patimore: Did my post hit a nerve? If the government was competent, these yesterday's men who enriched themselves would have been brought to book. Isn't it funny that the hypocritical yesterday's men also accuse today's men of glaring corruption or it was the yesterday's men that spent trillions on subsidy?

My brother, look at dis issue critically,"when oladimeji bankole was arrested, wat happened Do we expect the government or jonathan rather to grab him, cuff him nd send him to jail. Whose fault was it dat the entire judicial system could not convict him U see the problem with nigeria is dat we have too many weak institutions. If jonathan starts chasing some of these so called hypocrites of yesterday, am sure nairaland would be full of threads lamentin how d president is chasing wild geese rather than focusin on more important issues. The judicial system could not jail bankole let alone those political snakes on which they have nothin to use against. D hypocrites of yesterday re still at large and there is nothing jonathan can do about it. D sooner we admit it the better for us. Did u even listen to obasanjos interview on BBCs hard talk. How he intelligently manouvered evry question thrown at him as though it was a piece of candy. They re still at large my guy and the president is not to blame.

Abati and his 40men laptop gang are delutional.
So when you critic GEJ you are either an opposition or from another tribe or former government official.

Abati probability forgot GEJ is a member of the former fail government.

Hypocrisy indeed.

Abati probability forgot GEJ is a member of the
former fail government.
Explain.

BetaThings:
So Etete is from the north
or Abacha's finance minister (Ani) is also from the north
When Obj was President, all oil allocations were given to people from the North even with Daukoru as Energy minister?

It is hard to win arguments when you are dealing with people while lie and lie!

LIE? I PERCIEVE YOU'VE JUST RETURNED FROM CHURCH, HEAVILY INTOXICATED WITH COMUNION WINE. WHAT DOES BEING A RUBBER STAMP MINISTER IN ABACHA'S REGIME, EARNING N85K A MONTH + A 504 POUGEOT CAR GOT TO DO WITH ALLOCATION OF OIL BLOCKS? GO NOW, IGNORAMUS, CHECK THE FACTS AND COME WITH A BETTER DEBATE STRATEGY, AND ALSO ASK YOUR SELF WHY YOU ARE ALONE ON THIS.

take dat: A turncoat with a tarnished and tattered conscience has no moral authority to accuse others of hypocrisy. Is he(Abati) not fraternising now with those he accused in the past? Do Nigerians need the likes of Oby, El-Rufai and others before knowing that the Jonathan government overpaid cronies to the tune of N2trillion in fuel subsidies? Do we need someone to call our attention to the mismanagement and thievery in GEJ's government?

Abati's days are numbered, before he returns to the fold of those he accused in this article as yesterday's men.
When its time to take total control of Nigeria, those he accused, himself and other self-serving bandits that have enslaved Nigerians will be dealt with!

Nice one Bro. U have just taken d words outta my mouth. Abati's days r truly numbered.

HMMM!
ABATI u killed it. BUT, this is not all about PEN war, we Nigerian
Deserve the best from whoever is on power. There is so many thing
The YESTREDAY MEN didn't do right, and sti so many things the TODAY
MEN re missing. So just forget it and face what u re doing, because
If we start this season film called PEN WAR! U won't do anything and
2015 when come and u too we be among the YESTERDAY MEN that use 4 years
Defending, and not doing anything tangible.

lacasa: Reuben Abati the slimey Snake.

U mean d sellout.

Find Out!:
Many of the laptop crew & those taken in by Abati's delicious prose seem to forget that just recently, the present Government appointed a notoriously corrupt inefficient ''yesterday man'', infact ''last week man'' who should be spending time in prison, into a key government position that should have been filled by a seasoned technocrat.

In this very article, Abati posited that most of the road contracts were awarded under the previous administration (implying that the poosr state of roads today is their fault as those contracts were not executed. Right? Right). Now, the Chief Thief of these road contracts moneys (runnint into billions) is the one and only Chief Anenih who is the NPA board chairman today.
Is that a man expected to ''clean the augean stables'' of the NPA??

Fo.olish government, more fo.o.lish supporters & absolutely unintelligent(deliberately perhaps) spokesmen. Not surprising tho as we can only expect that much from GEJ. You people should go outside the country, see the level of development there, then come back and tell me exactly when Nigeria is going to pick up with the rate this administration is going despite the billions we earn daily and the monies continually being borrowed. Rubb.ish.

