I love the guy, thats why his pic is in my profile,

I love the way he stands out with his powerful-agbada especially in pictures featuring other world leaders,


baba Obas is my man 24/7
but all the same, jokes are a healthy way to get a life, in fact, doctors advice people to makefun of themselves once in a while,

omoifa:



You sound so authoritative dude. Speaking for over 120 million Nigerians. Who told you the majority don't want him. Who told you the majority even cares who rules them. Are you the majority. Just because our media houses have taken sides doesn't mean they are the majority. Let me tell you authoritatively that most Nigerians don't give a damn who rules them. They care more about being able to live a normal life. So if its an OBJ there or You they really don't care. It is only the elite like you or the Termites like many others who care. How many of you are elite make the 120 million. I bet you can't even make one percent. I plead that you think through instead of reading a thoroughly biased media. Don't you know that is how they sell their papers. If they align with Government as NTA does nobody will buy them like the way everyone regards NTA nowadays. How many people use to by Daily Times in those days when it was still Govt owned and there were private competition like Guardian. Yes, most people bought it before private competition because there was no alternative. Yes everyone watched NTA then because there was no alternative. The situation is different now. The trick is that when you start talking Anti-Establishment then you start getting noticed both by the establishment and the opposition. So you get full coverage. If you talk Government everybody knows you talk Government so you have nothing interesting. Maybe except when government does great things like send a teacher to space.

I can tell you that the papers should not have taken sides. They will cause this ethnic violence if there will be any.




Obviously Dude you have not been reading through the forum. I am saying loud and clear that we do not want to Gamble!. If you want to gamble go to a casino nearby and stake all your earnings or maybe your life on a horse race or Lotto. I bet you wouldn't do that. However you are telling us to gamble because it really does not directly affect you. And what is the reason why we should gamble?. According to you
simply because they should not amend the constitution for one man. Just listen to you!.

Answer this question Dude!

If in a horse race you know the odds are against your favourite horses because:

1. Over 50% of your favourite horses are too old. (Over 50% of Possible Candidates to the Presidency are established Termites)
2. The time the horse owners have to prepare the horses for the race is damn too short. (The probability of getting an experienced, tested and fine man to be a successor is too short)

Will you stake out <b>all <b>your earnings and life for any of your favourite horses?

Maybe you will stake out some of your earnings. But all!, I doubt.

So why are you telling us to do that?

We will only gamble if there is an insurance that when we loose all our money we will still somehow get half of it back through some insurance scheme. Right now we don't have that scheme. As Jibitoye rightly said the institutions are not yet in place. This institutions would have insured us from a mad Termite.

To Omoifa

I have to join your fracas with dude and i stand point blank to say that you are wrong and have no justification for syaing Obasanjo should extend his tenure because he has put programmes aimed at re-position Nigeria and has done well for the nation. I am also peeved by u advoating that the media houses are the ones misrepresenting the wishes of the Nigerian people. Well, u are a blatant liar if u say that Nigerians don't care who their President is or say that they are in support of the third term syndrome. See if Nigerians do not care who their leaders are, they definitely will not stand in long queues on election day and thumb print for who they want. Obasanjo and the PDP governors all stole the true votes of the people in 2003 and this time want to manipulate the process to stand again. Well this guys should be told that Nigerians are sick of them and cannot stomach anybody anymore. For 7 years now, we have had democracry in action and yet the poor man has nothing to live for. Go around and see the poverty that has overtaken Nigeria for God's sack and u say Obasanjo should be given a chance. See we need to face the truth here, Yes, he's done good in communications with GSM, yes he has helped Nigeria get some leverage with Debt Relief, Yes, he has put the country back on the International map BUT he has also seen the price of Garri, rice, firewoood, candle, kerosene, cement and everything the average Nigerian has left for him blown sky-high. See Nigerians have suffered. its is time they at least have a change. We need to see what others can do. Anyone saying that only Obasanjo can rule Nigeria is simply been stupid. In a country of 120 million, u can't sheepishly say crap like that, so are the others simply donkeys or what?
See the polity must not be bastardized because Obasanjo wants a 3rd term, he should leave. The Senate had an uproar the other day as another bill surfaced saying Governors were included in the third term scheme. Imagine, Ibasanjo for selfish reasons is trying to see that People like Dariye return to govern Plateau state. See, i live in Jos and jos has seen all the rough sides in recent years all because of this guy. Now should we continue to suffer because Obasanjo wants a third term and Dariye will support him. How about the millions of people staying in Plateau state who do not like Dariye? Can the stomach him again once he foists himself on them.
See shame on all Nigerians who support this agenda cos all it does is smack our intelligence as a people. Obasanjo today, who knows what willl happen tomorow? some idiot will also come a demand for a 12th term and make reference to the schemings Obasanjo is doing right now?
Truth is 99% of Nigerians are not in support of the 3rd term and thats all. Anyone trying to circumnavigate this issue to make a point for this agenda is simply being stupid

Aren't you typical dude. In your arguments you have not laid down any sound reason why the people should reject a good government. We all know the media is biased. They themselves make it clear they are biased. I wonder what you mean when you said "Can you tell me how taking a position Translate’s into being biased?". I would have swore that was automatic. So what if you take pro-third term adverts sometimes when 90%-100% of the paper is anti-third term anyway. I just simply can't understand your import.  You take a position and you say you remain unbiased. I think you should go look for a kindergaten to preach that to. Did you see how Thisday was trying to vigourously defend that advert they put out. How many anti-third term advert have they defended like that. You might want to try and find out how much they got for that advert. I understand it is in the region of 20 million Naira. Grow up my brother. I interact with them and i know what is going on. Being biased and taken a position does not mean they are not credible, they are simply being mischievous. They report stories as it is only that they report one more than the other because they have already taken sides. They know the power they weld and they have refused to use the power judiciously.

What you have failed to understand is that the names you have mentioned are not 0.0001% of Nigerians. Unless you prove to me that each name you mentioned is a 100,000 times superior to the common man on the street, then i will start to listen to both you and them. You are not even ashamed to mention those same "Elder Statemen" who have continue to impoverish us in our 46 years in existence.  

You see dude, i am a scientist. I don't get carried away by big talks without logics. I try to follow the part of logic as far as it can take me. Take the issue of "120 Million Nigerians don't really give a damn who governs them. All they need is a good life". I can easily prove that to you. Not even going too far :If you look at most elections in the world, low voter turnout is acceptable and most times voter turnouts are low. If you get 50% turnout in an election, the election is considered very successful. Doesn't that tell you something. Is there anywhere in the world where they have an election quorum. It simply wouldn't work because of voter apathy. So can you sincerely tell me then that most individuals care about who rules them. All they care about is their daily butter and bread. They are happy when the ruler is good and wouldn't care if the ruler is OBJ or you or me. They wouldn't give a damn if the ruler is there for 200 years or 2 years. Weren't we living under Kings recently. So how can you be authoritatively saying that they don't want third term. Don't arrogate your thoughts to 120 million Nigerians. That is simply arrogant and mischievious.


You see, people like me see clearly where the protagonists are going. Whether OBJ turns to a life President or not is an issue to be tested. What is right under our nose now is the issue of continuity and the risks of gambling away our little achievement to your "Elder Statemen".

Let me now tell you how the Nigerian People will probably think contrary to your submission.

There are necessary basics and desirables which human beings, including Nigerians, yearn for:

First of all we all yearn for a normal or good life. The type that will allow one pay his bills (School fees, Mortgage etc) and own basic things of modern life (Car, House etc) , have a job that will allow you attain your goal in life, get services that will make life easy (Uninterrupted Power Supply, Good Communication, Good Road, Excellent Transportation etc), adequate Security etc. Constitutions are meant to help people achieve these goals. That is why the guarantee of life, liberty and the pursuit of  happiness is the hallmark of the American Constitution,

Secondly, most people, including Nigerians, care less on who rules them. OBJ, IBB, You , Me. What they care about is how to attain their good life. Our recent past shows this. During the days of military coups we jubilate because we believe that the previous administration has let us down and we exercise hope in the new one. We don’t condemn the new one, rather we pray and we continue to hope that they will take us to the promised land until they fail. Then the next group takes over and we jubilate again only to later regret when we find out that the last administration was better. Equally during democratic elections in most cases, people don’t bother going to vote. This is not only in Nigeria but in most places and that is why low voter turnouts are excusable. And there is no quorum for elections. So we are not really particular about who rules. All we need is for him/her to give us the normal life and happiness we yearn for.

These two points are good enough to deduce the wishes of the people of Nigeria.

It is obvious from the first point that those who are for the third term are not doing anything extra-ordinary. They are simply exercising their fundamental right. They believe that amending the constitution to accommodate a third term will achieve the very essence of the constitution- To give us a better life. The antagonist simply are fighting a constitution review making excuses like “Don’t change goal post in the middle of the game”. Who says a goal post cannot be changed if it brings the good life everybody wants. It simply shows that we have turned the whole thing to a game.

If one takes a deep look at the protagonists’ arguments you will not fail to understand that given our state of affairs the essence of a two terms Presidency in our own situation is to automatically stop a bad government, not a good and purposeful one. Indeed in a democracy where we don’t have strong institutions to checkmate a rampaging Chief Executive it is definitely not a good idea to keep changing them especially if we are lucky to find a purposeful one after several attempts. The United States during the depression years gave F.D. Roosevelt  four consecutive terms in office until they got out of depression. Were we not in a worse situation before 1999?

It is obvious from the second point that Nigerians don’t care and would not care about a one term Presidency or a third term Presidency or any other arrangement for that matter. As far as they are concerned what matters is the provision of the good things of life. Anybody who gives them that is their leader.

