By Wole SOYINKA

This intervention has been provoked, not so much by the ambitions of General Buhari to return to power at the head of a democratic Nigeria, as by declarations of support from directions that leave one totally dumbfounded. It would appear that some, myself among them, had been over complacent about the magnitude of an ambition that seemed as preposterous as the late effort of General Ibrahim Babangida to aspire yet again to the honour of presiding over a society that truly seeks a democratic future. What one had dismissed was a rash of illusions, brought about by other political improbabilities that surround us, however, is being given an air of plausibility by individuals and groupings to which one had earlier attributed a sense of relevance of historic actualities. Recently, I published an article in the media, invoking the possible recourse to psychiatric explanation for some of the incongruities in conduct within national leadership. Now, to tell the truth, I have begun to seriously address the issue of which section of society requires the services of a psychiatrist. The contest for a seizure of rationality is now so polarized that I am quite reconciled to the fact it could be those of us on this side, not the opposing school of thought that ought to declare ourselves candidates for a lunatic asylum. So be it. While that decision hangs in the balance however, the forum is open. Let both sides continue to address our cases to the electorate, but also prepare to submit ourselves for psychiatric examination.



The time being so close to electoral decision, we can understand the haste of some to resort to shortcuts. In the process however, we should not commit the error of opening the political space to any alternative whose curative touch to national afflictions have proven more deadly than the disease. In order to reduce the clutter in our options towards the forthcoming elections, we urge a beginning from what we do know, what we have undergone, what millions can verify, what can be sustained by evidence accessible even to the school pupil, the street hawker or a just-come visitor from outer space. Leaving Buhari aside for now, I propose a commencing exercise that should guide us along the path of elimination as we examine the existing register of would-be president. That initial exercise can be summed up in the following speculation: “If it were possible for Olusegun Obasanjo, the actual incumbent, to stand again for election, would you vote for him?”

If the answer is “yes”, then of course all discussion is at an end. If the answer is ‘No’ however, then it follows that a choice of a successor made by Obasanjo should be assessed as hovering between extremely dangerous and an outright kiss of death. The degree of acceptability of such a candidate should also be inversely proportionate to the passion with which he or she is promoted by the would-be ‘godfather’. We do not lack for open evidence about Obasanjo’s passion in this respect. From Lagos to the USA, he has taken great pains to assure the nation and the world that the anointed NPN presidential flag bearer is guaranteed, in his judgment, to carry out his policies. Such an endorsement/anointment is more than sufficient, in my view, for public acceptance or rejection. Yar’Adua’s candidature amounts to a terminal kiss from a moribund regime. Nothing against the person of this – I am informed - personable governor, but let him understand that in addition to the direct source of his emergence, the PDP, on whose platform he stands, represents the most harrowing of this nation’s nightmares over and beyond even the horrors of the Abacha regime. If he wishes to be considered on his own merit, now is time for him, as well as others similarly enmeshed, to exercise the moral courage that goes with his repudiation of that party, a dissociation from its past, and a pledge to reverse its menacing future. We shall find him an alternative platform on which to stand, and then have him present his credentials along those of other candidates engaged in forging a credible opposition alliance. Until then, let us bury this particular proposition and move on to a far graver, looming danger, personified in the history of General Buhari.



The grounds on which General Buhari is being promoted as the alternative choice are not only shaky, but pitifully naive. History matters. Records are not kept simply to assist the weakness of memory, but to operate as guides to the future. Of course, we know that human beings change. What the claims of personality change or transformation impose on us is a rigorous inspection of the evidence, not wishful speculation or behind-the-scenes assurances. Public offence, crimes against a polity, must be answered in the public space, not in caucuses of bargaining. In Buhari, we have been offered no evidence of the sheerest prospect of change. On the contrary, all evident suggests that this is one individual who remains convinced that this is one ex-ruler that the nation cannot call to order.

Buhari – need one remind anyone - was one of the generals who treated a Commission of Enquiry, the Oputa Panel, with unconcealed disdain. Like Babangida and Abdusalami, he refused to put in appearance even though complaints that were tabled against him involved a career of gross abuses of power and blatant assault on the fundamental human rights of the Nigerian citizenry.

Prominent against these charges was an act that amounted to nothing less than judicial murder, the execution of a citizen under a retroactive decree. Does Decree 20 ring a bell? If not, then, perhaps the names of three youths - Lawal Ojuolape (30), Bernard Ogedengbe (29) and Bartholomew Owoh (26) do. To put it quite plainly, one of those three – Ogedengbe - was executed for a crime that did not carry a capital forfeit at the time it was committed. This was an unconscionable crime, carried out in defiance of the pleas and protests of nearly every sector of the Nigerian and international community – religious, civil rights, political, trade unions etc. Buhari and his sidekick and his partner-in-crime, Tunde Idiagbon persisted in this inhuman act for one reason and one reason only: to place Nigerians on notice that they were now under an iron, inflexible rule, under governance by fear.

The execution of that youthful innocent – for so he was, since the punishment did not exist at the time of commission - was nothing short of premeditated murder, for which the perpetrators should normally stand trial upon their loss of immunity. Are we truly expected to forget this violation of our entitlement to security as provided under existing laws? And even if our sensibilities have become blunted by succeeding seasons of cruelty and brutality, if power itself had so coarsened the sensibilities also of rulers and corrupted their judgment, what should one rightly expect after they have been rescued from the snare of power” At the very least, a revaluation, leading hopefully to remorse, and its expression to a wronged society. At the very least, such a revaluation should engender reticence, silence. In the case of Buhari, it was the opposite. Since leaving office he has declared in the most categorical terms that he had no regrets over this murder and would do so again.



