In my own opinion he is tight enough to contest. He is visionary, focus, determine, even if it means stepping on toes. He is not easily influenced, he has a lot of guts- JESUS!

Giving the opportunity, he will change Nigeria to a HAVEN ON EARTH, He has done it before in Cross River.

So we owe our dear country nothing but ferent prayers, God has always listen to us.

GOD SHOULD BLESS NIGERIA WITH A GOOD LEADERSHIP, WE NEED IT BY ALL MEANS

MFONOBONG
ACCRA-GHANA

What is Donald Duke's solution to the Niger Delta crisis?

What is his plan for PHCN and electricity generation in the country?

How does he intend to put an end to the chronic religious crisis in the country?

How would he make the Nigerian police and justice system adequate?

These are the real problems that the next president of Nigeria needs to tackle. Donald Duke as I know him is just a typical politician with a youthful figure and good command of the English language. When it comes to discussing the problems of Nigeria and how to solve them, President Obasanjo has impressed me more.

Duke is yet to impress me. I think he prefers to engage in big projects to impress Nigerians in the diaspora rather than solving pressing problems, simple problems. White elephant projects are no proof of competence.

sure it will be great to have a man who is likely going to be Nigeria's own version of Williams Jefferson Clinton (aka Bill Clinton) abi? I hope our votes will be justified if we vote for the amiable young intellect! amen

If na truth be this , then i am the happiest man on earth

I found it peculiar that nobody touched upon the simple fact that Cross River State has recorded the FASTEST economic growth rate for any Nigerian state since 1999.  Here is the simple score card:

CRS has:

1- Achieved total rural electrification in less than 5 years.
2- Rehabilitated existing roads and paved new ones, CCECC (reliable Chinese company) was involved.
2- Attracted hundreds of million of dollars in foreign direct investment.
3- Implemented the ONLY civil servant total health insurance planin Nigeria, managed by a German specialized company.
4- Kick-started the tourism industry with Tinapa, Obudu Ranch Resort, Water Park, Canopy Walk (first of its kind in Nigeria) and the infamous Obudu Cable Car.  The yearly Obudu Mountain Race Challenge now attracts athletes from all over the world, and the prize is the highest of its kind (50,000 USD).
5- Lobbied FGN to dredge Calabar port to sustain and support future economic activities (dredging started).
6- Arik Air, Fresh Airlines, and soon Virgin Nigeria will be flying daily to Calabar.  Testimony to a dynamic, growing economy.


The man accorded above achievments is largely Mr. Donald Duke.   If the above is not an impressive score card for any politician in Nigeria today, I frankly don't know what is.

Donald Dule is the natural next president of Nigeria and all cynics here should stand up and answer the call for responsible government. Your vote counts.  Your attitude counts.  Being hopeful and realizing Nigeria deserves the best.   IBB, Odili, Attah, and all the rest are substandard politicians who failed miserably in their mandates and should never be given a second chance.

Go Donald Duke  

Thank you zexyworm ,

More insighful contribution, Zexyworm.
Let's get more of this. Achievements are indications of purposefulness.

When it comes to discussing the problems of Nigeria and how to solve them, President Obasanjo has impressed me more.

But what has he done in almost 8 years?
Are we better off than before?
Obasanjo should not even be an option here. We should be comparing Duke to others that are running.

Hmm, Zexy, I want to believe all those things you've said.

well I'm going to Cross River in December and you better be right on this points, Deception and cover up is the biggest disease in Nigeria. I am waiting to hear about his vision for Nigeria.

@ Odeku
Please when u come to Cross River, just stop by and I'll show you round.  I promise all NLders that I'll embark on a photoshoot of the city as it is tomorrow, and post d pics online here on NL.  The very few cynics like Seun would definitely bow!  It seems as if Donald Duke has a kind of magic wand that he uses to get things done; and done properly too.  The Cross River State Broadcasting Corporation is the only state owned media house in Nigeria, that broadcasts 24/7.  The TV and radio services have been upgraded with world-class facilities which enable the stations remain on air 24 hours!  Every household in Calabar, is connected to public water supply; irrespective of whether the landlord/occupants apply for the service or not.  What d government, through the water board does is very simple viz: Pipes are laid from the nearest reticulation line into every home.  A meter is then installed and locked up.  The owner or landlord would then be at liberty, at his convenience, to apply to the water board which would in turn attach just a length of pipe to the line and pronto, there is water in the house.  This way, the hassle of digging up and cutting the road each time water is to b extended to individual houses vanish!