It is the elite that care about a third term or a life presidency because it robs them off the opportunity to partake in the priviledges of power and the money and the fame it brings, So this third term war is the war of the elites. It has little or nothing to do with the people. They have to fight the amendment to a stand still. They must not let it get to the election stage because they do not trust the people to deliver the verdict. They have to do it somehow else before it gets to the people. They don’t really care about the people. They only use them to achieve their ends. Our buoyant foreign reserve, BB- rating,  does not help matters too. Who will not want to preside over such a fat account. Who will not want to preside over an establishment with a goodwill that can be translated into Naira and kobo in the Financial Markets of the world. It is a very good reason to fight “for the people”.  Don’t be fooled that this same people will orchestrate tenure enlogation when their time comes.

We all agree that in order for the constitution to continue to guarantee good life it is necessary to keep amending it. Afterall  the great democracies have amended their constitutions several times. However the good life will definitely come only when we have a good and purposeful leader.

So it is the man in the saddle that is important to the people. The constitution sets the rule and the man in the saddle works within it to give us the good life. If the people feel he is doing good and still need his service then the constitution must be amended to give him the opportunity to give us as much better life as we deserve. After all some stable democracies do not put limits to their Presidency. All they demand is that the incumbent and aspiring candidates should periodically subject themselves to the vote of the people. A single term of the French Presidency is almost our two terms. Yet the President can go more than once. Francois Mitterand was on the saddle for fourteen years (1981-1995). Jacques Chirac renewed his mandate for another seven years in 2002.

For us to stick to a two term of four years provision like the US we need to have strong institutions like they have. So what we should probably be demanding is for the President to build strong institutions that will stand the test of time. Institutions that will outlive Presidents.  Institutions that will effectively checkmate a rampaging President.When such institutions are in place then we can rest, assured that even if we mistakenly vote a mad man into office the institutions will limit the damage he can do to us. Right now the country does not have such strong institutions.  It is only when such institutions are in place that we should change good Presidents at random because we are somewhat insured.

The protagonists of third term tell us that these institutions are already being built and strengthened by President Obasanjo. They rightly argue that President Obasanjo has been doing the necessary things to enhance already established institutions and create more. Institutions such as NAFDAC, NCC, CBN, Ministry of Finance, FIRS, FCT, Budget Office, Customs, Space Agency etc are some of the institutions being strengthened. Other necessary institutions created include an ICPC, EFCC, NERC (Electricity Regulatory Commission) etc. They argue that his style of doing it is that, First, he appoints honest, professional and very knowledgeable individual to head the place. The individual, after a thorough analysis of the institution, makes recommendations on ways to strengthen the institutions. The recommendations are used by the President to produce a bill. The bill is forwarded to the National Assembly to be made into an act of Parliament. They conclude that, we should allow the man to complete the strengthening and creation of all these necessary institutions.

The question then is “Do we want to gamble away this opportunity when strong democracy like the US understood it in the thirties and effectively deployed it to get themselves out of depression?”.

The arguments of the pro-third term people are compelling. Only a cynic will dismiss it as nonsense.

Danmasani You are welcome. Read my reply to dude and lets take it from there

Dansami, I just thouroughly read through your submission. Hey Yah! Sorry Dariye is coming back. But you can still vote against him. I will only employ you not to sit down in your house thinking all Plateau people don't like him. You had better go out and mobilize for people to vote against him. The people might shock you because we can only guess what they want. We can't truly know what they want. To claim to know what 99% want is wishful thinking. You can at least explain how you got the figure. Maybe people like me will start to believe you.

My dear I am happy you are even able to reel out some achievements. I can reel out much more if you want. How can you conclude that we should simply try someone else for the sake of that. For you to come screaming again tomorrow. If you want a roller coaster ride why don't you just visit an amusement park.

I have explained when i think we should clamour for someone else

Read through my reply to dude to see and lets take it up from there

Nice discussion guys i think there are both merits and demerits to both your views
firstly since Obasanjo is so great a leader, I believe the final test of leadership is to be able to appoint a successor that will take over from you. Now guys if after 8 years a man still wants to stay on (remember he had been here earlier), that to me i s a failure of leadership. Yes he's brought us back to the int'l community, yes he's paid off out debts (no mean feat), but at the same time, he has presided over the largest continuous revenue generating period in the History of Nigeria, if you ask me, though he's done some things, it doesn't quite measure up compared to the income. for crying out loud, Nigeria made $12 billion dollars in 2 months Jan to Feb this year!! (all that is more than the whole gulf war loot pple are accusing IBB over, but thats another issue) we cannot see the evidence of all this, save for a few cosmetic things here and there, there has been no real impact on the average citizen. yes some hard decisions had to be made now for the future, but still 7 years down the line, we should be seeing more results now, we still dont have semi-stable power not to talk of stable, roads are still a mess, schools are still terrible. I think he should leave in 2007, use the remaining time to groom a successor, thats what was done in South Africa, thats what is happening in the Uk. OBJ go when the ovation is loudest!!

What is it that obasanjo still has to offer.He has outlived his usefulness.He has ran out of ideas.He should leave the stage now before he is disgraced.I do not see what else he has to offer if after spending eight years in office Nigeria still cannot boast of stable supply of electricity,and access to the basic neccesities of life to the vast majority of the people is still a mirage.When he came to power in 1999,it was one dollar to 84 naira,now it is 0ne dollar to 147 naira.The debt forgiveness has not translated to food on the tables of average nigerian.Corruption in Nigeria is at its highest level.Only those whose are anti 3rd term are being apprehended by the so called EFCC.THE LEADER NIGERIA NEEDS is one with fresh and dynamic ideas,one with the fear of God,one that is ready to make a change not minding whose ox is gored.
It is also high time that we gave people from the East or south -south a chance to have a feel of the Government

debostar:


Corruption in Nigeria is at its highest level.

It is also high time that we gave people from the East or south -south a chance to have a feel of the Government

So that is where you are driving at?

To Omoifa

I read both your comments to Dude and me. well i must tell you this, you still stand wrong on alot of points and the there is no basis for continuity for this administration. You said i should get a rollercoaster for wanting to try another person as president. Well, i would if only Obasanjo had made the environment easier for a rollercoaster for me to climb and afford it. See the USSR was confused when Josef Stalin died, why? becuase the depended on this man and made him a demi-god. They said to themselves, what will we do now that this man has died? they had no direction, no focus and ked to the collapse of the empire. well that is exactly what people like you are advoacting? u want us to believe that Obsanjo is some kind of demi-god, a messenger destined to us from God to save us! Obsanjo has ruled Nigeria for 13 years now for God's sack. He has been in government or served in it since the time of Gowon. Obasanjo has seen it all and still wants a 3rd term, havent we suffered from him enough. U reel out names of agencies like NAFDAC,EFCC, ICPC( who still havent tried 1 person successfully), NCC, CBN et al, alright how about PHCN,NITEL, Education,health, roads, railways, water, security,refiniries, Niger-delta etc. See
-300billion naira according to Anenih and Obsanjo were sunked into improving our roads, yet there is not one major highway in Nigeria that is safe. Have the come out to pinpoint where exaclty the 300 billion was spent!
- $4 billion( 600billion naira) was said to have been spent on the refiniries, yet not one is working to full capacity there.
-NEPA has changed to PHCN but there is still incessant power interruptions in Nigeria, worse that what Obasanjo met
- people are dying of poor water supply, cholera and other diseases are on the rise across the nation due to poor management
- $1 met by him at 85 naira is now 147 and climbing.
see the list goes on and on. The main point here is that we Nigerians truly have to take a bitter pill to get back on a sound track, but please don't make it too bitter for us! we have suffered. Do something meanifull or maximize what we have to improve our fortunes. Businesses are crumbling daily due to erratic power supply, has anyone thought about that, yet people keep reeling out "NEEDS", "Vision 2010", "NEPAP" and all other bullshit saying it will improve our conditions whereas the infrastructure needed to initiate this schemes are non-existant or decayed.
See we should not be fools, Americans told FDR to stand more because he solved their problems for all sides. Jacque Chirac was relected because he performed incredibly well for his people and still does. he is so popular that it was only when he stepped in that the recent violent riots seen around Paris was stopped, can they same be said of Obsanjo? NO.
Some people have benefited from this administration( NBC, MAN,Aliko Dangote), but can the same be said of millions of people out there! Be realistic, do you think that in a free and fair elections conducted today that Obasanjo will beat someone like Atiku? Atiku might be the devil, but Nigerians have tested Obasanjo and have seen hell, don't u think they'll prefer to vote for a part of hell that is less hot?
See lets us remove from our minds the notion that Obsanjo leaving the stage come 2007 is doom for Nigeria. No it is not. If he can right now, begin to groom a succesor like Marwa or anyone the majority can stomach now, then Nigeria can walk to a path of light. I don't care if Obasanjo controls Marwa during his presidency, as far as Nigerians can begin to see their bulbs shinning 24/7 and water gushing out all year round. If a deserted land like Mali can have uninterrupted water supply, why can't Nigeria have same. Dont give land mass as a reason because Mali is almost Nigeria's size. The questions of source is even out of consideration.
Just like someone said, Obsanjo should leave when the ovation is loud, nothing more can be said.
The press have so far done what is right and deserves our commendation. I stay in NY and have read articles on the NY Times urging Obasanjo not to tread this path. Nigeria is bigger than one man's ego, please we too are people. Dont go manipulting the process when it might end up jeopardizing the system. we should learn from our mistakes. The press has always stood with Nigerians and must as always be firm now. I still stand by my commment that the Nigerian majority does not support a 3rd tem. Guardian took a poll recently and that testified to it
We must now stand for justice and equity in Nigeria. it is not a gamble we are taking for advocating for someone else, neither is it fool-hardy. It is a step we must take to see that we can for once uphold the law and be just. Sure u can change the goal post of the game, but that depends only if the fans (NIgerians) watching the game will tolerate you. Constituitonal amendment is commendable, but not 3rd term manipulation.
We must face the truth Nigerians, Obsanjo has gotta to leave. We can't say more!

