The only lesson from all this dramma is never to accept any leader who never wished to be one

Debo, baby steps will not get us anywhere. . . The longer the process the more we are likely to lapse back to our demented ways.

Considering how terrible things are in Nigeria, , ,Nothing short of a cataclysmic revolution is required, . . .quick, sharp and decisive.
Dithering or symbolic gestures of good sense in the form of reform will not work.


For real. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't understand this!







[quote][/quote]

doyin13:

Debo, baby steps will not get us anywhere. . . The longer the process the more we are likely to lapse back to our demented ways.

Considering how terrible things are in Nigeria, , ,Nothing short of a cataclysmic revolution is required, . . .quick, sharp and decisive.
Dithering or symbolic gestures of good sense in the form of reform will not work.

I completely agree.

doyin13:

Debo, baby steps will not get us anywhere. . . The longer the process the more we are likely to lapse back to our demented ways.

Considering how terrible things are in Nigeria, , ,Nothing short of a cataclysmic revolution is required, . . .quick, sharp and decisive.
Dithering or symbolic gestures of good sense in the form of reform will not work.

I totally disagree, the American army were supposed to be quick,sharp and decisive in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are still there today messed everything up- they didn't even know the difference between Shiite and Sunni-this is a perfect example so kobojunkie back off

Considering the extent of decay of many institutions in nigeria, well-thought out concrete plans are needed to form the foundations of real change in our society

there's no drastic solution to 40yrs of ineffective rule. it would most likely be a long but fruitful process like china or japan.

bawomolo:

there's no drastic solution to 40yrs of ineffective rule. it would most likely be a long but fruitful process like china or japan.

I find the tale of Japan and China contrasting styles enroute to development.

China's renaissance since Xiaoping's openingof the economy has been drawn out, piecemeal
and littered with tragedies like Tianamen.

Japan's post war miracle on the other hand was focused, decisive and nothing short of revolutionary

Failed or devastated states need leaders that can inspire, excite and create belief. The power of their vision and the forcefulness of
their character negate the compromise that characterises Nigerian politics.

I believe Nigeria needs nothing short of a revolution to survive. Instead what we keep getting are very poor imitations of the real thing. The day Nigerians collectively get angry (and rightly so) and say enough is enough is the day that country will change. But not every one seems to want that change badly enough. We get angry over stuff for a very short while then it all dies away. Has the Freedom of information bill been passed? What is happening to Ibori's case, he was meant to have had a court appearance i think last week, but there was a "judiciary strike". We don't believe one man can make a difference because we have never had that man in power before. I mean what on earth did we expect from a man who did not aspire to be president in the first place? The trouble with Nigerian politics is that people don't get in because they want to make a change, they get in because they want to be in the position to become very rich easily to the detriment of everyone else. They are not just selfish but greedy. If you want to really see who wants to serve Nigeria well, then let a law be passed which stops the president and ministers and governors from having more than a fixed ammount in any of their accounts per month and pay them minimum wage (of course they will be fed and sheltered with tax payers money), then you will see what would happen. I have a very strong feeling that over 90 percent of the members of PDP would go and get a real job. Our leaders don't see the fact that they are in the position to lead a great nation and improve the lives of so many as a priviledge, instead they see themselves as God's gift to us.
I do believe that even if the election was not rigged, out of the three major players Yaradua would still have won, not because people thought he would make a great president, but because he was a lesser of three evils. Now isn't that just a very very sad state of affairs ?

Dis Guy:

I totally disagree, the American army were supposed to be quick,sharp and decisive in Iraq and Afghanistan, they are still there today messed everything up- they didn't even know the difference between Shiite and Sunni-this is a perfect example so kobojunkie back off

Considering the extent of decay of many institutions in nigeria, well-thought out concrete plans are needed to form the foundations of real change in our society

I do not even know how to handle that response from you but did it ever occur to you that the Situation in Afghanistan and Iraq can not be compared to what we have in Nigeria today?? We are speaking of a country with issues that have been caused by internal forces? Internal forces that happen to be expendable ( humans)?? I think you if you are looking for examples, you should try places like singapore or dubai when you want to understand what can happen when the people themselves decide it is time for change and nothing less will do.