Human life is inviolate. The right to life is the uniquely fundamental right on which all other rights are based. The crime that General Buhari committed against the entire nation went further however, inconceivable as it might first appear. That crime is one of the most profound negations of civic being. Not content with hammering down the freedom of expression in general terms, Buhari specifically forbade all public discussion of a return to civilian, democratic rule. Let us constantly applaud our media – those battle scarred professionals did not completely knuckle down. They resorted to cartoons and oblique, elliptical references to sustain the people’s campaign for a time-table to democratic rule. Overt agitation for a democratic time table however remained rigorously suppressed – military dictatorship, and a specifically incorporated in Buhari and Idiagbon was here to stay. To deprive a people of volition in their own political direction is to turn a nation into a colony of slaves. Buhari enslaved the nation. He gloated and gloried in a master-slave relation to the millions of its inhabitants. It is astonishing to find that the same former slaves, now free of their chains, should clamour to be ruled by one who not only turned their nation into a slave plantation, but forbade them any discussion of their condition.



So Tai Solarin is already forgotten? Tai who stood at street corners, fearlessly distributing leaflets that took up the gauntlet where the media had dropped it. Tai who was incarcerated by that regime and denied even the medication for his asthmatic condition? Tai did not ask to be sent for treatment overseas; all he asked was his traditional medicine that had proved so effective after years of struggle with asthma!



Nor must we omit the manner of Buhari coming to power and the pattern of his ‘corrective’ rule. Shagari’s NPN had already run out of steam and was near universally detested – except of course by the handful that still benefited from that regime of profligacy and rabid fascism. Responsibility for the national condition lay squarely at the door of the ruling party, obviously, but against whom was Buhari’s coup staged? Judging by the conduct of that regime, it was not against Shagari’s government but against the opposition. The head of government, on whom primary responsibility lay, was Shehu Shagari. Yet that individual was kept in cozy house detention in Ikoyi while his powerless deputy, Alex Ekwueme, was locked up in Kiri-kiri prisons. Such was the Buhari notion of equitable apportionment of guilt and/or responsibility.



And then the cascade of escapes of the wanted, and culpable politicians. Manhunts across the length and breadth of the nation, roadblocks everywhere and borders tight as steel zip locks. Lo and behold, the chairman of the party, Chief Akinloye, strolled out coolly across the border. Richard Akinjide, Legal Protector of the ruling party, slipped out with equal ease. The Rice Minister, Umaru Dikko, who declared that Nigerians were yet to eat from dustbins - escaped through the same airtight dragnet. The clumsy attempt to crate him home was punishment for his ingratitude, since he went berserk when, after waiting in vain, he concluded that the coup had not been staged, after all, for the immediate consolidation of the party of extreme right-wing vultures, but for the military hyenas.



The case of the overbearing Secretary-General of the party, Uba Ahmed, was even more noxious. Uba Ahmed was out of the country at the time. Despite the closure of the Nigerian airspace, he compelled the pilot of his plane to demand special landing permission, since his passenger load included the almighty Uba Ahmed. Of course, he had not known of the change in his status since he was airborne. The delighted airport commandant, realizing that he had a much valued fish swimming willingly into a waiting net, approved the request. Uba Ahmed disembarked into the arms of a military guard and was promptly clamped in detention. Incredibly, he vanished a few days after and reappeared in safety overseas. Those whose memories have become calcified should explore the media coverage of that saga. Buhari was asked to explain the vanished act of this much prized quarry and his response was one of the most arrogant levity. Coming from one who had shot his way into power on the slogan of ‘dis’pline’, it was nothing short of impudent.



Shall we revisit the tragicomic series of trials that landed several politicians several lifetimes in prison? Recall, if you please, the ‘judicial’ processes undergone by the septuagenarian Chief Adekunle Ajasin. He was arraigned and tried before Buhari’s punitive tribunal but acquitted. Dissatisfied, Buhari ordered his re-trial. Again, the Tribunal could not find this man guilty of a single crime, so once again he was returned for trial, only to be acquitted of all charges of corruption or abuse of office. Was Chief Ajasin thereby released? No! He was ordered detained indefinitely, simply for the crime of winning an election and refusing to knuckle under Shagari’s reign of terror.

The conduct of the Buhari regime after his coup was not merely one of double, triple, multiple standards but a cynical travesty of justice. Audu Ogbeh, currently chairman of the Action Congress was one of the few figures of rectitude within the NPN. Just as he has done in recent times with the PDP, he played the role of an internal critic and reformer, warning, dissenting, and setting an example of probity within his ministry. For that crime he spent months in unjust incarceration. Guilty by association? Well, if that was the motivating yardstick of the administration of the Buhari justice, then it was most selectively applied. The utmost severity of the Buhari-Idiagbon justice was especially reserved either for the opposition in general, or for those within the ruling party who had showed the sheerest sense of responsibility and patriotism.



Shall I remind this nation of Buhari’s deliberate humiliating treatment of the Emir of Kano and the Oni of Ife over their visit to the state of Israel? I hold no brief for traditional rulers and their relationship with governments, but insist on regarding them as entitled to all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of any Nigerian citizen. This royal duo went to Israel on their private steam and private business. Simply because the Buhari regime was pursuing some antagonistic foreign policy towards Israel, a policy of which these traditional rulers were not a part, they were subjected on their return to a treatment that could only be described as a head masterly chastisement of errant pupils. Since when, may one ask, did a free citizen of the Nigerian nation require the permission of a head of state to visit a foreign nation that was willing to offer that tourist a visa.?