Vox Populi, Vox Deux

Now i understand where you are coming from. You are one of those who sit comfortably in a good environment and profer anti-people solutions like IMF.

Danmasani:


See the USSR was confused when Josef Stalin died, why? becuase the depended on this man and made him a demi-god. They said to themselves, what will we do now that this man has died? they had no direction, no focus and ked to the collapse of the empire. well that is exactly what people like you are advoacting? u want us to believe that Obsanjo is some kind of demi-god, a messenger destined to us from God to save us! Obsanjo has ruled Nigeria for 13 years now for God's sack.

Unfortunately for you I am a product of the USSR. Yes I speak Russian very well. Your submission on USSR is so wrong that I can't but help asking you to do researches well before you start proffering solutions that can affect millions of people. Yes they made Stalin a demi-god. Stalin died in 1953. USSR crumbled in 1991. 38 Years after.  It went through Nikita Khrushev, Leonid Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko and lastly Gorbachev. Five General Secretaries (As they are called). So how did they loose direction and collapse 38 years after. I will remind you that Khrushev negated all the things Stalin did. As such he steered the ship of state away from that direction. Which shows clearly that they knew exactly what they were doing. Anyway don't let me go too far on that. If you want to know why Soviet Union collapsed ask me another day. I was in the thick and thin of it when it was dis-integrating.

Josef Stalin is not OBJ and vice versa. OBJ can never be a demi-god. The modern day society does not understand that. Maybe 60 years ago it would have been possible. We have simply noticed some good qualities in him and we want to tap those qualities until they are there no more then we chuck him out. We haven't seen those qualities in anyone including your Atiku. Maybe when we have strong institutions that will checkmate thieves (or Termites as i call them) from inflicting irreversible damage on us then we can continue to gamble Chief Executives.

Where did you get 13 years from. Yes he ruled first for 3 years (1976-1979) and now 7 years. That is 10 years. Well I think if you build a company in three years and then decide that you want to go on retirement and appoint a new Chief Executive there and then you come back 20 years later to find that the company that you left with 30 Company Cars, 7 Standby Generators, Well tiled  floors, Employees with progressing career, is now on the edge of bankrupcy. 1 company car left, 2-3 dilapidated Generators, Tiled floos are all peeling unattended to, Carrers have been stagnated etc etc. What will you do when you take over the company back. Given that you did enjoy your retirement and you want to go back to it then the first thing you will do is to revive the company and afterwards put all the necessary check and balances that will never allow any Chief Executive inflict such damage anymore. In fact, most people will simply never return to retirement. But in our own case, retirement is a must. I can tell you that the employee of the company will be very glad that the guy is back. Obviously they will not want him to ever go back to retirement. It is only the thieves and mis-chief makers that will want him to go so they can continue their bad deeds.

So how long he rules is not the point. It the quality of leadership we should scrutinize.

Danmasani:


He has been in government or served in it since the time of Gowon. Obasanjo has seen it all and still wants a 3rd term, havent we suffered from him enough. U reel out names of agencies like NAFDAC,EFCC, ICPC( who still havent tried 1 person successfully), NCC, CBN et al, alright how about PHCN,NITEL, Education,health, roads, railways, water, security,refiniries, Niger-delta etc. See
-300billion naira according to Anenih and Obsanjo were sunked into improving our roads, yet there is not one major highway in Nigeria that is safe. Have the come out to pinpoint where exaclty the 300 billion was spent!
- $4 billion( 600billion naira) was said to have been spent on the refiniries, yet not one is working to full capacity there.
-NEPA has changed to PHCN but there is still incessant power interruptions in Nigeria, worse that what Obasanjo met
- people are dying of poor water supply, cholera and other diseases are on the rise across the nation due to poor management
- $1 met by him at 85 naira is now 147 and climbing.

You are either confused or grossly mis-informed. I mentioned those few parastatals because i can't mention all.

I don't understand what you mean by Nitel. Nitel is not a policy making or regulatory  institution. The institution in this sector is NCC. And we all know what NCC is doing. And that is the institution he should be strenghtening not Nitel, a company.

He is definitely strenghtening the power sector.
Between 1979 when OBJ left govt and 1999 when he came back only one power station was built in a country where experts say we should have been building one or two power stations annually. That is the essence of the problem.

First of all, we all agree that for NEPA to work it needs to be privatised fast. Yes he probably goofed in the beginning by listening to advise that rehabilitating alone would solve our problem. Mind you even people like Chief Bola Ige then were deceived into believeing that and that was why he made such recommendations to OBJ. The sincerety of the man shows in the way and manner he removed the Power portfolio from under his long term friend when he saw that was not the solution. Yes billions of Naira had been spent then.  It was then Imoke concluded that for efficiency it must be sold and since then I think the President continued to reduce budgetary allocation to the sector until he saw progress in the privatisation.

I keep telling people that we are so unlucky with the power sector. If the soldiers, through a decree had created a power sector NCC we would have been far ahead in power development. In case you are unaware NEPA was the only company by law that could sell electricity. If you have a generator you can't even give light to your next door neighbour. Yes you could do it, but that will be illegal according to the laws of the land. In short you couldn't "breathe" power without NEPA in Nigeria. Even those who import generators commercially at a time had to collect licence from NEPA. In order to make any move in that sector the law must be repealed and a new one put in place. For your information that law was only passed last year. It was in the National Assembly for over three years.  Now the power sector has been deregulated. There is a regulatory body called NERC (The NCC of the power sector). Licences have been issued and seven new power stations are being built. Now you can come and build a power station and supply whoever you please and make money. If you want to generate less than 1 Megawatt of electricity you don't need a licence and you can supply your entire village without breaking any law. That is a very significant move. Privatisation was the solution to NEPA and we have that now. In fact OBJ has threatened all the major oil companies that they will not get choice block of oil if they don't build power stations. He wouldn't have been able to do that before the law. The oil companies will simply point it out to him that they will be breaking the law if they do that. England with a population of between 70-90 million Generates 72,000 MW of electricity, South Africa with 60million generates 45,000 Megawatts. Nigeria with 120 Million generated 1,600 Megawatts before OBJ and generates roughly 3000 now. Privatisation could only be the solution for a rapid development.If you need to know more i can tell you.

As for the refineries, as you rightly said billions have been spent. That is why they are privatising them now. But nobody will come to invest in those days in Nigeria because we were a Pariah State. That was one of the setbacks privatisation had in the early days. Now with a huge reserve and BB rating investors with the kind of money you need in that sector are coming and those things will be a thing of the past.


You guys talk as if you want someone to wave a magic wand and all things will become good overnight. Americans understood that they needed consistency to get them out of the wood that is why they gave F.D. such a long term.

My main concern is that some of the vital institutions should be in place before we start to gamble, so that we also can live in peace like you are over there. When those institutions are in place, then OBJ, Atiku, Babangida even Abacha can come back to rule. It will not affect us. Can you imagine if NEPA had been privatised long ago by the military and the regulatory commission intact. We wouldn't have the problem of one power station in 20 years. Power Stations will spring up as Banks use to spring up in those days. That is what we want

Democracy they say is a journey not a destination. It does not revolve around personality but institutions. If OBJ had wanted he could have created those channels through which democracy can flourish. Let's look at security and rule of law. Nigeria is not safer than he met it in 1999. Bola Ige was killed in his own home , up till today no one has been held accountable. His govt dilly-dallied this case until Bola Ige’s family became frustrated as alleged by Muyiwa Ige. If this govt could find out who killed   Mr Ige, Chief Prosector and Attorney General, then who is to be trusted?

Marshall Harry was murdered on Wednesday, 5th March 2003 at his Abuja residence.  He was a former National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-South, Niger Delta.  He later decamped to ANPP before 2003 general elections. Mysteries surrounding his death are yet to be unraveled. 
Alfred Aminasaori Kala Dikibo was murdered on the night of Friday, February 6, 2004. Until death Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-South.  This govt still does not have any clue.

Latest in our memories, Abubukar Rimi's wife was murdered in a cold blood. No one is taking responsibility. This is a fundamental failure of this govt. The core reason why govt is in place is to protect its citizenry.

Government is a collection of people's will entrusted into the hands of elected officials that would in turn carry out those intentions according to the   wishes of the people.
It’s very delusional to assert that OBJ is indispensable to Nigeria. Reasons;  he was dragged into presidency by  our military and feudal class and he has always acted to protect those vested interests. He really never wanted to become a President “ he said, how many presidents do want to produce out of me ?’’ He never prepared to lead Nigeria, never had a mindset of becoming a president. By the way, he became a Head of State by default- Murtala Muhhamed was assassinated for him to ascend into that throne.  This is like sending your son to a medical school, even though he never aspired to become a medical doctor. You just paid his way through. I got a question- would you allow him to perform any form of surgery on you?  You better fill in the blank space. `

This govt does have any regard for the law. He has continually disobeyed court rulings. Case in point ; Lagos state govt Vs Federal govt. This even made Chief Justice of the Federation to cry foul. I want us to know that the democracy was coined by someone and implemented by some other people. This world runs by conventions; time zones, latitudes, longitudes, etc. We can decide to come up with our own time zone or country code; instead we choose to follow a precedent. We need to set democratic precedents by respecting our constitution. OBJ could lay the foundation   for a viable democratic society. What makes us think that any administration that comes after him will  not change the constitution?  Let us remember that Hitler was democratically elected, like  wise Robert Mugabe, so were Hosni Mubarak of Egypt,   Omar Bongo of Gabon  and Yoweri Museveni  of Uganda, etc` We need to  set  some democratic precedents and conventions that will always be strictly adhered to.

