I wonder why people are surprised at how things are unfolding in this country. Nigeria for now is just a theatre where the masterfully written and orchestrated script of the Ota farmer is playing out by the day. Someone in this forum once mentioned that the day Obj made a comment concerning the logjam Yar'Adua's absence has caused in the polity was the day the matter settled itself. No doubt. During the presidential campaigns in 2007, I also heard from a good number of folks that Obj wants a South-South man in the presidency to placate them, it has turned out to be true, it's just that it took longer than the timeline he set. What a country. Why is our fate in the hands of just a few? Who else in this nation calls more shots than Obj the principality?

And your problem with that is?

Like it or not: Obj is the best President Nigeria ever had - leadership, strategy, courage (boldness), love for his country, being at the forefront (not room for being second), employs the best hands he can find, the right muscles in handling affairs, etc.

Obasanjo's only problem was being personal over some interests, and crushing opposition with extreme measures (though this works fine if against a common enemy). I still like him (though I don't think he can humble himself to apologize to Nigerians, but he is making sure the worst does not happen)

Obj na my man! Despite is flaws he's still d best president nigeria have had. He was only bad 2 his political enemies and his constant disobedience 2 d rule of law. During his time what he did outweigh ds our yar'dua's go slow rule of law. At least during his tym dr was increase in employment, 2 us non politicians d fight against corruption thru ribadu was our joy then it was difficult a local govt chairmen steal money without think twice of EFCC.We had some of d best brain in d saddle of govt not these greedy sycophants we have now.obj built d middle class which is speedly disappearing.I still prefer obj to 10 of yar'dua.

I use to think that Obj was so bad that nothing good can come from him but of late i have been having a rethink! He is a game planner, in fact he is a role model for many of us! He has made us proud.Excuse me dance jare.

@egift Obj can never be said to be our best president infact he is d worst in our history wateva he gave wit d right hand he took wit d left c wat he did wit our telecoms he gav us MTN nd co but totally destroyed our NITEL c all d probs he escalated in the N/Delta c his protection of our democracy 4 8yrs but completely ruined the democratic process the list goes on and on.
The ascension of Goodluck shld not be credited to Obj but 1st to Yaradua for always insisting on following due process no matter how long it took and the perseverance of Goodluck.

Marvix,
are you sure you are ok?

marvix:

@egift Obj can never be said to be our best president infact he is d worst in our history wateva he gave wit d right hand he took wit d left c wat he did wit our telecoms he gav us MTN nd co but totally destroyed our NITEL c all d probs he escalated in the N/Delta c his protection of our democracy 4 8yrs but completely ruined the democratic process the list goes on and on.
The ascension of Goodluck shld not be credited to Obj but 1st to Yaradua for always insisting on following due process no matter how long it took and the perseverance of Goodluck.

I see you are hallucinating. That is why your "due process" presido found it easier to sign a 200 page document and grant a BBC interview but could not transmit a one-line letter to the national assembly that would empower his vice. He would rather have 150 million people rudderless for over 80 days.

Even in death I want YARASLOW impeached. The man don see us finish. May be na him papa win independence for Nigeria

Obj no doubt is a masterplanner whose plans live on after him, biting and plaguing the whole populace. Take how long it took us to sparingly fight off Yar'Adua he consciously foisted on us. The fuel price hikes, the refineries he couldn't revamp while on seat and hurriedly marketed off to his cronies who owe debt in every bank when his game was up. I can go on. He's a principality.

@na_so do u tink dat we actually needed a letter to empower a VP to act? The truth is Goodluck is d grand politician wat Aondoaka nd co wanted was an acting president witout d powers of d president and Jonathan was wiser than dem all dat was y he insisted on not doin a lot of presidential tasks until evryone agrees dat he has all d powers of d presidency and he achieved this witout a single word just by kipin quiet somtin he learnt frm d master Yaradua.
Yaradua did us a favor by insistin on not sendin a letter but instead allowed it to play out the truth is once d president is absent the VP takes over there is no two way abt it the only reason he is supposed to transmit to d NA is so they know he is not AWOL not to empower somone who has already been sworn in. In a scenario where d president on state visit to a country is kidnapped or held hostage do we need a letter to empower d vice to take charge as d commander in chief to request the immediate release of d president or declare a war or would we have stood still waitin 4 d president if the army of cameroun or niger crossed our borders even Jonathan would not allow it to happen. The truth is Jonathan didn't want to be a lame duck actin president who would approve budget but can't discipline d ministers and when decisions taken are not in tandem wit some peoples views they would disobey and insist dat the president shld resume first.