One is only too aware that some Nigerians love to point to Buhari’s agenda of discipline as the shining jewel in his scrap-iron crown. To inculcate discipline however, one must lead by example, obeying laws set down as guides to public probity. Example speaks louder than declarations, and rulers cannot exempt themselves from the disciplinary strictures imposed on the overall polity, especially on any issue that seeks to establish a policy for public well-being. The story of the thirty something suitcases – it would appear that they were even closer to fifty - found unavoidable mention in my recent memoirs, YOU MUST SET FORTH AT DOWN, written long before Buhari became spoken of as a credible candidate. For the exercise of a changeover of the national currency, the Nigerian borders – air, sea and land – had been shut tight. Nothing was supposed to move in or out, not even cattle egrets.



Yet a prominent camel was allowed through that needle’s eye. Not only did Buhari dispatch his aide-de-camp, Jokolo – later to become an emir - to facilitate the entry of those cases, he ordered the redeployment – as I later discovered - of the Customs Officer who stood firmly against the entry of the contravening baggage. That officer, the incumbent Vice-president is now a rival candidate to Buhari, but has somehow, in the meantime, earned a reputation that totally contradicts his conduct at the time. Wherever the truth lies, it does not redound to the credibility of the dictator of that time, General Buhari whose word was law, but whose allegiances were clearly negotiated.

Let us not forget so soon, who GENERAL BUHARI is. A Leopard can never change its color, and a HYPOCRITE will always be one. Do not be deceived

bestman09:

By Wole SOYINKA

This intervention has been provoked, not so much by the ambitions of General Buhari to return to power at the head of a democratic Nigeria, as by declarations of support from directions that leave one totally dumbfounded. It would appear that some, myself among them, had been over complacent about the magnitude of an ambition that seemed as preposterous as the late effort of General Ibrahim Babangida to aspire yet again to the honour of presiding over a society that truly seeks a democratic future. What one had dismissed was a rash of illusions, brought about by other political improbabilities that surround us, however, is being given an air of plausibility by individuals and groupings to which one had earlier attributed a sense of relevance of historic actualities. Recently, I published an article in the media, invoking the possible recourse to psychiatric explanation for some of the incongruities in conduct within national leadership. Now, to tell the truth, I have begun to seriously address the issue of which section of society requires the services of a psychiatrist. The contest for a seizure of rationality is now so polarized that I am quite reconciled to the fact it could be those of us on this side, not the opposing school of thought that ought to declare ourselves candidates for a lunatic asylum. So be it. While that decision hangs in the balance however, the forum is open. Let both sides continue to address our cases to the electorate, but also prepare to submit ourselves for psychiatric examination.



The time being so close to electoral decision, we can understand the haste of some to resort to shortcuts. In the process however, we should not commit the error of opening the political space to any alternative whose curative touch to national afflictions have proven more deadly than the disease. In order to reduce the clutter in our options towards the forthcoming elections, we urge a beginning from what we do know, what we have undergone, what millions can verify, what can be sustained by evidence accessible even to the school pupil, the street hawker or a just-come visitor from outer space. Leaving Buhari aside for now, I propose a commencing exercise that should guide us along the path of elimination as we examine the existing register of would-be president. That initial exercise can be summed up in the following speculation: “If it were possible for Olusegun Obasanjo, the actual incumbent, to stand again for election, would you vote for him?”

If the answer is “yes”, then of course all discussion is at an end. If the answer is ‘No’ however, then it follows that a choice of a successor made by Obasanjo should be assessed as hovering between extremely dangerous and an outright kiss of death. The degree of acceptability of such a candidate should also be inversely proportionate to the passion with which he or she is promoted by the would-be ‘godfather’. We do not lack for open evidence about Obasanjo’s passion in this respect. From Lagos to the USA, he has taken great pains to assure the nation and the world that the anointed NPN presidential flag bearer is guaranteed, in his judgment, to carry out his policies. Such an endorsement/anointment is more than sufficient, in my view, for public acceptance or rejection. Yar’Adua’s candidature amounts to a terminal kiss from a moribund regime. Nothing against the person of this – I am informed - personable governor, but let him understand that in addition to the direct source of his emergence, the PDP, on whose platform he stands, represents the most harrowing of this nation’s nightmares over and beyond even the horrors of the Abacha regime. If he wishes to be considered on his own merit, now is time for him, as well as others similarly enmeshed, to exercise the moral courage that goes with his repudiation of that party, a dissociation from its past, and a pledge to reverse its menacing future. We shall find him an alternative platform on which to stand, and then have him present his credentials along those of other candidates engaged in forging a credible opposition alliance. Until then, let us bury this particular proposition and move on to a far graver, looming danger, personified in the history of General Buhari.



The grounds on which General Buhari is being promoted as the alternative choice are not only shaky, but pitifully naive. History matters. Records are not kept simply to assist the weakness of memory, but to operate as guides to the future. Of course, we know that human beings change. What the claims of personality change or transformation impose on us is a rigorous inspection of the evidence, not wishful speculation or behind-the-scenes assurances. Public offence, crimes against a polity, must be answered in the public space, not in caucuses of bargaining. In Buhari, we have been offered no evidence of the sheerest prospect of change. On the contrary, all evident suggests that this is one individual who remains convinced that this is one ex-ruler that the nation cannot call to order.