The Buhari/Idiagbon regime already gave us a look at what can be accomplised in a very short time in that same country. Why can't we see that we have already seen a sample, all we need to do now is implement the same and this time make sure it is carried out to the end with no interruptions?? The way to make sure there is no interruption of any kind is if the people of Nigeria will take it upon themselves to control the process more than these can.

With this attitude that it can not be done this and that, I will not be surprised if in the end, the president and all his efforts go in vain. How do you expect the man to do it all if the people think as you do in this case Like I have said over and over again, I am watching things go down in that country as anyone else may be doing same and what I see now is no different from what has happened in the past in that same. How do we ensure that this time it will not go the same way it has countless times in the past we have just come from?? The people need to get serious control of issues and places checks in place to make sure it does not and that includes checks on the highest office to the lowest of them all. If not, I say we all sit back for the roller coaster ride once again and see where it leads us this time.

The Buhari/Idiagbon regime already gave us a look at what can be accomplised in a very short time in that same country. Why can't we see that we have already seen a sample, all we need to do now is implement the same and this time make sure it is carried out to the end with no interruptions?? The way to make sure there is no interruption of any kind is if the people of Nigeria will take it upon themselves to control the process more than these can.

dont know much about buhari/idiagbon only heard they were strict guys all in all the situation then was different, they are military dictators who were almost almost unanswerable to no one

I do not even know how to handle that response from you but did it ever occur to you that the Situation in Afghanistan and Iraq can not be compared to what we have in Nigeria today?? We are speaking of a country with issues that have been caused by internal forces?Huh Internal forces that happen to be expendable ( humans)?? I think you if you are looking for examples, you should try places like singapore or dubai when you want to understand what can happen when the people themselves decide it is time for change and nothing less will do.

I was refering to this strategy. . .

Debo, baby steps will not get us anywhere. . . The longer the process the more we are likely to lapse back to our demented ways.

Considering how terrible things are in Nigeria, , ,Nothing short of a cataclysmic revolution is required, . . .quick, sharp and decisive.
Dithering or symbolic gestures of good sense in the form of reform will not work.

Failed or devastated states need leaders that can inspire, excite and create belief. The power of their vision and the forcefulness of
their character negate the compromise that characterises Nigerian politics.

@ doyin you mean like pastors?

[font=Comic Sans MS Unicode]The problem with wishing for a revolution (non-violent or otherwise) is the same problem of wishing for quick solutions. Even if you waved a magic wand and made every Nigerian the living embodiment of altruism, and every policy mandate of the government a perfect one it will still take about ten to twenty years to half the poverty level and reduce it from some 70 million people to about 35 million people. Revolutions do not work, incremental change works. It is not glamorous, it doesn't come with slogans and fancy chants. It's not inspirational. It simply works. One year is better than the next, and those years add up over time. It's not marching to Abuja and then flying back to wherever you came from. It's not dropping trash in front of politicians houses or in related news kidnapping their fathers and mothers.[/font]

[font=Cosmic Sans MS Unicode]Let me give you an example of what i mean. So you come to power as this new enlightened leader in Nigeria after your revolution. One of your main planks is that you will fix the power situation immediately. The first thing someone tells you. Well we have 5,000 MW and we need 20,000 MW, what should we do? You say, build the power plants. (Notice it is about $1 million a MW and each will take about 2-3 years to build.) Then someone says, oh i forgot all these power plants need to be powered and since we are environmentally concious we cannot use coal. So we use gas. Then they tell you, there are no facilities for gas stripping in Nigeria in the quantities that we would need. Then you say lets build the gas strippers. Then someone says, there is no way to get the gas to the power plants. Then you say let them build pipes to transport the gas. There are no pipe manufacturers of sufficient quality. Then you say let us build the pipe manufacturer and import pipes to start. Finally you have fixed the generation problem. Wait someone then says, our transmission network is too small to carry all this new power we have. You say improve the transmission network. So you do that. Wait someone says, the distribution network is also horrible, we cannot transmit power to the people without losing 50% of it. You say, fix it.[/font]

