In the current power sharing arrangement the Yoruba have been completely decimated. And yet Olusegun Obasanjo is the chairman of the PDP board of trustees. Chief Obasanjo has led the Yoruba into political wilderness in the power calculus in Nigeria. Yoruba Ronu – Alfred Oludayo
Behold the Top Federal Execo/Legislators:
President  & C-i-C – South South (Goodluck Jonathan, Bayelsa State) - 53 yrs old
Vice-President – North West (Namadi Sambo, Kaduna State) - 56 yrs old
Senate President – North Central (David Mark, Benue State) - 63 yrs old
Senate Deputy President – South Eeast (Ike Ekwerenmadu, Enugu State) - 48 yrs old
House Speaker – North West (Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto State) - 45 yrs old
House Deputy Speaker – South East (Emeka Ihedioha, Imo State) - 46 yrs old
Two zones — South-West and North-East — are therefore missing in the country’s power equation. The South-West could not get the speakership while deputy speakeship eluded the North-East.
WARNING: I have always agreed with Odumegwu Ojukwu, the Ikemba, There is a Tripod on which Nigeria stands, any attempt to exclude one of the three is problematic, if not dangerous!

NIGERIANS REACT:

Femi Adeoya says: I understand South estW did not feature in the "first 4" leaders in Nigeria, and so what? What benefit did Obasanjo's 8-year rule bring to the average Yoruba man let alone for his kinsmen in Ogun State? What did Dimeji Bankole achieve in his 4 years as SW Speaker for the Yoruba man? If a Hausa man or Niger Delta will deliver results to the people of Nigeria, I go with it. Enough of these entire ethnic cards playing!

Yomi Okusanya: I am happy that this perceived 'marginalisation' is being done to a tribe big enough to take it on the chin unlike some other tribe we won't mention who really are cry babies.

FROM ERG to Alfred Oludayo:
Yours is a very intriguing take on the emanating political calculus. Well, the Yorubas' obstinacy and lack of willingness to share will eventually become their greatest undoing. Obasanjo pointed the right way but they chose to go the wrong way. It was a political miscalculation by some of the SW leaders who thought they could wrest power from the Egbesu by playing second-fiddle to the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy - it has backfired!
From the way things are panning out right now, the North will still chose to remain in the centre mainstream Nigerian politics even if Dr Jonathan decides to go for "third-term", they will be there with him.
Put on your seat-belt my brother, the ride is gonna be rough ahead. No amount of blackmail from the Lagos-Ibadan media axis will cut it this time around.
History they say repeats itself for we've been through this road before sometime in 1999-2000. I can foresee massive decamping from one political party to the mainstream before another round of political upheaval in 2015.
Accept my sympathy O!

FROM: Joe Igietseme
“””The commitments of all groups in the union must be sought for a commanding constitutional beliefs and cooperation.”””Unquote Waki Lawal
Whenever I read messages and contributions that reflect the above statement, I LAUGH to myself these days. You know why? These are the reasons I laugh:
1.    The problem with some of these Ethnic flag abusers is that they NEVER GROW UP beyond that allegorical High School trouble-maker, who would not agree that a game [card, draft, wrestling, chess etc] was over until he won!
2.    Since Nigerian Independence in 1960 and the introduction of the First Parliamentary Constitution with the first civilian Govt of Balewa/Zik, followed by the series of post-Independence Military Govts of Ironsi, Gowon, and Murtala/Obasanjo, then the Second civilian Govt of Shagari/Ekwueme, through the second wave of Military Govts of Buhari/Idiagbon, Babangida, Abacha, Abdulsalam Abubakar, to the third Republic Govt of de-militarized Obasanjo/Atiku, Yar’Adua and now Jonathan, NIGERIA HAS BEEN GOVERNED OR RULED BY NIGERIANS!!! We know these FACTS, even when some of us disingenuously call some of the leaders all sorts of names [puppets, stooges etc]. More IMPORTANTLY, these Nigerian leaders have come out all the Ethnic Groups in Nigeria! So where is the place and room for the notion that “all groups in the Union must sought for a commanding constitutional belief and cooperation”, as if these caterwauling Nigerians are the ONLY LEGITIMATE NIGERIANS?
3.    It appears that those Nigerians who are fixated on Nigerian re-negotiation and structural re-evaluation instead of emphasizing the much needed infrastructural and economic development to unite the nation under “common interest grids” are those Nigerians who [selfishly and greedily] believe that have not SECURED a place for themselves at any or some of the elections or Govts running Nigeria so far.
4.    In a more contemporaneous consideration of the antics of these Nigerian re-negotiators, it appears some of them think we are still in a pre-colonial ethnic domain dominated Nigeria. Nigeria is now a bona fide modern nation and all these ethnic jingoisms should be subordinated to the Nigerian interest wherever they conflict!
5.    For a way forward, henceforth, if anybody or group has an issue about the configuration and structure of Nigeria, there are 3 legitimately available options:
a.    Send a bill to the national assembly; lobby for your bill and allow the democratic process to decide the outcome.
b.    Seek election or work hard to elect leaders who will make Nigerian re-structuring a priority agenda in the national assembly; and allow the democratic process to decide the outcome.
c.    Leave Nigeria alone to be what she is since you are unlikely to have your way under the present conditions; but QUIT the caterwauling distractions because Nigeria needs to make progress and advance scientifically and technologically, and rapid build human and material capital in the body politic without worrying about where her borders will be tomorrow. Time is of the essence on this matter and anybody clamouring for Nigerian re-structuring at this age of the nation is causing an unneeded distraction from the IMPORTANT ISSUES.

