and every now and then supervise and review progress but in Nigeria dat cannot be done in anyway or else u empower dat person to d point dat he can't be touched. Yar adua has called on Nigerians to desist from corruption but has fallen on deaf ears; Yar adua in eight years would bring electricity to most parts of Nigeria if he can find trustworthy people and d prices won't hurt many Nigerians and also Yar adua is in at a time when obama just became president so the challenge for good goverance is ON. So anyone already hating Yar adua should chill n stop calling him all sorts of name n support him if they have d chance cuz I bet he wishes he was a little faster and so on but it is not just dat way. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Dayokanu (and others)

The amount obj spent on power was between $4 billion and $5 billion and not $16 billion. You need to get the figures right.
That $16 billion figure was just propaganda spread by obj's adversaries.

Okonjo-Iweala; the accountant general at the time and others have testified that the amount spent was between
$4 and $5 billion and you have the power plant at Geregu (414 MW) that was completed and the ones at
papalanto and omotosho at various stages of completion.

Obj's govt was the one that (finally) connected Bayelsa state to the national grid. About $76 million dollars was spent
on the owerri-ahoada-yenagoa transmission line and it was successfully completed. Go and do the research.


Owerri-Ahoada-Yenagoa power facilities awarded and completed by obj




414MW Geregu Gas Turbine Power Plant, Kogi State



Listen, we all know, there were lots of atrocities committed during the admin of obj, no doubt about that. But he also had
his accomplishments especially in the economy.

I personally don't think we have had a president good enough to be celebrating which one is the best.

If you were talking about Fashola now (as best governor), then I might agree with you because the guy is really trying.

I'm new on here and i'm gonna rock nairaland believe it or NOT!!it's really nice joining mu 9ja peeps at last

maxell:

Dayokanu (and others)

The amount obj spent on power was between $4 billion and $5 billion and not $16 billion. You need to get the figures right.
That $16 billion figure was just propaganda spread by obj's adversaries.

Okonjo-Iweala; the accountant general at the time and others have testified that the amount spent was between
$4 and $5 billion and you have the power plant at Geregu (414 MW) that was completed and the ones at
papalanto and omotosho at various stages of completion.

Obj's govt was the one that (finally) connected Bayelsa state to the national grid. About $76 million dollars was spent
on the owerri-ahoada-yenagoa transmission line and it was successfully completed. Go and do the research.


Owerri-Ahoada-Yenagoa power facilities awarded and completed by obj




414MW Geregu Gas Turbine Power Plant, Kogi State



Listen, we all know, there were lots of atrocities committed during the admin of obj, no doubt about that. But he also had
his accomplishments especially in the economy.

I personally don't think we have had a president good enough to be celebrating which one is the best.

If you were talking about Fashola now (as best governor), then I might agree with you because the guy is really trying.

I have been to this power plant before.
The plant was commissioned in Feb 2007 and i went in aug 2007.
Do you know the cost of that power plant ,you dont wanna know.
And its not the whole power station thats working,there were 3 turbines,one of the turbines was not working so they told us that.
But who knows wat actually happened.
so that mean geregu generates only 138*2 MW from 2 turbines.



How can you forget all that obj did so soon? how?