lagerwhenindoubt:

^^^   you just read my mind.

Only in Nigeria will a campaign message appeal to crass emotions rather than concrete plans and political will and antecedents of the candidates.

I can bet you at least 90% of voters who actually want to vote GEJ have not met the guy, do not know him and have no clue what how he plans to achieve his Electoral mandate, they just like his charming baby smiles and innocent looks and sheepish grin when he tells you I shall do away with corruption and poverty.

I guess 150% of those who voted Obama met him and know him face to face. I guess those who voted Cameron in the UK also were his bosom friends who knew him and wined and dined with him hence they got his votes.

^^^ you miss the point it is all about[b] POLITICAL AWARENESS[/b], how many of the voters are politically aware when they place the future of the nation at the ballot boxes

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria?topic=451346.msg6093726#msg6093726
Re: How Can Nigeria Get A Leader With Vision And Integrity

Not that I am averse to starting small, like they say, little drops of water make a mighty ocean but for me that approach will take years to start having an effect (if it is not killed-off quickly by the current crop of corrupt leaders). Very few doubt the good-works of Okonjo-Iweala despite rumors of poor governance and corruption issues. She put her foot down and did what had to be done to spur immense economic reforms whose impact can still be felt today, but what happened when OBJ started eye-ing 3rd term in Office? He disgraced her out of office together with Oby-Ezekwesili. The government of the day will always hire good hands to keep the wheels of this country's greatest revenue generation engine going. (Crude Oil) but when it is time to start stealing, they simply disgrace you like they did to Nuhu Ribadu.

A Leadership Revolution has to occur and it has started in different forms with angry voices who say NO MORE!! to bad governance and corruption. but there are key issues that must be addressed regarding the building of foundations that will support such a massive revolution.

1: Political Awareness
2: Ethnic Friction
3: Religious Friction

When we have fully addressed the imbalance in the above three issues, we can now approach the issue of True Leadership with the assurance that we have become an Irresistible Force of Nature, embracing all that is intrinsically good and crushing supposedly immovable objects like corruption and poverty    (I mean that)

Political Awareness

By far the most important of all issues that we must address. Since the coming of Democracy with the death of Abacha, Nigerians have come to the realization that politics, especially on the national level can no longer be ignored. As important events force these issues into our lives we in turn are compelled to discuss them. This is where the problem starts. How many times have you tried to have an intelligent political conversation with a friend, fellow worker or family member only to discover that two of you are talking on completely different levels? What starts off as a well intended interaction quickly devolves into a struggle to avoid insult or seriously offend.  Nairaland Political posts bear conclusive evidence to this statement. We argue so much that the goal is lost in argument and the wrong mindset is developed, fed and maintained so much that people now have expert knowledge of political situations they have not heard, seen or experienced in their entire lives.  Sad
We must stop and correct this mistake NOW! by recognizing the various levels of Political Awareness and educating ourselves and fellow revolutionaries.

Level 1. Political Illiterate – A person who is politically illiterate might know who the President is or perhaps the Governor of their state but that’s usually about it. They don’t watch the news. They have no knowledge of the issues and don’t know the difference between a PDP, AC, LP, APGA etc. This person does not vote or even care to vote. They are not necessarily poor and un-educated, they simply do not care.

Level 2. Politically Misinformed – This category is for those who have latched onto an extreme sect, an emotional issue, a movement or a charismatic personality. They are often dogmatic about their views and prefer partisan rancor because they would lose an objective debate. They often know little if anything about other perspectives. They have a slow growing awareness of politicians but are primarily focused on those they dislike. While this person might be passionate and loud about their views, they are also often hypocritical when it comes to the practice of these views. Politics is a stylish walking stick for them. So in turn this person will usually claim to vote but often does not.

Level 3. Politically Informed – This is probably where most voting Nigerians lie. This person knows who some of the government officials are, they know some of the issues and can tell the difference between various parties and their candidates (and God-fathers) They might be strongly motivated on one or two issues. They might pick their candidates based on personal appeal rather than party affiliation. They lean towards stability, moderation and bipartisan movements. This person votes in almost every general election.

Level 4. Political Activist – This individual gets involved. Here you have a person with a good grasp of the issues, who can recite the details of sects within each party and has worked on at least one election. This person reads books about politics, keeps up with the daily news and might write articles or a blog with a political hook in it. They have a preference for direct contact and search for an abundance of information wherever possible. They learn how to build coalitions in order to advance their agendas. This person knows who all the candidates are and votes in every election.