From: Joe Attueyi
Nigeria is inexorably on a journey to redefine itself. I don't think anything will be able to stop it.
In just one election cycle we have buried zoning and godfatherism. Suddenly you don't need OBJ, Anenih, IBB, Ciroma etc to win political office. In fact their support seems to be a kiss of death.
I believe this loss of power by the "power clique" (and access to the commonwealth) will remove the last obstacles to Nigerians having a good faith conversation about how they want to relate to each other on a sustainable basis. If it does not happen before 2015, then Jonathan running for his second term will engineer it.
Don't be surprised if OBJ and Adamu Ciroma become the champions of Sovereign National Conference in the coming months

From: Dominic Ogbonna
Let us not forget that the Yorubas are not the only ones at #0. The Igbos as well.The Nupes as well. The Edos as well. The Igalas as well. The Ibibio as well. And so on and forth ,
Does it matter? Historically, people who have held these offices in recent times have held them, so it seems, on behalf of themselves, their wives, and their own children, not on behalf of my children or yours.
When it comes to looting the common-wealth, and when it comes to pampering themselves with ridiculous amounts of Jumbo pay, these legislators work exceeding well among themselves -irrespective of tribe, tongue, or even political party!
So really, with Bankole in the dock for squandering ₦10Bn, the ethnic conversation is an unproductive distraction. If your kinsman is the speaker, the value for you is at best ornamental, not substantial. If the progress of the nation is what is really at stake, what we really need to do is bury the ethnic paradigm, so that those who hold the Presidency, or the NASS Speakership, or the Senate Presidency, on behalf of 150 million people will have no cover for non-performance.
If we cannot do that, if all we can do is discuss the ethnicity of the speaker, or how the North needs to take power back, then Nigeria is obviously too complicated to work. Its geo-ethnic composition is an eternal distraction. Its politics will weigh it down forever, which is why we should find a peaceful way to break it down into more manageable and more productive nations ASAP.

FROM: Waki Lawal
Quote: “If we cannot do that, if all we can do is discuss the ethnicity of the speaker, or how the North needs to take power back, then Nigeria is obviously too complicated to work. Its geo-ethnic composition is an eternal distraction. Its politics will weigh it down forever, which is why we should find a peaceful way to break it down into more manageable and more productive nations ASAP. -  Dominic
From 1999 to 2009 or at the point Yar’Adua illness apparently rendered him incapacitated I was talking and thinking like you in term of one Nigeria as is now without condition, and that is because I was seeing the same things you are seeing now. But, when orderly constitutionally transition of power from incapacitated President Yar’Adua to Vice President Goodluck was treated with subjective insinuations I know Nigerian constitution is not worth more than manual of a gadget.
Now, that I read the above excerpts of yours, I know you will soon (probably towards 2015) join the group of SNC. This is not a process to fragment Nigeria but to make one Nigeria, one people, indivisible, to prevail. There is no short cut that will be good enough to get rid of the bumps on the road and transform it to a level space. Nigeria as is now will be strong if you can eliminate problem of power sharing, but that will never happen knowing the composition of narcissistic groups.
When I read what you and JUI are writing in the interest of one Nigeria, I always trace my way back and I guarantee that both of you are going to share the idea of SNC in the near future. The commitments of all groups in the union must be sought for a commanding constitutional beliefs and cooperation. The above quote from your piece below is a reflection of emerging frustrations.

