ogundokun:

Nigerians candid opinion pls. EGJ or IBB which one would make a good president.

That was the question Americans faced between Obama/McCain,they chose sympathy over experience and now they want out.

•LT-COL PETER EGBE - ULU (rtd), writing from Okokomaiko, Lagos, laments the declaration of IBB as a candidate for the 2011 presidential election…





As a former military officer, especially an army officer, I am, to say the least, very disappointed and concerned about General Ibrahim Babangida putting himself up for election to the presidency 17 years after ‘stepping aside’ from that job. It shows indeed that he is not the officer and gentleman he is supposed to be. Some would say that he never was, and he seems determined to prove them right. He shows himself not to be a man of principle. As a former soldier, one feels a grave sense of betrayal and dismay.

In Nigerian politics, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida is not an unknown quantity. Not that being a known quantity in anyway precludes anyone from contesting for the presidency but what is known about the man, emphatically, does not recommend him for the job. It is arguable that IBB has played any constructive roles, as an elder statesman should do, since leaving Aso Rock in a cloud in 1993. On major national issues, he has always preferred to keep his cards close to his chest, saying little or nothing. By trying to get back to Aso Rock after nearly a generation of leaving the place, Babangida seems to be saying that only one role is good enough for him in the country of about 150 million people: that of the President of Nigeria.

As everyone knows, we are in a very delicate period in Nigeria’s political development. The election year is upon us. The year is also a jubilee year. Until the 6th of May, 2010 we had an acting president installed via a constitutionally dubious resolution, not even a law, of the National Assembly, a shaky proposition ipso facto. The substantive president was gravely ill and totally incapacitated but remained in office, serving no other purpose except to act as a political stumbling block for anyone seeking to run the country in his stead. Yet, somehow, thanks to the presence of mind and courage of a man called Jonathan Goodluck, the country survived and seemed to forge ahead against seemingly impossible odds. What the country needs least at this time is for a man whose ego is as huge as Babangida’s to come barging in and throwing a spanner into the works, but he has done it anyway. Since he obviously was unable to articulate the situation and the gravity of his interference you might also refer to him as a dimwit, a qualification that makes him patently unfit for the job he is seeking. This same dimwittedness was displayed in 1986 in the case of the Newswatch editor, Dele Giwa, and in June 1993 when he annulled the election. Till date, it is unclear whether General Babangida is aware that these actions represent the worst abuses of power this country had ever witnessed.

This political self-interested spoiler game is not Babangida’s first. With IBB, it is something of a habit. Almost immediately after General Obasanjo was sworn in as president in 1999, a coordinated attack was mounted against his government in the form of shariah activism, using Senator Ahmed Yerima, then governor of Zamfara state and now also a charter pedophile, as arrowhead. The last time shariah activism reared its head in Nigeria was in the late 1950s in Northern Nigeria. The Northern regional government was then led by the premier, the venerable Sir Ahmadu Bello (MBE), the Sardauna of Sokoto, of blessed memory. The premier easily finessed the activists, then led by Sheik Abubakar Gumi. Gumi wanted not only the Northern region but also the whole country to come under Islamic law on the one hand. On the other, in the tradition of liberal politicians everywhere, Sir Ahmadu Bello believed in the separation of mosque and state. He also had deep reservations about the competence, transparency and integrity of the alkali courts and the emirs who would be playing key roles in shariah jurisprudence. Sir Ahmadu Bello also felt obliged to respect the national secular penal code of the whole country of which Northern Nigeria was a major stake holder. (The kind of exceptionalism displayed by today’s northern leaders, men like Yerima, was inconceivable under Sir Ahmadu Bello). In the end, just before Independence in 1959, the premier’s government allowed only certain civil matters- marriage contracted under Islamic law, inheritance and certain rules of evidence- to be adjudicated in shariah courts. Ahmadu Bello’s enactment survived in tact in all Nigeria’s constitutions up till 1999. General Obasanjo did not have Sir Ahmadu Bello’s political acumen and not being a student of history was of course befuddled by the development in 1999. So in short, the shariah activists successfully intimidated and undermined the General’s government. The result, today, 12 Nigerian states operate two parallel judicial systems, an Islamic one and the national, secular penal code system, exclusive of the 1999 constitution, which is supposed to be the absolute reference and authority of all Nigeria’s laws. It is only fair however to note that not being a Muslim and not being from the North, constituted an additional complication for General Obasanjo in dealing with the challenge to the authority and integrity of his government. But that could not be an excuse for his failure to bring the law to bear on those who committed acts of violence using the shariah as cover, for his failure to defend an ignominous assault in the 1999 constitution, even if perfunctorily and his government’s indifference to the plight of victims of the violent shariah attacks.