Buhari – need one remind anyone - was one of the generals who treated a Commission of Enquiry, the Oputa Panel, with unconcealed disdain. Like Babangida and Abdusalami, he refused to put in appearance even though complaints that were tabled against him involved a career of gross abuses of power and blatant assault on the fundamental human rights of the Nigerian citizenry.

Prominent against these charges was an act that amounted to nothing less than judicial murder, the execution of a citizen under a retroactive decree. Does Decree 20 ring a bell? If not, then, perhaps the names of three youths - Lawal Ojuolape (30), Bernard Ogedengbe (29) and Bartholomew Owoh (26) do. To put it quite plainly, one of those three – Ogedengbe - was executed for a crime that did not carry a capital forfeit at the time it was committed. This was an unconscionable crime, carried out in defiance of the pleas and protests of nearly every sector of the Nigerian and international community – religious, civil rights, political, trade unions etc. Buhari and his sidekick and his partner-in-crime, Tunde Idiagbon persisted in this inhuman act for one reason and one reason only: to place Nigerians on notice that they were now under an iron, inflexible rule, under governance by fear.

The execution of that youthful innocent – for so he was, since the punishment did not exist at the time of commission - was nothing short of premeditated murder, for which the perpetrators should normally stand trial upon their loss of immunity. Are we truly expected to forget this violation of our entitlement to security as provided under existing laws? And even if our sensibilities have become blunted by succeeding seasons of cruelty and brutality, if power itself had so coarsened the sensibilities also of rulers and corrupted their judgment, what should one rightly expect after they have been rescued from the snare of power” At the very least, a revaluation, leading hopefully to remorse, and its expression to a wronged society. At the very least, such a revaluation should engender reticence, silence. In the case of Buhari, it was the opposite. Since leaving office he has declared in the most categorical terms that he had no regrets over this murder and would do so again.



Human life is inviolate. The right to life is the uniquely fundamental right on which all other rights are based. The crime that General Buhari committed against the entire nation went further however, inconceivable as it might first appear. That crime is one of the most profound negations of civic being. Not content with hammering down the freedom of expression in general terms, Buhari specifically forbade all public discussion of a return to civilian, democratic rule. Let us constantly applaud our media – those battle scarred professionals did not completely knuckle down. They resorted to cartoons and oblique, elliptical references to sustain the people’s campaign for a time-table to democratic rule. Overt agitation for a democratic time table however remained rigorously suppressed – military dictatorship, and a specifically incorporated in Buhari and Idiagbon was here to stay. To deprive a people of volition in their own political direction is to turn a nation into a colony of slaves. Buhari enslaved the nation. He gloated and gloried in a master-slave relation to the millions of its inhabitants. It is astonishing to find that the same former slaves, now free of their chains, should clamour to be ruled by one who not only turned their nation into a slave plantation, but forbade them any discussion of their condition.



So Tai Solarin is already forgotten? Tai who stood at street corners, fearlessly distributing leaflets that took up the gauntlet where the media had dropped it. Tai who was incarcerated by that regime and denied even the medication for his asthmatic condition? Tai did not ask to be sent for treatment overseas; all he asked was his traditional medicine that had proved so effective after years of struggle with asthma!



Nor must we omit the manner of Buhari coming to power and the pattern of his ‘corrective’ rule. Shagari’s NPN had already run out of steam and was near universally detested – except of course by the handful that still benefited from that regime of profligacy and rabid fascism. Responsibility for the national condition lay squarely at the door of the ruling party, obviously, but against whom was Buhari’s coup staged? Judging by the conduct of that regime, it was not against Shagari’s government but against the opposition. The head of government, on whom primary responsibility lay, was Shehu Shagari. Yet that individual was kept in cozy house detention in Ikoyi while his powerless deputy, Alex Ekwueme, was locked up in Kiri-kiri prisons. Such was the Buhari notion of equitable apportionment of guilt and/or responsibility.



And then the cascade of escapes of the wanted, and culpable politicians. Manhunts across the length and breadth of the nation, roadblocks everywhere and borders tight as steel zip locks. Lo and behold, the chairman of the party, Chief Akinloye, strolled out coolly across the border. Richard Akinjide, Legal Protector of the ruling party, slipped out with equal ease. The Rice Minister, Umaru Dikko, who declared that Nigerians were yet to eat from dustbins - escaped through the same airtight dragnet. The clumsy attempt to crate him home was punishment for his ingratitude, since he went berserk when, after waiting in vain, he concluded that the coup had not been staged, after all, for the immediate consolidation of the party of extreme right-wing vultures, but for the military hyenas.



The case of the overbearing Secretary-General of the party, Uba Ahmed, was even more noxious. Uba Ahmed was out of the country at the time. Despite the closure of the Nigerian airspace, he compelled the pilot of his plane to demand special landing permission, since his passenger load included the almighty Uba Ahmed. Of course, he had not known of the change in his status since he was airborne. The delighted airport commandant, realizing that he had a much valued fish swimming willingly into a waiting net, approved the request. Uba Ahmed disembarked into the arms of a military guard and was promptly clamped in detention. Incredibly, he vanished a few days after and reappeared in safety overseas. Those whose memories have become calcified should explore the media coverage of that saga. Buhari was asked to explain the vanished act of this much prized quarry and his response was one of the most arrogant levity. Coming from one who had shot his way into power on the slogan of ‘dis’pline’, it was nothing short of impudent.