Which way Nigeria. The laptop supporters, continue attacking critics who are seeking to keep the government on their toes, in the near future, your own children will face you and ask you why you stupi.dly kept qquiet or even egged this administration on when they busied themselves with running down Nigeria.

What you forget is that it takes time to clean out the aegean stables. If you rush hot food, it will burn your throat and harm you in the end. You see, I'm beginning to have a rethink about Jonathan's tactics. Maybe he truly needs to be slow after all. Maybe, just maybe he needs to bring back some of those yesterday's men (Anenih and co) so just that they may stew in their own juice.

Correcting what was done wrong in the past takes patience, tactics, skills and intelligence. Perhaps that's what Jonathan is up to - I just wish it is. Facing the corruption problems head on in Nigeria will be suicidal - even for a sitting president. I have realised that now. Corruption permeates every facet of our existence. Corruption is Nigeria and Nigeria is corruption. Trying to change things the way they are now will be met with a brickwall - especially from those who are benefitting from the present state of affairs. And those benefitting, my dear, they are strong and many. They're very powerful indeed.

This write up by Abati must have been endorsed by Jonathan. He played safe - and he was wise in doing that! It is clear, the reasons why Jonathan has so many opposition in government. It is clear why he allowed old people to be in government. It is also clear now that he's doing his best not just for the Niger Delta, but for the country as whole. I can only wish him goodluck (his name) as he tries to right the wrongs of the past.

;DMy only concern is that we are just too forgetful,had it been our past leaders did well we would be facing much problems,but they have all failed us and the problem at hand cannot be fixed in a day.Its so sad that so called leaders that had the opportunities to do the right things pursued their selfish gains today they are spewing nonsense as if they are saints.Abeg make wuna leave GEJ alone,he has promised us a lot from this year let's keep our fingers crossed

Reuben,you are one of them.Stop giving us this bowl of rubbish.Mouthpieceof the real hypocrites

A master piece from a wordsmith who wld do anything to defend his paymasters.. Reuben has past history of lying with no iota of shame, however we can't shy away from the fact that d above message is true in all its ramifications

The former Ministers, former
Governors, former DGs, and all sorts who have
been busy quoting mischievous figures,
spreading cruel propaganda must be reminded that the Jonathan administration is in fact trying
to clean up the mess that they created.


Abati and the names he mentioned are all criminals.

ono:


What you forget is that it takes time to clean out the aegean stables. If you rush hot food, it will burn your throat and harm you in the end. You see, I'm beginning to have a rethink about Jonathan's tactics. Maybe he truly needs to be slow after all. Maybe, just maybe he needs to bring back some of those yesterday's men (Anenih and co) so just that they may stew in their own juice.

Correcting what was done wrong in the past takes patience, tactics, skills and intelligence. Perhaps that's what Jonathan is up to - I just wish it is. Facing the corruption problems head on in Nigeria will be suicidal - even for a sitting president. I have realised that now. Corruption permeates every facet of our existence. Corruption is Nigeria and Nigeria is corruption. Trying to change things the way they are now will be met with a brickwall - especially from those who are benefitting from the present state of affairs. And those benefitting, my dear, they are strong and many. They're very powerful indeed.

This write up by Abati must have been endorsed by Jonathan. He played safe - and he was wise in doing that! It is clear, the reasons why Jonathan has so many opposition in government. It is clear why he allowed old people to be in government. It is also clear now that he's doing his best not just for the Niger Delta, but for the country as whole. I can only wish him goodluck (his name) as he tries to right the wrongs of the past.

You spoke my mind and my position bro.

The mess of today was created by these yesterday's men.
They are all hypocrites.

Thanks Abati.

ono:


What you forget is that it takes time to clean out the aegean stables. If you rush hot food, it will burn your throat and harm you in the end. You see, I'm beginning to have a rethink about Jonathan's tactics. Maybe he truly needs to be slow after all. Maybe, just maybe he needs to bring back some of those yesterday's men (Anenih and co) so just that they may stew in their own juice.