While the foregoing may look like a digression it is nonetheless a useful background to a strategy that was widely attributed to General Babangida as the sponsor of a project intended to keep General Obasanjo on a short leash and so for the latter to keep in mind who were the real lords of the nation’s political manor, just in case he forgot. This point of view was supported by the fact that General Babangida, in a deft and barely disguised maneuver, played a leading role in the emergence of General Obasanjo as President in 1999, but throughout the shariah debacle, in which thousands died needlessly, IBB did nothing to help resolve or mitigate the situation and to stop the blood letting. He kept a very loud silence instead, a silence that suggested, by omission or commission, that he could be part of the conspiracy.

Babangida was not so covert in undermining the Obasanjo government when he did everything in his power, including successfully getting a court injunction, to prevent his appearance at the Justice Oputa–led Human Rights Violation and Investigation Commission (HRVIC), constituted by Obasanjo in his first term. It can be argued that a consequence of IBB’s lack of support for the Oputa panel is that it contributed in no small way to the trivialization of the exercise. A prickly General Obasanjo, notorious for his short attention span, soon lost all interest in the panel. Although Obasanjo initially appeared before the panel with some enthusiasm, such ardour soon waned. The panel was soon left on its own with no political support. On submission, the panel’s report was swiftly swept under the carpet and heard of no more. The Oputa Panel was modeled on and inspired by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It was also expected to achieve the same results, as a means of politically resolving and bringing closure to the many disputes and open wounds that ravaged the polity and hampered development, in lieu of protracted judicial proceedings, assuming those were even feasible. But all that evaporated as a result of a lack of support by men like IBB. The Oputa Panel was a unique opportunity for a statesman to face the public and give his own side of the story of a political career that threw up many questions that agitated people’s minds but General Babangida balked at the opportunity. Now, a man who has proved many times over that he does not feel himself accountable to or has any respect for the people he served or ruled is now angling to get back to power and rule the same people he manipulated so brazenly when he was in power nearly a generation ago. The problem with IBB’s ambition to rule Nigeria again is that he wants to do so on one condition only: that he rules Nigeria only on his own terms. If that is not tyranny then may the experts tell us what it is.

But beyond all that has been said and written, what really scares me is the fact that IBB has been a former Chief of Army Staff and a former commander-in-chief. He was COAS from 1983 to 1985 and C-in-C from 1985 to 1993. But even before 1983, he had been on the general staff for sometime. In other words, IBB had been involved in policy making for the army for a period not less than 15 years. IBB has a certain perception of how the military should be configured. As COAS and C-in-C, he configured the army, along ethnic lines so that fighting units in general were commanded by people personally loyal to him and invariably from the same geopolitical bloc as himself. The polarization he engineered in the country and bequeathed to generals Abacha and Abdulsalam Abubakar was most keenly felt in the army. This polarization was the absolute cause of the April 22, 1990 failed coup attempt. It was during Gen Babangida’s government that the term ‘hegemony’ first appeared in country’s political lexicon. IBB will not be able to command today’s military, which has radically changed from a lopsided geo-political command structure to a more representative one at all command levels

YES indeed

SEE LINK BELOW

http://www.independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx?id=19075

