Ribadu recently proclaimed that Jonathan will not win the election, not because of PDP, but because he comes from a minority tribe. That tells you that he is not different from the north that you guys castigate, yet he is the one you expect the champion a SW agenda?

Interesting conversation

igbobuigbo:

ACN may well behave like PDP when/if they get there. Tinubu was gov of Lagos and things were not different in Lagos as in Kwara, for e.g.,  under him. Fasola is working because of himself, not because of ACN. Afterall, the same Tinubu head of ACN almost destabilized Fasola's govt recently.

Of what importance or relevance is that? ANY party that hypothetically managed to sweep through all of Nigeria could turn into a version of the PDP; one party states are inherently dangerous in this way.

Dunno why you are trying to make it out to be an ACN flaw specifically.

Also, why are we talking about these hypotheticals? While ACN remains a SW based opposition party, it is unlikely to be corrupt. In the highly unlikely event that it steamrolls the remaining parties, then I agree it will become corrupt.

That is why we need a vigorous campaign taking each candidate to task on their promises, views and agenda. Besides, I believe you are being mischievious. The statement Ribadu made was actually an ill-fated attempt to point out a sad truth about Nigerian politics - he actually used the word "Sadly" in the two sentences you are refering to. At this point, I believe that Ribadu has no such bigotry in him, but then that is why we need a vigorous campaign and debate among the candidates.

All a president has to do is champion true national interests - then the true regional interests would fall in place. Again, what has been called national interests so far is nothing more that the selfish interests of oligarchic colluders - with their only one interest being to hold on to power & the free diversion of our resources.

igbobuigbo:

Ribadu recently proclaimed that Jonathan will not win the election, not because of PDP, but because he comes from a minority tribe. That tells you that he is not different from the north that you guys castigate, yet he is the one you expect the champion a SW agenda?

igbobuigbo:

Ribadu recently proclaimed that Jonathan will not win the election, not because of PDP, but because he comes from a minority tribe. That tells you that he is not different from the north that you guys castigate, yet he is the one you expect the champion a SW agenda?

I guess this is the difference philosophically between you and I. If Ribadu gets into power and morphs into Atiku, that would be very bad. But for me, I'm not placing ALL my hopes on him as an individual for progress in Nigeria and in the SW especially. Good government at the state and local levels can counterract mischevious gov't at the national level.

This is why having a good state gov't is so very important. And this is why I view ACNs attempts to capture governorships all across the Southwest as more important than who they put out for presidency.

koruji:

You are revealing certain biases now. It is undeniable that the northern oligarchy has imposed on Nigeria for much of its existence (note the difference between "the northern oligarchy" and "the north" - the people of the north have been victims of this selfish politicians like the people of the SW have been victims of OBJ & his cohort). As for corruption, I just stated in a couple of replies ago that OBJ's rigged-in governors were rotten - I was talking about the SW governors.

Ribadu is fighting the "northern oligarchy" at this point and that is why his would be a unifying presidency, if he wins & follows through.

The north imposed because they are able to muster what looked like a national appeal while Awo hid under his tribal cocoon and zik stayed in between  a tribal cocoon and desire to reach out like the North (read wanting to play both ways). See how ANPP, the truly northern party is fairing? The North knows the game and you cannot blame them for ruling this long. Despite the hatred Yoruba may show for Obj, when he was in power those who gained most from him, unduly I must add, were his kinsmen. That is why most of those under the EFCC searchlight for corruption/irregularities that took place then are from the SW. An igbo president may likely surround himself with igbos too, but we do not know yet since they have not ruled. The north knows how to throw crumbs at Yoruba and Igbo (making themselves appear more national) while having time to master their politics.

There is nothing like SW agenda.
Good governance is something everyone wants.
It is just unfortunate that anything articulated by a well meaning Yoruba man is termed SW agenda.

Anything with the name Awo is termed ethnocentric.
Reality is different from perception.
We have always wanted to spread our tentacles from time immemorial. Awo wanted a one Nigeria. Hoping to build up Yoruba in an attempt to show the rest of the country what he is capable of doing if given the chance.
The Cicero of Esa Oke, before his untimely death, also championed 'one Nigeria.' Unfortunately, past misunderstandings have made the rest of the country to view the Yoruba people and its leaders with suspicion. The early the rest of the country recognize the sincerity of our gesture towards them, the faster it will be to build/ move towards a more perfect union.

Until the rest of the country respect us for what we are, Nigeria may never know progress. Because at every stage, we have shown our superiority over the rest of the country, intellectually, politically, diplomatically, academically, and in other areas of life. We have set the pace and led humbly, asking for nothing in return; we only want to share our progress with the rest of the country.

