It isn't like I was ever a firm believer in the Buhari project. This wasn't because of Buhari himself, but because of the APC umbrella. I supported the candidature of Jonathan, not because of the PDP but because of Jonathan himself. Ironical, right?

Now, let me clarify my stand: I knew about Buhari's acclaimed intolerance for corruption, I knew about his much vaunted Spartan lifestyle and approach, but I looked beyond these. This wasn't the military anymore, but a civilian setup in which he would be required to STOOP if he must CONQUER. And this was what caused my fears. Assuming XX=Good Good, and this denoted Muhammadu Buhari, how could he (with the desire for a second term) equate with XY=Good Bad, XYX=Good Bad Good and YY=Bad Bad in the APC? He would end up making so much concessions that at the end of his tenure, there would be little good remaining (if any at all). He also had no experience with managing a civilian set-up; which, coupled with his (no be me talk am O) certificatelessness, would make getting muddled by the apparently intellectually better, criminal partners an inevitable conclusion.

Jonathan nko? I saw him as a timid, yet ambitious leader; he was a man who believed in the mild approach, with an occasional touch of firmness. The limit on the latter, I felt, was due to his second term ambitions. He thought the easiest way to achieve that was by allowing relative freedom to those around him, as far as such persons weren't direct antagonists to his second term ambition. This was his greatest undoing. These men and women exploited his naivety to the hilt, embezzling what would scare even the devil. But as an academician, he felt his approach was justified by the statistics coming in. The economy was growing bigger by the day, more industries were being established: vehicle assemblies, vehicle manufacturing, etc. When such figures filtered in, he must have felt we were doing much better than the masses actually felt.

But he forgot that, in his sincerity, he had previously divested the elite of most of their kingmaking powers. He had advocated, against Nigerian norms, relatively free and fair polls, thus giving the masses a greater say in who became what. He had promoted freedom of information, thus making the opposition more privy to information that was previously kept under lids, he had allowed for press freedom, thereby allowing the opposition more opportunity to use the press to their own advantage. He had allowed the opposition to believe, something they could never have imagined under an Obasanjo leadership.

I had two options and chose Jonathan. While I thought that the old General would be too concessionary to tame the rabid foxes around him, I thought Jonathan, with the second term ambition secured, would develop the balls or engage the hitherto dormant balls to tackle corruption. I thought that, while he may not be retroactive, he would possess the requisite experience and will to lead us into the future. The negotiation chip of a second term would have been used and dumped, we would have a CALM president who feared no friend nor foe.

The result of the fourth paragraph was his sacking by the electorate. Unlike me, many fell for the honey-crusted promises by the APC. As stated above, I couldn't relate with the claims by those stained and tarnished backers that Buhari would initiate a all-round, no holds barred assault on corruption and the corrupted. I wondered where that would place them.

Yet, he won...freely and fairly, if one would pretend not to have seen the unexplainably bogus figures from the North. While elections in some Southern states stretched into the nights and even next days, the North managed to achieve such lumpy sums in record time! Some were happy; having swallowed hook, line and sinker, the lies, half-truths and even truths by the opposition in the period of campaigns, they saw the advent of a new government as the solution we have always sought. Some were sad. And some were indifferent. Yours sincerely fell amongst this last bunch. Jonathan, ever the gentleman, didn't hesitate in conceding defeat and congratulating his opponent - a most noble action many have expressed diverse opinion concerning.

...It wasn't long before we started seeing the results of inexperience: initial gains were ascribed to body language, rather than better policy framework - a bad sign that was hailed by Buhari supporters. Then, the *directionless directionlessness* was soon revealed for what it was as those gains varnished so rapidly that even some who had previously experienced them couldn't defend such experience again. Talk is so cheap; the new government realized this and after initial modifications delved to the depths of denying pressing electoral promises altogether. As things worsened, the realization dawned on many that they had been shortchanged. The delay in the appointment of ministers showed how unprepared the opposition had actually been for the responsibility of governance. We started hearing excuses from meticulously sifting out the not-so-good to get the best hands to the most ridiculous of having not been properly advised in the Jonathan handover notes. The latter is so funny; were they expecting guidelines from the man they had sworn to better? How was Nigeria to get CHANGE from the retrogressive policies of the past?

The fight against corruption, while good, has been sectional. Allegations against Fashola are well documented; these, from his own party members, did not stop Buhari from making him a Super-Minister. Amaechi has been unrelentingly linked to looted Rivers State funds, but this is obviously not part of the EFCC's brief for now. Also, this fight has been more sensational than factual. The media has been a veritable branding weapon, rehashing sensational ascriptions to opposition figures as it deemed fit. This explains the discrepancies between the actual stolen funds in the arms deal and the 2.1 billion dollars being peddled around. Why are convictions not forthcoming? When do we move from opposition figures to making arrests of APC topshots? Patience, right? OK O!

With the rise in exchange rates, rising food and commodity prices, massive and RISING unemployment, lack of basic essentials like water and electricity, perrenial fuel scarcity, amongst others, many are giving up on not just the Buhari/Osibanjo led government, but on Nigeria as a whole.