From: dedekealex
What did the YORUBAs gain as No.1 and No.4? NOTHING. What will they lose as No.0? NOTHING! QED

From: Eric Ayoola
There has been much falsehood emanating from the Jonathan camp ever since the elections. And one of them is that the North, by Jonathan's election, has now been relegated from being power brokers and kingpins to mere bystanders in the power structure. Those of us who know that this is rubbish have been vindicated by the emergence of the numbers 3 and 4 citizens, in addition to the VP-Sambo, being of Northern extraction. In effect, no real change in Nigeria power structure contrary to the erroneous utterances of Jonathan supporters.
Now as per whether the Northern masses will benefit from a Northern VP, or Senate leader or Speaker that is another issue. Nigeria's history tells us that a public figure coming from your tribe does not in any way confer benefit to the tribe and not even to the nation anyway.
Thus my position is that what will deliver development is not that someone emanates from your tribe but their political platform combined with their personal make-up. As far as I am concerned 4 more years of the PDP, be they Ijaw, Hausa, Benue, Yoruba or Igbo will be no different from the preceding 13 years of the PDP. Simple as that.

http://elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6906:yoruba-from-number-1-to-number-4-and-now-to-number-0-all-thanks-to-obasanjo&catid=36:pointblank&Itemid=83

Interesting response by Nigerians.
I am really happy about the way the SW are dealing with this maturely!

By the way, ZONING IS DEAD!!!

alj_harem:


From: dedekealex
What did the YORUBAs gain as No.1 and No.4? NOTHING. What will they lose as No.0? NOTHING! QED

Best statement I have seen regarding this political power nonsense of recent days. So simple and yet so factual.

Femi Adeoya says: I understand South estW did not feature in the "first 4" leaders in Nigeria, and so what? What benefit did Obasanjo's 8-year rule bring to the average Yoruba man let alone for his kinsmen in Ogun State? What did Dimeji Bankole achieve in his 4 years as SW Speaker for the Yoruba man? If a Hausa man or Niger Delta will deliver results to the people of Nigeria, I go with it. Enough of these entire ethnic cards playing!

My response too.

And does an official coming from a particular zone favour the zone?

all yorubaland is so devastated.
wailing and gnashing of teeth.the obas have torn their robes and poured ashes on their heads.
shoolchildren are in tears women are suicidal.

o ma se oo

Where are these men below from I am sure they are not from South West. These Yorubas can never be satisfied. When Baba was in charge there was no marginalisation now they are crying wolf. If they want to gerraway from Niaja let them go jor, what are they contributing sef except from paddy paddy, jamisi and jembe jembe.

Chief of Defence Staff: Air Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin

Chief of Naval Staff: Vice-Admiral Ola Sahad Ibrahim

1979-83

shehu shagari president NW

alex ekwueme vice president  SE

joseph wayas senate president SS

ume ezeoke speaker house of reps  SE

what else is new?

Are we still discussing this issue??

sheeeshhhh,

if the yoruba's knowingly marginalise themselves, then its their cup of ijebu garri


time will tell,

abeg !!!! next news,

aribisala0:

all yorubaland is so devastated.
wailing and gnashing of teeth.the obas have torn their robes and poured ashes on their heads.
shoolchildren are in tears women are suicidal.

o ma se oo

Ibo Graduate

its not a big deal obj was president it didnt do shoit for us.


i like the responses by the yorubas what the hell is speaker bankole etteh even president gon sef obj?

on to the next one

aribisala0:

1979-83

shehu shagari president NW

alex ekwueme vice president  SE

joseph wayas senate president SS

ume ezeoke speaker house of reps  SE

what else is new

it only shows me nw REFUSE TO BE SECOND TO SE.