The Babangida years

By Tolu Ogunlesi
April 17, 2010 10:36PM

In his first New Year Days speech as military president, months after deposing the Buhari-Idiagbon government in a bloodless coup enthusiastically welcomed by Nigerians, Ibrahim Babangida declared: I wish to reaffirm that this administration does not intend to stay in power a day longer than is required to lay the necessary institutional framework to bring about a better and more stable Nigeria. Babangidas bonhomie (its trademark an endearing gap-toothed smile) - in stark contrast to the stern, unsmiling façade of Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor - made it easy for him to be believed.
The distinction between the two regimes in fact ran much deeper than personality quirks. Babangida, in action, proved to be the complete antithesis of his predecessor. He threw open prison doors, setting free hundreds of 3rd republic politicians convicted and jailed by Buhari. He repealed the obnoxious Decree No. 4 of 1984 with which the Buhari regime had shackled the media. He promised to run an open administration that is responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of all the people - a departure from the high-handedness of the Buhari/Idiagbon era.
One of his first actions as military president was to allow Nigerians to decide, through public debates, whether to accept the $2.5 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan the Buhari government had been negotiating for.
After the terror of the Buhari years, Nigerians appeared to have found a statesman in military uniform.

Tough times that lasted

By 1985, Nigerias foreign debt had ballooned to $18 billion, up from $3.4 billion in 1980 (it would rise beyond $30 billion by the end of the 80s), and external reserves had dwindled to less than $2 billion. Oil prices had been in freefall for 3 years running, and in January 1986 they finally fell to less than $20 per barrel, a record low since the start of the decade.
To his credit Babangida made all the right noises about revamping the economy. In his Independence Day 1985 speech, barely two months old in office, he declared a state of economic emergency for the next 15 months. That speech went on to lay down a comprehensive plan for economic reconstruction.
This plan included a moratorium on new foreign debt, promotion of agriculture and industrial development, restriction of importation to essential commodities, financial sector reform and privatisation.

Populist leanings

IBB was a master of the populist move - ambitious government programs targeted at tackling poverty, and empowering rural dwellers. His government churned out program after program, in a bid to actualize his promises to run an inclusive, people-facing government. In 1986, Babangida launched the Mass Mobilization for Self Reliance, Social Justice, and Economic Recovery (MAMSER).
In 1987, the Directorate of Food and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI) was launched to promote agriculture and transform Nigerias rural landscape by providing modern infrastructure. Other Babangida creations include the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), Peoples Bank of Nigeria (PBN), National Board for Community Banks (NBCB), Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), National Planning Commission (NPC), and the Urban Development Bank.
No other Nigerian government presided over such substantial expansion of government bureaucracy as the Babangida administration. In time, the fiscal prudence that Babangida espoused vanished: billions of naira were sunk into an endless transition programme, and in the early 90s, 12 billion dollars worth of windfall crude oil revenue (courtesy of the rise in the oil prices due to the Gulf War) could not be accounted for.
Mr. Babangida also came to perfect the art of dispensing patronage through political appointments (mostly targeted at leading members of the opposition) and a far-from-transparent allocation of lucrative oil blocks.

A man whose words mean nothing

Mr. Babangidas contradictions eventually overwhelmed his reputation so that when, in May 1993, the activist and lawyer Gani Fawehinmi described him as a man whose words mean nothing to him, evidence of this littered his eight years in power.
Only months after vowing to run a government by consultation with the people, Mr. Babangida in 1986 surreptitiously - and unilaterally - took Nigeria, an avowed secular state, into full membership of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), a body which describes itself as the collective voice of the Muslim world.
Mr. Babangida lamented the large role played by the public sector in economic activity with hardly any concrete results to justify such a role.Ironically, over the course of the next five years, he would go ahead to supervise an unprecedented expansion of government. And despite his deference to the wish of Nigerians to reject the IMF loan, Mr. Babangida went ahead to implement some of the Funds most drastic requirements - a devaluation of the naira, and removal of subsidies, chief of which were the petroleum subsidies.
Mr. Babangida promised Nigerians that the belt-tightening was sorely needed: the painful injection that would usher in vibrant economic health; the mandatory dark lining before a cloud of prosperity. Those reforms, which he christened Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), came into effect in 1986, with a far-from-pleasant impact on Nigerians. Purchasing powers dwindled, inflation rose, and the obliteration of the middle class began. In 1989, SAP riots rocked the country, as Nigerians had finally had enough of economic reforms which silver lining they waited in vain for.