Still on water, it may interest NLders to know that bills for water in Calabar are paid based on consumption only.  Consumers even have the choice to select from pre-paid (pay-as-you-go) OR post-paid packages respectively.  My house uses a prepayment meter system.  We buy the recaharge from the Banks, and load just like the GSM phone.  The uninterrupted water would only run dry, if we run out of credit!   This is no fairytale.  Come to Calabar and experience it!  My investigation shows that only the country Turkey, and Cross River State have these prepayment water services running.  The scheme is so successful that the Federal govt has literally turned the CRS Water Board into a model for all other water corporations in Nigeria to copy.  They come in droves everyday, to see how this 'magic' works.

I'm incurably addicted to the leadership of this coooool guy. I swear!

first calabar is not a tribe its a place.

Ibibio is in akwa ibom and efik is in cross river

ibibio and efik are the same. dont liek the fake divide of akwa ibom and cross river fool ya

White elephant projects are no proof of competence.

white elephant projects, for those that dont know its meaning, are projects that actually dont never materialize. Duke's projects dont fit that category

why do people like this Donald duke so much? i just don't understand
ave he done cross river to be a better place before thinking of ruling naija
also not wen he is president now u people will start accusing him that he can not do his job well o!
cuz naija people are!

@celemel
Please post those pictures. I've tried to get people to post pictures of Calabar without success. I've also tried to find pics on the internet without success.

Before you vote PLEASE read this

"[b]The Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, is one man who is sounding it loud and clear that he is capable of ruling this country having satisfied himself that his achievements in Rivers State, a very wealthy state, are propelling enough to persuade Nigerians to embrace him. Before he becomes president, it will be good to view Rivers State and see the Eldorado he has created in eight years of ascendancy to justify his desires to impact Nigeria as well.

In this regard, we shall examine Odili’s tenure in the handling and management of the resources accruing to the state in the areas of housing provision, improvement in education, agricultural revolution, health facilities, water supply scheme, power generation and rural electrification, inner city and rural road network, employment and job creation, security of life and property and provision of other social amenities. These are services that touch on people’s lives and hap-piness and any Government anywhere that fails to touch them positively should consider itself a misadventure.

Rivers State is a one-city state even though some other towns ought to have been developed into urban areas by now. It is significant to note that Port Harcourt, the State capital, has evolved into an urban slum with bad roads lacking in drainages. The city is just choking with refuse littering the streets all the time. It is hard to comprehend why most of the roads especially in the Diobu area are in complete state of disrepair. It is even more worrisome when one realizes that contracts for some of these roads were awarded during the first tenure of the administration but nothing absolutely was done on some of them and yet the contract sums have been fully paid and money pocketed by contractors most of whom are party officials. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should check out who got the contract to rehabilitate Uyo Street in Rumuomasi for which the Government claimed completion and even commissioned when nothing was done. Somebody was paid the princely sum of N300m for doing nothing on Uyo Street. It is this bad.

A drive round Port Harcourt in the mornings and evenings is an excruciating ordeal in the traffic hold-up as there are not enough bypasses for traffic diversion. It takes the government years to conceptualize and complete road projects and in fact any project at all. The only flyover built in Port Harcourt by this government, the Olu Obasanjo East/West Road bypass along the Air Force junction at the Port Harcourt-Aba Express- road is still not completed three years after conception. Port Harcourt requires more of such flyovers to ease traffic congestion.

The rainy season has become dreadful for residents of Port Harcourt as several homes are usually submerged in uncontrollable flood all around the city. It is okay for people to lose their property because Government has never bothered to construct drainages and channel the water to the many creeks in the city. All it will cost is money, which is not lacking in the state. And the people are drowning year in year out.