Correcting what was done wrong in the past takes patience, tactics, skills and intelligence. Perhaps that's what Jonathan is up to - I just wish it is. Facing the corruption problems head on in Nigeria will be suicidal - even for a sitting president. I have realised that now. Corruption permeates every facet of our existence. Corruption is Nigeria and Nigeria is corruption. Trying to change things the way they are now will be met with a brickwall - especially from those who are benefitting from the present state of affairs. And those benefitting, my dear, they are strong and many. They're very powerful indeed.

This write up by Abati must have been endorsed by Jonathan. He played safe - and he was wise in doing that! It is clear, the reasons why Jonathan has so many opposition in government. It is clear why he allowed old people to be in government. It is also clear now that he's doing his best not just for the Niger Delta, but for the country as whole. I can only wish him goodluck (his name) as he tries to right the wrongs of the past.

This is why I normally say that those that blindly criticize GEJ have either never being in a position of authority or are being mischievous, pursuing justice cost resources, pursuing the powerful ones is even more demanding, considering the slim resources at hand, the book haram issue and the many nfrastructure to be built, justice will have to be slow for now.

ono:


What you forget is that it takes time to clean out the aegean stables. If you rush hot food, it will burn your throat and harm you in the end. You see, I'm beginning to have a rethink about Jonathan's tactics. Maybe he truly needs to be slow after all. Maybe, just maybe he needs to bring back some of those yesterday's men (Anenih and co) so just that they may stew in their own juice.

Correcting what was done wrong in the past takes patience, tactics, skills and intelligence. Perhaps that's what Jonathan is up to - I just wish it is. Facing the corruption problems head on in Nigeria will be suicidal - even for a sitting president. I have realised that now. Corruption permeates every facet of our existence. Corruption is Nigeria and Nigeria is corruption. Trying to change things the way they are now will be met with a brickwall - especially from those who are benefitting from the present state of affairs. And those benefitting, my dear, they are strong and many. They're very powerful indeed.

This write up by Abati must have been endorsed by Jonathan. He played safe - and he was wise in doing that! It is clear, the reasons why Jonathan has so many opposition in government. It is clear why he allowed old people to be in government. It is also clear now that he's doing his best not just for the Niger Delta, but for the country as whole. I can only wish him goodluck (his name) as he tries to right the wrongs of the past.

This is why I normally say that those that blindly criticize GEJ have either never being in a position of authority or are being mischievous, pursuing justice cost resources, pursuing the powerful ones is even more demanding, considering the slim resources at hand, the book haram issue and the many nfrastructure to be built, justice will have to be slow for now.

Lol! Accidental president.
Abati but u can yab o. I mean see full page of coordinated yabbing. U try.

But u must think the office u occupy is a toy. That u have time to bend low to respond in kind to pretty criticisms and insult. Only God k ow what u ppl are doing in that office. Seems only petty things, that is y u think repairing airport is an achievement.

Both the yabber and the yabbee are both embarrassing themselves.

The Delusions of Today's Men by Femi Fani Kayode
I read Dr. Reuben Abati's article titled 'The Hypocrisy Of Yesterday's Men'' (3rd Feb.2013) which was published in virtually every newspaper in the country with amusement. He sought to ridicule and demean those of us that served President Olusegun Obasanjo's government and that are not very impressed with the performance of his boss. The fact that we asked President Goodluck Jonathan to account for the 67 billion USD that he squandered from our foreign reserves has clearly upset him. We dared to ask about the money and so we were singled out and targetted for a tongue-lashing and a long lecture from the Presidency. Yet we remain undeterred. This is how weak governments that have nothing to offer and something to hide always behave. They come after their perceived enemies with full force and they are petty and oversensitive. This is all the more so when they lack experienced hands and when they do not have anyone with deep insight or wisdom about the art of governance or politics within their ranks. In his response instead of answering our questions, addressing the issues or making any pertinent and sensible points about the numerous allegations against his principal, Abati chose to go on a delusional and self-serving joy ride. He simply refused to address any of our numerous concerns but instead indulged vainly in what can only be described as an utterly vulgar and distasteful form of intellectual, spiritual and psychological masturbation by telling us that he and his master were ''today's men'' who needed no lessons from the ''men of yesterday''. The essay was nothing but the usual smear campaign and a crude attempt to intimidate which has been the hallmark of this Government whenever they are faced with even the mildest form of criticism. I will not dignify most of the insulting and childish submissions that Abati indulged in with a response other than to say that he told a shameless and pernicious lie when he wrote that as Minister of Aviation I ''shut down Port Harcourt Airport for two years'' and ''allowed grass to grow all over it''. This is false. It is a classic case of disinformation coming from a man that is obviously suffering from a very low self-esteem. It is clear that Abati, who is a journalist, has forgotten the most important tenet of his profession which is that ''facts are sacred and opinion is cheap''. Ordinarily one would have ignored his bitter rant but it is important that I set the record straight for the sake of posterity. The facts are as follows.