With OBJ, what you see is what you get, no more no less

marvix:

@na_so do u tink dat we actually needed a letter to empower a VP to act? The truth is Goodluck is d grand politician wat Aondoaka nd co wanted was an acting president witout d powers of d president and Jonathan was wiser than dem all dat was y he insisted on not doin a lot of presidential tasks until evryone agrees dat he has all d powers of d presidency and he achieved this witout a single word just by kipin quiet somtin he learnt frm d master Yaradua.
Yaradua did us a favor by insistin on not sendin a letter but instead allowed it to play out the truth is once d president is absent the VP takes over there is no two way abt it the only reason he is supposed to transmit to d NA is so they know he is not AWOL not to empower somone who has already been sworn in. In a scenario where d president on state visit to a country is kidnapped or held hostage do we need a letter to empower d vice to take charge as d commander in chief to request the immediate release of d president or declare a war or would we have stood still waitin 4 d president if the army of cameroun or niger crossed our borders even Jonathan would not allow it to happen. The truth is Jonathan didn't want to be a lame duck actin president who would approve budget but can't discipline d ministers and when decisions taken are not in tandem wit some peoples views they would disobey and insist dat the president shld resume first.

My guy definitely within the confines of the constitution for now, the president actually needs to send that letter to empower the VP. we do not want a case where we have two people laying claim to the presidency at the same time. That will be real chaos.

Secondly if we want to judge fairly, what the senate did is ILLEGAL. The only question i keep asking  is if the constitution  stipulates the maximum number of days the president can go AWOL before  the seat can be declared vacant.

If the senate's action is challenged in court , the only thing the courts can do to help (on the grounds of national security) will  be to keep adjorning while the senate has time to formalise with a proper impeachment. What this YARA------- has done is gross misconduct.

@na_so: I wish to understand you. Is this about Obj too?

Na_so u don't get it the moment d president is absent d vice acts as d president today Jonathan is not the president of Nigeria he is d vice and only actin dat is d reason y u don't swear in an actin president Yaradua remains d President of this country while Jonathan is the Vice.
Yes mayb Yaradua shld be impeached for gross misconduct but remember he answers to 150m Nigerians who have been represented by members of the NA so the majoriti of dose shareholders he answers to have to agree that he is in gross misconduct just lik u can go to work late and ur boss would look the other way just to allow the work go on or when he is fed up can discipline u and just the same way he could also decide to cook up som allegations and sack you for gross misconduct so if anyone should declare the President in breach the NA should be but they are aware of d situation and are praying for him.
The onus lies on Jonathan to ease Yaradua out of office in peace and the nation in peace he has d knowledge and as a friend said "Jonathan is not a politician but a man with an assignment from God"

@ MARVIX, u are the confused one here. When d president is absent the vice president acts for him but he is not the acting president. They are two different things.
unless the incubent president tranmits a letter to d NASS, he cant be sworn in as acting president hence he doesnt have full presidential powers like appoint or sack ministers, swear in govt appointees or even sign the budget or make major policy decisions.
That was why everyone was shouting for yaradull to send a letter so that jonathan can becom acting president so that he can be empowered to take major decisions.
U will notice that as soon as he became acting-p he reshuffled d cabinet and swore in d perm secs.

deluxecad:

@na_so: I wish to understand you. Is this about Obj too?

My broda no mind me jare. I veered off a bit to respond to marvix's post

The ascension of Goodluck shld not be credited to Obj but 1st to Yaradua for always insisting on following due process no matter how long it took and the perseverance of Goodluck.

These things happen and only make the discourse more rounded

How did Goodluck persevere? At what? People persevere at something. He is just a character in Obj's script playing his scene. Didn't you hear they held closed door meeting?

@Demoladoc: U don't swear in an Acting President, Jonathan was not sworn in as Actin he has only been sworn in once and that was as Vice President eventhough he just began exercising d powers of d president if Yaradua comes back today Jonathan goes back full time to his role as VP and Yaradua can decide to revert the reshufflement can recall any minister Jonathan sacked can sack the permsecs and so on.
The letter is not an issue all Jonathan wanted was 4 evryone to know that he is in charge and clear all doubts and above all in d interest of peace in d land

marvix:

@egift Obj can never be said to be our best president infact he is d worst in our history wateva he gave wit d right hand he took wit d left c wat he did wit our telecoms he gav us MTN nd co but totally destroyed our NITEL c all d probs he escalated in the N/Delta c his protection of our democracy 4 8yrs but completely ruined the democratic process the list goes on and on.
The ascension of Goodluck shld not be credited to Obj but 1st to Yaradua for always insisting on following due process no matter how long it took and the perseverance of Goodluck.