So to those claming SW agenda. Nothing can be farther from the truth. There is nothing like a SW agenda. However, charity has to start from somewhere, and for Yoruba leaders like Awo, Bola Ige and Tinubu, it should start from the south western part of Nigeria.

igbobuigbo:

Despite the hatred Yoruba may show for Obj, when he was in power those who gained most from him, unduly I must add, were his kinsmen. That is why most of those under the EFCC searchlight for corruption/irregularities that took place then are from the SW.

Err, what? I thought people before said that most of those under the EFCC spotlight were his enemies? So be consistent. You are saying those under the spotlight were Yoruba, guys he caused to get rich but also simultaneously sent the EFCC after?

fstranger:

There is nothing like SW agenda.
Good governance is something everyone wants.
It is just unfortunate that anything articulated by a well meaning Yoruba man is termed SW agenda.

Anything with the name Awo is termed ethnocentric.
Reality is different from perception.
We have always wanted to spread our tentacles from time immemorial. Awo wanted a one Nigeria. Hoping to build up Yoruba in an attempt to show the rest of the country what he is capable of doing if given the chance.
The Cicero of Esa Oke, before his untimely death, also championed 'one Nigeria.' Unfortunately, past misunderstandings have made the rest of the country to view the Yoruba people and its leaders with suspicion. The early the rest of the country recognize the sincerity of our gesture towards them, the faster it will be to build/ move towards a more perfect union.

Until the rest of the country respect us for what we are, Nigeria may never know progress. Because at every stage, we have shown our superiority over the rest of the country, intellectually, politically, diplomatically, academically, and in other areas of life. We have set the pace and led humbly, asking for nothing in return; we only want to share our progress with the rest of the country.

So to those claming SW agenda. Nothing can be farther from the truth. There is nothing like a SW agenda. However, charity has to start from somewhere, and for Yoruba leaders like Awo, Bola Ige and Tinubu, it should start from the south western part of Nigeria.

Dapobear  et al.

Therein lies the true SW agenda that fortunately the rest of the country knows already. That is why people say a typical Yoruba will never rule Nigeria. Only the Obasanju type (nationalistic ones) will. I believe Tinubu knows this too, hence he handed his birthright to Ribadu.

I don't care whether Yoruba rule Nigeria or not. I just want us to develop our region. Charity begins at home, as they say.

DapoBear:

Err, what? I thought people before said that most of those under the EFCC spotlight were his enemies? So be consistent. You are saying those under the spotlight were Yoruba, guys he caused to get rich but also simultaneously sent the EFCC after?

Talking about those being probed by EFCC after Obj left. The newspaper reports are clear on that.

DapoBear:

I don't care whether Yoruba rule Nigeria or not. I just want us to develop our region. Charity begins at home, as they say.

Fair enough then. Other regions are also developing theirs. It is not a matter of press announcements for every single developmental project carried out.

^-- Who is making press announcements?

DapoBear:

^-- Who is making press announcements?

Some question. Have we not read newspaper interviews of your gov who beautifies the streets with flowers and gets awarded a honor for doing so. PR machines at work

Sounds like some hate. Don't be mad at others for having good media games. Step up your own game instead.

DapoBear:

Sounds like some hate. Don't be mad at others for having good media games. Step up your own game instead.

Yeah! Thats part of what we are doing here using the NL media. Please cancel out the hate part, though, for there is nothing worth hating anywhere in Nigeria, except the bad governance and deception by many. Your good media games mantra = brown envelope journalism (if you know what that means).

I'm using "hate" in the colloquial, hip-hop sense (e.g., "hater"), not literal hatred, heh.

The northern oligarchy imposed. Yes. So, where are we with their "national appeal". The answer lies in the fact that they appealed to the selfish politicians, like themselves, in other regions forming a national band of corruption. Awo did not hide anything - he did what he did in his region under open skies, he wrote books to encourage reason, service and good governance.

Heck, the television he set up as the first in Africa is the same one the same "national" politics government hangs on to 50 or so years later. The fact is that they have been unable to replicate what he did 50 years ago, with all the advancement the world has seen since that time. Where are our homegrown cars, jet fighthers, spacecraft or just plain FOOD FOR THE PEOPLE?

Mark my words, the region that achieves strong economic strength is the one that will lead Nigeria at the end of the day. Any region that realizes this needs to start working right away - if the national government follows suit, even better, but if not then such a region must not wait or allow itself to be hoodwinked into fake "national" politics.