Greatest failings

Mr. Babangidas greatest failings were however in two key areas: his human rights record, and his political transition programme. In December 1985, a group of soldiers, which included his close friend, Mamman Vatsa, were arrested on allegations of plotting to topple the 4-month old Babangida government. After Vatsa was convicted and sentenced to death, Mr. Babangida assured a delegation of distinguished writers (Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and J.P. Clark), which had come pleading for mercy, that he was determined to do everything in my power to save (Vatsa).
Hours later, Vatsa and the other alleged plotters were executed.
As opposition to Mr. Babangidas rule grew, so did his intolerance for dissent, so that he routinely shut down or proscribed media houses; and harassed journalists, civil society and labour groups using the instruments of state (the State Security Service, Directorate of Military Intelligence and the Police).
In 1986, five students of the Ahmadu Bello University were murdered when mobile policemen invaded the campus to quell anti-IMF protests. He also promulgated a series of draconian decrees targeted at quelling all opposition, and on occasion did not hesitate to deport foreign critics (University lecturer Patrick Wilmot and journalist William Keeling).
In October 1986, frontline journalist Dele Giwa was murdered by a letter bomb in Lagos. Preliminary police investigations stated that senior officers of Mr. Babangidas intelligence services, who had hounded Giwa in his final days, had questions to answer regarding Giwas death. The mystery of the Giwa assassination remains unsolved till date.

An interminable journey

A maddeningly convoluted transition programme, whose terminal date soon became a mirage - first 1990, then 1992, and then 1993 - is one of the most significant things Babangida will be remembered for.
Early on in his administration, Mr. Babangida inaugurated a Political Bureau to kick off, as it were, the national debate on a viable future political ethos and structure for our dear country.
The political bureau was soon followed by a Constituent Assembly, which in 1989 fashioned a new constitution for the country.
Also, in 1989, he created, by presidential fiat, two political parties, the Social Democratic Party and the National Republican Convention. Then in 1991, he released a controversial list of prominent politicians whom he said were banned from participating in the transition programme.
In October 1992, he cancelled the results of the parties presidential primaries, causing new primaries to be held in March 1993. And then in June 1993 he annulled the results of the presidential elections, presumed to have been won by billionaire businessman MKO Abiola.

This was the final straw
.
By this time, Nigerians had finally had enough of his shenanigans, and violent protests forced him to step aside on August 27, 1993,My colleagues and I are determined to change the course of history, Mr. Babangida told Nigerians in his maiden speech as Head of State, on August 27, 1985.
By the time he reluctantly relinquished power exactly eight years later, he had achieved that goal, far more successfully than he, or anyone else, could ever have imagined.

Source: Next
====================

The Holy Book says "my people perish for lack of knowledge".
Will you allow 150m of us (Nigerians) perish or will you ALSO forward this article on the (mis) deeds of our self-proclaimed "evil genius" to all Nigerians that you know
Will you help confirm "maradona" IBB's claim (in Germany in the 90s during one of his radiculopathy treatment trips) that we, his fellow citizens are "docile" (MUGUs) by not sharing this mail
Find a way to get involved at all levels- local, state and federal- this election period for a better Nigeria!!!

For putting millions of Nigerian into misery during his 8 year rule, IB-bast**d will run mad before 2011.

I consider it absurd that this sort of topic is even first page stuff on NL and to think it’s even debatable makes it more sickening. I might be inclined to agree with IBB that the youths in Nigeria are not experienced enough to rule, but the replies on this thread do not posit his claims on inexperience but irresponsibility. We are not ready to take the helm of affairs we would rather be more comfortable putting some old corrupt re-cycled, retired general in power and then whine all day on internet blogs about how bad things are. The world is not the same place it was 200yrs ago, that America needed a retired General Washington to guide it on its path to greatness, does not entail that Nigeria needs same. It took America over 180 yrs after independence before launching their first satellite into space, while we are already thinking of launching our third satellite barely 50yrs after. The world is a smaller place and cultures are becoming less divergent, if the U.K a traditionally conservative society can follow the American way and vote in a youthful David Cameron, we do not have to wait a 100yrs after 1960 to follow suit.
Gerontocracy (govt by the old) is fast becoming less fashionable and Africa has got to wake up to that change, else the huge divide between it and the rest of the world will continue to grow.