@ marvix: In leadership, you can initiat an action, it may not be good enough, but once its well intended, others can perfect it. His efforts in the telecomm industry is one of the best thing that happen to Nigeria (I believe you know we are the fastest growing in this field in Africa.

@egift did Nigeria as a nation have any other choice but to be the fastest growing telecoms mkt d question has been and should be how did that impact on our local telecom provider? It failed so if Obj shld get credit for the success in d telecoms sector he shld also take the credit for destroyin NITEL esp wen u take his role in d privatisation saga. So wat Obj gave wit d right he took more with his left dats y I'll vote him our worst president

marvix:

@egift did Nigeria as a nation have any other choice but to be the fastest growing telecoms mkt d question has been and should be how did that impact on our local telecom provider? It failed so if Obj shld get credit for the success in d telecoms sector he shld also take the credit for destroyin NITEL esp wen u take his role in d privatisation saga. So wat Obj gave wit d right he took more with his left dats y I'll vote him our worst president

The major problem with NITEL is that those managing it are not doing much, they still treat it as a public property. Innovation, quality services, cheaper pricing, large coverage, good branding and marketing will get in up and running. But thats not happening. Even if they got kick-backs, they will be getting more if its booming.

I share with you that Obj did some wrongs, but he had some great intentions too.

I find myself champing at the bit to do what I find really deplorable, but I'll let my better judgment guide me. The death of NITEL is exactly an example of why Obasanjo accelerated the process of deregulation of the communications sector, thus giving us one of the most bouyant telecoms markets in the world today.

Even when they were trying to sell the damn thing so Nigeria can recoup some money from her frankly, bad, investment in NITEL, the workers and chopulators managed to sabotage two successive sales and the result now is that NITEL is comatose.

Marvix, your eagerness to insult Obasanjo is so bad that you have now resorted to telling outright lies. In what way would Obasanjo have been responsible for the the demise of NITEL as a provider of last mile telecoms services (they're still selling international voice and data connections through Nigeria's investment in SAT 3, of which they are the beneficiary)?

Glo has single-handedly brought a submarine telecoms cable to Nigeria, which it took corrupt government officials a partnership with several other countries to achieve in SAT 3. Is Obasanjo also to blame for that? The market is so good, Main One, who have no last mile presence in Nigeria, also a private concern, also jumped into the fray. Yet NITEL managed to make a mess of this same market prior to Obasanjo's arrival on the scene. In my opinion, if a business is not making a profit, or delivering services to prospective and existing customers, it doesn't deserve to exist, so NITEL should just die already. No be dis same NITEL wey dey ask for N250,000 to connect a phone for my Dad, way back in 1995 Yeye dey smell. Since you love NITEL so much, why don't you jump in and save them from a well deserved extinction Shiioor!!

Obasanjo is THE BEST PRESIDENT WE HAVE EVER HAD IN NIGERIA. You can take that to the bank!

marvix:

@egift did Nigeria as a nation have any other choice but to be the fastest growing telecoms mkt d question has been and should be how did that impact on our local telecom provider? It failed so if Obj shld get credit for the success in d telecoms sector he shld also take the credit for destroyin NITEL esp wen u take his role in d privatisation saga. So wat Obj gave wit d right he took more with his left dats y I'll vote him our worst president

@egift and felele let's state it categorically, I will say this as a mata of fact and u can try doin ur research. Prior to d privatisation of Nitel Obj held back approval for MDAs paying their debts after d sale to himself and co approval was given for all MDAs to pay their debts the money which was sposed to be pumped into d company was siphoned and shared without even considerin d welfare of dose staff u try to demonise because they charged ur father 250k 4 a line in d past.
The diff btw Yaradua and Obj is dat Yaradua is sincere abt anythin he tries to do for this nation as cld be easily seen in the amnesty deal while Obj is never sincere in anythin he does and the N/delta and the electoral process of 2007 shows.
Compare Objs planned deregulation and Yaraduas deregulation, Obj wasnot interested in negotiations but Yaradua is called go slow because he is still waitin 4 a consensus and all negotiations completed even when he promised that he would never approve price increase in the official price of PMS the only movement of PMS has been downward.
Yaradua may not hav been our best president ever but he is beta dan Obj, objs only advantage over Yaradua is Objs health and Greed.

You don't ever give up, do you? Now, pray, tell me, how many telephone lines did NITEL have prior to Obasanjo's deregulation? How many lines did the whole of Nigeria have in total?

Now, we all witnessed how Econet Wireless and MTN rolled out their lines so that within one year, ONE YEAR, of operating in Nigeria, each had no less than 1m customers. What was it that NITEL and its operators were doing at the time? Do you remember at all I do.