It is an insult to over one hundred million Nigerians that they cannot  produce a reputable  leader yet this  nation that has  produced likes   former Common Wealth Secretary General, former Rotary International   President,  noble laureate,  former World Bank vice president, notable scientists, legal luminaries, and lots more. Nigeria is not devoid of talent to lead us to the promise land, but devoid of political will to open up the political space to allow for new blood. We can do better.

@ Omoifa
Obasanjo has still not come out to say plainly that he wants to be president. Probably by doing that and giving credible reasons to the people who put him there will serve him good.
Rather he has denied with utmost vehemance every suggestion to link him to constituitonal review. He said he was not a manipulator on CNN but has clearly not only manipulated the stage for the constituiton to be amended to suit his gains, but has persecuted those opposed to it. Thus, Nigerians who are mostly not in support are put in harm's way by the same person who swore to protect them.

See credibility is an attribute of a leader and if he says something today, he should stick to it. he should not make "back door moves" thinking Nigerians are stupid. For Obasanjo to use satans like Mantu, Anenih and any other ill-minds to promote this agenda shows his desperation and willingness to see that his selfishness is achieved despite the possibility of a crack in the project Nigeria he is trying to serve.

He has served his purpose. He should go. Thousands can do exactly what he has done. Let them take it from there!

To everyone in support of third term , u clearly will want to read this and open your minds!.

Culled from the Vanguard

That wrap around advert


Sunday, April 30, 2006 Voice of Reason
Kola Animasaun

UNTIL the papers started getting wrapped around by pro-third term people adverts, I did not realise how desperate the situation is, or how desperate those who stand to benefit are. For avoidance of doubt, newspaper advertisements do not come cheap these days. Any advertiser who would take a cover; or inside of cover; or back page or inside back page not talk of all of these, at a go, must be fully loaded. Any of these pages can be taken only with a surcharge of some- times beyond 100 per cent

And when I noticed that the adverts were paid for by private sector supporters of the project, it then means they support tenure extension and they are putting their money where their mouth is. Their argument is that “the government of the day has set in motion the crucial machinery of industrial growth, business development and the ultimate emergence of Nigeria as a leading economic power. In the last seven years, Nigeria has been positioned on the path of greatness , ” and bla, bla, bla.

Not to be accused of just sounds and no fury, it sets out programmes of its rationale. Under some notable achievements, it noted the banking reforms, due process; telecoms; transparency/anti-corruption, privatisation; debt relief; foreign investments; emergence of the middle class; foreign reserve increment and exploration of more natural resources. There is a reason why this effort must be praised. It shows the sector believes very much in the culture of debate and the freedom to air opinions. It is our hope that their principals agree with them. It should be taken from there that they concede to the opposition that they also have a right to disagree.

There is a point which they made in their advertisement that we think they have made inadvertently or in a moment of clear thinking:“This whole debate goes beyond personalities." I take it that it means it goes beyond Obasanjo . It has to do with good government. If that were so, why must the tenure of an elected government be extended fraudulently? Why should it not be left to the people to use their franchise to give mandate to whatever government they choose - incumbent or not? Why is it necessary to spend so much money and bribe so many people to sell a good broth? Isn’t it said that a good broth needs no brush? There must be something sinister about the motive.

What is the bottom line for a good government? We think it has to do with how the policies affect the common people. And the truth of the matter is that the common people are the ones bearing the brunt of the insensitivity of this government. And the faceless people who think this is the best thing that has happened to us are the beneficiaries of the gravy train. So, they want the party to continue. But it is not necessary to dispute the esoteric achievements of the government. They should be subjected to empirical test: how has the so-called achievements affected the common man?

Banking reform: It has thrown many people out of jobs and spread misery across the land. Many have lost their hard-earned earnings. There has been no noticeable improvement in service which was one of the touted advantages. We have acquired the new lingo of system breakdown. The so-called online system has been more of a hindrance than a help. I know from experience. I spent quite a penny to get a little money I sent to my daughter recently through her account in Lagos to the bank’s branch in Abuja. My experience is not isolated. I want to be told how many small scale businessmen have had access to loan since the reform.

Due process: Indeed! Yet, many fat camels are passing through the needle’s eye. It is not too long now that we were talking of gaps in NNPC’s accounts. And so far, we have received no answer to the allegation of unilateral withdrawal and spending of N12.97bn by the Presidency from excess crude account.
Telecoms: Yes, it’s some achievement. But no-one will deny the rot setting in. Too many calls are lost which subsequently translates to loss of money and valuable business. The companies are making a kill at the expense of Nigerians.

Transparency policy/Anti-corruption: They are mere slogans even if one admits some ineffectual noises. There is no smoke without fire as we hear of bribery and bribeable assemblymen to support unconstitutional propositions. Nobody can deny the strong-arm tactics used for collection of funds for Obasanjo Presidential Library. We have not been convinced how we have settled the matter of how a young Obasanjo got so many thousands of dollars to buy a house in the U.S. Mum has been the word on the NPA report, etc. etc.

Privatization: The government knows that we have been thoroughly dissatisfied with the implementation of the policy. There is the unmistakable impression that the government has been bent on selling our patrimony to a few selected individuals.

Debt relief: Don’t we all live on borrowed time? Why not on borrowed money? What would it benefit us? The government says we stand to gain. But our feeling is that it is a ploy to feed some ego and some ambition. Ayangbe aja dun, kila maje ki oto agbe? A roasted dog is sweet but what shall we eat in the interim? But to say it has rubbed off positively on all citizens can be nothing other than wickedness. I host a lot of beggars in this corner and I know they are no ordinary ones - they are people who would rather give service for a fee rather than stretch out the begging bowl.

Foreign investments: Yes, there might have been some. The question is: where are they putting the money and how has it benefitted the army of the unemployed?
Emergence of the middle class: I know my village here in Dopemu is not the place to look for one. But I do not know where there are that many. If there are, as the promoters are claiming, I want to be told where to find them. And I will then ask of what use they have been to the economy. They are supposed to make the difference.

Foreign reserve increment: Yes, we are told we are couple of scores of billion dollars rich. What use is the money that would not make the difference to the common man? How do you tell a man enjoys well-being? - he feeds well, turns out well, enjoys good housing. No one carries a passbook all over the place to show he has money.

Exploration of natural resources: It spoke of agriculture as generating national income. Let us for the purpose of argument agree that the claims are true and correct, does it justify installing a dictatorship? Must we lose our freedom for all of those?

Private Sector Supporters for Good and Transparent Governance should not be faceless. They should be bold enough to tag their names to the object of their love. That way, we would be truly apprised of their true intention. If we deserve true federalism and real democracy, we cannot afford to promote corruption under the guise of continuity and stability. We, all stakeholders, must be allowed to have our say then the majority can have their way. Good governance thrives on political tolerance and honesty. The most profitable dividend of that is stability. The nation today is most apprehensive. Its helmsmen have appropriated apparatuses of state to the hounding of political opponents. Clearly, that kind of state should not merit a third term.

Danmasani! Nobody is saying Obasanjo shouldn't go. What I am pointing out here is that you can say it responsibly or irresponsibly. I believe if you were a chess player you will understand that there are certain positions of the game when you can exchange your queen (The most powerful piece) for a pawn(The least powerful piece). You will do that because you know that it is absolutely certain that you will capture the King (The single most important piece on the board). You will not exchange it when you know you wouldn't capture the King. You can as well resign the game immediately if that happens.
You are saying OBJ should go not caring what will happen next. I am saying OBJ should go after we are secured enough to know that the next person will not be able to cause serious damage even if he wishes to. That is what is called insurance my man.  You should believe in taking insurance policies. It works. Don't be one of the "What will happen will happen guys". You will only come back again and start screaming when that happens. As I told one of my fellow forumite. If you want a roller coaster ride why don't you simply go to an amusement park. Don't take 120 million other souls with you. Abeg Dansanmi.

The insurance policy is strong institutions that will checkmate anybody effectively and limit the damage he/she can do. That is what we should demand from OBJ, not changing people. At least we know that this President does not have such a itchy hand as the others. Even if he has, we don't know, he is still saving a whole lot for us. Soludo says we will have 50 billion foreign reserve at the end of the year. My prayer is that we should enter into a pact with OBJ. "We give you 4 more years to strenghten the vital institutions that will checkmate a thief-in-power. Even if you don't do anything else, make sure that those institutions work. Then you should run to Ota as fast as you can". I think that will be a good deal

But telling him to run to Ota as fast as he can without insuring ourselves is not worth it. I am for such a pact. I don't know about you but all my kids have insurance policies in case i penkeme one day. I hope yours also have.

Don't mind the vanguard people. All the newspapers have taken positions. Who cares what they say. They are human beings like you and me. Look at how he has condemned all the great achievements that even world powers and leaders recognise as great strides. I wonder which of the masters he is working for. Maybe IBB or is it renegade Atiku. Abeg we too get our power jare. Na the internet be our own. We go exercise am rubbish those who want to rubbish our little achievement in Nigeria. Long live Nigeria

@ omoifa,
I am still amazed at the references you always hinge your arguments on. Will you please tell me where or how (figuratively or literally) the press made it clear they are biased so that I will not continuing arguing with you on that. But I should at the same time tell you  am well learned and don’t need any newspaper article to interpret political or economical issues. So you still insist our media is biased huh? What about New York times who is neutral in this issue? And jerry Rawlings who is supposes to be obasanjo’s friend, but has chosen to voice out against this madness of 3rd term? Did I hear you say they are not Nigerians and their opinions should not count? (Of course not)
    All adverts for and aginst third term are paid for. Should I tell you most of our media houses that have chosen to anti third term have a choice not to take pro-third term advert if they want to. How? All adverts are booked in advance, and most times they have adverts accruing for a while, and sometimes they cannot even meet the time deadline given to them by advertisers. So they can choose what they want to publish because there are enough adverts to choose from. Ask your acclaimed friends in the press, they will tell you. 
  Am happy you responded to the THISDAY issue. Of course they said they were giving (as they had been doing) the pro-third term campaigners room for expression. Given the strength of a company like leaders and company (publishers of thisday), they could choose not to have published that advert without any financial or commercial implication. Any strongly biased organization will not be financially induced. So your allegation that they got about 20 million does not hold water. And even with the criticisms that followed, have thisday stopped 3rd term campaigners from using their forum?  Again, that is taking your defence of third term to an unreasonable proportion.

