REHOZIBAH:

Well said...Most Nigerian clamourers for Youth participation in politics saw Nuhu Ribadu yet refused to vote for him but will be quick to dismiss the likes of Buhari who is far more electable across a broad spectrum than any youth at the moment. I was aghast at the talk of voting GEJ n not PDP during the last election...now we know better. Even if GEJ on his own may be a calm n 'good' man but a look at his promoters will never make me trust him

I wonder what we really want,we whine,throw tantrums and criticise all the politicians yet when push comes to shove we all just recoil into our shell,refusing to do nothing,only to come back to our ultra-complaining attitude

I need change this time around!

It may sound harsh but the truth is that too many Nigerians are simply not politically sophisticated enough to make solid decisions. Sentiments and bias often cloud and compromise their judgement to the extent they make terrible decisions over issues that should be fairly straightforward. This lack of political sophistication is the reason discussions here are not issue-based. What we see here on NL, to an extent, mirrors the electoral reality on the ground in Nigeria. There is still, for more Nigerians than is politically healthy, scant focus on issues that matters most.

Gbawe:

It may sound harsh but the truth is that too many Nigerians are simply not politically sophisticated enough to make solid decisions. Sentiments and bias often cloud and compromise their judgement to the extent they make terrible decisions over issues that should be fairly straightforward. This lack of political sophistication is the reason discussions here are not issue-based. What we see here on NL, to an extent, mirrors the electoral reality on the ground in Nigeria. There is still, for more Nigerians than is politically healthy, scant focus on issues that matters most.

I concur!!!

I think the opinion is that it may be more electorally effective to neutralize the apathy towards Buhari in the South than risk presenting a new choice that may be a hard sell in the North

- Gbawe


Sir Gbawe you are 100% correct. I share the same view. And God willing, come 2015, we are coming out in full force unlike 2011.

NB: Pls can I just add that you are one of the reasons why I still post on NL. Too much rubbish going on these days on this forum. I 'dey gbadun' your unbiased analysis

olivertwist: - Gbawe


Sir Gbawe you are 100% correct. I share the same view. And God willing, come 2015, we are coming out in full force unlike 2011.

NB: Pls can I just add that you are one of the reasons why I still post on NL. Too much rubbish going on these days on this forum. I 'dey gbadun' your unbiased analysis

My brother, thank you for your kind words. It is because of posters like you I still bother to post here. Most posters on NL, as much as 95%, are to be ignored in my opinion. The 5% worth responding to are the few who approach discussions with a focus on issues and make their case with facts.

As I say here always, we will all have our biases and affiliations. Yet, if honest and upright, we should not lie or pander to ridiculous falsehood to accommodate such. Just because you hate the black man you will then say Mohammed Alli could not box or that Pele was useless at football? Is that not outright and uncivilised dishonesty motivated by hatred and bias?

Well that is what NL is today and I believe one simply has to choose who to respond to if one is to remain here as a poster. Otherwise the other choice is to leave as many bright, interesting and outstanding posters have done.

Gbawe:


Most progressive-minded Nigerians would support Utomi yet how many are those sort numerically? To defeat the PDP the APC must operate with pragmatism. The sort Utomi himself showed by joining the ACN and now APC.

Let us not forget that Utomi himself began the race for the 2011 Presidency. Utomi dropped out to endorse Shekarau when he realized his real support base , beyond the support he enjoyed from a very small rank of sophisticated voters like you, was effectively zero!!!!! Our leaders (Utomi et al) showed that they have learned vital lessons from the 2011 elections. The question is that can me and you learn lessons as well so we do not keep advocating for what the political sophistication to achieve is non-existent?

I supported Ribadu in 2011 but I have learnt some key lessons. The main one being that it is better to support someone with a good chance of winning (Buhari) for the stage of sophistication majority of Nigerians are at (perhaps as high as 80%) who can then include those we all support (Ribadu, Utomi, Oshiomhole et al) in a team that will deliver for Nigeria. It also helps that Buhari will not tolerate corruption and will give appointees the chance and protection to deliver.

Let me put things in perspective about our fellow Nigerians. Utomi had to drop out of the election because of lack of popularity and funds since no one believed in him to sponsor him. Yet Nigerians voted for Jonathan who had nothing a sophisticated polity would seek in a leader. Does that not tell you what you are dealing with? Did Ribadu, a far more qualified leader a sophisticated polity would have endorsed unanimously, not fall far short against GEJ in 2011? that is the reality election strategists have to grapple with.