[font=Cosmic Sans MS Unicode]Because the people love you they believe you when you say after this five year plan you will have constant power supply. Then you announce your new tarrifs to enable your electricity system to work properly with proper incentives for mainteneance and capital expenditure. Wait someone says, this price is to high for the common man. No one will pay it. We should pay the old price. But you say that if we do that no one will do the power in Nigeria. We don't care the price has to remain the same. Government has to subsidise. All your contractors melt away because they are not trusting the recovery of billions of dollars of capital expenditure to a government subsidy.
[/font]

[font=Cosmic Sans MS Unicode]Oh and I also forgot to mention that in Nigeria currently you don't have even close to a third of the skilled people that you would need to execute a project of this nature. However I didn't throw that in because it might make it a bit too difficult for your revolution.
[/font]
by
Aijuswanarite

a bit long but hope you get the picture, change is possible but it is not possible with some quick fix clicks

Dis Guy, i don't think you took a few things into consideration and a revolution does not have to be a violent thing, it can in most cases be a revolution in our thinking and stance to stop taking rubbish. First of all, Bonny in Rivers State has been enjoying uninterrupted power supply for quite a while now and i am talking years. LNG which operates there supplies the whole island with electricity and the people simply pay for what they use (pre paid meters). With pre paid meters power is even cheaper because believe it or not NEPA is a very corrupt organisation and the people coming to your house just write up the bills when they go there by their judgement on how much money you have. Secondly, there are power power stations in various stages of completion around the country, they are in various stages of completion because of the level of corruption that was evident in the last administration. Also, from your reasoning you create the impression that the government can only do one thing at a time, that the president personally goes to oversee and manage each project and hence only one thing can be done at a time. So what on earth are all the ministries there for? In an ideal situation, they won't build a power station before they realise the distribution system is weak. Don't underestimate Nigeria, it is abundantly blessed which is why it is even more frustrating to see its potential squandered. You said revolutions never work? What about the french revolution? I envy france because due to that revolution, the government doesn't mess around with its citizens, since they know what is possible and what has happened in the past. The french revolution was a very long time ago but its meaning and significance and change still echoes in france to this day. I am not trying to compare france to Nigeria but just trying to counter your claim that revolutions never work. We have governments and president who see themselves as answerable to a very few select (the so called 'godfathers') instead of being answerable to the Nigerian masses. I could go on, but i would end it with this. I very much disagree with you that with a 'well behaved' government we wil need to wait 10 to 20 years, i believe that things can revolutionarily change in like 4-5 years. I hope you don't detect hostility from me, i am just passionate about Nigeria . But for arguement sake, let us assume you are right. So you say with amazing governance it will take 10 to 20 years for things to change? So how long would it take with the kind of governance we have now? 50 to 100? and you still think we don't need drastic measures?

I think the dictionary is needed here



rev·o·lu·tion (rv-lshn)
n.

3. A sudden or momentous change in a situation: the revolution in computer technology.


No one is seeking to have someone else come in to power in Nigeria. No one is seeking to dethrown Yar adua.

Kobojunkie:

The Buhari/Idiagbon regime already gave us a look at what can be accomplised in a very short time in that same country. Why can't we see that we have already seen a sample, all we need to do now is implement the same and this time make sure it is carried out to the end with no interruptions?? The way to make sure there is no interruption of any kind is if the people of Nigeria will take it upon themselves to control the process more than these can.

Lets arguendo concede that the Buhari/Idiagbon regime "accomplished" things in a short time,isn't it troubling that your best model is a military dictatorship?

Democracies,with all their imperfections,inherently move more slowly than dictatorships.There is no way we can achieve lightning-quick changes unless we adopt a more dictatorial regime.

doyin13:

I find the tale of Japan and China contrasting styles enroute to development.
China's renaissance since Xiaoping's openingof the economy has been drawn out, piecemeal
and littered with tragedies like Tianamen.
Japan's post war miracle on the other hand was focused, decisive and nothing short of revolutionary

Failed or devastated states need leaders that can inspire, excite and create belief. The power of their vision and the forcefulness of
their character negate the compromise that characterises Nigerian politics.