Level 5. Political Expert – At this level the individual is the one making the news instead of following it. The expert might work in government, knows all the issues, knows all the candidates and power players sometimes personally. This person is likely to have worked in many elections. They understand the language of diplomacy (and thuggery) and can strategize with institutions and the grassroots communities when necessary. They can, show sensitivity to different viewpoints and hidden agendas. appear on talk shows, they might write political books and their opinions carry weight in the political community. They always vote and do so publicly.

We must identify each levels of deficiency in Political Awareness and strive to move into levels 3-5 where the impact of our activities have a strong import on the Political landscape.

Ethnic Friction

Nigeria is an ethnically diverse nation and each ethnic group is vocal about its representation in the various spheres of national governance and leadership. Being politically vocal is different from being politically active, once again the issue of Political awareness comes into play the wrong way. Being ethnically diverse should not cause us to lose the importance of a united national ideology. some for example view PDP as a group bent on devouring the economic resources of this nation. While PDP may have embraced political ethnic diversity unlike most stronger parties. The question of ethnic origin and claim often results in the absence of true leadership due to the fact the the political region on which such a candidate chooses to launch his political ideology is largely controlled by an ethnic majority that he does not belong to.

We must strive to recognize that ethnic rivalry in politics only creates a distraction allowing corrupt political elements to forge ahead and claim electoral victories they would not ordinarily have been able to claim. There are true Igbo Leaders as there are True Hausa Leaders and Idoma Leaders and Yoruba Leaders and so forth. Buba Marwa was loved by Lagosians as much as Fashola was and he was a Hausa leader nonetheless. We must recognize leadership qualities regardless of the ethnic ties or origins a politician belongs to. Once we can rise over this key challenge, we can begin to build a truly de-tribalized political base for a united leadership revolution. Political thieves that revel in corruption have no tribal reservations. the only tribe they know and belong to is CORRUPTION

Religious Friction
With a population of over 150 million people, Nigeria is the world's 6th largest Muslim nation and the 3rd largest Christian nation in the world. such numbers on the political arena is not take lightly. With such an enormous political potential, it often comes as a disappointment when the two major religious groups have very little in terms of lobbying power in the nations political machinery. Rather Religious energies are diverted to genocidal conflicts that only serve to divide a largely united group across political and ethnic lines (further creating animosity and aversion to diverse political ideologies) ODUUA vs AREWA, NDI'GBO vs. ODUUA, IDOMA vs TIV etc no one needs a sore reminder of all the religious and ethnic driven clashes in Nigeria in recent times  Sad very few politicians even consider religious groups as important in their agenda Imagine that!! Angry

We need to recognize that our unique Religious affiliations presents one of the largest and power-groups very few political platforms have access to and we have failed (disappointingly) to apply that potential into influencing the political landscape.

What Level of Political Awareness do you find yourself?

^^^^

Go out there into the core Naija villages without sentiments, be objective and do your research and you will be surprised at the political awareness of the villagers - dont rely on what you read online or on NairaLand. Do this if you want to know the truth.

^^^ I research online a lot and unfortunately I have not gone to "core villages" in Lagos but I work with PDP campaign coordinators for candidates vying for Governorship, Senatorial, Reps and Lagos House of Assembly positions. reading online helps educate my mind and actually working with delegates, ward chairmen and LGA chairmen allows me the opportunity to know what is going on at the grassroots.

It is encouraging to know that some who come to vote know why they are voting, but as witnessed in Lugard road Ikoyi when the registration exercise commenced, well over 100 persons were brought in a bus from Ajah to register and paid N200 for their efforts (their registration cards have been bought) and come April these registered voters who have sold their votes for mere N500 and given food and shelter will sell their rights to corrupt politicians.

Can u defend that in a court of law?

lagerwhenindoubt:

^^^ I research online a lot and unfortunately I have not gone to "core villages" in Lagos but I work with PDP campaign coordinators for candidates vying for Governorship, Senatorial, Reps and Lagos House of Assembly positions. reading online helps educate my mind and actually working with delegates, ward chairmen and LGA chairmen allows me the opportunity to know what is going on at the grassroots.

It is encouraging to know that some who come to vote know why they are voting, but as witnessed in Lugard road Ikoyi when the registration exercise commenced, well over 100 persons were brought in a bus from Ajah to register and paid N200 for their efforts (their registration cards have been bought) and come April these registered voters who have sold their votes for mere N500 and given food and shelter will sell their rights to corrupt politicians.