Don't you think you are confused by your statement about kinsmen gaining from OBJ's government. Is that how you measure kinsmen gains - by how much was embezzled by them? Nobody is the parent of a thief, you better know that. When people north, west, east, south, etc are going to bed on unfilled bellies you are talking about kinsmen "benefitting" by their corruption.

You are not really interested in a discussion about national unity. Your last sentence shows a certain level of generalization that suggest different viewpoints than you are trying to project. You actually sound like a PDP operative trying to achieve the same objectives of the northern oligarchy in 2011 by attempting to "scare" the SW with the notion that they will not articipate in national politics if they throw out PDP's corrupt governors. That would be the only reason you would return to your very first post on this topic after all that have been discussed.

igbobuigbo:

The north imposed because they are able to muster what looked like a national appeal while Awo hid under his tribal cocoon and zik stayed in between  a tribal cocoon and desire to reach out like the North (read wanting to play both ways). See how ANPP, the truly northern party is fairing? The North knows the game and you cannot blame them for ruling this long. Despite the hatred Yoruba may show for Obj, when he was in power those who gained most from him, unduly I must add, were his kinsmen. That is why most of those under the EFCC searchlight for corruption/irregularities that took place then are from the SW. An igbo president may likely surround himself with igbos too, but we do not know yet since they have not ruled. The north knows how to throw crumbs at Yoruba and Igbo (making themselves appear more national) while having time to master their politics.

igbobuigbo:

The north imposed because they are able to muster what looked like a national appeal while Awo hid under his tribal cocoon and zik stayed in between  a tribal cocoon and desire to reach out like the North (read wanting to play both ways). See how ANPP, the truly northern party is fairing? The North knows the game and you cannot blame them for ruling this long. Despite the hatred Yoruba may show for Obj, when he was in power those who gained most from him, unduly I must add, were his kinsmen. That is why most of those under the EFCC searchlight for corruption/irregularities that took place then are from the SW. An igbo president may likely surround himself with igbos too, but we do not know yet since they have not ruled. The north knows how to throw crumbs at Yoruba and Igbo (making themselves appear more national) while having time to master their politics.

The above highlighted is not only false, it is a deliberate attempt to smear the characters of the great Yoruba people.
First of all, OBJ never represented the SW. He was and still is one of the few 'untribalized' Nigerians in politics.  
OBJ being a smart guy tried consciously not to appear biased towards any ethnic group. He did not surround himself with his kinsmen. It is on record that the people closest to him were northerners. More than that, he really does not care what your ethnic group is as long as you get along with him. Like all past presidents, he created a lot of millionaires, most of whom are from the north. He also created quite a few millionaires of Igbo extraction, definitely more than paltry from his own ethnic group .
It is unfair to make allegations without providing supporting evidence. There are more Ibos  being investigated by EFCC than there are Yorubas. I don't have the numbers, but from news reports, it does seem so.

The reason the north controls out polity is that we are still under Military rule, indirectly. Either we want to admit it or not. The Military still decides who becomes the president of this country because the 'king makers' are all former military officers. And  since the Military, as an institution, is controlled and dominated by the north, they continue to have the final say in what happens in our political life.

fstranger:

The above highlighted is not only false, it is a deliberate attempt to smear the characters of the great Yoruba people.
First of all, OBJ never represented the SW. He was and still is one of the few 'untribalized' Nigerians in politics.  
OBJ being a smart guy tried consciously not to appear biased towards any ethnic group. He did not surround himself with his kinsmen. It is on record that the people closest to him were northerners. More than that, he really does not care what your ethnic group is as long as you get along with him. Like all past presidents, he created a lot of millionaires, most of whom are from the north. He also created quite a few millionaires of Igbo extraction, definitely more than paltry from his own ethnic group that benefited from his benevolence.

It is unfair to make allegations without providing supporting evidence. There are more Ibos  being investigated by EFCC than there are Yorubas. I don't have the numbers, but from news reports, it does seem so.

The reason the north controls out polity is that we are still under Military rule, indirectly. Either we want to admit it or not. The Military still decides who becomes the president of this country because the 'king makers' are all former military officers. And  since the Military, as an institution, is controlled and dominated by the north, they continue to have the final say in what happens in our political life.

A peep at the EFCC site will answer your worries. You can also visit kirikiri to ask Bode George.

koruji:

The northern oligarchy imposed. Yes. So, where are we with their "national appeal". The answer lies in the fact that they appealed to the selfish politicians, like themselves, in other regions forming a national band of corruption. Awo did not hide anything - he did what he did in his region under open skies, he wrote books to encourage reason, service and good governance.

