Thank God this GJ has brains,he is better than all these remote controlled leaders.Hope he will not disappoint us sha!

BST 20pm is 7pm Nigerian Time.

Well done GJ, We know u re watering the land for cool landing come 2011, anyany, nothing bad for you to contest but try as much as possible to make a different.

50% of Nigerians never participated or vote in most presidential election ever conducted. The way this man is going, People will come out and vote for him, then i want to see how the rigging can take place.

The man has being emphasizing on electricity, if he eventually get it fixed, NO NEED FOR CONDUCTING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION COME 2011 BECAUSE IT WILL BE A WASTED OF FUNDS AS NIGERIA WILL ENSURE THIS MAN RULE FOR THE NEXT 8 YEARS

I luv GEJ!

He's a nice man and sharp person.

SHALOM

Goodluck no be mumu after all. I really like the guy after all is said and done. Smart,quiet and doesnt waste words. a focused chap. i just pray he resists the sit-tight devil and honourably declines participation in 2011 elections. that way he can conduct real elections and make a difference.

all jonathan supporter shld first of all ask, where is the constitution of nigeria? what is the position of the constitution in circumstances like this? jonathan is just the toy of that ottah farmer.
the day yar adua became the president of nigeria, that day he hand over himself to the federal republic of nigeria as decissions regarding his life no longer belongs to the family.
it is the responsibility of nigeria to say how and where the president will be treated and not the family dictecting for the country knowing too well that the expenses will be on nigeria.
in other places, he that pays the piper dictects the tone but here, he that sat in ottah farm dictects the tone.

with only this , my soul is at rest.

wheather he is control by someone or not.

I like him to contest and be the next President

we have suffered enough !


Shame to the likes of IBB, after all the harms

he has done to Nigeria, he want to come back again, God forbid !!!!!

I am beginning to like this guy.
I only wish he could stop wearing them native clothes, my I hate those things.
Man should dress smartly like the guy in the background of the photo with Amanpour.

saemoenl:

BST 20pm is 7pm Nigerian Time.

Well done GJ, We know u re watering the land for cool landing come 2011, anyany, nothing bad for you to contest but try as much as possible to make a different.

8pm Nigerian Time.

bjcisse:

50% of Nigerians never participated or vote in most presidential election ever conducted. The way this man is going,  People will come out and vote for him,  then i want to see how the rigging can take place.

The man has being emphasizing on electricity, if he eventually get it fixed, NO NEED FOR CONDUCTING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION COME 2011 BECAUSE IT WILL BE A WASTED OF FUNDS AS NIGERIA WILL ENSURE THIS MAN RULE FOR THE NEXT 8 YEARS

Why don't we wait till the man actually delivers and we see a marked improvement? I am not interested in gist no matter how intelligent they may sound, all I want to see is results.

cicero:

I am beginning to like this guy.
I only wish he could stop wearing them native clothes, my I hate those things.
Man should dress smartly like the guy in the background of the photo with Amanpour.

Why, because he is president of America or England? Gosh!

He's really a smart guy I like the way he answered those questions. I don't know if he has done anything since he came in power but i want to believe him. lets see if he is the one. 2 months is short in the life any man. I'm personally giving him 6 months, then i can make my assessment

That he has not seen the President is a serious security matter and failure of Nigerian institutions, it is also a sign of weakness for him that he can't influence security guards to do the right thing.

Acting President should not admit that in public.

he should have evaded that question.

The interview was largely politically correct but not necessarily intelligent.

Sky Blue:

8pm Nigerian Time.

Why, because he is president of America or England? Gosh!

Is the hat on his head Nigerian? how many materials and equipment in aso rock are of Nigerian origin? the place was built by foreigners.

The man seems smart, let him look smart too.

I don't know wat u guyz want 2 giv Jonathan 6mths for, for me I'm lookin 4 his campaign ofc, I'm not campaignin 4 Jonathan because he can solve all d probs but my belief dat only unda a president lik Jonathan can we start practisin true democracy, because a final victory 4 Jonathan does not mean winnin 32 states, victory 4 Jonathan will ensure dat wen he under performs he can b voted out unlike Obj nd IBB who afta failures can manipulate themselves in power, Jonathan is a symbol 2 me dat nothin is impossible, if a lecturer in a back water institution in d south who is a memba of a minority tribe can within d spate of 10yrs of dis democratic xperiment rise 2 b d defacto president then y shld I not believe?

Cicero

The guy in the Background is Odein Ajumogbia the new Foreign Minister. That guy always dresses well in my book.

cicero:

Is the hat on his head Nigerian? how many materials and equipment in aso rock are of Nigerian origin? the place was built by foreigners.