Instead of cooperating with the new entrants into the market, NITEL and it's operators decided that they would make interconnectivity nigh on impossible. The result was that NITEL customers soon became members of a gradually shrinking virtual private network, that could only communicate with themselves and no one else. I maintain that in the end, NITEL workers and their ignorant bosses KILLED NITEL, not Obasanjo.

Obasanjo remains the best President Nigeria has ever had. Jonathan has a chance to top that. Will he take it? Time will tell.

Meantime, Marvix, stop telling blatant lies and present us with facts, not innuendo and insinuation. Thank you.

Felele there is no blatant lie in wat I said Nitel was neva given adequate funding for their operations not to talk abt all d corruption in high and low places in which Obj and Mko were all involved at various times. What do u tink Obj wanted to achieve wit d deregulation of the downstream oil sector and sale of the refineries, he would have solved d problem of scarcity but would have sold us out to d point where u will have to sell ur car to buy fuel because under his plans no refinery wld work just sell to Dangote and Otedola who would only use the storage facilities and continue importation in a fully deregulated but oligarchic mkt where they in junction with the expresident witout recourse to d new president fix petroleum prices.
Obj vs Yaradua Yaradua beats him hands down startin wit 1st we have 8yrs under Obj,Yaradua has gone only 3yrs the N/delta where Obj couldn't achieve anything despite being a southerner Yaradua achieved peace without a gun shot. The governors under Yaradua are all workin better witout undue interference or bullyin that's Y Lagos gov is performin,d A/Ibom gov is performing Anambra gov could win a re election witout decampin even witout d electoral reforms in place under Obj d Lagos gov cld not perform cos he didn't c face to face with Obj, Obi had to fight for 3yrs to get his mandate and this was only possible after Ngige nd his godfather had fallen apart and when it was time to go conducted d worst set of elections this country shld ever see. Obj was neva tired of increasing fuel prices without due consultations with anybody collapsin d whole economy by all d needless strikes Oshiomole had to call it is on record that since Yaradua came on board fuel prices hav gone in only one way and that was south, Yaradua has engaged everyone who has to be engaged in discusing deregulation in a bid to get consensus b4 d deregulation begins. How did Obj fare with ASUU compared with Yaradua, wat abt infrastructures 4 8yrs wat did Obj achieve in d power sector nothin or y are we so hard pressed on power now the list is endless Obj was and is a national waste considering the fact that he is a Product of Nigerias investment in social services a poor man who went to secondary school without shoes, with all that he did in office can any child in his administration who has to go to school barefooted dream of eva becomin a president. Obj worst president Nigeria ever had

Marvix,
are you sure you are ok?

@chiozor,
if anyone deserves that question of urs, it is u and ur partners who have eyes but cannot see, u have ears but cannot hear, u have brains but thinking is a problem, u have legs but cannot work, u are in ur father's house yet slaves are living a more free life than u, u are in the midst of plenty yet scarcity is ur second name, u have a mother with big breasts yet ur cannot suck them, u stand in the middle of the sea with soup in ur eyes.
u are very much comfortable in a country that can only be possible as a movie script.
a country where police is the threat itself, i mean a country where the security agents are the security risks.
where those we choose to guide our economy are the loots.
tell me what u are enjoying in nigeria as a nigerian. tell me in which way God did not bless us.
the heros of 1999 till date are those in exile - ribadu and el rufai while our elites are in jail and standing trails in different courts for crimes ranging from earth to heaven - bode george.
tell me anyone that finished his tenure under obasanjo that you can call a role model in nigeria today.
in God's name, tell us while the likes of okonjo iweala could not stay in the best administration according to u. apart from nigeria, link me to any other country of the world where a winning team is changed for loosers as we saw in the case of okonjo iweala.
like i said, u deserve to ask urself if u are normal. while are u comfortable in the hell called nigeria? why are u praising destroyers? why is nigeria the only country in the world without electricity and why is electricity the key word for pdp in every campeign?
if a man promised to giuve us steady power supply like obj did during his campeign and failed to do so, do u have any other name outside a failure? obasanjo is a failure and that is what he is.
those of u seeing him as ur god can do so out of stupidity and ignorance.