Heck, the television he set up as the first in Africa is the same one the same "national" politics government hangs on to 50 or so years later. The fact is that they have been unable to replicate what he did 50 years ago, with all the advancement the world has seen since that time. Where are our homegrown cars, jet fighthers, spacecraft or just plain FOOD FOR THE PEOPLE?

Mark my words, the region that achieves strong economic strength is the one that will lead Nigeria at the end of the day. Any region that realizes this needs to start working right away - if the national government follows suit, even better, but if not then such a region must not wait or allow itself to be hoodwinked into fake "national" politics.

Don't you think you are confused by your statement about kinsmen gaining from OBJ's government. Is that how you measure kinsmen gains - by how much was embezzled by them? Nobody is the parent of a thief, you better know that. When people north, west, east, south, etc are going to bed on unfilled bellies you are talking about kinsmen "benefitting" by their corruption.

You are not really interested in a discussion about national unity. Your last sentence shows a certain level of generalization that suggest different viewpoints than you are trying to project. You actually sound like a PDP operative trying to achieve the same objectives of the northern oligarchy in 2011 by attempting to "scare" the SW with the notion that they will not articipate in national politics if they throw out PDP's corrupt governors. That would be the only reason you would return to your very first post on this topic after all that have been discussed.

Now this is some rambling. The North is not the only cause of naija problem. The south is as culpable as the north. Some of the worst corruptions in a democratic Nigeria took place under Obj. We may blame IBB and Abacha but we should remember they were military men with nobody's mandate.

Talking about regional development: The first step will be 100 % resource control. That way, those who depend on others even to pay salaries will have to really work hard. Your region cannot develop when you depend on oil money from other regions.

koruji:

Mark my words, the region that achieves strong economic strength is the one that will lead Nigeria at the end of the day. Any region that realizes this needs to start working right away - if the national government follows suit, even better, but if not then such a region must not wait or allow itself to be hoodwinked into fake "national" politics.

100% agree. Honestly, whichever region guarantees solid power supply probably wins. There is too much business both nationally and internationally that would be open to us if we only had solid power supply. If say Ekiti or Ondo had guaranteed power supply, me personally I could move there and setup a firm based on my own area of expertise and compete for international projects, while taking advantage of the lower cost of living. When Honda/Toyota/etc want to build a new manufacturing plant, the SW would be able to submit a very competitive bid and possibly grab some of those factories away from the US and other countries (again, low labor costs + constant power supply = huge win.)

Things like that would be VERY possible, if only we had power! It is my strong hope that if/when the ACN captures the Southwest, the immediate task on their agenda will be to independently generate power for our region of the country. Do that and the region will boom economically.

^^^

What about security. In my opinion strong economic strength though very important, will achieve very little in an atmosphere of great insecurity.
We need both to achieve progress!

^-- Just in terms of priorities, I put economic strength first. If there are jobs and there is money, somehow violence and banditry seems to diminish.

^^^
I guess in a couple of years time, NYPD will be no more?
Agree?

Or do we need to pump more money into NY before we see a reduction in crime?

I guess my overall point is that if the economy were good, the security situation would likely be tolerable. Pretty easy to turned to army robbery if there are no jobs in your country. But with a good economy, less will be inclined to take up this unsavory career.

i can see that history is repeating itself in nigeria.

1) sw start their development independent of nigeria (as usual, they always take their destiny into their own hands)
2) the north is meant to be in power but instead the se decided to "ethnically" support GJ.
3) the ijaw socio-cultural groups are not getting involved (they are neither here or there)


@ topic

what can i say about the yorubas, they have time and time again showed all they want is progress (should i start from the free education and health policies or to the development they are experiencing in lagos). kudos, for taking the destiny of your people into your own hands!

the sw should stretch her tentacle to the rest of the country with ribadu (another progressive). all nigerian citizens want is progress and i believe acn can deliver that to them. i think acn should only produce progressives for elections and i also expect donald duke and utomi to join.

acn is not a regional party, it is a progressive party if it was not, the edo governor would not be for acn .
nigerians must be ready for change! if not, their suffering just started

jason12345:



the sw should stretch her tentacle to the rest of the country with ribadu (another progressive).

What a clipping of the tentacle that will be. Ribadu may be able to rule Adamawa, but how can one who clearly declared Tinubu a rogue now eats with the same rogue and he is a progressive enough to rule Nigeria? May be a progressive in roguery and flip flopping. Come 2011, it is either Jonathan or Atiku. PDP is too big to be scared by some fake party that keeps changing its name: from AD to AC now to ACN. When they lose in 2011, they will transmutate to WNRP (please help fill the full meaning).