Shall we revisit the tragicomic series of trials that landed several politicians several lifetimes in prison? Recall, if you please, the ‘judicial’ processes undergone by the septuagenarian Chief Adekunle Ajasin. He was arraigned and tried before Buhari’s punitive tribunal but acquitted. Dissatisfied, Buhari ordered his re-trial. Again, the Tribunal could not find this man guilty of a single crime, so once again he was returned for trial, only to be acquitted of all charges of corruption or abuse of office. Was Chief Ajasin thereby released? No! He was ordered detained indefinitely, simply for the crime of winning an election and refusing to knuckle under Shagari’s reign of terror.

The conduct of the Buhari regime after his coup was not merely one of double, triple, multiple standards but a cynical travesty of justice. Audu Ogbeh, currently chairman of the Action Congress was one of the few figures of rectitude within the NPN. Just as he has done in recent times with the PDP, he played the role of an internal critic and reformer, warning, dissenting, and setting an example of probity within his ministry. For that crime he spent months in unjust incarceration. Guilty by association? Well, if that was the motivating yardstick of the administration of the Buhari justice, then it was most selectively applied. The utmost severity of the Buhari-Idiagbon justice was especially reserved either for the opposition in general, or for those within the ruling party who had showed the sheerest sense of responsibility and patriotism.



Shall I remind this nation of Buhari’s deliberate humiliating treatment of the Emir of Kano and the Oni of Ife over their visit to the state of Israel? I hold no brief for traditional rulers and their relationship with governments, but insist on regarding them as entitled to all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of any Nigerian citizen. This royal duo went to Israel on their private steam and private business. Simply because the Buhari regime was pursuing some antagonistic foreign policy towards Israel, a policy of which these traditional rulers were not a part, they were subjected on their return to a treatment that could only be described as a head masterly chastisement of errant pupils. Since when, may one ask, did a free citizen of the Nigerian nation require the permission of a head of state to visit a foreign nation that was willing to offer that tourist a visa.?



One is only too aware that some Nigerians love to point to Buhari’s agenda of discipline as the shining jewel in his scrap-iron crown. To inculcate discipline however, one must lead by example, obeying laws set down as guides to public probity. Example speaks louder than declarations, and rulers cannot exempt themselves from the disciplinary strictures imposed on the overall polity, especially on any issue that seeks to establish a policy for public well-being. The story of the thirty something suitcases – it would appear that they were even closer to fifty - found unavoidable mention in my recent memoirs, YOU MUST SET FORTH AT DOWN, written long before Buhari became spoken of as a credible candidate. For the exercise of a changeover of the national currency, the Nigerian borders – air, sea and land – had been shut tight. Nothing was supposed to move in or out, not even cattle egrets.



Yet a prominent camel was allowed through that needle’s eye. Not only did Buhari dispatch his aide-de-camp, Jokolo – later to become an emir - to facilitate the entry of those cases, he ordered the redeployment – as I later discovered - of the Customs Officer who stood firmly against the entry of the contravening baggage. That officer, the incumbent Vice-president is now a rival candidate to Buhari, but has somehow, in the meantime, earned a reputation that totally contradicts his conduct at the time. Wherever the truth lies, it does not redound to the credibility of the dictator of that time, General Buhari whose word was law, but whose allegiances were clearly negotiated.

Thanks you very much. But 90 % of people visiting NL have read this piece and the reality on ground is that while the General is being criticized for making mistakes and being lopsided in planting growth and development across the nation and his fight against corruption, PDP/GEJ has shown they cannot give us ANYTHING to criticize at all in their 12 years of federal looting.

We can live with the alleged lopsided development, alleged 'selective' fight against corruption, and heavy clamp-down on any public thief but we cannot afford to see another 4 years of nothingness from PPD/GEJ.

Who would waste his vote on Buhari? certainly not me

Neither would I!

Odunnu:

Neither would I!

rasputinn:

Who would waste his vote on Buhari? certainly not me

I cannot recollect anyone asking either of you for your vote. All we ask for is that you do not attempt to rig, 'cos you'll be LYNCHED! A word is good enough for the wise.

I'm a patriotic Nigerian and I insist on a free and fair election.
The best must win!
I'm ready to not only protect my vote but also 'lynch' any who tries to 'dictate' to me!

bestman09:

Let us not forget so soon, who GENERAL BUHARI is. A Leopard can never change its color, and a HYPOCRITE will always be one. Do not be deceived

can we have a link to your post

Left to me nigeria is not ripe for democracy. Even if one or two people on top like BH and BK are outstanding,d rest of d gang will still be wolves eager to devour their tired prey,nigera. Nigeria at this point is ripe for revolution.

Odunnu:

I'm a patriotic Nigerian and I insist on a free and fair election.
The best must win!
I'm ready to not only protect my vote but also 'lynch' any who tries to 'dictate' to me!

Good to know you are also ready to lynch. At least we are on same page on that. So when you cast ur vote for whomever (I do not give a rats azz about ur choice), you'll at least be prepared to protect your vote.

I'l cast my vote for GEJ who represents democracy and change and make sure that vote counts!

Odunnu:

I'm a patriotic Nigerian and I insist on a free and fair election.
The best must win!
I'm ready to not only protect my vote but also 'lynch' any who tries to 'dictate' to me!

lol! Very nice play on the words of the scary eyed sharia merchant!
Me too, I'm ready to "lynch" any expired, ethnically bigotted general that helped get Nigeria into its current mess.

of all the candidate, the least you should trust is GEJ. All other candidates can boast of one form of achievement or another in the past years
for Jonathan, all his years in politics has been fraught with poor performance or nothing of note
As former deputy governor/ Governor of Bayelsa, Vice president, Acting President and president  can anyone list a single achievement
coming from this guy?