All hope isn't lost however. There must be a demarcation if things must move forward. A demarcation between the bad eggs and the few good ones (or not-so-bad actually). They must be ready to eat the humble pie and accept culpability when wrong. That's the only way they could change. Policy somersaults, which have become the wont of this government must be passionately apologized for instead of deflected or denied. They must realize that the APC is no longer in the opposition and is therefore responsible for everything happening in the country today. The cowardly act of pointing to the almost a year gone PDP government will help nobody. There were two nationwide fuel scarcities under Jonathan - Subsidy and Pre-handover periods; the APC must find out why it has become a national ringtone under them. There must be a clear-cut Economic plan for Nigeria, a well-thought framework to guide everyone.

And finally, we need prayers. Many may disagree with this, but we do need prayers. We need to pray for the nation and its leaders. We must pray for Osibanjo especially, who has so far failed to make a clear-cut distinction between his political career and his faith. We must pray that, in trying to defend the indefensible, justifying mediocrity, he doesn't fall into the trap of forsaking his salvation. His recent statement, on a church altar, that Jonathan never completed any road project was my definition of overt political deception. This, coming after Super Minister Fashola had stated that no previous administration did as as much as Jonathan's government in the area of road construction, is the height of politically inspired character slander. And the devil is still the father of liars O! I remember wishing, during the March Holy Ghost Service that Daddy G.O will call him out to kneel while we all LAID OUR HANDS on him. God promised not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah if only he could find a reasonable amount of righteous people. Can Osibanjo be that lone righteous, unlying tongue in today's government, that will cause God's grace to smile upon us? Time will tell.

NB: True CHANGE only comes when we give our lives to Christ. 2Cor5:17.

shut up

Abeg who read read this to summarise it for.




Am just like dharray99 .... That dude doesn't read woobish

Hope has lost Hope sef In Nigeria

AlfaSeltzer:
shut up

thumbs up, bro.

Pheals:
Abeg who read read this to summarise it for.




Am just like dharray99 .... That dude doesn't read woobish

eyah! Never intended making it this lengthy...the thoughts just kept coming.

ekeneidiagbor:
Hope has lost Hope sef In Nigeria

WE must keep hope alive.

lalasticlala, omenka, ngeneukwenu, cramjones, mizmycoli, etc

Ohibenemma:
lalasticlala, omenka, ngeneukwenu, cramjones, mizmycoli, etc

Surprisingly, I read it to the end.
Quite interesting.

What I pick out is the fact that many are losing hope in the Nigerian dream, now more than ever.

Sometimes I want to believe that things will get better.
But for how long shall we continue to suffer while consoling ourselves, yet we're in the midst of diverse resources without an economic policy, framework or roadmap to act upon?

Heap of rubbish written by an IPOB wailer

You can shove your badly written article where the sun don't shine.

Suggesting that there was electoral irregularities in the North but failed to acknowledge the extreme level of rigging that took place in Delta and Rivers states.

Fashola's corruption is well documented? By whom? And I assume that you have irrefutable evidence to back up your 'allegations'.

The article even went as far as defending Jonathan's incompetence and willful participation in mind boggling corruption that overtook his administration.

Silly article based on IPOB emotions.

That was Jonathan's greatest undoing, allowing some things to go unhindered, thinking that with his second tenure clinched,he would wield the executive stick much more strictly and damn the consequence.. His opponents knew this too...hence why they fought ferociously to wrest the mantle of leadership from him..maybe with hindsight he would have wielded that stick much more sternly in his first tenure and damned the consequences.. The heavens will not fall.. But he was a politically timid man..in Nigeria,you take what you want by force..

OgbeifunErom:
Heap of rubbish written by an IPOB wailer

You can shove your badly written article where the sun don't shine.

Suggesting that there was electoral irregularities in the North but failed to acknowledge the extreme level of rigging that took place in Delta and Rivers states.

Fashola's corruption is well documented? By whom? And I assume that you have irrefutable evidence to back up your 'allegations'.

The article even went as far as defending Jonathan's incompetence and willful participation in mind boggling corruption that overtook his administration.

This is the problem with most Nigerians...sentimentalism. so you honestly believe I'm Ipob connected in any way? So myopic, sir.

I'm Edo, and from your name, you are too. Bini, right?

Now, concerning Fashola, are you claiming to be unaware of the inflated borehole allegations made by none else than his successor?

Jona's "WILLFUL participation in corruption?" Irrefutable Evidence?"

@Ogbeifunerom
On electoral malpractices, maybe I would have mentioned the Niger-Delta had this been about a Jonathan government, but it's not.

We may continue being sentimental, but this is about the worst performance we've had with regards to governments since 1999...and Nigeria needs our prayers.

I gave reasons why I wanted jonathan back; give me reasons why my FAILED choice was wrong. SIMPLE!

Sorry this is being clustered, it's because my little Tecno is the only phone with sufficient battery strength to surf the net...and it permits a limited amount of words per page.

#LightSOffSinceSunday barring a few hours on Wednesday.
#Couldn'tBearTheLongQueueSFor Fuel this evening. *

OUR LEADERS NEED PRAYERS.

sarutobie:
That was Jonathan's greatest undoing, allowing some things to go unhindered, thinking that with his second tenure clinched,he would wield the executive stick much more strictly and damn the consequence.. His opponents knew this too...hence why they fought ferociously to wrest the mantle of leadership from him..maybe with hindsight he would have wielded that stick much more sternly in his first tenure and damned the consequences.. The heavens will not fall.. But he was a politically timid man..in Nigeria,you take what you want by force..

THAT'S it, sir; he was too docile and allowed too many things go uncheckmated. That was bad leadership trait...and even worse for the environment we find ourselves.