I join all well-meaning Nigerians in rejoicing at the death of the PDP's irresponsible 3rd term plot. This day, I feel very proud to be a Nigerian as our democracy seems to finally be yielding dividend. Personally, I have never held the Nigerian senate in high esteem and I still do not. However, those senators who took a stand for democracy despite pressure from obvious quarters are worthy of commendation. One of the first to speak out openly against the 3rd term plot was Udoma Udo Udoma, a senator from Akwa Ibom State. I found his comments to be a breath of fresh air amidst all the nonsense that was going on. He stated firmly; "I am opposed to 3rd term. This is no news. But I like to say that the sit-tight attitude of African leaders is responsible for the crisis in the continent. Nigerians are saying no to crises". I couldn't agree more with the honourable gentleman.

Looking over President Obasanjo's tenure, some will argue that there are certain things for which he deserves a bit of credit, and I agree. However, in my opinion his democratic credentials have been tarnished by this 3rd term plot. For the most part he tried to appear detached even though Nigerians knew from the ferocity of the plot that it could only have emanated from the very top. The weight of aggression brought against 3rd term opponents was proof of this. Freedom Radio, a Kano based radio station was fined N200,000 by the NBC (National Broadcasting Commission) and banned from the air for 5 hours for airing an anti 3rd term song. AIT (Africa Independent Television) recently had its license withdrawn and was given quit notice from Abuja for airing debates in the senate live on television. In a manner reminiscent of military times, anti 3rd term protesters were brutalised by the police and other security operatives. There was proof that the powers that be were willing to do whatever they needed to do to impose their selfish agenda on Nigerians.

On occasions when the President chose to speak on the 3rd term subject, his comments betrayed his endorsement of the plot. Sometime earlier in the year he was reported to have admitted that he would like to have more time to complete his 'reforms'. Also, while visiting the United States of America in April, just after the Ibrahim Mantu led senate committee had hurriedly and mischievously recommended tenure elongation, this is what he had to say "If the National Assembly want to do their job, nobody should prevent them or tell them not to do it".

I recently received a humorous email to this effect: That in 1976 as Head of State, President Obasanjo visited primary and secondary schools and told the children that they were the leaders of tomorrow and that 30 years later 'tomorrow' has still not come and appears not to be in sight for these 'children'. Although this email was quite funny, It got me thinking. The simple truth is that many of those who were in primary and secondary schools in 1976 are now full grown men, mostly in their forties and early fifties. Were President Obasanjo to have been granted 4 more years, many of those 'children' would have been pushing on 60 by 2011. Thankfully this will not happen. Despite the latest assurance of this not happening, I cannot help but grieve for a deprived generation of potentially brilliant leaders who have been denied the opportunities they may have had to lead their country.

Well, it is time to face the future. Unless the likes of Ahmadu Ali and Ibrahim Mantu decide to ferment more mischief, we are destined to have a new face in Aso Rock in 2007. My earnest plea is that all Nigerians would unite and shun ethnic sentiments and see it as a patriotic duty to choose a responsible, honest, intelligent and progressive leader. One that would address the damage caused by decades of military misrule and take the country to greater heights. Does such a person exist? Certainly, In a country with over 130,000,000 people, it beggars belief that there would not be a few worthy leaders. The question at hand is this: Would the existing political parties be willing to put such candidates forward? We shall just have to wait and see.

mekusoil:

Well, it is time to face the future. Unless the likes of Ahmadu Ali and Ibrahim Mantu decide to ferment more mischief, we are destined to have a new face in Aso Rock in 2007. My earnest plea is that all Nigerians would unite and shun ethnic sentiments and see it as a patriotic duty to choose a responsible, honest, intelligent and progressive leader. One that would address the damage caused by decades of military misrule and take the country to greater heights. Does such a person exist? Certainly, In a country with over 130,000,000 people, it beggars belief that there would not be a few worthy leaders. The question at hand is this: Would the existing political parties be willing to put such candidates forward? We shall just have to wait and see.