I'm appalled to see some otherwise brilliant and beautiful ones pray for this clueless thing to continue another 4 year.
i would ask, is it for personal gains or being plain silly?

rasputinn:

Who would waste his vote on Buhari? certainly not me

Never  crossed my mind but. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .

Solomon227:

. . . .  we cannot afford to see another 4 years of nothingness from PPD/GEJ.

Hell NO!!!. . . . . . . . . . .but what else is out there to pick from?

Ribadu  
Absolutely bloody not!!!!


This is why i really don't give a damn about their ph.ocking election.
hence am presently in Look & Laugh mode. . . . . .
Till 2015 . . . . .that's, if we still have a ONE NIGERIA.

Hopefully not.

^^ ^ I guess uve not been to bayelsa u are an hausa man.go and research don't come here and open ur mouth about what u don't knw.GEJ opened up balyelsa after alams stole the wealth.bayelsa is what is it today because of GeJ what PTF could not do he did check ur facts and stop yarning "okpata" where do u even know in bayelsa? Burning and Bombing (BB) brigade BUHARI IS LIKE gaddafi we can't go back to our vomit.BUHARI is NIGERIANS VOMIT.he sharped our future. Since 1966 to 1985 calculate how many years.go to bayelsa today u will knw why they love GEJ.ur ignorant my friend

karl max:

^^ ^ I guess uve not been to bayelsa u are an hausa man.go and research don't come here and open your mouth about what u don't knw.GEJ opened up balyelsa after alams stole the wealth.bayelsa is what is it today because of GeJ

Alams alone, developed Bayelsa even with all the billions he stole.
]the rest under him were empty dustbins.
sometimes i wonder whether some of this GEJ people have brains at all, telling stup1d lies to gain support
this was how i heard this morning from a GEJ campain advert that GEj has started construction on the 2nd Niger bridge and has built a seaport in onitsha and Aba.

You will not achieve anything trying to convince people who have refused to use their brain. It is a disaster when people don't think - they will talk about goodluck, miracle, God ordained, etc - illogical arguments.

For us who can see beyond our nose, BB is the light. We can only pray that God will make them see the light now or after BB enters ASO rock - at least they are Nigerians and we also enjoy the good things that BB plan to do.

I believe BH is much different in mind from the time he was in kacki. If BH +BK is not the team, I dont know who else. Jonathan? Please consider his records, and the calibre of people that suround him, the likes of OBJ, Aneni(or whatever) OGD, Bode George, loosers like Segun Oni, Oyinlola, Agagu etc- jus none achievers, who would do just anything to be relevant in our polty. But what are their antecedents?

Is it Ribadu? Even though ACN is a party I like for now, Ribadu is not clear about his calling as far as I can tell.

Who again? Dele Momodu? Just a joker!

If God permits them, I think Buhari and Bakare are a good bet.

matooto:


Is it Ribadu? Even though ACN is a party I like for now, Ribadu is not clear about his calling as far as I can tell.

Who again? Dele Momodu? Just a joker!

Can you explain to me how Ribadu is not clear about his calling. GEJ has lost the votes of a lot of people but I am just terrified at the movement of the people to Buhari.  IS DISCIPLINE THE MOST PRESSING NEED OF NIGERIA?  What are Buhari's positive records?  He was a brutal dictator with no regards for human right. He believes in brute force instead of reasoning.  We should stop the lazy brain syndrome in Nigeria.  Death and fear is not the answer to everything.

I still don't get the negatives of Ribadu.  Can someone please tell me why people are so opposed to him?  He seems to have the best team of people around him including the Progressing ACN. I am confident that he can run the country by enforcing the laws and constitution.  A reduction in corruption and following due process will improve the business climate in Nigeria.  Investments can be made and jobs will be created. His VP is a corporate titan. They both are civil.  This team in my opinion is the winning team.

Wole Soyinka needn't bother, Buhari wont win any election anyway.

I strongly believe that Wole Soyinka is secretly campaigning for Jonathan.

What other reason would make a man of his caliber come out to the media to rule out a prospective candidate? If I’m to ask our prof, what did Jonathan achieve when he was governor of Balysea State?

Apart from sending members of MEND abroad, spending our millions on building rehabilitation camps for them and crediting millions into the accounts of their former leaders, what has he achieved in his few months in office as president of the country.

I would suggest that Soyinka should refrain from his abrasive nature towards Gen. Buhari, because his candidate Jonathan isn’t the saint Nigerians praying for.

CrazyMan:

I strongly believe that Wole Soyinka is secretly campaigning for Jonathan.

What other reason would make a man of his caliber come out to the media to rule out a prospective candidate? If I’m to ask our prof, what did Jonathan achieve when he was governor of Balysea State?

Apart from sending members of MEND abroad, spending our millions on building rehabilitation camps for them and crediting millions into the accounts of their former leaders, what has he achieved in his few months in office as president of the country.

I would suggest that Soyinka should refrain from his abrasive nature towards Gen. Buhari, because his candidate Jonathan isn’t the saint Nigerians praying for.

Soyinka wrote that article before the 2007 elections see the earliest version I've been able to fish out here.
http://www.saharareporters.com/news-page/crimes-buhari-wole-soyinka
We all know a lot of things have happened betwen then and now and I'm almost certain Soyinka will definitely chose Buhari over GEJ.

shotster50:

Wole Soyinka needn't bother, Buhari wont win any election anyway.