Ol boy you are spot on.   I did witness a situation where an old man was brought to the polling station.  The man had no clue why he was there or what was going on and he kept asking his handlers which one should i thumb print on.  Hence the reason why a large chunk of the population are happy to trade their votes for cup of rice or recharge card.

Ma_J_Blige:

^^^^

Go out there into the core Naija villages without sentiments, be objective and do your research and you will be surprised at the political awareness of the villagers - dont rely on what you read online or on NairaLand. Do this if you want to know the truth.

Now this is completely st-up i d

@Afam
 Who's the angel and who's the devil?

honeric01:

@Afam
 Who's the angel and who's the devil?

In this case it's the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know.

How do we determine giving someone a chance? If sm1 fails in a certain duty u give useful suggestions 4 him to sit up. Not critizing without profering solutions

Nsiman:

How do we determine giving someone a chance?  If sm1fails in a certain duty u give useful suggestions 4 him to sit up. Not critizing without profering solutions

As long as your candidate has failed, you, at that point, are best considering other possible candidates who can as well do a better job. Sitting, proffering solutions won't cut it at that point.  The failure can as well go back to school, and get better trained to maybe try again at a later time.

Who has the time begging people who will not vote this type of question?

Even if you like vote for him, if you dont like him, dont vote for him.

Whats the big deal? Everyone has the right to vote who he or she likes.

@ Beaf,

Shebi whilst the same Timi Sylva prodded the Bayelsa assembly to probe the contracts he awarded that left the state in N28bln debt and they were all found to be fraudulent.

Please point to one of GEJ's projects that warranted leaving the state in N28bln debt.

Rufus Ada George returned money to the Federal Govt after his tenure, with no debt, and he brought a lot of development to the state. These days megathieves like GEJ will leave a state in xblns of debt with nothing to show for it.

GEJ is an abysmal failure. An abhorent and incompetent thief.

When I'm on my PC, I will post Alams story of how he went to GEJ's humble abode in the NDDC compound in 1998 to convince him to become his deputy. In 1998, GEJ was a poor man, now he's a billionaire.

Baseless

Some people stand near river, yet they cannot see water. I keep saying that mental illness is the biggest problem in Nigerian. The 3 Clowns have started again

GEJ will win the election, no doubt but I see a very dark four years for nigeria if nothing
Serious is done about the various security issues sweeping the country.
We have MEND, doing whatever it is they do to prove their point
NDLF bombing nigeria's resources with reckless abandon
Boko Haram I honestly don't see their point but they claim to have one and they are
doing their best to prove it
The crisis in Jos has almost reached its crescendo
Kidnapping is at its all time high in the country
And numerous other security issues. To be honest OBJ's regime was even better when it came to national security.
Are we supposed to be getting worse instead of improving?
Is any of the political candidates strong enough to handle these issues, I don't think so.
Its only God that can save Nigeria because our elected officials follow the same trend, none performance or if we are lucky minimal performance
With all this security issues, one day the civilian government will not be able to handle it. And God forbid a military takeover.

larablog:

GEJ will win the election, no doubt but I see a very dark four years for nigeria if nothing
Serious is done about the various security issues sweeping the country.
We have MEND, doing whatever it is they do to prove their point
NDLF bombing nigeria's resources with reckless abandon
Boko Haram I honestly don't see their point but they claim to have one and they are
doing their best to prove it
The crisis in Jos has almost reached its crescendo
Kidnapping is at its all time high in the country
And numerous other security issues. To be honest OBJ's regime was even better when it came to national security.
Are we supposed to be getting worse instead of improving?
Is any of the political candidates strong enough to handle these issues, I don't think so.
Its only God that can save Nigeria because our elected officials follow the same trend, none performance or if we are lucky minimal performance
With all this security issues, one day the civilian government will not be able to handle it. And God forbid a military takeover.

Take heart, what is the worst that can happen. GEJ will dedicate $5 billion to make Special Advisers of every kingpin Kidnapper, Bookoh Haramist, MENDer and NDLFer . we will all be safe, what are you worried about Bianca will be promoted to Super-Special Adviser on 1st Lady Education Matters

@ please be precise

Who's the devil you know and who's the devil you don't know?

@ larablog, gej and the community inhabitants, who shld report security threats to the law enforcement agent? Taking an instance on how the Aba kidnapping was stopped

Lets give all of them a chance

ddc machine:

@ larablog, gej and the community inhabitants, who shld report security threats to the law enforcement agent? Taking an instance on how the Aba kidnapping was stopped

You do realize that particular case remains a mystery? The public still don't know how it was solved except for the fact that a man was fingered as the culprit(how, not much of a clue available),and then publicly executed.