i couldnt agree more with you, here.

mekusoil:

: Would the existing political parties be willing to put such candidates forward?

and will our votes count? this time

bagoma, please forward your comments so we can discuss the issue further.

hi mekusoil,
well my comments are quite simple.
i quite agree with most of your comments and i re-emphasize the fact that it is madness for anyone to suggest that in a population of over 130 million people in Nigeria it will be hard to find to find one candidate to step in to the shoes of OBJ and carry on with the good reforms.
however, it is hard to tell whether such a candidate will be able to able to survive our harsh political climate. i think these might be one the fears obj might have had(just my view though) else he'd have done the most reasonable thing any sane man would do and that is to groom a successor.
now i say this because most of the names been touted around lately seems to be names of technocrats, hardly politicians.
for them to be put forward in the first place will depend largely on the bigwigs of nigerian politics, one of whom is interested in returning to power.
our votes have never counted before and unless a miracle happens i dont see it counting this time around.

Check out this prophesy from Primate Babatunde Elijah Ayodele (J.P)

and please share your views on wheather we should believe him or not

Total garbage. Such vague non-sense. Charlatans like this should be shot for corrupting the minds of the youth.

I don't believe at all. And come to think about it, the guy is so vague in his so-called professes that there really is nothing to believe in.

As for his comments about the economy getting better, anyone with half a brain cell would know that current situations in the State and international community bodes well for Nigeria's economic future.

Believe him if you want. I am not ready, nor am I in a position to control the minds of our beloved. However, if the time does come, this madness will come to an end.

Either way, his professes are not in line with my desires for the State.

Note: My views on this man might change if you post the date he published his professes.

well, na God go judge all this people
if he says he heard God's voice."which nobody has ever heard" anyway,
then it's between him and God.

But we all know that most of them, advertise themselves so that followers will flood in.
if his predictions manifests, which logically seem possible,

with all the delay, in campaigning, (people weren't Sure "Baba" will go) and all the other logistics, it's logical, to predicts so.

if he had done this when OBJ came in 2003, maybe, my view might be different.

lets keep our fingers crossed.

When people don hear themselves finish, dem go come around say na God speak to them.

Just like many like me rejoiced at the failed approval by the senate, some don't and I don't think I will be far from the truth by saying that you belong to the latter group. To remind you of the honest definition of democracy, it is "Government of the people, by the people and for the people"! So, if OBJ had no interest whatsoever in the extending his tenure, why were anti-third term campaigners brutalised and hounded? Why didn't OBJ not come out publicly to dissociate himself from the those who were masquerading his name? Why tamper with the constitution with the intention of an elongation when immunity laws protecting corrupt officers in Government remain untouched?

EFCC has been a welcome development in the indices of transparency and accountability but what is not welcome is the selective persecution of a few real and imaginary enemies while those close to Aso Rock remain untouchable. A typical example is the case of Chief Lamidi Adedibu aka the strongman of Ibadan politics and Olabode George inspite of glaring implications and open admissions. Are they above EFCC? Then you mention the Niger Delta crisis but you forget that some years ago, the OBJ regime virtually used a sledge hammer in dealing with the uprising in those areas. I am not absolving their corrupt Governors and leaders from any blame but the Federal Government also bears the brunt.

What would you prefer. Providing something as basic as electricity by building enough power stations and maximising idle gas turbines or paying back a large chunk of our debts? I know what my obvious choice would be. I am not saying that there are no merits of the OBJ reign but they are also a lot of demerits that should not be ignored. To say that none of the impending presidential contestants are no better is to say that change in itself should not exist. In your words of being careful what Nigerians wish for, may I also advice you to be careful what you propagate in the name of democracy. Nigerians deserve to see the genuine fruits of democracy and therefore the disrupting of AIT live anti-third term documentary is the height of undemocratic principles.