Not recognizing the reality of Nigeria to keep insisting we want Utomi or Gani Fawehinmi (of blessed memory) will simply translate into a big victory for the PDP upon which we can all go home and watch 4 more years lost for Nigeria. Anyway, it is like Skyfall said. I will support whoever the APC present because they are the better Party for me.

True but bitter.

Uyi Iredia:

True but bitter.

You follow Gbawe too, I guess. One of the few worth following on this section.

Let's only hope the APC get it right with their presidential nominees. Our people vote on sentiments not reason. PDP is well aware of this.

musKeeto:
You follow Gbawe too, I guess. One of the few worth following on this section.

Let's only hope the APC get it right with their presidential nominees. Our people vote on sentiments not reason. PDP is well aware of this.

Absolutely. The APC has to be pragmatic in its decision-making and all of us who support them must be circumspect too and curb our ego. We should also show humility and discipline, as is done to great effect worldwide, by trying to see the whole picture rather than focus on what we want alone. Fine to back Utomi, as a well-educated and politically sophisticated Nigerian, but more important to know that as much as 80% of Nigerians are not like you. The challenge is to get those majority on board and still produce a winning formula that will move Nigeria forward.

I can tell you now, even as it will be public knowledge eventually, that the APC is not, as many think, myopically focused on the Presidency alone. Many in the Party see Buhari as an 'enabler' no other can be and want him used as such. Buhari will allow a good team of achievers to fight and win. Yet there is attention to important offices/sectors, beyond the President alone, that can assist the reform of all that is wrong with Nigeria currently in the shortest period of time.

There is a real zeal, call it obsession if you like, amongst the APC strategists to dominate the Senate and be in a position to influence the direction of lawmaking in Nigeria so that, perhaps for the first time since 1999, there can be requisite legislative muscle behind the push for true/fiscal federalism. This will be the opposite of what obtains now whereby a select group of carefully selected 'guardians' (David Mark, Ekweremadu et al) ensure that the Nigerian legislative arm is overall of a stagnant nature to preserve the status quo. After all, you can control the Presidency yet lack the majority in the legislative houses to actualise the real changes Nigeria need. The APC is distinctly aware that the PDP, to maintain the status quo, deliberately hides behinds a constitution the Party's military spine delivered.

There is now more information that shows the noise made about APC looking at Tambuwal as a Presidential candidate is flat wrong. The APC may really be looking at a complex plot to make him emerge as an APC speaker of the lower house towards their efforts to gain the upper hand over the legislative arm of Nigeria.

Sadly, the clannish e-touts who make it difficult to discuss issues have rendered Nairaland a difficult forum to use as an arena of robust and informative discussions. By the time the real policies, focus and drive of the APC begins to come to public attention, the PDP will be left floundering badly because it is a Party that is always inadequately prepared since brazen looting is the agenda for most of its members and we all know crude stealing does not require cerebral exertion. I expect, when issues move towards purist political arguments, the APC will be very convincing because the Party, whatever its flaws, is home to many who have a natural and professional history of doing their homework better than others.

Monologue from Gbawe

Uyi Iredia:

True but bitter.

My good man, check NL archives to see I supported Ribadu robustly to the extent I was the NL candidate, in 2011, who argued his case in the debate officially convened to discuss the merits of a Ribadu/Buhari/GEJ presidency.

Bottom line is that I now accept the limitations of Nigerians and defer to the real level of political evolution our people have reached and not the one I assume they have reached because of my own personal outlook. There is a big difference between both. Not acknowledging that will lead to a failure to compromise. That will in turn lead to the worst outcome for Nigeria. I.e a gradualist PDP retaining power for another 4 years to the detriment of Nigeria.

We can all, 100%, bank on the fact Buhari, even with his many flaws, will not tolerate/abet/perpetuate corruption. We can also be assured Buhari will convene a government run by individuals of talent and comparative integrity. We also know his status as a vote winner in the North is unquestionable.

Now, if desperate for Nigeria to progress, why gamble what we can count on as progress and a big step in the right direction to embrace uncertainties that may backfire spectacularly especially when me and you know our people are still of the disposition to ignore the zero/corrupt/mediocre history of a candidate to vote for him because he had no shoes while they reject others who have "ability" written all over their CV?

Look at Utomi and Ribadu. They would wipe the floor with GEJ in Nations where majority of the electorate take mature and politically sophisticated decisions. Yet they could not reach the ankle of Jonathan in Nigeria. The most educated, most sophisticated and most exposed in Nigeria should not make issues about themselves and what they want especially if they understand they are in the minority by far. They should compromise and support what the majority can help to actualise as the best compromise for us all.

