By Abidemi Dairo

Over the past few months, I have seen some of the people I admire most take a stand and demand that enough is enough in Nigeria. I have seen both young and old Nigerians demand that we end the hypocrisy and corruption that have eaten so deep into our political system and crippled us as a nation.

I have seen close friends show enviable enthusiasm in seeking change democratically. I was part of many campaigns that said it is not over yet for Nigeria; that maybe if we get this coming election right, maybe we will start to see that light at the end of the tunnel. I believed, friends believed, many others do too; we believed we would find that one different politician that will sit at the helm of affairs and stir us at high speed in the right direction.

Now, I am not that kind of person that just sits around and waits for somebody else to come and do the job. However, for some time now, I have seen other believers and action-takers all trying to preach the candidacy of one man – ‘The Right Man’, they said. I have seen them take to cyberspace, and all other media to campaign for the said messiah – the one with integrity, purpose, vision and will. The one without selfish interests, who is different from the regular crop of politicians: Nuhu Ribadu.

At first, these people started with mouth-watering promises from Mr. Ribadu, and they got a lot of people excited, but not me. Something just wasn’t right! He served under a government that failed to tackle corruption to her fullest capacity. He is hobnobbing with the very kind of politicians he said he wasn’t. Plus, his campaign strategies hinge more on mudslinging and highlighting problems just like the other said ‘up-to-no-good’ politicians. Where is that difference? I just can’t see it! But I still almost believed that he is the best of the lot.
The scales, however, fell from my eyes on the night of Sunday, March 27, 2011, when a friend and active Ribadu promoter sent me a celebratory message with a link to a story that said Ibrahim Babangida endorses Ribadu. This friend and I just months ago, actively campaigned together on Facebook about how IBB can never be associated with anything good. Now the same person celebrates this ‘Messiah’/Babangida relationship. Come on! This is plain hypocrisy. You come down so hard on the incumbent because you say he is surrounded by corrupt politicians, yet your candidate now wines and dines with the perpetrators of the practices he promised to fight.

You can look at this development and want to wave it off as another strategic political move or see it for what it is. As a political move, I think this is laughable; Mr. Babangida is as relevant as he used to be politically. He couldn’t even get himself the infamous northern consensus ticket. On the other hand, how low do you have to sink, in order to actualise you dream? Is there no moral or ethical standard in politics? Is Ribadu now any different from Abubakar ‘public enemy’ Atiku, since he is going about pitching tents with the same old politicians he labelled as the source of our problem? This is pure desperation; a sign that he is either misguided or unfocused. Either way, it is a sign of incompetence, a sign that he is going to compromise the promises he is making.

It is one thing to make promises and be clueless about how to go about redeeming them; it is another to show you actually lack the spirit and will to want to redeem them in the first place. How do you hope to tackle corruption if you seek help from corrupt people to get into office in the first place?

You argue that it is not a sought endorsement? Yes, it is! He was there at Babangida’s home on a courtesy visit. Don’t say the party didn’t know better. Babatunde Fashola walked out of an event because Babangida was present – and no, Fashola is not a saint either, but you see some level of integrity in that sole action.

Let Ribadu go about his business and campaign. I wish him luck. He probably can’t be any worse than the rest but it is now so glaring that he is not any better, either. Let his supporters spare me the pain of reading any more propaganda. The game is over; I now see him for who he is. For me, Ribadu has just lost the little edge he had, that benefit of doubt.

Culled from 234Next

Ribadu is finished if he loses this election , there is no integrity in him again. All his anti corruption jargon cant be said again.

I hope Gbawe understands this, we dont hate Ribadu as a person but his inconsistency is just too glaring and everyday he shows us new ones.

two wrongs can never make a right.

[size=14pt]fistly he hobnobbed with Tinubu, we forgave him for hobnobbing with Mr Impostion whose house girl would be running for one of the House of Assembly slot.

Now IBB, tUFIAKA, Lai Lai, abomination, Na Rumours, Na Lie[/size].

Lagosboy:

Ribadu is finished if he loses this election , there is no integrity in him again. All his anti corruption jargon cant be said again.

I hope Gbawe understands this, we dont hate Ribadu as a person but his inconsistency is just too glaring and everyday he shows us new ones.

Thank you sir.

Whether he loses or wins this election, Ribadu has shown that there is minimal integrity in him as a person. How much more will a man want to be a puppet for these corrupt politicians and claim he is fighting corruption. . . .from Obasanjo to Tinubu to Goodluck now to IBB?