The best advert for a product is the product itself. Nigeria is still very far from parading itself with pride in the international eyes as just Abacha's money is being returned gradually, more is being looted abroad. It is plain silly to expect the British Government to harass the looters when the Federal Government should rise to its responsibility. Oyo State is in Nigeria and charity should begin at home,

No one is saying that Obasanjo has not tried or made some achievement, but let's face it, all of his achievements have not translated into alleviating poverty in Nigeria, nor has it led to better infrastructure, nor to a better health system, nor to a better power system etc etc. If Obasanjo wants us to acclaim his achievements of paying off the Paris club, fighting a war on corruption (albeit a highly selective one), increasing the foreign reserve, why wont the President be man enough to allow us to deny him a third term or at least to criticise him for the many failures of his administration. How can he want to enjoy the praises of the good but not the responsibility for all the bad within the past 7 years?

I am sure that the writer of the article referred to above (Ladi Lapite) who is based in the U.K has relations back in Nigeria perhaps he may wish to contact them to find out whether their lives have been made any better by any of Obasanjo's "achievements" to merit his being made life President. More to the point, the glaring question which all pro third termers have failed to answer is that after the constitution is changed to accommodate the almighty-supreme-there is no one else like you-Obasanjo, what happens when he leaves office after an additional 4 years? The amended constitution will now allow the next person to serve 12 years (possibly) as well. And if that person turns out to be a thief or rouge like Abacha or IBB, they will have more than ample time to dismantle whatever Obasanjo and his supporters may feel that he has achieved.

I was very proud of the Senate on the day that they, despite the bribery and the coercion that Obasanjo's camp perpetrated, confined the self serving, inglorious, counter productive, ill informed, ill thought of, ill conceived, out dated third term agenda to the bins of history. To argue that in a population of 120 million, only one man loves the country enough and is honest enough to lead is the height of intellectual paucity and 419 logic gone absolutely crazy. If Obasanjo were thinking straight he would have been grooming a successor (The Soludos, The Okonjo Iwelas, the Nuhu Ribadus) to succeeed him rather the yeye man wants to be life President. Does he not know the history of Nigeria or has the opulent life of Aso Rock befuddled his thinking? Nigerians may allow buffoons, thieves, rogues etc as rulers, but what we are yet to allow (thank God) are sit tight life presidents, and Obasanjo failed woefully to achieve this and so he should.

Being a very vindictive and vengeful person, I have no doubt what so ever that Obasanjo will seek to exact revenge from all the patriotic Senators and House of Assembly members who voted against his third term agenda. Apart from the EFCC, there will be other instruments of intimidation and harassment that will be unleashed between now and the next general election. The 2007 election also will be heavily rigged in such a way as to punish any of those who served the cause of the nation in derailing the third term agenda should they present themselves for election or reelection, Thus there is still a great need to be alert and vigilant since in his war of retribution OBJ will not care for the conflagration that his actions may cause, on that mission also, he should fail.

Obasanjo, mark my words, will not go quietly, having fallen in esteem and grace, he may feel that he has nothing more to lose and Nigerians should not allow the wounded strongman of Aso Rock to turn the nation into an arena of war and attrition in the coming months. God bless Nigeria.

@ Afeni

The article was gotten from FAME magazine dated Tues 23 May- Mon 29 May 2006.