And listen my friend, names I mentioned are people who are associated with president obasanjo and are advocating third term. But if I will mention renowned professionals and of course ELDER STATESMEN, who are opposed to third term, I will give you up a thousand names that have NEVER severed in any government, been government officials and have never benefited directly from any government but are opposed to third term. Most are even worn out and are just a breath away from the grave, but refuse to be roped into supporting the illegality of third term. So that is for your assumption that elder statesmen have in your words “improvised us in our 46 years of existence”. I will rather just say in clear terms that people I was referring to have never been politicians or held power and therefore had no chance of improvishing us.

Talking about “ 120 million Nigerians don’t give a damn about who governs them and all they want is a good life”, which your support was hinged on popularized low voters turn out everywhere in the word. I will tell you straight away that was a very wrong example and a Bloody excuse. Have you taken the stress and discomfort associated with voter’s quee into consideration?  If there is a statistics on an election day, can you convieniently determine the sick and disabled? Could it also be that people (majority of whom are poor) who are suppose to be voters will just primarily concern themselves with their basic needs and not bother to quee up because it wouldn’t put that day’s bread on their table or fishes on their hook?  Do you know those same people who won’t be bothered by voting still at the end of the day scramble to monitor election results? They still take time out to argue election results in tea\coffee shops, bars and other public places. And where they lack electronic gadgets, they stand across shops who have large screen TV’s to see the polls.  On what research, discovery or any meaningful (and of course logical) explanation will you (a scientist) give that most people all over the world don’t give a damn about who governs them? Your explanation defies ALL the rules of Logic you claim you try to follow as far as it takes you.
         And they wouldn’t give a damn if he rules for 200 or 2 years if he provides a good life? Then to my question. Have the better population of Nigeria tasted the Good life? Perception, my friend signifies reality. Majority of Nigerian still live below poverty line. When Macon Hawkins of Texas was released by the militants in Niger-Delta, he couldn’t but express worries over the precarious situation of the slums in the oil producing communities. All he said was the need for the United States to pressurize Nigerian leaders on the need to take care of their people. Of course, his assessment of the situation is genuinely the true portrait of the Nigerians masses in whose lives poverty is already reigning supreme. The situation in the Niger-Delta creeks is similar to those of Nigerians living in the slums of Nyanyan, Mararaba, ldu-Karimo and other suburbs of Abuja, most of them a stone throw distance to Aso Rock. Are you then telling us Obasanjo probably needs only four years more to actually transform Nigeria, even if the task has been too laborious for him in eight years. Nigeria’s destiny is certainly not in the hands of an Obasanjo.So going by your judgment; obasanjo has not delivered (at least to those people). Do I still at this point need to tell you majority of Nigerians give a damn about who govern them? It’s just me and you (the literates) that can really see that some reforms and programmes that are meant to benefit the populace is being put in place. But to the Villager who has to walk some kilometers to get stream water, and still doesn’t know what electricity is, and who’s village route is not motor able, my dear omoifa, they heap curses on their leaders everyday and yearn for a better change. I traveled from my base in Abuja to Kogi states and somewhere called Anyigba late last year. There I met a poor widow who told me she walks (on foot) over a 15 kilometer journey every fourth night to hawk a ware of 70 naira! Does that my friend sound to you like someone who has tasted the good life and would wish obasanjo a Sit-tight agenda or will simply not be bothered by who is in charge?  So like you, “don’t equate your thoughts to 120 millions” because “that is simply arrogant and mischievous”. The people we refer to as the majority are not me and you who live in Abuja, Lagos and other urban places. They are those that reside in torture jungles that even the Enumerators refused going to. They make bulk of the population and know nothing about mortgages and all your “Good Life” explanations. To these set of people, obasanjo’s government has failed and they want him out.

Frank D R was allowed to continue because he did well in office. The period was after the 2nd world war which brought the great depression. Do I still need to tell you the situations are not exactly the same here? Again I ask is Obasanjo perceived to have done well?
   To the military coup example…people rejoice at new coupist because they haven’t tasted the incoming guys. But obasanjo has been tasted or tested, and I can tell confidently tell you the majority are not impressed. I won’t repeat they care who is in charge of administration. 

If obasanjo himself believes so much in the third term, why has he not made his position clear?
He has been ominously silent on the matter except for his speech in Germany sometime last year when he told an international audience that he was under tremendous pressure from some hawks to continue in office. And why the desperation the FG is displaying to make sure the 3rd term succeed at all cost? The third term debacle is actually a blessing in disguise to Nigerians and this should be acknowledged as one of those hard lessons our people must learn in order to define their approach to the future of the country. If some Nigerians had doubts about the integrity of leaders we have, they should now be convinced that they are a bunch of unaccountable and self-seeking chameleonic beings who wouldn’t think twice to auction the country itself, if given the opportunity.

If obasanjo wants policy continuity (not personality continuity) he knows more than you and me exactly where to look. He knows “fair” termites that wouldn’t eat Nigeria blind. This whole third term smacks self-aggrandizement, insult to Nigerians, and total mischief. For you to tell me obasanjo is the messiah and without him we are doomed is a big slap to every Nigerian. Including Obasanjo himself. Am not sure he (obj) will even agree with you on that one. Even frank Roosevelt did not completely and successively build all the institutions in he’s reign,. But government succession ensured the American Dream all their citizens today lay claim to.we therefore don’t need obasanjo to consolidate his failure.

If these whole scheme is meeting so much resistance and causing so much debate, isn’t that enough to let the rigged in president know better than continue heating up the polity? Did you say the press are the one’s heating up the polity? I ask if the whole heating up is not centred around him.isnt the simple thing to do is to simply disown 3rd term and all this heat will be put to rest?  Did events take this turn or cause so much Brouhaha in the FDR case?? Isn’t this a typical unpopular leader trying to foist himself on his people? My friend please give me (us) better reasons apart from the ones mentioned above.  Will you kindly also let me just a little into your personality? You may want me to know if you are a politician or a government contractor.

Gamble again? Let me explain to you what the real gamble is here. Masses have been able to judge obasanjo in the last 7 years. They don’t live your “good life”. They are not impressed by his administration. So asking him to continue in office to them is the Gamble here. They will be willing to gamble an unproductive obasanjo with the life that cannot get worse.
so your whole point from the foundation is wrong. consult ifa properly, he might have more to tell you.

My dude! You dey fumble sha! first and foremost go and read Segun Adeniyi"s (editor of Thisday) piece when he was frantically defending Thisday on the pro-third term advert. Let me quote him

"On the front page of our paper yesterday was the banner headline Vote for Greatness, an advert which seeks a constitution amendment to incorporate a third term of four years for the President which many observers including THISDAY editors, see as a plot to confer on President Olusegun Obasanjo, by a sleight of hand, the life presidency of Nigeria"

Another of hi quote is:

"With democracy, free enterprise and social justice as the core values of our newspaper, it is not a surprise that we cannot lend our support to the third term project which we believe is anti-thetical to either the promotion of democracy or the rule of law. We are also of the conviction that the project is dangerous to the peace of Nigeria. This has been the thrust of all the interventions by our columnists as well as the slant of our editorials".

Do i need to quote more for you. Maybe you simply want him to outrightly say "We are biased at THISDAY"?.


I just don't get your explanation on the voter apathy thing. Are you trying to tell tthe world that people are so worried about who governs them that because they can't stand on the line they will not worry anymore. Or are you saying that not standing on the queue for a some hours is more important than who rules them. Whatever you were trying to say you have just confirmed my submission that there are somethings that are much more important than who is on the throne. Even standing on the queue is much more important according to you.
If your claim is right that they discuss in coffee shops you should rest, assured that all the coffee shops and what not in the world will not take the voters if they were really concerned. They will be all over the place. You see the people who are discussing it are, more likely, those same people that voted. Not those that didn't vote.

I ask you again. Have you ever asked yourself why they don't have electorate quorum in any constitution in the world?. That should tell you a whole lot.


Majority of Nigerians have lived below the poverty line since Shagari. We have now started to see the light. Yes we are not out totally but we are coming out of it. Do you know what is MDG (Millenium Development Goal). Its a UN Goal to all developing Nation. It must be achieved by 2015. That is the target. We must make it. The past administarations ignored it totally such that OBJ has to now be running on full engine to even be able to get to the stage we were meant to have been since 1996. You need to educate yourself on that. Okonjo Iweala does not stop talking about it.


F.D Roosevelt did not come up after the second world war my friend. He was elected in 1932. The second world war ended in 1945. He was serving his third term when the war came to America's doorstep following Japan's invasion of pearl habour. So it was not the war that gave him the third term. You could claim that it was the war that gave him the fourth term anyway.

My dude! all i see in you is that you have a strong disdain for this government. I wouldn't know why but let me tell you that the people will speak not you dude. Obasanjo has done unprecedented things and nobody has called him a messiah. We will never have a messiah. That was a thing of the past centuries. But one thing is certain. We are at a crossroad and we know that given the situation a gamble is never gonna work.