rasputinn:

•LT-COL PETER EGBE - ULU (rtd), writing from Okokomaiko, Lagos, laments the declaration of IBB as a candidate for the 2011 presidential election…





As a former military officer, especially an army officer, I am, to say the least, very disappointed and concerned about General Ibrahim Babangida putting himself up for election to the presidency 17 years after ‘stepping aside’ from that job. It shows indeed that he is not the officer and gentleman he is supposed to be. Some would say that he never was, and he seems determined to prove them right. He shows himself not to be a man of principle. As a former soldier, one feels a grave sense of betrayal and dismay.

In Nigerian politics, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida is not an unknown quantity. Not that being a known quantity in anyway precludes anyone from contesting for the presidency but what is known about the man, emphatically, does not recommend him for the job. It is arguable that IBB has played any constructive roles, as an elder statesman should do, since leaving Aso Rock in a cloud in 1993. On major national issues, he has always preferred to keep his cards close to his chest, saying little or nothing. By trying to get back to Aso Rock after nearly a generation of leaving the place, Babangida seems to be saying that only one role is good enough for him in the country of about 150 million people: that of the President of Nigeria.

As everyone knows, we are in a very delicate period in Nigeria’s political development. The election year is upon us. The year is also a jubilee year. Until the 6th of  May, 2010 we had an acting president installed via a constitutionally dubious resolution, not even a law, of the National Assembly, a shaky proposition ipso facto. The substantive president was gravely ill and totally incapacitated but remained in office, serving no other purpose except to act as a political stumbling block for anyone seeking to run the country in his stead. Yet, somehow, thanks to the presence of mind and courage of a man called Jonathan Goodluck, the country survived and seemed to forge ahead against seemingly impossible odds. What the country needs least at this time is for a man whose ego is as huge as Babangida’s to come barging in and throwing a spanner into the works, but he has done it anyway. Since he obviously was unable to articulate the situation and the gravity of his interference you might also refer to him as a dimwit, a qualification that makes him patently unfit for the job he is seeking. This same dimwittedness was displayed in 1986 in the case of the Newswatch editor, Dele Giwa, and in June 1993 when he annulled the election. Till date, it is unclear whether General Babangida is aware that these actions represent the worst abuses of power this country had ever witnessed.

This political self-interested spoiler game is not Babangida’s first. With IBB, it is something of a habit. Almost immediately after General Obasanjo was sworn in as president in 1999, a coordinated attack was mounted against his government in the form of shariah activism, using Senator Ahmed Yerima, then governor of Zamfara state and now also a charter craddle-robber, as arrowhead. The last time shariah activism reared its head in Nigeria was in the late 1950s in Northern Nigeria. The Northern regional government was then led by the premier, the venerable Sir Ahmadu Bello (MBE), the Sardauna of Sokoto, of blessed memory. The premier easily finessed the activists, then led by Sheik Abubakar Gumi. Gumi wanted not only the Northern region but also the whole country to come  under Islamic law on the one hand. On the other, in the tradition of liberal politicians everywhere, Sir Ahmadu Bello believed in the separation of mosque and state. He also had deep reservations about the competence, transparency and integrity of the alkali courts and the emirs who would be playing key roles in shariah jurisprudence. Sir Ahmadu Bello also felt obliged to respect the national secular penal code of the whole country of which Northern Nigeria was a major stake holder. (The kind of exceptionalism displayed by today’s northern leaders, men like Yerima, was inconceivable under Sir Ahmadu Bello). In the end, just before Independence in 1959, the premier’s government allowed only certain civil matters- marriage contracted under Islamic law, inheritance and certain rules of evidence- to be adjudicated in shariah courts. Ahmadu Bello’s enactment survived in tact in all Nigeria’s constitutions up till 1999. General Obasanjo did not have Sir Ahmadu Bello’s political acumen and not being a student of history was of course befuddled by the development in 1999. So in short, the shariah activists successfully intimidated and undermined the General’s government. The result, today, 12 Nigerian states operate two parallel judicial systems, an Islamic one and the national, secular penal code system, exclusive of the 1999 constitution, which is supposed to be the absolute reference and authority of  all Nigeria’s laws. It is only fair however to note that not being a Muslim and not being from the North, constituted an additional complication for General Obasanjo in dealing with the challenge to the authority and integrity of his government. But that could not be an excuse for his failure to bring the law to bear on those who committed acts of violence using the shariah as cover, for his failure to defend an ignominous assault in the 1999 constitution, even if perfunctorily and his government’s indifference to the plight of victims of the violent shariah attacks.