The man seems smart, let him look smart too.

What part of the country is Jonathan from? Have you seen the way they dress? If you are not familiar with what is seen as "official regalia" (for lack of a better phrase) in his ethnic group then why not just go do some basic research? Wether or not he looks smart is subjective, I for one think he does and better yet, he is wearing something that showcases some Nigerian culture.

With regards to the part in bold, what on earth has that got to do with anything? How many materials in aso rock are of Nigerian origin? I guess the sand and cement used to build the place was imported. How amusing.

Sky Blue

Do you know the history behind Bolar Harts and most other Nigerian attires?

Bolar Hats are not Nigerian by origin, they were some of the items given by white men to warrant chiefs in other to aqcuire slaves from Nigeria.
So when folks talk about what is Nigerian and what is'nt try to understand the history behind these things.

This story is also same for so many other attires won in Nigeria.

The textile industry did not start from Nigeria. If we truly want to reflect the cultures of our forefathers we will be dressing in leaves.

new found respect for jonathan. seriously.

that was sharp and to be expected of the president of a country!

and reading between the lines, his handling of the political crisis has been spot on.

there's hope for nigeria ,

mikeansy:

Sky Blue

Do you know the history behind Bolar Harts and most other Nigerian attires?

Bolar Hats are not Nigerian by origin, they were some of the items given by white men to warrant chiefs in other to aqcuire slaves from Nigeria.
So when folks talk about what is Nigerian and what is'nt try to understand the history behind these things.

This story is also same for so many other attires won in Nigeria.

The textile industry did not start from Nigeria. If we truly want to reflect the cultures of our forefathers we will be dressing in leaves.

And suits were inherent from the start in "American society"? There is no need for a history lesson because such is not relevant here, what is relevant though is that for whatever history or reason, the people from his ethnic group see that as there official attire. So enough please, or do you want to go there and define what they should or should not wear? A tad arrogant, no?

P.S. I don't know the "we" you refer to in your last statement considering Nigeria contains over 200 different ethnic groups, many with different history, traditions, cultures, etc. So when did Europeans start wearing suits? Or was it just there from the start with them? Did the anglo saxons, or romans, or greek wear suit?

Sky Blue:

And suits were inherent from the start in "American society"? There is no need for a history lesson because such is not relevant here, what is relevant though is that for whatever history or reason, the people from his ethnic group see that as there official attire. So enough please, or do you want to go there and define what they should or should not wear? A tad arrogant, no?

But he is the President of Nigeria not his ethnic group

the same goes for Yar'adua and all others.

No one cultural attire represents all Nigerians, so the most general attire for all is suits.

It will reflect unity more, than a head of state projecting the culture of just one ethnic group.

By the way for your info, Suits are nobody's culture. Jacob Zuma was in suits at that conference, I don't suppose the zulus dont have a culture.

We make noise about unity of Nigeria everyday and spend the rest of our lives celebrating our disunity. The head of state should represent all Nigerians in symbol and gestures not just one ethnic group. A world even is not the stage to project one section of Nigeria by a head of state.

mikeansy:

But he is the President of Nigeria not his ethnic group

the same goes for Yar'adua and all others.

No one cultural attire represents all Nigerians, so the most general attire for all is suits.

It will reflect unity more, than a head of state projecting the culture of just one ethnic group.

By the way for your info, Suits are nobody's culture. Jacob Zuma was in suits at that conference, I don't suppose the zulus dont have a culture.

We make noise about unity of Nigeria everyday and spend the rest of our lives celebrating our disunity. The head of state should represent all Nigerians in symbol and gestures not just one ethnic group.

Genuinely no offense intended, but the statement in bold is trite (my opinion). Unity is not about all being the same, it is more about sharing common goals and allowing individual strengths to flourish (as opposed to stifling them) in pursuit of such goals, than it is about what the person is wearing. I mean, are people really that insecure?

The fact that no one cultural attire represents all Nigerians does not mean we completely abandon what many can relate to as been Nigerian/African dressing, just to maintain this "unity". If the unity of the country depended on such trivial stuff like this then perhaps all hope really is lost. While no one cultural attire represents Nigeria as a whole, his dressing style has become synonymous with his ethnic group, a people that are part of Nigeria and hence Nigerians. Suits are a typically western attire so please enough with your attempts to reconcile your ideals with the reality. I mean, what is the average temperature in Nigeria to begin with? If Jonathan decides to wear suits of his own accord, then fine; if he decides to go for something more comfortable and more intune with his culture (which by extension is Nigerian culture since the Ijaws are Nigerians), then so be it. Making such trivialities issues and backing them up with disingenious arguements is just not necessary. When he wears a kimono to a gathering of world leaders, then you can make noise.

very impressive.