We want to learn from history. We don't want to continue to gamble the future of our children. We will have a pact with OBJ. Let him have another four years but he should concentrate on building institutions that will checkmate a really bad Termite. If that is the only thing he will do in those four years. Then anybody can come and rule us. You yourself said it that he should find a lesser termite. How will you know a lesser termite. Is it written on the face. The only solution is that termite or no termite institutions to checkmate anyone who tries to be funny with us should be on ground-Period. Then we wouldn't have all this explanations anymore.

Thank you Chief Defender Omoifa, your spirited defence of the ultimate cajoler of the Nigerian populace Mr. Obj is highly noted. In the coming 3rd term you and other anti-termites will be highly rewarded for defending the indefensible and standing where others have fallen.

Well, on a serious note, I will start by reprinting Obasanjo 1998 article (as presented in today's guardian newspaper).

The country of anything goes
By Olusegun Obasanjo
FOR over four and a half years - from November 17, 1993 to June 8, 1998 - Nigeria, which had been under military rule since the end of 1983, was reduced to a police state: a big prison with gallows, where intimidation, assassination, and deprivation were the instruments of misgovernance of the state by General Sani Abacha, a sadistic, apparently mentally deranged, corrupt, incompetent, arrogant, and ruthless military dictator. The question on almost everybody's lips was: why? What went wrong in a country of well over one hundred million people which used to take pride in its large educated and cultured population?

The answer lies in the gradual but steady erosion of moral and ethical standards that took place during the earlier military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida, who carried out a military coup at the end of
1984 and ruled between 1985 and 1993. It was at this time that, facing the gun, civilian political leaders acquiesced and abandoned their responsibility.

Some adopted the attitude of "sit down and look on". Others joined in the pillaging of the country by seeking patronage, recognition, and easy money from the ruling military cabal. As a result, the economy was shattered during the 1980s. Whether you were a politician, a businessman, an intellectual, or a retired military man, the seemingly easy avenue for personal economic gain was to accept a job from the military or to seek favour from or support by the military. Some academics abandoned their lecture rooms or research laboratories where they could only make a pittance; they accepted the cozy, cushy embrace of a corrupt, deceitful, and unscrupulous military administration.

Previously, independent and respected intellectuals became the mouthpiece and apologists for the military; they made excuses for General Babangida and his fellow military leaders, and helped them deceive and confuse the people.
Respected social critics accepted money from the government and became compromised. To take an independent stand became an exception and an extremely risky one. Many outspoken critics of the government were assassinated. Dele Giwa, the founding editor of the weekly Newswatch, was killed by a letter bomb in 1986.

The Nigerian military men, who once could claim to be officers and gentlemen, became men of double-talk, unkept promises, and devious actions and behaviour inimical to public order and proper military conduct. But what was most deplorable was that with the pillaging of the society and the destruction of moral and ethical standards, those who might have been expected to try to sustain such standards - the by-now bought-up, co-opted, and corrupted members of civil society: politicians, intellectuals, journalists, business people - made excuses. They became defenders of a military administration which consciously or unconsciously embarked on systematic destruction of all that matters in a society - politically, economically, socially, morally, ethically, and culturally. The press and publishers who were not directly under government control were corrupted; they in turn hired and corrupted writers who pretended to be objective and independent, but who vigorously and viciously attacked opponents of the military regime.

In this way Nigeria became a nation of "anything goes", where anything could be rationalised and justified. Babangida shifted his ground and broke his promises so often that he earned the popular nickname "Maradona" for his fancy dribbling; his deceitfulness was widely defended and even praised as political cleverness, dexterity. There was no moral standard left in public life. Corruption and fraud became habits that trickled down to every level of society.
Nonetheless, the citizens of Nigeria persisted in calling for democracy. And Babangida, who had been promising a return to civilian government since September of 1987, and who was also facing increasing pressure to relinquish power, both from the international community and from members of his own divided military regime, finally seemed to be taking steps in that direction late in 1992. In December of that year he replaced his Council of Ministers with a civilian Transitional Council, headed by the businessman Chief Shonekan, which was given the task of monitoring and overseeing a return to democratic government by August 27, 1993. And on June 12, a presidential election was indeed held, although the only parties allowed to compete in it were two that had been created by the military regime in 1989. This election was apparently won by Moshood Abiola, of the Social Democratic Party.

Even though the election was considered a fair one by international observers, however, it was annulled a week later without any plausible excuse being given. Although, both a national commission monitoring the voting and one of the Nigerian courts were involved in the rigmarole of challenging the election, it was General Babangida who acted to invalidate it. Riots broke out in Lagos, and there followed a chaotic summer in which a number of possible solutions to the situation, including promises that the election would be rescheduled, were floated and then quickly cancelled; no one seemed sure what would happen next.

Finally, at the eleventh hour, Babangida decided to relinquish power. On August 26, the day before the deadline he had set himself the previous year, he stepped down, naming Chief Shonekan the head of an Interim National Government. On the same day, General Sani Abacha - who had been intimately associated with the Babangida regime since 1983 - was promoted to minister of defence.

The responsibility of leading Nigeria was too much for Shonekan; he had had power thrust upon him only because he posed no serious threat to the continuing power of the military. The real power in this government belonged to Abacha, and Shonekan had neither the savvy nor the backing to challenge him. Within a month, Abacha had arranged to replace all the chief supporters of Babangida within the new government. Then, on November 10, the High Court pronounced the Interim National Government unconstitutional. A week later Shonekan stepped down, in favour of Abacha.

It had been clear to many discerning observers well before Abacha struck that he had his own ambitions. But even after he took power, there was also a great deal of confusion about his intentions and abilities. Many Nigerians thought him nothing more than a light headed and empty-minded military officer who wanted nothing more than to occupy the presidency long enough to enrich himself and reward his supporters. But in the confusion surrounding the annulled election, some politicians and their followers looked for a "messiah", who, they believed, would proclaim the annulled election valid after all. That was the situation in which Abacha was able to take power.
Some of the people who gave him encouragement and support believed that he would act in the public interest; that they could successfully use undemocratic means - the installation of a military government - to attain democracy. They ignored the fact that the man in charge was undemocratic at heart, as his record clearly indicated.

For his part, Abacha showed an unexpected capacity for deception. He brought the key men in the two political parties he had disbanded into the government he appointed, apparently with the promise that he would hand over power to Abiola within three months. But he made sure that he never committed himself to any definite date for the transfer of power, he used the nebulous phrase "brief period". Meanwhile he consolidated his position.

As could be expected, through all this time some people stood firm, un-purchasable, advocates, despite all intimidation and discouragement, of truth, good governance, and the interests of the country. But by November
1993 - when lying and deception of the people by the government, and deprivation of the rights of the people, and pervasive corruption had been made into an art - there was no critical mass, not enough of such men and women of integrity and conscience, to stand solidly against Abacha.

His model, as it soon became clear, was Mobutu of Zaire; it was his ambition to be the richest man in black Africa and the longest-ruling Nigerian leader. He could not achieve these two objectives without silencing the opposition of anyone who might stand in his way. Babangida had tried the tactics of domination through patronage, corruption, acquisition, deceit, and selective elimination of his opposition. Abacha had learned that these methods were insufficient; they had not worked for his tutor and they would be enough for him - and in any case, he did not have his predecessor's knack for subtlety.

So he used those people he thought could help him, and then, particularly if they seemed capable of questioning him, discarded them. His first cabinet, for example, included many important figures from the civilian government of the early 1980s, and even human rights activists; but within a year Abacha felt secure enough in power to replace almost all of these people. After that he embarked on a ruthless campaign of oppression, directed not only against those who opposed him but against those he believed uncompromising enough that they might oppose him. In this way, Abacha stole the property he was meant to guard and prevented the promised rescheduling of the annulled election. In the end he brought about both his own death and that of the presumed winner of that election. But before he died this summer, he managed to become the worst affliction suffered by Nigeria since it became an independent nation in 1960.

I fell into the group of those whom he could not corrupt and who would not make a deal with him. He knew this from my criticism of Babangida for holding on to power through error and intimidation. He decided to take preemptive action, and manufactured claims that I was plotting an impending coup. He used this fiction as a pretext for jailing, in addition to myself, some forty of his potential opponents including my former deputy, Major General Shehu Yar'Adua; Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti, head of the Campaign for Democracy; prominent journalists; and some of the most capable middle-level officers of the army.

General Olusegun Obasanjo (as he then was) wrote this piece originally for The New York Review of Books, Sept, 24, 1998, pp.55-57.



Omoifa, please read the highlighted portions of the article and compare/contrast them with the tactics being adopted by today's Obj.

Much as you may have tried unsuccesfully to defend his actions (commision) his ommisions (missed opportunities) brings tears to the eyes

For the records, the cool 'international statesman' of yesterday is now a tyrant that will become a despot in the not too distant future if we don't collectively save him from himself

My brother Owo,
I thought I was the only one who read that article. Everyday, some folks just dig up some of OBJ's past to let him in on how to swallow his own spit.

Great highlights.

That was a brilliant dig-up Owo. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. That is the price you pay for being a public figure. That is why it is dangerous to say things categorically especially when you are not privy to some information. I guess that should teach everyone including OBJ some lesson. But that doesn't mean we still wouldn't need him to put together our insurance policy for us.

The issue isn't OBJ's character. That shouldn't becloud our sense of judgement. The issue is about responsibly chasing him out. Do we want to chase him out without securing ourselves or do we want to chase him out without caring who comes in next. Whether its another Shagari or an IBB or an unknown who could be worse than everyone put together.

So obviously we want someone who will be better than everyone put together. What are the probability of getting that?. judging from our history less than 20%. should we still try that out. Ofcourse NO NO NO.