While the foregoing may look like a digression it is nonetheless a useful background to a strategy that was widely attributed to General Babangida as the sponsor of a project intended to keep General Obasanjo on a short leash and so for the latter to keep in mind who were the real lords of the nation’s political manor, just in case he forgot. This point of view was supported by the fact that General Babangida, in a deft and barely disguised maneuver, played a leading role in the emergence of General Obasanjo as President in 1999, but throughout the shariah debacle, in which thousands died needlessly, IBB did nothing to help resolve or mitigate the situation and to stop the blood letting. He kept a very loud silence instead, a silence that suggested, by omission or commission, that he could be part of the conspiracy.

Babangida was not so covert in undermining the Obasanjo government when he did everything in his power, including successfully getting a court injunction, to prevent his appearance at the Justice Oputa–led Human Rights Violation and Investigation Commission (HRVIC), constituted by Obasanjo in his first term. It can be argued that a consequence of IBB’s lack of support for the Oputa panel is that it contributed in no small way to the trivialization of the exercise. A prickly General Obasanjo, notorious for his short attention span, soon lost all interest in the panel. Although Obasanjo initially appeared before the panel with some enthusiasm, such ardour soon waned. The panel was soon left on its own with no political support. On submission, the panel’s report was swiftly swept under the carpet and heard of no more. The Oputa Panel was modeled on and inspired by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It was also expected to achieve the same results, as a means of politically resolving and bringing closure to the many disputes and open wounds that ravaged the polity and hampered development, in lieu of protracted judicial proceedings, assuming those were even feasible. But all that evaporated as a result of a lack of support by men like IBB. The Oputa Panel was a unique opportunity for a statesman to face the public and give his own side of the story of a political career that threw up many questions that agitated people’s minds but General Babangida balked at the opportunity. Now, a man who has proved many times over that he does not feel himself accountable to or has any respect for the people he served or ruled is now angling to get back to power and rule the same people he manipulated so brazenly when he was in power nearly a generation ago. The problem with IBB’s ambition to rule Nigeria again is that he wants to do so on one condition only: that he rules Nigeria only on his own terms. If that is not tyranny then may the experts tell us what it is.

But beyond all that has been said and written, what really scares me is the fact that IBB has been a former Chief of Army Staff and a former commander-in-chief. He was COAS from 1983 to 1985 and C-in-C from 1985 to 1993. But even before 1983, he had been on the general staff for sometime. In other words, IBB had been involved in policy making for the army for a period not less than 15 years. IBB has a certain perception of how the military should be configured. As COAS and C-in-C, he configured the army, along ethnic lines so that fighting units in general were commanded by people personally loyal to him and invariably from the same geopolitical bloc as himself. The polarization he engineered in the country and bequeathed to generals Abacha and Abdulsalam Abubakar was most keenly felt in the army. This polarization was the absolute cause of the April 22, 1990 failed coup attempt. It was during Gen Babangida’s government that the term ‘hegemony’ first appeared in country’s political lexicon. IBB will not be able to command today’s military, which has radically changed from a lopsided geo-political command structure to a more representative one at all command levels

>>>>>>>> This is super Storyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy>

Why do we keep putting this sort of garbage on the front page.Maybe the poster was still a toddler when IBB ruled and cannot appreciate the damage he did to the nation.

my head is still reeling from the responses on this thread. By the special grace of God IBB will be president. I swear you'all deserve him. Can you imagine? amnesia is a serious problem in that country. A nation deserves the leaders it gets. IBB for president ke. Its like asking the devil to take countrol of one's life. wish you'all good luck. You'll definitely need it.
lol.