Port Harcourt International Airport was closed on Dec.10 2005 after the Sossolisso Air crash in which 100 people were killed. The crash affected the runway of the airport very badly and consequently the then Minister of Aviation, Professor Babalola Borishade closed it. I was redeployed from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to the Ministry of Aviation in November 2006. This was 11 months after the Sossolisso crash took place and that Port Harcourt Airport had been closed. It is clear from the foregoing that I was not the one that shut down Port Harcourt Airport. When I took over at Aviation my priority was to carry out all the necessary repairs at Port Harcourt Airport and to open it as quickly as possible. I was saddened to discover that in the previous 11 months before I got there nothing had been done and the contract to repair the runway had not even been awarded. Consequently within a month of my being appointed Minister of Aviation we set to work and awarded the contract to Julius Berger at the cost of 3 billion naira. 50 per cent of the money was paid up front and Julius Berger set to work immediately. The runway was fully completed and the airport in pristine condition before I left office on May 29th 2007 just 6 months after I awarded the contract. However despite this the airport could not be opened before we left because the runway lighting system was still in the process of being installed. The Yar'adua government went ahead and opened the airport a few months after we left office even though the runway lights had still not been installed. The record shows that from the day that I was appointed Minister of Aviation and the time that our mandate ran out 7 months later my staff at the Ministry and Julius Berger worked night and day on the runway project at Port Harcourt International Airport in order to ensure that we finished it in record time. And this we managed to do. It was my project. I sourced the money for it, I paid for it, I forced the contractor to move fast on it and I finished it. The fact that the Yar'adua administration did not complete the lighting system and open the airport for another few months after we left office, even though the runway was ready, is for them to explain and not for me. Even though nothing was done at that airport for 11 months before I got to Aviation, once I was appointed we swung into action immediately. I repeat that it was under my watch that work commenced, that it was rebuilt, that it was completed and that it was fully restored and after that the airport was ready to be fully utilised. Given these facts how Abati can peddle the lie that I was the one that not only closed the airport but that I also kept it shut for two years, did nothing there, caused it to remain idle and allowed ''grass to grow all over it'' honestly baffles me. I was Minister of Aviation for only 7 months and not 2 years and within those seven months, from scratch, I did all the work that needed to be done in order to make the airport functional again. I am proud of the fact that we succeeded in meeting our target and completing the job.

Abati also so asserted that I closed down ''other major airports'' whilst I was Minister of Aviation ''for the purposes of renovation''. Again this is not true. Not one of the four major airports in the country were closed down for renovation works or any other reason whilst I was Minister of Aviation. And neither, to the best of my recollection, did I close or suspend the operations of any of the smaller airports except perhaps for safety reasons. As a matter of fact the opposite was the case. I actually installed and completed the sophisticated Safe Tower Project in three of the four major airports in the country, resurrected and funded the Tracon Radar System which is operational in our country today and which gives us full radar coverage in our airspace, upgraded the facilities in many of the old smaller airports and granted permission for the establishment of new airports in places like Gombe. Quite apart from that we not only stopped the terrible cycle of plane crashes that was prevalent at that time but there was not one aircraft that crashed under my watch and no loss of life from the air under my tenure. I am the only Minister of Aviation in the last 10 years of our country that can boast of that and yet Abati seeks to tarnish my name, stain my record and rubbish my efforts with his lies. All this and far more and Abati accuses me of ''running the aviation sector down to a state of near collapse''. For that I commit him to God's judgement. It is obvious that he is just being malicious and dishonest. I take strong objection to his specious lies, his brazen falsehood and his distortions of fact. The suggestion that I closed Port Harcourt Airport and neglected it for two years, that I closed other airports for renovations and that I ran the aviation sector down to the ground is what I would refer to as a figment of his malicious, overactive and fertile imagination. It is a glaring mendacity, a brutal assault on truth and an affront to my sensiblities. I find it utterly reprehensible and repugnant that a man that is entrusted to speak for the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can indulge in such petty lies.