The sanitary management in Port Harcourt is embarrassing as refuse is dumped at entrances to streets and highways struggling for space with commuters. This gives first-time visitors to Port Harcourt the impression that the place is a filthy place to live. The Creek Road market is completely overtaken by refuse which has overwhelmed this Government. The Commissioner for Environment will want people to believe that the Ministry spends as much as N100 million every month evacuating refuse. This is a whopping N1.2 billion every year. One can imagine that at this rate, other less endowed states will go bankrupt as nothing will be left for other responsibilities of government. All it means is that this ministry does nothing other than evacuating refuse in the city of Port Harcourt. No wonder other environmental issues are left unattended.

The administration’s housing programme is in a deplorable and sorry state as most of the projects embarked upon at inception are either ongoing or abandoned outright. Take for instance the local government housing units which ought to have been completed before now; it is still surprising that so many of them have not been occupied eight years after conception and others are still under construction like the Andoni Local Government units. The Iriebe Housing Estate is still lying fallow with two or three blocks of flats which the government will always showcase on television and public adverts as progress in this area. This is mere deception. The Igbo Etche civil servants housing estate started by the last military administration, containing about 500 housing units, has been left uncompleted and abandoned by this government. This is one housing programme that would have decongested Port Harcourt to a great extent but the powers-that-be decided to close their eyes and allowed the investment to decay. This administration cannot pride itself in the provision of housing for the people as there is none we can beat our chests for. Interested parties can come for inspection and confirmation. Let us not delude ourselves: what we have along Aggrey Road is a far cry from what other states are showcasing in the area of housing construction.

Educational facilities in Rivers State are in a shambles as most primary and secondary schools in the rural areas are dilapidated and lacking in function. The implementation of the UBE programme would have been an excellent opportunity to provide a face-lift for the primary schools but what we have right now is a sabotage of this very laudable programme. The schools are not just ready for the take-off of the programme since the facilities on ground cannot cope with the extra curricula required and there is acute shortage of teachers. Secondary schools do not have functional laboratories and libraries for proper students’ engagement. The result is that public schools have been abandoned for the poor who cannot afford to send their wards to private schools that are springing up every day. Most of the pupils and students have come to embrace bad behaviour because the academic environment is not challenging and interesting enough.

The tertiary institutions are not faring better as they have all deteriorated in performance and in infrastructure. All of them were on ground and doing very well before Odili came to power in 1999. The State University of Science and Technology used to boast of rich Law and Engineering faculties as they ranked amongst the best in the country. Today, eight years after, what we have are disaccredited faculties and inadequate learning facilities. The University cannot boast of additional buildings as no single structure has been erected by this administration. Those in doubt can go for verification and put a lie to this submission. Other states have built universities from the scratch but here we cannot even maintain and sustain the one bequeath to us by past administrations. Just few months ago government announced that it has made available N2 billion for expansion of the University and one wonders why wait this long. Where did this huge amount suddenly come from? And we all know that Yobe state will start a University next January which the government says it has spent about N350 million. You can imagine N2 billion for expansion only in the Rivers State University.

•To be continued on Monday

•Chief Egbile a Legal practitioner, wrote in from Port Harcourt.

The Tinapa Business Resort construction site (August 2006)  Folks this is only phase 1 of 3.  Phase 1 has shopping emporia, arts and craft villages (to employ the poor), hotels, water parks, cinemas, restaurants,  spa, riverfront terraces, and a Film Recording Studio, among many other things,  The World Bank is said to be so impressed it offered to finance a monorail which would connect Tinapa zone with Calabar Airport!   
An economic transformation in the Calabar and CRS area is expected to come out of this development which aspires to attract tourists/traders from throughout West and Central Africa.  As a result Calabar will become a hub of economic activities resembling such cities as Dubai, Macao, etc. in the near future.

[img]http://www.tinapa.com/scripts/piclibrary/ShowPicture.asp?imType=low&pl_id=300[/img]

[img]http://www.tinapa.com/scripts/piclibrary/ShowPicture.asp?imType=low&pl_id=296[/img]

Celemel, looking forward to seeing your photos of Calabar. To be fair and honest, I think Calabar city itself (today) lacks world-class hotels as there is only the Mirage and Metropolitan to choose from. I find this bizarre considering what a man of Duke's calibre can do to attract 4 or 5-star hotel franchises to the city, Do you have any comments about this? A real tourism industry can only thrive in the presence of excellent accomodation facilities.

thanks for the pictures zexyworm. The tinapa project is very very impressive I must admit.

thanks a ton for the pics zexyworm. i have read that golden tulip hotels are going to be building hotels in calabar, at the 4 star level so its a matter of time. but you left out many of duke's other accomplishments such as the text books for kids whih were heavily subsidised and written by unical professors, the gulder race, the canopy walkway, and the general rule of law in the state. i cant wait to return. where in calabar do you stay?