Don't call him a total failure, a lot of his strategies worked or are still in full swing. He's just vindictive and wouldn't just let go of power manipulation. That's the issue I have with him.

chidichris:



@chiozor,
if anyone deserves that question of urs, it is u and your partners who have eyes but cannot see, u have ears but cannot hear, u have brains but thinking is a problem, u have legs but cannot work, u are in your father's house yet slaves are living a more free life than u, u are in the midst of plenty yet scarcity is your second name, u have a mother with big bosoms yet your cannot suck them, u stand in the middle of the sea with soup in your eyes.
u are very much comfortable in a country that can only be possible as a movie script.
a country where police is the threat itself, i mean a country where the security agents are the security risks.
where those we choose to guide our economy are the loots.
tell me what u are enjoying in nigeria as a nigerian. tell me in which way God did not bless us.
the heros of 1999 till date are those in exile - ribadu and el rufai while our elites are in jail and standing trails in different courts for crimes ranging from earth to heaven - bode george.
tell me anyone that finished his tenure under obasanjo that you can call a role model in nigeria today.
in God's name, tell us while the likes of okonjo iweala could not stay in the best administration according to u. apart from nigeria, link me to any other country of the world where a winning team is changed for loosers as we saw in the case of okonjo iweala.
like i said, u deserve to ask urself if u are normal. while are u comfortable in the hell called nigeria? why are u praising destroyers? why is nigeria the only country in the world without electricity and why is electricity the key word for pdp in every campeign?
if a man promised to giuve us steady power supply like obj did during his campeign and failed to do so, do u have any other name outside a failure? obasanjo is a failure and that is what he is.
those of u seeing him as your god can do so out of stupidity and ignorance.

some of you making these noise cannot even manage your wife ass and pot of soup let alone your community before Nigeria. before Obj become president we were not looking for steady power or this and that but who will keep these guntrotting guys at their place and fight corruption. let me not go into all that.it was in Obj regime I for the 1st hear that a public officier that stole were jailed. power supply has alot of thing about it which I bet my last Kobo you donot know anytin about.it was not Obj that sabotage power, it was the Civil servant and some hidden faces that did that. well I donot like to argue on all these things because people are so unwise that they could not even think. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, OBJ WAS THE BEST PRESIDENT NIGERIA HAS EVER HAD.

@chiozor mayb I shld take u frm ur last statement which is fundamental Obasanjo can not and should never be considered as d best president where wld u place Nnamdi Azikwe, what of Murtala Mohammed even Buhari/Idiagbon. Incase u don't kno Obj had d support of d majority he had our goodwill when he just came in but he wasted all dat goodwill and despite all d good intentions of Yaradua he does not enjoy d goodwill of d populace yet he has gone ahead achievin wat can be achieved tak a critical look at our roads today they are improvin d Lagos Benin xpressway is gettin better a man who disobeys court orders at will should not be nominated as a best president a do or die president can't be our best president a man with less dan 72hrs to go increased d prices of petroleum products and sellin our refineries witout due process shld not b considered for best president even 4 all his misdemanour we shld b considerin de-listin him as a former president.
Now u blame civil servants for his inability to solve the power problems but will take Yaradua to d cleaners for the same problem make your enquiries at PHCN they will tell u that this administration is better Obj had a tenure where d power stations were in need of total overhaul yet his daughter was involved in d corruption dat killed it now the population in d urban centers hav escalated and Obj failed to plan and prepare 4 dis infact the power probs we have today can't be said to be Yaraduas fault but Objs legacies.
Chiosor Obj is a sad story of disappointment to this country he is a wasted investment it wld hav been beta 4 dis country if d Civil war had claimed him.

Marvix, are you comparing ZIK and Obj in terms of achievement, think pls i honestly fail to get your point why Yardull regime is better than Obj? Obj government is the only government since 1960 that has made substiantial investment in Power sector, quote me anywhere. you have no data that is why you think he single handedly increase price of fuel 72hrs to his going.please always work with facts not with beer parlour discussions.from your comment i see you have no idea of what macro economics is and that you are arguing from the point of sentiments and I am not ready to argue again with. to you OBJ regime is worst, to the international community, progressives and genuine actors in this struggle, he has impacted more than any one in that page of history. I REST MY CASE

Chiosor don't 4get Obj is d only democratic leader to serve two terms in this country and what I'm sayin in essence is dat any other leader who performs worse than Obj can finally kiss d nation goodbye. Obj didn't increase d price arbitrarily why did we always have to endure strike actions due to price hikes chiosor even wen u want to state an obvious lie be bold enough to be ready to defend ur position I also am not interested in arguin wit u Yaradua is a better leader than Obj no matter wat d western world wants us to bliv or d progressives u talk abt are they d same pple who had to endure police harrasment for their opposing views to his govt. Yaraduas biggest challenge has been his health and the absence of any good foundation by our past leaders and the distrust d average Nigerian has 4 its leaders

@Marvin: If only u can punctuate, i'll understand ur argument better. Are u 4 or against Obj?