Let me end this contribution by pointing out the fact that being ''yesterday's men'' does not mean that some of us cannot be ''tomorrows men'' as well. Only God knows what lies ahead for each and everyone of us. So when Abati glibly writes people off as if they will never be in power again it is a sad reflection of his lack of experience and naivety. It is God that determines our tomorrow. It is He that lifts men up, that pulls them down and, sometimes if it be His will, lifts them up again. There are countless examples of that in our history. Finally I have a few questions for President Jonathan and his ''todays men''. When will they take President Obasanjo's advice and finally do something concrete about Boko Haram and our security situation? Does the fact that at least 4000 Nigerians have been killed by these terrorists in the last two years under their watch not bother them? How can they sleep well at night with all that innocent blood that has flowed and precious lives cut short whilst they were at the helm of affairs of our nation? More innocent souls have been killed in the last 2 years by terrorists than at any time in the history of Nigeria outside the civil war. How does President Jonathan and his ''today's men'' feel about winning such a dubious and dishonorable title? Does he still regard Boko Haram as ''his siblings'' who he ''cannot hurt''? Why has the President refused to visit the good people of the north east despite the fact that dozens of people are still being slaughtered there by Boko Haram every day? Moving to the issue of corruption and the economy when will our President and ''today's men'' answer the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron's question and tell him what they did with the 100 billion USD that they made from oil sales in the last two years? When will they answer Obi Ezekwsile's question about how they squandered 67 billion USD of our foreign reserves? When will they answer the question that Nasir El Rufai asked sometime back about how they spent over 350 billion naira on security vote in one year alone? When will they answer the many questions that Dr. Pat Utomi and many other distinguished and courageous leaders and ''yesterday's men'' have raised about the trillions of naira that have been supposedly spent on oil subsidy payments in the last two years? When will they implement the findings and recommendations of the Nuhu Ribadu report on the thivery that has gone on in the oil sector? When will they cultivate the guts and find the courage to respond to a call for a public debate to defend their abysmal record? When will these ''today's men'' stop being so reckless with our money? Why would our ''today's man'' FCT Minister budget 5 billion for the ''rehabilitatioin of prostitues in the Abuja''? Why would he budget 7.5 billion naira for a new ''FCT city gate''? Why would he budget 4 billion naira for a house for the First Lady? Why would the Federal Government of ''todays men'' budget 1 billion naira for food in the Villa? Are these the priorities of ''today's men and women''? And all this when Nigeria is back in foreign debt to the tune of 9 billion USD and is still borrowing, when local debt has hit almost 50 billion USD, when graduate unemployment has hit 80 per cent, when 40 per cent of Nigerians do not have access to good food and ''are hungry'' and when 70 per cent of Nigerians are living below the poverty line? Is this the vision of ''today's men and women''? If so may God deliver Nigeria.

By Femi Fani - Kayode

Abati has delivered a sucker punch to the army of grumbling ex-office holders littered in Nigeria. Many are inconsolable having lost their grip and access to power and its trappings. However Abati must realize that the same fate may someday befall him too..Moving on,the present day government should hasten with following through with the corruption cases leveled against ex-office holders as the notorious delays makes a mockery of the judiciary and their so called corruption fighting stance, whilst constantly ridiculing whatever is left of Nigeria's image amongst the comity of nations.

More so as quick as Abati is to come to the defense of this administration, it would be interesting if such dexterity and speed of purpose could be applied by him and his cahoots in government in coming to the defense of millions of Nigerians who are stuck in desperate situations all over the world (as well as in Nigeria) and for starters, respond to the allusion passed last week in Davos by David Cameron regarding Nigeria's ill-spent oil wealth.

Abati..please respond to Downing street and forget these local rabble rousers..

Dis is a masterpiece!
Wouldn't it hav been beta for GEJ govt to channel the energy they use in counter-attacks & damage control into REAL ACTION? (1) Answer the issues raised with facts and figures. (2) Exhume past miss-deeds of the 'yesterday men & women' and place them before public court with relevant evidences (3) PROSECUTE those they have strong cases agaist. Afterall wen dey re battling wit EFCC dey wil hav less time to attack govt. Abi? (4) Finally d govt shld tak note of their critisism & learn frm it; fix d issues at stake.