“There is nothing basically wrong with the Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the Nigerian land or climate or water or air or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which is the hallmark of true leadership,” he concluded.


1999 - 2003
PDP Entertainment starring OBJ http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/ikechukwu-amaechi/obasanjo-between-image-and-reality.html
The first Nigerian military leader to hand over power to a civilian government, Obasanjo was hailed, locally and internationally, as a democrat and a statesman. His imprisonment, on the trumped-up charge of coup plotting, by General Sani Abacha, made him a hero of some sort.
Obasanjo, himself, heightened the expectations through his utterances. “Perhaps I can be a stabilising influence, a conscience for our nation,” he told the New York Times shortly after his release from prison in 1998.
“After my prison experience, I am committed more than ever to the ideals for which I have lived and suffered – democracy, peace, human rights, alleviation of poverty, transparent government, and popular participation,” he also wrote in an article he contributed to the New York Review of Books, in 1998.
As the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Obasanjo made big promises too. “We will improve the health service delivery in our hospitals and upgrade teaching hospitals to research centres so that our people will not have to go abroad for treatment any more. My priority will be eradication of poverty. A situation in which 70 percent of Nigerians live on less than $1 day is unacceptable,” he told his audience at a campaign rally in 1999.
Unsurprisingly, he was elected president when the military relinquished power. Obasanjo, as has been noted by many, took office on a platter of popular support and enthusiasm the country hadn’t seen since the first heady days after gaining its independence in 1960. Average citizens showed widespread support for democracy and the new president, something no Nigerian had enjoyed in almost three decades.
In his inaugural presidential speech on May 29, 1999, the man of the moment reiterated his campaign promises, identifying “the crisis in the oil producing areas, food security, education, supply and distribution of petroleum products, law and order, infrastructure, and job creation” as top priorities for his government.
“Nobody, no matter whom, will be allowed to get away with the perpetration of corruption and evil,” he vowed.
Linking corruption to crime, the president said: “The issue of crime requires as much attention as the issue of corruption. All Nigerian citizens and residents in our midst are entitled to the protection of life and property. A determined effort will be made to cut down significantly the incidence of violent crimes.”
To achieve all these, the president promised to restore the confidence of the citizenry in governance.

Tactics
- Present yourself as a commoner
- Make lots of promises
- Promise to fight corruption

2011 GEJ Today
“If I am elected President in 2011, I will make a covenant with you the Nigerian people to always do right by you, to tell you the truth at all times, to carry you along and most importantly to listen to you, fellow citizens in our communities and also those of you on this page. I do not want to win your affections by giving you promises of things I would do in the future which others before me have given and which have largely been unfulfilled. Rather, I would want you to judge me by my records."
The president also promised a better management of revenue from oil as well as a plan to float a sovereign wealth fund. He also promised the people to clampdown on kidnappers and criminals all over the country.
According to him, “Before this time, people would set off bombs, people would be killed, houses would be destroyed and after one or two months it would be swept under the carpet. This administration will not sweep any crime under the carpet.”
He also promised them that if he won the election in April, his administration would not disappoint Nigerians as that would mean “we have disappointed God.”
The president assured the people that “we will do our best to represent all Nigerians, irrespective of religion, language, tribe or section. We will treat Nigerians as one.”
“Enough of bloodletting and maiming of people in the name of religion or whatever reason, because God has created us together, to live harmoniously with one another, in spite of the differences that exist among us as Nigerians.
“If I am elected as the president of the country, no part of the country would be treated in isolation because I and my deputy, we are for this country not a particular section of the country.”

08/10/2007
What is therefore not 'Good' and 'Lucky' in VP Jonathan is found in his insistence on keeping his assets declaration form secret. Before the law he's right but morally speaking he is found wanting. If Goodluck Jonathan is not afraid of his stewardship as Governor of Bayelsa State; if he is not hiding anything reprehensible from Nigerians he should then heed the popular call for his assets to be made public. Otherwise the perception that he is a moral burden to the new political dispensation will never go away.

Vice President Jonathan Bows To Pressure, Declares N.2Billion In Assets https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-71305.0.html

A vote for PDP is a vote for corruption,