I would say China, post-Deng's reforms, has seen rapid development.However,Japan did experience even more rapid changes but this could not have happened without US occupation.

Although,each country has its unique features-different histories,cultures and ethnic/racial make up-the lesson we can draw from the Asian Tigers -Singapore,Taiwan,Malaysia,S.Korea,Indonesia,Thailand-is that such rapid development often best work in dictatorships;the contrasts between India and China has intrigued scholars for ages.

Unless we want a "strongman" to take over the country,the progress we wish for can only be attained gradually.

There are so many "vested interests" that ensure that certain unwholesome practices will continue to be indulged in.I have always said that if the President experienced a divine apparition that inspires him to rule with the greatest sense of altruism,he won't last in power.Pragmatism demands changes must be gradual,moving too quickly can be self-defeating.

4 Play, a decisive government with a vision and clear plans does not automatically translate to a dictatorship. Right now the only part of Nigeria that has that kind of leadership is Lagos, and I am not from the state, yet i can see what Fashola stands for and his vision. What on earth does Yaradua stand for? Not all changes need to take 10 to 20 years. It shouldn’t take that long to finish and construct more power stations, it shouldn’t take that long to improve and renovate the infrastructure of the major cities. With just those changes alone, the speed at which things would change might shock you. People both in Nigeria and abroad are just dying to invest in the country but are waiting for things to improve. My major fear is that the whole excuse of things taking time can be a new excuse used by Nigerian politicians to carry on with the whole business as usual attitude of looting and mismanagement. I can imagine a governor stealing all the money in his state and leaving office with the excuse that he did what he could but ‘change takes time’. Even Yaradua’s whole rule of law gimmick has become a tool used by greedy politicians to keep looting and escape punishment. As far as i can see, Yaradua’s leadership stands for nothing. I may be wrong but i just can’t see what he stands for. Not trying to be hostile, just being honest. What is his vision for Nigeria? “Where there is no vision the people perish”. Decisiveness with a vision and democracy and not two mutually exclusive concepts, but in a lot of cases sign of good leadership because it shows someone with a plan and vision. It does not have to be one or the other. While some changes do genuinely take time i personally believe that the whole idea is overplayed and  while some changes do take time, i believe that excuse is a slogan in the making for our failed politicians if we are not careful. Take care and God Bless.   

4 Play:

Lets arguendo concede that the Buhari/Idiagbon regime "accomplished" things in a short time,isn't it troubling that your best model is a military dictatorship?

Democracies,with all their imperfections,inherently move more slowly than dictatorships.There is no way we can achieve lightning-quick changes unless we adopt a more dictatorial regime.

I would say China, post-Deng's reforms, has seen rapid development.However,Japan did experience even more rapid changes but this could not have happened without US occupation.

Although,each country has its unique features-different histories,cultures and ethnic/racial make up-the lesson we can draw from the Asian Tigers -Singapore,Taiwan,Malaysia,S.Korea,Indonesia,Thailand-is that such rapid development often best work in dictatorships;the contrasts between India and China has intrigued scholars for ages.

Unless we want a "strongman" to take over the country,the progress we wish for can only be attained gradually.

There are so many "vested interests" that ensure that certain unwholesome practices will continue to be indulged in.I have always said that if the President experienced a divine apparition that inspires him to rule with the greatest sense of altruism,he won't last in power.Pragmatism demands changes must be gradual,moving too quickly can be self-defeating.

Nope. Not troubling at all. It was what we had at the time and they did a very good job too. Ask any average Nigerian who remembers the time and you will get nothing but lots of good talk about the state of that country than you would bad. If Military rule is needed to change things in that country, I see nothing against it. Check out Singapore and consider the state of the country and then the type of rule in the country.

Anyway, before we run away on another tangent here, what I am saying is that we have had a revolution work in the past; in the history of this same nation and if we can do it again, this be the time to do it. Regardless of what sort of government was in control at the time, what we know is that it worked better than any other before it and so far, after it and if we can look at what they did right in such a short time and do it again, we might get Nigerian just where it needs to be for things to start happening spontaneously.