I used to think that he'll deliver based on the fact that he is from the minority but he has shown that he does not have the guts, wisdom or the kind of diplomacy it takes to pilot a great nation like Nigeria. He is relying on praise singers and psychophants to win the election. I've decided to give my own chance to Buhari/Bakare instead of this bunch of thieves and insensitive people in pdp.

@kobo, the inhabitants of aba made a tipp-off to the law enforcement agents, the kidnappers' den was expose, the law enforcement agents took it up from there, but the josites and co has refused to do same and are seeing what they are xperiencing

@kobo, the inhabitants of aba made a tipp-off to the law enforcement agents, the kidnappers' den was expose, the law enforcement agents took it up from there, but the josites and co has refused to do same and are seeing what they are xperiencing

Good luck to every nigerian! Vote GEJ!

Afam4eva wrote:

He's popularity is overwhelming. So i just fill we should wait and see what people see in him.

I've always seen GEJ as my standby candidate is i didn't see any serious contender in the running.

You are giving in to bandwagon thinking and herd mentality. one of the main problem with Africa , particularly West Africa , is that many of us let our thinking be guided by sentiments , ethnicity, religion, popular culture/opinion rather than principled, factual , scientific and evidence-based logic. When you have a President who interfered partisanly to free a man from a murder charge , all because of the need to protect political interest,  we have the type of evidence-based observation that , in sane nations , would constitute damning evidence of why Jonathan should not be "given a chance" . Jonathan's popularity should really not concern or unerve you enough for your stance to change if you take positions based on solid premises .

If you found him wanting as a leader then I am sure you did not come to that conclusion lightly . you should therefore not change your opinion flippantly because Jonathan ostensibly has runaway popularity. Nigeria is , more or less , a parallel universe where normal rules don't apply. it was the same with Yar Adua . Folks found themselves supporting him , because others did , when all the evidence show that they will be dissapointed .  The rest is history with Yar Adua. It will be no different with Jonathan. Personally , I can hold my head high because I predicted that Yar Adua would be a failure while many were saying he should be given a chance because he appears a "good man" when , in reality , the evidence, for anyone who cares for non-sentimental examination of issues ,  showed otherwise. I have been a consistent critic of Jonathan , on basis of fundamental unsuitability for a very important office , since the Yar Adua illness saga and I can say with more confidence than ever before that Jonathan has gone on to prove he will be a greater disaster than I imagined.

@ Mr poaster
, to your request to give GEJ a chance, I have no issue. Rather I want to remind you that the election has been conducted, GEJ has been given the mandate save what happened to Yar, repeats itself, God forbid though.

PDP has given him all he desires all that has been happening since PDP primaries remains a well calculated political drama awaiting the CPC,ACN,ANPP and CO will come up with a case in court against GEJ.

Meanwhile, "Bombing HERE and Bombing THERE, oga GEJ no gree get answer na very sorry case" gaskiya una no think am say na only uncle revolution fit solve this matttter so,

It could be very dissappointing when you hear what you dont expect from certain people, educated, elites, etc.

Who is a good leader? someone that knows the needs of his people, create avenue to solve it, he may not get it fully resolved, but it should be seen clearly by his people that he is doing something.

I use to think our problem is corruption but it is not, our problem is that " WE take it, we take shit", because some stupid people always justify why we should take the shit.

Muritala rulled for just six months and history will never forget him, Gowon rulled too,


How long does GEJ need to rule for before we realise that he has nothing to offer, he does not have solution to any of our problem, Electricity, water, education, security, crisis, corruption, unemplyoment, etc even fuel ( we should not be decieved by what we see now, the problem is still there)

pls lets reason together, we need to change this country for our children, it might be too late for some of us.

We know those that are ruining this country, eating our money and making us to pay for it, enriching their own wallet with our collective resources, God gave it to all of us, by bringing GEJ back, we are helping them, by vote Buhari and Tunde, we will reduce the number. Lets give it a try, we have nothing to lose.

By virtue of the fact that we are citizens, we are entittle to certain benefit, but does it ever get to us, no medical , no road, no education, etc no my people this guys are thieves, they should be purnished

GEJ Would win. Hands down

Mr Barzini:

GEJ Would win. Hands down

This is an intelligent post.

God would not help a community until they rise up to help themselves.

Nigerians rise! rise!! rise!!!