Common Bro, how much of our culture still remains in the way we do business and interactions with the outside world? wearing some gown in the midst of Presidents who are mostly smartly dressed and looking business like is not cool with me, and I am sure I am speaking for quite a number of Nigerians.

I'd rather we dress like oyibo and be known for honesty and integrity than wear 'danciki' while squandering our children's future through corruption.

GEJ will look smarter and more handsome in say a well tailored deep blue suit on white shirt with sky blue tie, and black shoes.

I was never asking for all to be the same. I am proud of our diversity and neither am I saying GJ should never wear his cultural attire.

But he was on a world event to represent Nigeria as a head of state not as Amayanagbo of Opobo or as Niger Delta pressure group leader (he is not Edwin Clark).

Nigerians should be proud of their cultures and diversity. But our leaders should reflect unity both in words, gestures and deeds especially when they are on the world stage.

Do you not think that the cultural attires Presidents wear when they go on world events reminds us all of who is up and who is down. Do you not think that those help to stoke up the ethnic struggles that characterize Nigerian political process?

I am not asking anybody to stop being Ijaw, I am not asking Jonathan to stop being Ijaw, I am not asking Yar'adua to stop being Hausa, all I am saying is that the  body language of our leaders should represent our aspirations of unity.

cicero check out how Presidential he would have looked.

It is truly a missed opportunity. And by the way it is not politically smart for a President of ethnic minority origin to be promoting the very tribal card that has made politics of Nigeria a game only a certain people can win.

Dont be deceived, that interview is not from Jonathan a lot of grammatical mistakes like the one written above can not come from a learned person like him. Please note that Jonathan's vocabulary building and comments can never be like that of secondary school students and his response to some sensitive issues as contained in that interview will be diplomatic.

Jonathan was born in Otueke in Ogbia Local Government Area of the then Eastern Region, later Rivers State, now Bayelsa State.[1] He holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Zoology in which he attained Second Class Honours, Upper Division. He also holds an M.Sc. in Hydrobiology/Fisheries biology, and a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt[1].

I would expect a person who holds a PH.D has to have some level intelligent, now can we wait to actually see his handiwork to work him? Or are we already to vote for him without proof he is good for the job?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodluck_Jonathan

Nigerian's there you are, did u eva see Yaradua or Obasanjo wear suit? Do you think the agbada that they normally wear belongs to all ehnic groups? For your information, Obasanjo used to wear a typical yoruba Agbada while Yaradua always wear Hausa Agbada and I dont see any reason why Jonathan should not wear his own dress

mikeansy:

cicero check out how Presidential he would have looked.

It is truly a missed opportunity. And by the way it is not politically smart for a President of ethnic minority origin to be promoting the very tribal card that has made politics of Nigeria a game only a certain people can win.

Why am I not surprised that you posted a picture of him in a tailor made suit as a good representation for suits? Instead of telling the man to go and get better fitting traditional regalia that would accent his body type more. People wearing different clothes is not a tribal card, the fact that it is to you does not mean everybody sees it that way so enough with that poor excuse. Nigeria has a budding fashion industry geared towards as you put it "cultural attire". The indian prime minister did not wear a suit. It is just a shame that you have attached your sense of national identity and looking smart to wearing a suit. When OBJ wore his "cultural attire" he looked smart. I just saw a video of Nuhu Ribadu giving a speech in a traditional hausa attire and thought he looked very smart (even more so than many in the room who wore suits). That you may think wearing a suit is the only way of looking smart and presentable does not mean everyone shares such a view. That you attach tribal sentiment to Jonathan wearing what he wore does not mean everybody does.

kinda impressed

cicero:

Common Bro, how much of our culture still remains in the way we do business and interactions with the outside world? wearing some gown in the midst of Presidents who are mostly smartly dressed and looking business like is not cool with me, and I am sure I am speaking for quite a number of Nigerians.

I'd rather we dress like oyibo and be known for honesty and integrity than wear 'danciki' while squandering our children's future through corruption.

GEJ will look smarter and more handsome in say a well tailored deep blue suit on white shirt with sky blue tie, and black shoes.

Are you listening to yourself? What on earth has wearing 'danciki' got to do with corruption and good governance? WOW!

Nice one.

austinooo:

Nigerian's there you are, did u eva see Yaradua or Obasanjo wear suit? Do you think the agbada that they normally wear belongs to all ehnic groups? For your information, Obasanjo used to wear a typical yoruba Agbada while Yaradua always wear Hausa Agbada and I dont see any reason why Jonathan should not wear his own dress

I think previous commentaries recognised that Yar'adua and OBJ wear also wearing sectional cultural gowns and they are part of the criticisms.