Gbawe:


It may sound harsh but the truth is that too many Nigerians are simply not politically sophisticated enough to make solid decisions. Sentiments and bias often cloud and compromise their judgement to the extent they make terrible decisions over issues that should be fairly straightforward. This lack of political sophistication is the reason discussions here are not issue-based. What we see here on NL, to an extent, mirrors the electoral reality on the ground in Nigeria. There is still, for more Nigerians than is politically healthy, scant focus on issues that matters most.

And the 'sophisticated' ones?

Education doesn't bug me much these days. On Quora I see a lot of silly ideas people trot out feeling progressive and smart when they are regressive and impractical.

Till tomorrow common sense will remain relevant. Ph.D's, maybe not.

Gbawe:


My good man, check NL archives to see I supported Ribadu robustly to the extent I was the NL candidate, in 2011, who argued his case in the debate officially convened to discuss the merits of a Ribadu/Buhari/GEJ presidency.

Bottom line is that I now accept the limitations of Nigerians and defer to the real level of political evolution our people have reached and not the one I assume they have reached because of my own personal outlook. There is a big difference between both. Not acknowledging that will lead to a failure to compromise. That will in turn lead to the worst outcome for Nigeria. I.e a gradualist PDP retaining power for another 4 years to the detriment of Nigeria.

We can all, 100%, bank on the fact Buhari, even with his many flaws, will not tolerate/abet/perpetuate corruption. We can also be assured Buhari will convene a government run by individuals of talent and comparative integrity. We also know his status as a vote winner in the North is unquestionable.

Now, if desperate for Nigeria to progress, why gamble what we can count on as progress and a big step in the right direction to embrace uncertainties that may backfire spectacularly especially when me and you know our people are still of the disposition to ignore the zero/corrupt/mediocre history of a candidate to vote for him because he had no shoes while they reject others who have "ability" written all over their CV?

Look at Utomi and Ribadu. They would wipe the floor with GEJ in Nations where majority of the electorate take mature and politically sophisticated decisions. Yet they could not reach the ankle of Jonathan in Nigeria. The most educated, most sophisticated and most exposed in Nigeria should not make issues about themselves and what they want especially if they understand they are in the minority by far. They should compromise and support what the majority can help to actualise as the best compromise for us all.

Ah weh done! The good thing forums like this have is how you can reply a person years later.

I didn't reply then given doubt I was willing to give based on the efforts of the likes of you and BMC folks. It turns out my fears which prevented my vote were correct. I should not only have not voted but voted for Jonathan to stop the disaster Buhari is.

I will take a short trip down that memory lane on the FEW times we talked.

Gbawe:


Indeed. Overall, I expect the leaders of the APC to always acquit themselves well because any Nigerian able to rise above sentiments, bias and clannish myopia will never deny that, without any doubt, APC hosts or has the sympathy of virtually all those who have shown, far more than others, they mean best for Nigeria.

The most distinguished and internationally acclaimed leaders who have put in the physical, technocratic/administrative, civil rights and financial effort to deliver a better Nigeria are with the APC. It will then always be easier for these folks to behave with consistent decency and a devotion to what is best for Nigerians because this is genuinely second nature to them. It is not an act or pretentious conducted predicated on the pursuit of ulterior motives.

As one example, APC can flaunt Nuhu Ribadu who refused a $15 million bribe and has worked worldwide as a lauded and highly-rated consultant. Ribadu has refused to leave the APC even as PDP looters and their clannish supporters shout he was "betrayed" and "used". Ribadu's steadfastness makes pragmatically intelligent Nigerians to begin appreciating the principles, dedication to the salvation of Nigeria and self-sacrificial mien of many APC leaders that will deliver our troubled Country. Oshiomhole who stood valiantly against several dictators is staunchly with the APC. Everyone knows Fayemi's efforts for democracy. Balarabe Musa till today continue to stand for what is right to include staunchly supporting the handing over of power to GEJ when opportunists and today's sabre-rattlers from GEJ's own ethnic group , like Clark and Kuku, were nowhere in sight.

No one will tell you APC leaders are saints. What we can all discern, if not into lying to ourselves because of ethnocentric/political/sectional bias, is that the APC host the largest number of performers and Nigerians who have distinguished themselves to the extent, if Nigeria is sane like other nation, it can be agreed they deserve the chance to lead because of their record alone. After 14 years of zero from the PDP, it will be impossible for Nigerians who are genuinely into progress not to seriously consider the APC.

2+ years after the verdict is a no. Better the frying pan that was PDP than the fire that is APC.