Still waiting for some convincing benefit Calabar and other areas have gotten frrom Duke's 8 years. Calabar has always been clean and tidy and i think even as a young boy Duke walked the same neat streets. Concrete achievements please and not talk of a resort center which would start being profitable in another 40 years

i guess you have ignored everything posted above. if you want to know the benefits and willa ctually believe them, go live in cross river

Seun, quit being a cynic and accept that Duke is a visionary leader, more adept than Obasanjo. How can you just write that you prefer OBJ to Duke? Duke has transformed Calabar into a hub for tourism, pave the roads and establish some impressive infrastructres like the Tinapa project. Check out the Obudu cattle ranch, once a dying spot which is now brimming with activity. Give him the kudos he deserves. Calabar is consistently ranked as one of the cleanest cities in the country. I am not from Cross River State, though I grew up in Calabar, and I have to say that he is much more enterprising and would add, imbued with visionary roles for his state, which he could parlay for the country.

Has Duke been indicted or even associated with corruption? No. Tell me, which other present leaders have not been besmirched by sordid tales of money laundering? A lot of them. Give the man credit. Cross River State, from reports does not receive as much money from the Federal Government as my own state, Akwa Ibom state, but Calabar is now a hot destination. And what makes it even more pleasant is the mixture of old calabar town with the newer infrastructres.

Odeku maybe when u come to calabar in december maybe i maight have a chance to meet one of the most controversial person on nairaland (i agree to some of your views) Celmel are u presently in Cali? what of zexy? we probably would want to have a small nairaland meeting Calabar branch. it would be fun. Presently i am in lagos for a shrot hols ill be back soon. I would post my ow pics f the town when i get back. Pics taking from the top of Okoi Arikpo house. i would really love to hear from u guys

u can reach me on bloggs002@yahoo.co.uk

talk about character? is it true this man na woman rapper? i have some Nigerian females here in ther state saying he is known for having affair and giving women money to hush? any true to this?

Odeku:

talk about character? is it true this man na woman rapper? i have some Nigerian females here in ther state saying he is known for having affair and giving women money to hush? any true to this?

Odeku,
na real wa for you

that na question, why you dey vex for me now, my next door neighbour married a girl from cross River, they are in devorce court now based on allegation she had affair with the governor while in Nigeria.  to make the matter interesting the lawyer represnting the wife is a good friend of mine
   

if you want him number call me and I go introduce you to the man, make you hear 1st hand story. I don't know DUke and I hope he has good intention for my country

Odeku:

that na question, why you dey vex for me now, my next door neighbour married a girl from cross River, they are in devorce court now based on allegation she had affair with the governor while in Nigeria. to make the matter interesting the lawyer represnting the wife is a good friend of mine
www.ofodulaw.com

if you want him number call me and I go introduce you to the man, make you hear 1st hand story. I don't know DUke and I hope he has good intention for my country

story.

You don start with conspiracy theories.
the website says nothing.

Ok, when next you are in town, I will let you hear from the horses mouth. that has nothing to do with the DUke performance but character is what I am worried about. if the man fit be like Clinton, perform but don't use ciger he dey fine.

Odeku:

Ok, when next you are in town, I will let you hear from the horses mouth. that has nothing to do with the DUke performance but character is what I am worried about. if the man fit be like Clinton, perform but don't use ciger he dey fine.

yeah we have to worry, since we are all saints

nilla you miising the point, once you chose to run for the presidency you don't have a private life any more, your private affairs will be known to the whole world.

and your point is

my point is if this is true about his character, how can we trust him once in the presidency he wont be importing all those CURVACEOUS BOOTYLICIOUS TANTALIZING freaky girls from America. Abacha was know for importing girls from Arabian nation. so any man wey go be president for we must be clean as a whistle