If Buhari wins make you pack comot for 9ja. Oshisko!

samm:

Can you explain to me how Ribadu is not clear about his calling. GEJ has lost the votes of a lot of people but I am just terrified at the movement of the people to Buhari.  IS DISCIPLINE THE MOST PRESSING NEED OF NIGERIA?  What are Buhari's positive records?  He was a brutal dictator with no regards for human right. He believes in brute force instead of reasoning.  We should stop the lazy brain syndrome in Nigeria.  Death and fear is not the answer to everything.

I still don't get the negatives of Ribadu.  Can someone please tell me why people are so opposed to him?  He seems to have the best team of people around him including the Progressing ACN. I am confident that he can run the country by enforcing the laws and constitution.  A reduction in corruption and following due process will improve the business climate in Nigeria.  Investments can be made and jobs will be created. His VP is a corporate titan. They both are civil.  This team in my opinion is the winning team.

Surely discipline (and you forgot to add his other qualities such has justice, integrity and unmatched leadership qualities) is the most pressing need we all need from a Nigerian leader. If we have a well disciplined leader who also has those other qualities mention above, corruption which is the major bane of our national development will be sent to it's early death. Nigerians will be disciplined too and everyone would play by the rules. When the head is rotten, the whole body will be useless, that's the reason we need a good head for the body to function properly.

This Soyinka and his grammar. I just woke up to read the article and by the time I reached the 3rd line, I already started having headache. I think I'll read it later in the day when I'm mentally stronger! 

LAST UPDATED AT Wed Mar, 09 2011

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The case for General Buhari

• Ozodi Thomas Osuji who teaches and writes on leadership and management matters makes a case for the Buhari candidacy, this is part of our ongoin g assessment of the various contestants for the nation's presidency,





What does the President of Nigeria do? Ideally, he is the leader of Nigeria, the chief executive officer, CEO, of the country’s business. He makes sure that the country’s territorial integrity is maintained, that her economy is performing as well as it could and that all Nigerians safety and security is protected.

What is a leader? A leader is a person who has studied the people he proposes to lead and understands their aspirations, what they want to do and proposes to help them do those things.

A leader has vision for his people, he has dreams of what if done would benefit the people he leads. He has goals and objectives that he seeks office to accomplish.

A leader is the servant of the people; he serves their needs and not them his needs. A leader is not in office to gratify his ego’s sense of prestige but to do what helps the man on the street live the good life.

A leader understands resource management, capital and human resources and can help get the resources with which he accomplishes his goals. He knows how to utilize human resources and material resources (capital) in accomplishing his goals and objectives.

Human beings are egotistical, proud and vain creatures and whoever leads them must understand how to manage their emotional issues. A leader must therefore be a mature adult person who not only can engage in task accomplishment but can take other persons pettiness and gripes and not lose his cool. He must disregard other persons bad mouthing him and keep his eyes on the ball and go for it until the ball is dribbled to the goal post and a goal is scored.

A leader is the type of man men follow in their mutual ventures. Some men do not have that intangible quality that makes other men follow them to their goals. It is said that if Napoleon Bonaparte told his generals to jump into a frozen river and swim that they would gladly do so even if they lose their lives in the process; that is the essence of top notch leadership quality, the ability to elicit followership, and, yes, obedience.

Some people have what Max Weber called charisma and others do not. There is debate in leadership literature as to whether leadership is learned or inherited. I think that it is both. Clearly, some people have leadership qualities right from the get go of their lives than others, yet all persons can be taught aspects of good leadership attributes and become good leaders but probably not outstanding leaders.

I have observed General Buhari from a distance. In my judgment he has the attributes of an excellent leader. He demonstrates knowledge of what Nigerians want and wants to help them accomplish them. He places public service above his personal needs. During his first go around as the President of Nigeria (1983-1985) no one in his right mind would say that he stole a penny from Nigerians. Everyone agrees that he devoted himself to serving the needs of Nigerians.

He and Gen Tunde Ideagbon actually got Nigerian civil servants to come to work on time. During that round we saw how determined Buhari is, how principled he is, how incorruptible he is, how honest he is, how he is a man with the utmost integrity, and moral probity.

He was thereafter swept out of office by a military coup. Being chased out of office probably taught him another crucial aspect of leadership: how to manage defeat. Unless a man has been humiliated and managed to keep his head high we really do not know how he would respond to such circumstances. Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln were men who knew numerous defeats and humiliations and from them learned how to manage precarious situations where men’s vanity is at stake. Buhari was once defeated and managed it admirably. He did not show anger at those who humiliated him. He did not go about bearing grievances and seeking vengeance for the attack on his pride. He took it on the chin like a good soldier should and lived to fight another day. He is not petty at all.

Buhari, in words and action, shows that he understands the need to industrialize Nigeria; I mean all parts of Nigeria. If Nigeria had committed and decisive leaders she would today be at the level of Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and the other Asian tigers. Buhari understands the fact that all parts of Nigeria must be mobilized and channeled to doing what has to be done to drag Nigeria into the industrial age.

As a former soldier, especially an officer and gentleman, Buhari understands the nature of setting tasks and using men in accomplishing them. In officer training schools what do they teach men but leadership skills? Officers are taught to know the tasks set for them by their superiors and go achieve them with those they command. The enemy is on that hill and the company must take that hill, drive the enemy out, and capture them if necessary. Buhari understands this critical aspect of leadership (using men to achieve organizational objectives even if it means losing some of the men in the process).