Nigerians surely see better now. Ribadu is simply nothing but a despondent politician.

is there any clear evidence that he is ho nobbing with ibb or are these the latest pdp shenanigans

apparently some text messages with atiku and ibb endorsing buhari are also flying around

It was all around the papers and on SR on monday that he visited minna mansion and had lunch with IBB accompanied by the ACN crue headed by Bisi Akande

I know the GbaweS this world will just refuse to see threads like this. I still dey laff.

na_so:

I know the GbaweS this world will just refuse to see threads like this. I still dey laff.

You expect me to respond to every thread that regards the musing and opinions of an individual? Surely you are more intelligent than that. Mr. Abidemi Dairo (whoever he is) reckons that Ribadu has "lost the little edge that he has" and we are expected to add that to a section of the Bible as Gospel truth? Dude there are millions of us Nigerians . We all have our opinions. Mr. Dairo may speak of Ribadu scathingly but Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana, Rotimi Akeredolu et al have all spoken of Ribadu in glowing terms and endorsed his candidacy[b] publicly [/b] so I really don't see why the words of this Mr. Dairo now constitute the truth while we should disregard the utterances , about Ribadu , from many respected Nigerians who have 'walked the walk'. Mr. Dairo should be free to air his opinion and readers are also free to take it how they want without anybody trying to force folks to accept opinions as empirical truth.

At the end of the day folks can waste their time copying and pasting these 'opinions' of anonymous Nigerians. It is the same as some will copy our opinions on Nairaland to go and use elsewhere. We all have opinions and are entitled to them suffice to say , after all is said and done,  folks should go and vote because the time is here. Elections are upon us already. Saturday (only three days away) we will be voting for our law makers. That is the business at hand now.

Gbawe:

You expect me to respond to every thread that regards the musing and opinions of an individual? Surely you are more intelligent than that. Mr. Abidemi Dairo (whoever he is) reckons that Ribadu has "lost the little edge that he has" and we are expected to add that to a section of the Bible as Gospel truth? Dude there are millions of us Nigerians . We all have our opinions. Mr. Dairo may speak of Ribadu scathingly but Wole Soyinka, Femi Falana, Rotimi Akeredolu et al have all spoken of Ribadu in glowing terms and endorsed his candidacy publicly so I really don't see why the words of this Mr. Dairo now constitute the truth while we should disregard the utterances , about Ribadu , from many respected Nigerians who have 'walked the walk'. Mr. Dairo should be free to air his opinion and readers are also free to take it how they want without anybody trying to force folks to accept opinions as empirical truth.

At the end of the day folks can waste their time copying and pasting these 'opinions' of anonymous Nigerians. It is the same as some will copy our opinions on Nairaland to go and use elsewhere. We all have opinions and are entitled to them suffice to say , after all is said and done,  folks should go and vote because the time is here. Elections are upon us already. Saturday (only three days away) we will be voting for our law makers. That is the business at hand now.

There you go again. What makes you think the words of the likes of Soyinka, Falana and Akeredolu are sacrosanct. These individuals may not be able to deliver more than their personal votes for Ribadu, just as Mr Dairo may not be able to sway votes away from Ribadu apart from his personal vote.

Mr Dairo gave an opinion just as those you listed gave theirs too. I'm sure Nigerians are smart enough to know what every candidate stand for, so keep your sweat and pray your candidate does not keep emulating GEJ in misteps and gaffes.

Ribadu is not serious.

I still think that Buhari is the best of the bad choices i am faced with.
I considered Ribadu but he sounds so naive when he talks.
I often wonder if he has a clue about what he is seeking?
We already have an inept,clueless folk on the saddle.
we need someone who either has a clue about how to fix the socio economic problems or at least the firm mind to address corruption and rebuild strong institutions.
the only areas where i see Ribadu being a better option than GEJ are that he is genuinely passionate about this country and he has less crooks around him.
gej has got his head up the behind of so many barbarians that he seems blind.
whether Ribadu is a saint or not is irrelevant to me.I do not believe any of them is, not even Buhari.
After all is said and done, he is the best of a bad bunch.
All the best to Ribadu but i am sticking with Buhari

We just want change.
more of the same for another 4 years will just signal the end of this country.

I have always believed that this creature (Ribadu) is nothing but a "Political LovePeddler". As someone had previously noted, he went from Obasanjo's attack dog, to Tinubu's lap dog. Funny how advanced education (LLB, LLM) doesn't seem to have prepared that sorry bloc about the intricacies of politics. I guess if one is more blinded by misplaced ambition, it is easy to self-destruct.