I say again. We should have a pact to have him put together institutuons that will protect us from a bad government. Then we should chase him fast to OTA.

Ofcourse if I don't get that I will only pray that we get a better person knowing fully well that the odds are against us.

omoifa:

That was a brilliant dig-up Owo. Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. That is the price you pay for being a public figure. That is why it is dangerous to say things categorically especially when you are not privy to some information. I guess that should teach everyone including OBJ some lesson. But that doesn't mean we still wouldn't need him to put together our insurance policy for us.

The issue isn't OBJ's character. That shouldn't becloud our sense of judgement. The issue is about responsibly chasing him out. Do we want to chase him out without securing ourselves or do we want to chase him out without caring who comes in next. Whether its another Shagari or an IBB or an unknown who could be worse than everyone put together.

So obviously we want someone who will be better than everyone put together. What are the probability of getting that?. judging from our history less than 20%. should we still try that out. Ofcourse NO NO NO.

I say again. We should have a pact to have him put together institutuons that will protect us from a bad government. Then we should chase him fast to OTA.

Ofcourse if I don't get that I will only pray that we get a better person knowing fully well that the odds are against us.

Omoifa,
Why worry so much about the future? my friend, do one thing at a time. OBJ will soon give up the ghost, will you wake him up when he's dead to continue his rulership of the country?

Ono! I can see you are "area". Why are you people worried about resources control then. In your words "Don't worry about the future. Do one thing at a time". Take what is given to you now (18% derivation) and stop worrying about what you would do to get 25 or 50%. Tomorrow will take care of that. In fact why are we all discussing. Why should we be talking about the future. We shouldn't worry about tomorrow now. Abeg make we go drink Ogogoro jare.

Ono, abeg drop that mentality oooo. The mentality no go carry u reach anywhere. Na d mentality make oyinbo man take schnapp carry all our able bodied people go build America.

For the first time since I've joined this forum, someone is going crazy right before me!

omoifa:

Ono! I can see you are "area". Why are you people worried about resources control then. In your words "Don't worry about the future. Do one thing at a time". Take what is given to you now (18% derivation) and stop worrying about what you would do to get 25 or 50%. Tomorrow will take care of that. In fact why are we all discussing. Why should we be talking about the future. We shouldn't worry about tomorrow now. Abeg make we go drink Ogogoro jare.

Ono, abeg drop that mentality oooo. The mentality no go carry u reach anywhere. Na d mentality make oyinbo man take schnapp carry all our able bodied people go build America.

Just hear yourself,

''Take what is given to you now (18% derivation) and stop worrying about what you would do to get 25 or 50%''

You just wait until MEND comes around to blow up that place where you are. You will then know that what we want in the Delta is not some lousy, rotund and dirty people who cannot take care of their backyard and who wants to come around and dictate to us how our own resources should be shared between them and us. Just wait.

Wait until that your statement will read something like this in the not too distant future, for your type (Hausa/fulani North, Yoruba West, and Igbo East)

''Let us wait for the ND people to give us the crumbs that falls from their table, so that we might live''

Fellow Nigerians please find extracts of the speech made by Mr OBJ when he became president in 1999.
Please carefully contrast his intentions with his deeds over the last seven years.

Some areas of particular interest have been highlighted.


Inaugural speech by His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo following his swearing-in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 1999.
Olusegun Obasanjo takes over from Abubakar
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

F ELLOW Nigerians, we give praise and honour to God Almighty for this day specially appointed by God Himself. Everything created by God has its destiny and it is the destiny of all of us to see this day.

Twelve months ago, no one could have predicted the series of stunning events that made it possible for democratic elections to be held at the Local Government level, the State level, and culminating in the National Assembly Elections. Thereafter, you the good people of Nigeria elected me, a man who had walked through the valley of the shadow of death, as your President, to head a democratic civilian administration. I believe that this is what God Almighty has ordained for me and for my beloved country Nigeria and its people. I accept this destiny in all humility and with the full belief that with the backing of our people we shall not fail.

Our thanks go also to the friends of Nigeria in many lands for the commitment and unrelenting support they gave throughout the dark, ominous days of the struggle.

Nigerians living in foreign lands deserve special tribute for not forgetting their fatherland and for making their voices heard persistently in defence of freedom. And I must commend you my home-based fellow Nigerians for the way you bore unprecedented hardship, deprivation of every conceivable rights and privileges that were once taken for granted.


Nigeria is wonderfully endowed by the Almighty with human and other resources.
It does no credit either to us or the entire black race if we fail in managing our resources for quick improvement in the quality of life of our people. Instead of progress and development, which we are entitled to expect from those who governed us, we experienced in the last decade and a half, a particularly in the last regime but one, persistent deterioration in the quality of our governance, leading to instability and the weakening of all public institutions. Good men were shunned and kept away from government while those who should be kept away were drawn near. Relations between men and women who had been friends for many decades, and between communities that had lived together in peace for many generations became very bitter because of the actions or inaction of government. The citizens developed distrust in government, and because promises made for the improvement of the conditions of the people were not kept all statements by government met with cynicism.

Government officials became progressively indifferent to propriety of conduct and showed little commitment to promoting the general welfare of the people and the public good. Government and all its agencies became thoroughly corrupt and reckless. Members of the public had to bribe their way through in ministries and parastatals to get attention and one government agency had to bribe another government agency to obtain the release of their statutory allocation of funds.

The impact of official corruption is so rampant and has earned Nigeria a very bad image at home and abroad. Besides, it has distorted and retrogressed development.

Our infrastructures - NEPA, NITEL, Roads, Railways, Education, Housing and other Social Services were allowed to decay and collapse. Our country has thus been through one of its darkest periods.

All these have brought the nation to a situation of chaos and near despair. This is the challenge before us. Fellow Nigerians, let us rise as one, to face the tasks ahead and turn this daunting scene into opportunities in a New Dawn. Let us make this the beginning of a genuine Renaissance.

Fellow Nigerians, the entire Nigerian scene is very bleak indeed. So bleak people ask me where do we begin? I know what great things you expect of me at this New Dawn. As I have said many times in my extensive travels in the country, I am not a miracle worker. It will be foolish to underrate the task ahead. Alone, I can do little.

You have been asked many times in the past to make sacrifices and to be patient. I am also going to ask you to make sacrifices, and to exercise patience. The difference will be that in the past sacrifices were made and patience exercised with little or no results. This time, however, the results of your sacrifice and patience will be clear and manifest for all to see. With God as our guide, and with 120 million Nigerians working with me, with commitment, sustained effort, and determination, we shall not fail. On my part, I will give the forthright, purposeful, committed, honest and transparent leadership that the situation demands.

I am determined with your full cooperation, to make significant changes within a year of my administration.

Together we shall take steps to halt the decline in the human development indices as they apply to Nigeria. All the impacts of bad governance on our people that are immediately removable will be removed, while working for medium and long term solutions.




Priority Issues

I believe that this administration must deal with the following issues even in these difficult times of near economic collapse:

[b](I) The crisis in the Oil Producing Areas

(ii) Food Supply, Food Security and Agriculture

(iii) Law and order with particular reference to Armed Robbery, and to Cultism in our educational institutions

(iv) Exploration and Production of Petroleum

(v) Education

(vi) Macro-economic policies - particularly, Exchange rate management etc.

(vii) Supply and Distribution of Petroleum Products

(viii) The Debt Issue

(ix) Corruption, Drugs, organised fraud called 419 activities, and crimes leading to loss of lives, properties and investment.

(x) Infrastructure - Water Supply, Energy, Telecommunication, Ports, Airways, National Shipping, Nigerian Railways, etc.

(xi) Resuscitation of the Manufacturing Industries

(xii) Job creation, and creation of conducive environment for investment

(xiii) Poverty alleviation

(xiv) Housing - both

* Civilian Housing Programmes; and

* Barrack Refurbishment and New Construction for the Armed Forces and the Police

(xv) ECOMOG

(xvi) Health Services

(xvii) Political and Constitutional Dialogue

(xviii) Women and Youth Development [/b]

In pursuit of these priorities, I have worked out, measures which must be implemented within the first six months.

Details of the focus and measures of this administration on these and other matters, will be announced from time to time. I shall quickly ascertain the true state of our finances and the economy and shall let the nation know. In the light of resources available, I shall concentrate on those issues that can bring urgent beneficial relief to our people.

http://nigeriaworld.com/feature/speech/inaugural.html

My views on each of the highlighted issues are clear.
1. He has been a failure in all of the areas except no 9 ( on 'drugs' only) where NAFDAC has 'done' a yea man's job and in no 8 (debt management.)
2. If he is to be judged by the standards that he set for himself (not ours) he has failed woefully.1.3/18 = 7.2%
3. What he promised to do in six months, he could still not do it in 7years.
4. If this is the 'only' man that can take Nigeria to where it should belong, then, Nigeria will , certainly, never get there.

Omoifa

Recent events in Abuja have made me get back to you. I want to ask you this. Is 50 million sharing among our representatives in the House of Assemblly justified to pass an amendment. See for Obasanjo to ridicule Balogun and Alams with EFCC and yet share out billions of Naira for his agenda is hypocrisy. Is this who u want to lead us for more years? a man who preaches against corruption and yet bribes at his time of distress? See this can't be denied as every paper has reported this backed up with substantial evidence. So Nigeria's constituition can now be sold for 50million per head ehn?
Well,i want to know( with all your BB rating and other rantings you have used to justify the man's action) if this double-mouthed man is worthy to serve Nigerians again with what he has just pulled?