Buhari does not show any trait of tribalism. I have observed his utterances and behavior and can honestly say that he transcends ethnicity. Sure, he wants to develop his neck of the woods, what is wrong with that; as long as he develops all parts of Nigeria he is doing fine. No one is asking him to be an angel and not acknowledge his ethnicity.

Buhari understands how fragile it is to base the Nigerian economy on one resource, oil. He understands that those who buy Nigeria’s oil are furiously undertaking research trying to find an alternative to oil. Information coming out of Caltech and MIT indicates that it is only a matter of time before Americans find a way to manufacture oil through a method similar to photosynthesis. He understands that when that happens America would love to stop exporting the $700 billion dollars it is currently expending annually on importing oil and redirect that money to its economic development. At that point those who depend solely on oil for their revenue would be left in the lurch, they would be left with nothing to run their economy and thus go broke.

This needs not happen and General Buhari has said that he would seek ways to diversify the Nigerian economy. His main opponent in the election, Goodluck Jonathan appears to not even understand basic macro and micro economics, he appears out to lunch when economic matters are raised; surely we cannot allow a man like Jonathan who does not seem to know much about the Nigerian economy to run it.

Jonathan, as I see him, appear dull and common place; he does not even seem to know what leadership is all about. He presents as a nice fellow, perhaps, a university lecturer but a man lacking strong convictions. He seems shy, fearful, and anxious and lacking in courage; he seems the type of timid chap that strong willed criminals, the type that Nigeria grows like mushroom, could easily exploit.

Jonathan does not seem a doer and only God knows that what Nigeria needs at this point are not idle talkers but doers. Nigeria needs leaders who would mobilize the nation’s economic and human resources, as in a war, and use them to win the war of developing the country and rooting out the corruption that is holding her down.

I do not see Jonathan championing well-articulated goals and objectives for Nigeria. He does not seem to believe in anything with his whole heart and is dedicated to actualizing it. He comes across as a nice man but not a man one should like to entrust the leadership of the nation with.

I believe that Jonathan is an accidental leader but not a committed leader who entered the political fray because he has strong convictions that he wants to realize. He seems easily manipulated by Nigeria’s lords of corruption; in fact, those lords of disaster would like to have him in office so that through him they continue the vast spoils and patronage system they have established.

Jonathan comes across as a figure head under which the lords of stealing raid the Nigerian treasury. He lacks personal power, authority and charisma to get people to do anything that serves social interests. He lacks that oomph that we see in notable leaders. The man has no vision of where he wants to take Nigeria to. See, he has been in office for nearly two years and has actually accomplished very little. He talked about making sure that the power sector works. Well, Nigerians still do not have electricity twenty four-seven. The man may talk all he wants few persons are probably willing to follow him.

Another reason why I want Buhari to win the presidential election is the fact that the PDP has been in office for twelve years. That is sufficient time for a political party to have accomplished something useful for its polity. As we all know the PDP is the party of lootocrats and the most they have done is offer their members the opportunity to loot Nigeria, to rob the country empty.

It is time to give another political party the opportunity to try and see if it could clean the mess that is the Nigerian house and set Nigeria on the right path.

If the PDP continues on the path it is I have no doubt that Nigerians will turn to the Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan example: revolt and chase away the thieves that that have so far pretended to rule them; we probably do not need the chaos that such revolt would engender.

Finally, let me make it crystal clear that there is nothing ethnic about my endorsement of General Buhari. I am Igbo but could care less about the ethnic affiliation of whoever rules Nigeria; all that I ask is for a leader who is committed to developing Nigeria and bundling the kleptocrats that sprout everywhere in Nigeria into jail. I am seeking a disciplined, principled and devoted leader for Nigeria regardless of his ethnic background.

I can honestly say that of the men vying for the presidency of Nigeria at the moment Buhari seems the best of the lot. In an ideal world he would not be my first choice. If the world is an ideal place I would vote for a draconian, revolutionary type who is willing to fight and if needs be die trying to transform Nigeria, indeed, all of Africa, but we live in an imperfect world, not the utopian world where all our wishes are met. There is a difference between fantasy and political realism.

The reality on the Nigerian ground is that Buhari is our best bait to do what serves Nigeria’s best interests. The other candidates seem the same old, same old chop, chop Nigerian politicians out to enrich their pockets and could care less for the average Nigerian.

Buhari is bold and assertive and seems to know where he wants to take Nigeria whereas Jonathan is timid and does not seem to know what he seeks office for (other than his belly, of course). Let us give this decent man, General Buhari, the opportunity to show us what he got.

Buhari + IBB support = failure. i rather vote for a gentle man that will allow tru democracy. vote Gej 2011

[size=14pt]"I will continue to show openly and inside me the total commitment to the Sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria," - Buhari[/size]

[size=14pt]""God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the Sharia in the country," - Buhari[/size]

[size=14pt]"Buhari is not a democrat" - Atiku Abubakar[/size]

bestman09:
Let us not forget so soon, who GENERAL BUHARI is. A Leopard can never change its color, and a HYPOCRITE will always be one. Do not be deceived

This is quite revealing! How I wish I know how to put this Soyinka's post properly for a nice debate between GEJ and GMB e- supporters.

It will be a nice topic of discourse!

@Bestman09, give us the source to this info. Thx

Wole SOYINKA, why this full attention on the Federal level dont u have a state governor? Is he performing signs and wonders?