IBB Definately does not have any good thing to offer nigeria we are acting dumb if at this stage some people are even thinking of considering him,GOD help us.We are forgeting so soon.

Actually according to the Map description in the early page of this thread I also forseen it that for IBB to win the North states  may be a hardnut to crack because despite claiming to be same Northern people they know their differences and what hey stand for and if he lost in North whereelse will he win I presume if care is not taken Buhari might end up having an edge over every other aspirant from North and beside PDP might not ends up winning this election if care is not taking.

And to be honest their is no WAY we can have free and fair election with people like IBB and ATIKU kind of politicians as aspirant it is absolutely impossible because these two men in particular are themselves not free and fair human beign talkless of having free and fair election with this dirty hands and minded indidviduals(IBB&ATIKU) impossible!!!!!

Not really [img]http://s07.flagcounter.com/count/DymW/bg=ffffff/txt=ffffff/border=ffffff/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=0/[/img]

Behind bobo:

Why do we keep putting this sort of garbage on the front page.Maybe the poster was still a toddler when IBB ruled and cannot appreciate the damage he did to the nation.

Word

mohid:

I consider it absurd that this sort of topic is even first page stuff on NL and to think it’s even debatable makes it more sickening. I might be inclined to agree with IBB that the youths in Nigeria are not experienced enough to rule, but the replies on this thread do not posit his claims on inexperience but irresponsibility. We are not ready to take the helm of affairs we would rather be more comfortable putting some old corrupt re-cycled, retired general in power and then whine all day on internet blogs about how bad things are. The world is not the same place it was 200yrs ago, that America needed a retired General Washington to guide it on its path to greatness, does not entail that Nigeria needs same. It took America over 180 yrs after independence before launching their first satellite into space, while we are already thinking of launching our third satellite barely 50yrs after. The world is a smaller place and cultures are becoming less divergent, if the U.K a traditionally conservative society can follow the American way and vote in a youthful David Cameron, we do not have to wait a 100yrs after 1960 to follow suit.
Gerontocracy (govt by the old) is fast becoming less fashionable and Africa has got to wake up to that change, else the huge divide between it and the rest of the world will continue to grow.

You never can say who will be the winner in a free and fair election

Keep watching

pls let us stop debating IBB WE are making him popular by now the poster if he is interested in voting a credible man into office should have delved deeper into IBB since so many do not want him in office.

A word of advise do not ever be impressed by a politicians speech someonelse always writes it for them so use your head always and dont be impressed by failures with good speech writers .and great acting skills

Babaginda will only make sense to fools like you, Woe unto you for posting this topic, Let him come and rule, over who, He should contest for the Governor of Niger state, What has he forgotten in ASo-Rock, It is only in Nigeria that such cannibal are still given recognition.If it was a country like China,he would be hanged and made history.

The evil that men do lives with them.He cant changed it, He will pay for all the crime.He is free to contest, and i bet you,he will be disgrace, He is so blind that he cant see the handwriting on the wall.It is the blood on his hand that is making him go crazyy, He is abnormal, to think of coming back, God is great, lets wait and see.

at wat AGE nayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

When they want your vote they'll do whatever it takes to get it. When he stepped down he knew he was going to come back in future so he called his cronies and they planned what he was going to tell us. Can he fool us again? If lBB becomes president again, it means we have mortgaged our future and that of our children to the devil.

I support IBB for Presidency

rethink:

I support IBB for Presidency

thanks for the newsflash. .you may go to the nearby bank and redeem your price.no be your fault

Bluetooth you just should have waited for the remaining part

, if he is running for the president of Kirikiri Republic

When they want your vote they'll do whatever it takes to get it. When he stepped down he knew he was going to come back in future so he called his cronies and they planned what he was going to tell us. Can he fool us again? If lBB becomes president again, it means we have mortgaged our future and that of our children to the devil.

rethink:

Bluetooth you just should have waited for the remaining part

,  if he is running for the president of Kirikiri Republic

i don't think he would even win kirikiri election

IBB will surely be president come 2011 . . . . .

yaaaaaaaaaaa

I am of the view and school of thought that nothing remains the same forever, IBB might be there for good. An addage says that the future of a thing is determined by its past, some times coroborative but some times not.