Danmasani:

Omoifa

Recent events in Abuja have made me get back to you. I want to ask you this. Is 50 million sharing among our representatives in the House of Assemblly justified to pass an amendment. See for Obasanjo to ridicule Balogun and Alams with EFCC and yet share out billions of Naira for his agenda is hypocrisy. Is this who u want to lead us for more years? a man who preaches against corruption and yet bribes at his time of distress? See this can't be denied as every paper has reported this backed up with substantial evidence. So Nigeria's constituition can now be sold for 50million per head ehn?
Well,i want to know( with all your BB rating and other rantings you have used to justify the man's action) if this double-mouthed man is worthy to serve Nigerians again with what he has just pulled?

Danmasani,
Abeg helep me ask omoifa o!

Omoifa,

I note your defence of the “third term” agenda and just wonder what a waste to the Nigerian cause! What a waste that a coherent debater of issues like yourself could end on the wrong side of issues. The world will be a better place for the likes of you only if you would be on the vanguard at defending the near helplessness of the Nigerian masses.
Your dexterity at defending this agenda has been a bit misplaced though. No doubt you sound informed but I can bet your doing a “yeo-man’s” job of this third term thingy is just not selling.
I believe on another day, at another appointed time and particularly on another issue, we might be moved by your fluidity of thoughts to believe there is something afterall that you have to offer.

I am discrediting your views on a few points which I would like you to note as well:

a) You make it sound as if the institutions that drive the economy (and by extension economic stability) are the only prerequisites to our dream of an orderly Nigeria where opportunity abounds and a sense of inclusion rules and drives our patriotic zeal for the nation. No, it is not. Yes, Mr OBJ has indeed tried to achieve a couple of feats especially where his erstwhile colleagues in uniform have all failed even when they had maximum opportunities to do such. But my friend (if I can call you that, because an enemy of the Nigerian people can not be my friend), that is not enough to guarantee him staying longer than he is due in executive office. OBJ will not take us explicitly to that stage where institutions have been so grounded to a fool-proof stage that anyone can just rule us as you have mentioned. In fact, no nation can boast of such a system. Institutions are eternally in a flux and they derive their fluidity from the people they are meant for. Ours should be allowed to grow and flourish at an organic pace and not at a situational one which is defined by some people’s perception of the one entrusted with leading us.
b) We can not be short-sighted as a nation to imagine that constitutional amendment only and always will refer to amending term limits for executive leadership. What OBJ and his henchmen in Abuja will be achieving if they actually succeed in this is creating a very bad precedent. That you can tamper with the constitution even in the face of great opposition to it without anything dire happening. What then stops a mischievous President in future deciding to change any other part of the constitution to suit his and his co-sojourners in future? As such when we talk about strengthening institutions, we all have to agree that the foremost option for us is to have rules that guide the operations of these institutions. If we can easily tamper with these rules and in such a brazen way that OBJ and Mantu are going about this, then we are essentially destroying the fabrics of such institutions ( for Christ’s sake this is about the soul of Nigeria, about her people and not the myopic interests of corporate Nigeria and the political elites). If this drive were actually people-led, this would have been a different scenario. But save for deception, we all know that it is only coming from a section of society (this is bad for democracy).
c) If per chance we have all been wrong afterall, why is OBJ himself not coming out himself to defend this agenda? Afterall, he is the one to lead us after all is said and done and he has been given that constitutional go-ahead. This just goes to show that there is something missing in the kind of leadership we have in Nigeria. A leadership that is so far away from the people. This begs the question: who is this third term for? The people or OBJ and his army of charlatans? There are rumours of some solid stuff changing addresses and accounts in Abuja as we speak, if they are true, then what sort of institution are we talking about building? Who shall we be fooling?

If OBJ loves Nigeria so much, he should leave in 2007 as stipulated by constitutional provisions, but before he leaves, he should prepare and start campaigning for a trusted lieutenant that always take good advice from him on thorny national issues. That way his legacy of reforms will be well intact.

What OBJ forget is the Almight God, who is capable ofrising Kings is able to pull them down but their cups must be full 1st and the kings he pulled down in the past, suffered ignominy thereafter. King Saul in the Holy Bible was raised by God as the 1st king to rule over the knigdom of Israel. When he fell out of God's Favour by listening to praise singers, he died and his generation was subsequently wiped off. It would have being better for him if he were never made a king. This is a lesson for those who care to learn.

All presidents who remained in power thru suppression and decimation of opposition had terrible and shameful tales about them at the end of it all. They include ferdinand Marcos of philipines, Idi-Amin Dada of Uganda, Slobodan Milosevic of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Our dear Gen. Abacha, Charles Talyor of Liberia etc. These men have their cup full while in power and had unenviable tales and experience out of power.

A word is enough for the wise.

What OBJ forget is the Almight God, who is capable of rising Kings is able to pull them down but their cups must be full 1st and the kings he pulled down in the past, suffered ignominy thereafter. King Saul in the Holy Bible was raised by God as the 1st king to rule over the knigdom of Israel. When he fell out of God's Favour by listening to  praise singers, he died and his generation was subsequently wiped off. It would have being better for him if he were never made a king. This is a lesson for those who care to learn.

All presidents who remained in power thru suppression and decimation of opposition had terrible and shameful tales about them at the end of it all. They include  ferdinand Marcos of philipines, Idi-Amin Dada of Uganda, Slobodan Milosevic of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Our dear Gen. Abacha, Charles Talyor of Liberia etc. These men have their cup full while in power and had unenviable tales and experience out of power.

A word is enough for the wise.

Beautiful Jibitoye!

Though at this stage when we know that the third term issue has been effectively buried by the Senate it still doesn't mean we cannot have our say.

Talking about institution building, you made a solid point which shows that if we can tamper with our constitution for one man then we can tamper with any law, and this will defeat the very purpose of the strenghtening i have been talking about.

You also said strenghtening our institutions does not guarantee much. I beg to differ on that. Segun Adeniyi (of Thisday) made a very obvious example that actually shows how strong institutions can thouroughly insulate us. If you are a friend of the US President or British Prime Minister it doesn't guarantee that you will become a multi-millionaire tomorrow. In actual fact you can be worst-off associating yourself too much to them. Whereas in Nigeria, it takes a call or gesture from the President for you to become a multi billionaire in a second. That is very instructive. There are a whole lot of other examples one can point out that clearly shows the role of a strong institution in insulating the people from bad leadership.

You see I try to do things logically and one at a time. If for forty something years we have been going on a developmental roller-coaster and we don't seem to be getting anywhere, surely you don't want to try any method associated with the ride again. So what do we do. Yes, they say we have to strenghten our institutions and that will guarantee minimal damage no matter who is at the helms of affairs. I subscribe to that.

So, if we now have someone who everyone acknowledges that he is on the right part in reforming the country and doing it progressively (or at least, for the cynics, with minimum damage to us) then why shouldn't we demand and let the guy strenghten those same institutions for us.

I believe that, by "trying" another unknown person then we are going through the same part we have forever gone through. The roller-coaster part. Because the odds are highly against finding an exceptional leader in todays Nigeria. Mark my words, I am not saying we can't find. I am saying the odds are greatly against us. So in other words we are gambling our lives with the odds greatly against winning.

I think people simply got too emotional about the ammendment and it clearly shows that majority were more emotional than rational.

I pointed out that term limits do not exist in many constitutions. I believe this is because term limits are not meant to stop a good government but definitely a bad one. In our case especially, when we don't have strong checks and balances, term limits should apply but it should not becloud the very reasons they are there. To automatically stop bad government and not good ones. So when we clamour for elongation we are trying to say that, yes everybody says this is a purposeful government, then why don't we give it more time until it starts to misbehave then we kick it out through elections.

I will even say we not only give it more time but we demand that its priority is to build/put in place, those institutions that will secure us. So that at the end of the tenure we will not need to elongate again after we know those institutions are there and at the same time we will rest, assured that any bad leader will be frustrated by those institutions.

All this is now an academic exercise. I can only wish us well and pray hard that we get a worthy successor who will cover more mileage than Obasanjo despite the odds.

I also challenge everyone that we should demand that the new leader build and strenghten those institutions that will definitely insulate us from bad leadership and make it easy for someone like me not to clamour for extension of tenure when next I see a very Good leader.

Obasanjo has betrayed the trust of the people . The nation caught him cheating.

I believe by now, if we have great institutions like INEC operating with little or no intervention from the Presidency, The Peoples Mandate would serve. Come to think of it, We have had worse Government than OBJ even though he has added his own salt too. Since 1960, Nigeria and Nigerians have clamoured for Road,Water,Light and Food but its very unfortunate that all the previous Govt inculding obj has failed to meet atleast one of these demands. We have people saying all sort about GSM, Debt Relief, Banking Reforms, and the Almighty Foreign Reserve. I am not going to crusify him but i still believe that man is being too cynical, Now he said, He's got no involvement with TTA and He believes the NASS has insulted him, He also said he wants to Reconcile with PDP Members so that PDP would still remain in Power come 2007, Now you see that man would never let go and if he is bashed then he's worth being bashed, its not supposed to be a "do or die affair". The same Tony Anenih who said Abacha was the best president during his regime is still the same "Mr. Fix it" who thinks obj should run third term,He is the same person pioneering rotational govt with his cohorts like Ojo Maduake. We have had enough of this people. Can you believe the New presidential Jet costing about 10billion naira according to the fed govt. has to be flown back after 15mins on air due to some technical faults? and OBJ still has to secure another jet so that he can run away while the senators reach a virdict so that when he returns he would be welcomed by the whole of pdp congratulating him for wining third term. It was hard for Mantu and co to call obj and tell him that the TTA failed, Fani Kayode took the courage to call him and he was shocked. We are no Longer the "FOOLS" that we were in the past and i think right now, the time has come for the change. Nigeria will always be Nigeria in peace and in harmony. The green is forever and the white is peace. No need to worry. We ll be there soon!