The Newspaper Man brought it to my office yesterday. That means his predictions are recent.

you clearly mis-understood my comments.
i said yes, i agree with you that it is madness for one man to think he alone has the formula for greatness again for our dear nation.
you were wrong to assume that i was sad that the senate killed third term. very wrong. if you were here on this forum before the third term saga really got hot, then you would have known what my stand is.
i have posted severally on this board that third term spells doom for nigeria's democracy. how can one man in power manipulate the whole nation? so when we spoke decisively that we believe in democracy, i rejoiced. however i knew the death of third term isnt the end of our problems, a victory, yes, but the begining of another kind of problem.

i also said that that i believe in the reforms of this govt because i think they are good.
you have gone on to list all the demerits of this administrations and i quite agree with you that indeed if we look at his scorecard(as marked by the average nigerian)
we would say he hadnt scored 100%. i also state that he hasnt scored 0% either.
the rot that is our nation today didnt start yesterday and no magic wand can make it disappear in a moment.
there has to be the gradual process of rebuilding which i think this govt is sincerely doing.

everything you have said about EFCC and its use in "witch-hunting" i agree with you totally.
you posted as if am on the other side while in actual fact i think we are on the same side. except perhaps you don't believe this administration has done anything right.
if that is the case then we differ on that point.

i believe that as a nation we are on the right track and if we keep at it then we'll get out of this present duldrums we find ourselves in but if we abandon this process now then we'll be worse off and all this "pains of healing" we are enduring now would be a total waste.
there is still hope for this country.

"It simply means that it is a Niger-Deltan that will take-over from the current president, says the Lord of Host"
            babatunde elijah ayodele
"he is not perfect. At least 80% of his predictions will come to pass"



hehe. When did "the Lord of Host" start giving prophets 80% truth, 20% lie? 

Hi Bagoma,
Thanks for your reasoned response. I accept the submissions. Like you and I am sure, most people, all I want is a Nigeria that we can all be proud of. The Nigeria that nurtured us is not the Nigeria that we have today. Let's hope that by engaging in this sort of discourse, we can truly sensitise the already well informed global Nigerian populace. I must confess to an underlying mischievous aim to my initial article. That being the generation of responses which would plug gaps in my own knowledge while opening up a stimulating debate.

I am aware that there have been allegations of a lack of even handedness in the war on corruption and in particular the indictment (or not) of characters like Bode George and Chris Uba and am like you, quite disappointed that they have gone unaddressed. However, I am thankful that a number of cases have highlighted the willingness of this administration to deal with clear cases. I realise as a Criminal law practitioner that that there is not an awful lot that can be done with conjecture and supposition and the absence of clear and unequivocal evidence is a recipe for failed prosecutions. While it may be in the public interest to seek to bring alleged criminals to court, the fact that the evidence will not guarantee a conviction makes any such prosecution futile and ironically, contrary to that self- same public interest.

I have also heard of the introduction of a long overdue system based on due process that fails to deliver when the time comes to pay for fulfilled projects. Similarly, it saddens me to see the decaying state of our Universities, so severely starved of funds while politicians are ostensibly being paid a kings ransom to back the 3rd term agenda. I even heard that in spite of the monetisation scheme, politicians are still provided with luxury cars under a separate vote, once again as an inducement to support the the failed agenda. It may surprise you to hear that rather than see this as a purely despicable act, I try to hazard a guess as to why this man and his supporters so desperately want to hang on for a further four years. It cannot simply be to administer the coutry's largesse to politicians.

Perhaps there is some method to this madness, like trying to safeguard stability. The political structure as provided, means that the President's aims are pie in the sky without the backing of the legislature. We all have anecdotal evidence of states spending all of its term debating bills rather than passing any. A relatively economically fulfilled legislature is more likely to be a help than a hindrance to progress. Getting to that stage can be a painstaking and long process. I am conscious that a lot of other matters tie into this debate and make apologies now for any matters teased out in this piece without in depth analysis.

WesleyanA:

"It simply means that it is a Niger-Deltan that will take-over from the current president, says the Lord of Host"
babatunde elijah ayodele
"he is not perfect. At least 80% of his predictions will come to pass"



hehe. When did God start giving prophets 80% truth, 20% lie?

LMAO. That's how it usually is in the movies/stories. That's where all those bags of meat that breathe oxygen get their ideas from.

let him be more specific.

