people talk about zoning and things like that as if northerners want candidates from the north and southerners want candidates from the south, or each from their own specific tribe, but this is far from true ever, just another part of the imagined reality of nigeria that nigerians delude their own realistic assessment of the country with.


Obasanjo was unpopular in the west, and still is.
No igbo candidate has ever had the overwhelming support of the igbo vote,
Abiola won bigger numbers in the north then in the west
Ribadu is a bigger hero in the south then in the north
and idk what was going on with Yar adua but a yoruba man (OBJ) put him in power, not northerners, and it was he, a northern fulani that turned the guns on Ribadu, another norther fulani.

i think the only candidate to ever get almost whole support of his ethnic group is Jonathan, and even then many Ijaw say he was a do nothing governor.




we have this false belief in a nigeria 'dominated' by ethnic politics when in truth politics is about money and connections.

If you're looking for an enemy or someone to blame for the state of nigeria's politics it isn't the igbos or hausa or yoruba against other tribes. It's the rich connected against the poor disenfranchised and we can't win this fight if we can't see our enemy.



Rich igbo politicians feel more indebted to rich hausa and rich yoruba politicians that make them more powerful then they are to other igbo people. same is true for all groups

and this is why nigerians don't vote based on tribe though we're ALWAYS 'expected' to for some odd reason. We all know we have enemies that speak our language and friends that speak others, that the hue of our skin or shape of our face has never determined virtue or granted you the support of others like you.

most hausa have primarily hausa enemies, same with all groups because that's who you will encounter more, your people.


so all this pretending that the yoruba will support a yoruba candidate cause of his last name in hope that he has their best interest at heart is a delusion. A lie spat by those to consumed in fantasy to see the world as it is.

if Ohakim ran for president against Fashola, i, an Igbo from Imo state with ties to Ohakim will vote for Fashola. this is how nearly all nigerians are. we dont care about a politicians last name but a vocal minority constantly accuse us of doing just that. We just want results.

To say that Nigerian politics is devoid of tribe is a HUGE lie. In fact, it is because of that tribal issue that the wrong people kept emerging. It is the same reason why an Igbo has not become president since 1967.

The north was afraid of a free minded Yoruba man, so they handpicked Obasanjo in 1998.


The only time Nigeria witnessed what I'll call real politics was before 1966 (with NCNC winning Igboland and other areas outside Igboland) without rigging. Tribalism is REAL in Nigeria. Stop denying it.
You cannot convince a foreigner about your lofty programs if you cannot convince your own people.

Don't mistake what is happening today for politics. The day our votes starts to count again, we'll start voting like before 1966 - convince my tribe first, then my neighbors, then Nigerians.

All you have been seeing in Nigeria from 1999 to date is organized crime.

tribalism is very real but it isn't the factor elections are decided on and has never been.

there has never been a credible igbo candidate because when election time comes 400 igbos register to run LOL.
so most can't even win their state and don't realize outside of their state they're nobodies.

but this isn't cause everyone refuses to vote for igbos it's because in the handful of credible elections we've had (almost none) the people of igbo origin that have ran have been jokes, plain and simple.

Goodluck will probably win this election, but is it because of his tribe? no. if just his tribe voted for him he would lose. OBJ wasn't supported by the yoruba. Yar adua is the only candidate who's tribe was behind him but obviously non fulani voted for him in droves and an yoruba put him in position to win.




the problem with nigerian politics isn't tribe it's nigerian politicians. By the time the most powerful and corrupt governor in the west is ready to run for president he has stole so much from the yoruba people under him that they loath him

same with all the hausa and igbo clowns that run for the presidency.

again, i dont want anyone to take this as me saying tribalism doesn't exist. it does and i have been guilty of it myself.
my point, if it isn't clear is that tribes don't vote in homogenous blocs and often, as in every election, most men don't win the majority of their own tribe or are more popular in another region then in their own.

Ikengawo:

tribalism is very real but it isn't the factor elections are decided on and has never been.

there has never been a credible igbo candidate because when election time comes 400 igbos register to run LOL.
so most can't even win their state and don't realize outside of their state they're nobodies.

but this isn't cause everyone refuses to vote for igbos it's because in the handful of credible elections we've had (almost none) the people of igbo origin that have ran have been jokes, plain and simple.

Goodluck will probably win this election, but is it because of his tribe? no. if just his tribe voted for him he would lose. OBJ wasn't supported by the yoruba. Yar adua is the only candidate who's tribe was behind him but obviously non fulani voted for him in droves and an yoruba put him in position to win.




the problem with nigerian politics isn't tribe it's nigerian politicians. By the time the most powerful and corrupt governor in the west is ready to run for president he has stole so much from the yoruba people under him that they loath him

same with all the hausa and igbo clowns that run for the presidency.

An Igbo person -Alex Ekwueme - was heading to victory in 1999. The north simply dumped him because he supported decentralization of power and helped create the 6 geopolitical regions. They feared him because he is Igbo. He did not lose because other Igbos contested. He had more Igbo support than Obasanjo could ever dream of a Yoruba support.

If you are interested in learning Nigeria's political history, why not spare time outside of Nairaland to learn, instead of your ignorant posts?  

What has been happening in Nigeria since 1999 is wholesale electoral fraud and brigandage, what I call organized crime.
The day our votes starts to count again, take stock and the truth will stare mercilessly at you.

An Igbo person -Alex Ekwueme - was heading to victory in 1999. The north simply dumped him[b] because he supported decentralization of power and helped create the 6 geopolitical regions.[/b] They feared him because he is Igbo. He did not lose because other Igbos contested. He had more Igbo support than Obasanjo could ever dream of a Yoruba support.

If you are interested in learning Nigeria's political history, why not spare time outside of Nairaland to learn, instead of your ignorant posts? Undecided

What has been happening in Nigeria since 1999 is wholesale electoral fraud and brigandage, what I call organized crime.
The day our votes starts to count again, take stock and the truth will stare mercilessly at you. Cool

?


then they dumped him cause he wasn't a centerist like them, you just said the real political reason they dumped him then in the next sentence said it's cause he's igbo and it's a perfect example of what im talking about.

some guys from 'the north', by your story, didn't 'permit' him to be president because he didn't support their political views. Guy, it's called democratic politics not tribalism. No where in that did 'he's igbo' seem to be the real factory, you just injected it cause you saw there was a difference between him and his alleged power brokers to make your argument sound strong.

instead you just showed exactly what im talking about. people confusing[b] real issues [/b]with tribal jargon.

if the reason for 'dropping him' was that he wanted to decentralize, then that's the reason. Him being Igbo, even by your example (until you decided to contradict yourself in the next sentence) wasn't the reason, a difference in political opinion was. You can very well say it was cause he's left handed and they were right handed and sound just as confused as you did in saying it's because he's igbo cause you gave the real and clear reason they dropped him and it wasn't tribe it was politics.

now who was this 'the north'? some power brokers with origins in northern nigeria or the entire northern region homogenously rejecting him, man woman and child, because im typing this reply right now and im an easterner but 'the east' isn't what you're arguing with.


now if this was nigerian politics and this thread was put on a newspaper it would read



"THE EAST REJECT ONLYTHETRUTH" <---- that is the confusion im speaking against.
ignorant blanket statements about political agendas based on tribe that barely exist and dont play a role.