His flaws of 1985 through 1993 are but not a one man decision. For a man to be what he is, there are circumstances that surround his decision and actions.

Even you can and is influenced by circumstances in other to take a decision and yet you live.

IBB can contest. Lets look at the integrity of a man.

Every president is masked  in his days in office but news and flops flow freely when he leaves the office. Even Yar'adua was not an exception. As for me I can not say I stand for IBB or any other until I am certain of the quality of men we have for the race.

thanks

Any a.s.s hole campaigning for all these old nothing but fools former military heads must surely kpeme and will neva see good in his/her life both on earth and beyound. Is not good to call a human-being "fool" but i have to call IBB and his team 'idiotic fools'.

the guy should go and sleep jare, we are tired of the lies.

i have always wondered why the hullabaloo on IBB? If Buhari or Atiku want to contest is not a problem cause we know them and can predict how knowledgeable they are. Many fear IBB cos the cannot decipher him , which makes makes him really wise. others who leave spiteful and insulting comments are not even knowledgeable about Nigerian politics and the crimes of the man, if any. so many just call on past events without evidence. My vote is dangling, stalling and waiting for any candidate as smart as IBB. So many haters who have no business in politics or talking about national development just jump on the mention of IBB, can we please have deductive reasoning please. instead of bigoted hater and ethnic rivals jumping and ranting on the blog.

As it stand today in the presidential race,Babangida is more prepared and purposeful among the rest of the contestants.

At least he has a blueprint and he has been trying hard to pass his messages across to the electorate.he knows what he want.

I will rather vote for him than some unknown angel that is still daydreaming and consulting all over the world if he should contest  or not.

We have less than six months to the election for god sake,this is not time to think except some political Godfathers are pushing our president to

contest for their selfish interest,the man had never appeared serious enough to me as someone that can govern and manages the complex nature

of Naija.he simply lacks the Charisma and you all would be surprised  how IBB will dribble his way to Aso rock if we dont support Donald duke or

other smarter aspirant for that matter.Late Umaru Yaradua was forced to come and ruled and he spent his first year thinking of what to do and the

second year trying to adjust seven point agenda to one point agenda,lol.he passed away with little or nothing to remembered him with,he was a

good man with vision and more confident than GEJ,he only failed because of ill prepared to rule and probably his detoriated health condition

never allowed Nigerians to see him as a good and humble leader.GEJ is not ready to rule and we should stop forcing him to contest or he  will be

classify among the worst president to have ruled Niaja.

To deal with Momah Ghaddafi, ibb released a national jet, fueled it and manned it with huge civilians posing as military officers. These men sought audience with Ghaddafi and when they told him they want to overthrow ibb, they needed funding for arms and to stage the coup that will oust ibb. The libyan presido paid, the guys came back to naija and shared the money with ibb.

This is the first official 419 scam recorded in Nigeria. And the scourge has not left us since. Evil genius!

Ogazi 1 of Achi
Emeka wawa
Abdulazeez Udeh
John Nebolisa etc were the actors,

teskyg:

Babaginda will only make sense to fools like you, Woe unto you for posting this topic, Let him come and rule, over who, He should contest for the Governor of Niger state, What has he forgotten in ASo-Rock, It is only in Nigeria that such cannibal are still given recognition.If it was a country like China,he would be hanged and made history.

The evil that men do lives with them.He cant changed it, He will pay for all the crime.He is free to contest, and i bet you,he will be disgrace, He is so blind that he cant see the handwriting on the wall.It is the blood on his hand that is making him go crazyy, He is abnormal, to think of coming back, God is great, lets wait and see.

You  are just a product of  an armed robbery incident >>>you are a bastard
and woe unto you for insulting me

you are such an idiot for posting this garbage. if Babangida is not making sense to your great grand father, that is his problem. I said his is making sense IMO
#ISITYOUROPINION  ??