Many Nigerians celebrated at the collapse of the third term agenda at the senate a few weeks ago. With recent developments,, it is becoming clearer that President Obasanjo lost the TTA not because of senators willing to protect Nigerians and her fragile democracy but because of the sinister and diabolic plan of the northern hegemony.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2006/may/26/national-26-05-2006-001.htm

Northern leaders, under the aegis of Northern Union say that South-South geopolitical zone sold its right to occupy the presidency in 2007 by supporting the failed plot to extend President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure.

They insisted that power must shift to the North for the peace and unity of the country.

Rising from a meeting on Thursday in Abuja, the group declared: “It must be cleared to the generality of Nigerians that the sole aim of Northern Union is that power must shift to the North, it is very simple, it should not lead to any form of controversy.”
Briefing the press midway into the meeting, a leader of the group, Dr. Olusola Saraki, said that for the South-South leaders to campaign vigorously for the elongation of President Obasanjo’s tenure, after the expiration of his two terms in office, the zone had sold its rights to the presidency.

The union hinged its insistence on power shift to the North on an understanding reached with the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that power would return to the North after two terms in the South, which they said informed the massive opposition launched against tenure elongation.
“Now, our stand is that power must shift to the North. We are not giving up, so that peace will reign in the country and there would be unity. This informed this meeting. We are only strategizing to let power shift to the North,” Dr. Saraki said.

According to him, the North was ready to deploy every weapon at its disposal to achieve this, adding that this was why the North did not support the third term agenda as it would have negated the decision taken in 1995 during the reign of the late Abacha that power must go to the South and return to the North after two terms of four years.

“We thank God that third term is dead. With the death of third term, we have raised the hope that we shall defeat our enemies. The North would use every opportunity given us by God to ensure that power returns to the North, so that tomorrow when we are no more, those who are coming behind would know that we mastered our own moment,” he said.
Elaborating on the position of the union, Professor Ango Abdullahi told other zones that might be eying the presidency, after President Obasanjo, that power must return to the North next year.
“It must be cleared to the generality that this is the aim of this union. It is our aims and objectives that we must kill third term. Thank God, we have succeeded in doing this at the National Assembly.

Now, it is the unity of the North and we have done well also. The remaining part is equity and fairness that we agreed upon in 1998/1999, in 2002/2003 where it was clearly stated using the platform of the PDP as a party that power will reside in the South for the first and second term, after which it will shift to the North. This is all and it is very simple, I can’t see why it led to controversy,” the former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria declared.

http://davidylan..com/2006/05/defeat-of-tta-not-yet-uhuru.html#comments
http://davidylan..com/2006/05/north-3rd-term-and-gentlemans.html#comments

This are the people who champion "one Nigeria" the loudest!

hi mekusoil,
a pity we're not always online at the same time because then we would have a more fruitful discussion, however we have to make the best of what we have.

the issue of the EFCC and the anti-curruption crusade by this administration indeed leaves much to be desired. chief bode george and his indictment in NPA contract scam as a case study clearly casts muds on the so called campaign. there are several others like him, eg anenih, uba, etc and the powers that be are looking the other way. untill these individuals are brought to book, everyone will continue to see the EFCC as a weapon created by govt to punish opposition.(which is not far from the truth)
our educational sector, particularly our universities (like you rightly pointed out) is in total rot, the only silver lining appears to be recent influx of private participation, the drawback however is that it is beyond the reach of the average man. the high monetary cost of acquiring a university education via private ones put paid to that.
it is therefore heart-breaking to see our money freely exchanging hands just so one man can remain in power for another four years, when such could be used to address some of the problems in the federal universities.
i am curious here, perhaps you could help me out brother, what do you think will happen to the money given to senators to vote for the third term now that it failed. will it be returned?

i'd like to get further clarification on this below.

mekusoil:

A relatively economically fulfilled legislature is more likely to be a help than a hindrance to progress.

what do ou think of our legislature? are they economically fulfilled and is this theory true where they are concerned?