SE should have gotten speakership if it was based on pdp support participation and even zoning but NW will never allow themselves to lay second to SE.

seanet02:

Ibo Graduate

knee jerk response.
if you don't understand irony can't help u.

why dont we ignore how many leaders we produce and forge ahead but what value is it to the society.the leaders is not for us personally but for the country, we will keep complaining while they are busy sucking us up!

Sincerely this is a no topic but cheer distraction. Some politicians that loss out of the power equation are only out to 'wipe-up' public sentiments for their selfish interests.

Often times, individual occupation of offices in Nigeria,no matter how exotic , has always been to their personal aggradisement and amassment of wealth at the expense of majority.

History is awash with political office holders that are not beneficial ,in any way, to their immediate family members not to mention thier towns or villages. It is high time we all look beyond zoning but rather at performance.Bleep Zoning that does not serve our comon good.

Going forward,the new slogan should  be merit before zoning!  i dont care if ten kalabaris is ruling for all,all that matters is performance,and only performance matters!!!!!!

Musiwa,,:

Look when Obasanjo was president. He gave every group fair share of the position.  this is one credit to obasanjo. He lost the North east to ANPP and ANPP won the North east. But the speaker was from the North east.

What your voting show is hate. which we have always known in the past.

We have problem, now let look at Obasanjo as president.

Obasanjo govt

President west


vice president north
speaker north
Deputy senate president north


senate president east
deputy speaker east
Secretary to the federation East

igbayen nko? what benefit have obj and bankole brought to ogun state never mind SW.
forget about positions for now we don't need it. besides can't eat your cake and have .you dumped pdp deal with it.

aribisala0:

knee jerk response.
if you don't understand irony can't help u.

seanet for you. Quick to raise the tribal axe

I am full Yoruba and do not bloody care about any zoning of positions,what did obj or bankole bring to Yoruba land apart from thier screaming convoys and presidential jets landing in Lagos.good riddance.What did Yoruba land gain in the 8 years being in mainstream politics?political killings,thuggery etal.The less we look to Abuja the better for all of us

my tribe should be there is not going to help any of us. bankole the theif never feed anyone apart from his family likewise OBJ. I dont expect a yorubamen/women to die for any of their leaders. since i was born i never gain anything as a result of yorubaman is there. they are there, stealing and even calling we the unfortunate one stupid.
we need someone that can move this country forward. USA is not running on tribe. with your greencard you belong to anywhere you choose to live and Obama has no tribe in the USA. Nigeria wake up and stop talking trach in this present generation.

Tribalism, ethnicity and nepotism has not helped our cause, it would never do,

Soon the wailing on how Northerner's are Illiterate and spoiling the country will begin. We give it 6 months. How can you expect the country to get better if you dont partake in mainstream politics? There is a trickle down effect. You generally tend to lose if you do not have a voice. Hiding in your house waiting to be fed will not work out if you dont affect the main stream. This is from a Yoruba and that is how politics is played. We have simply left the fate of our future in the hands of Northerner's. No complaints if they affect the country negatively. Suffer in silence.

chatterly:

I am full Yoruba and do not bloody care about any zoning of positions,what did obj or bankole bring to Yoruba land apart from thier screaming convoys and presidential jets landing in Lagos.good riddance.What did Yoruba land gain in the 8 years being in mainstream politics?political killings,thuggery etal.The less we look to Abuja the better for all of us

Kind of have to agree with you on this one, anyway it looks in all likelyhood
that the next president of nigeria will be from the south-west.

On the state level its the south-west states that are really leading the
way and trying to find their feet economically. Once their development
kicks in strongly especially, Lagos, Ogun, every brain in Nigeria is going to head there and
then it would only be natural to hand them the presidency.

This hula-baloo about who is near the national cake is at best nonsense to the common man.
As it stands, i dont really care about where ruler of nigeria comes from because as someone commented in the original
post, the posts are at best ornamental for the tribes of the holder's origin.

if someone as near as from your local govt becomes president, there wouldnt even be any impact on your life as it stands today.

@ the whole matter

whatever.

does that lower the cost of fuel.

tpia@:

@ the whole matter

whatever.

does that lower the cost of fuel.

EXACTLY.
who will repair NEPA ? thats what nigerians really want to know.
if someone from chad can do it , i will vote for him

who will repair NEPA ?

good question.

NOW THIS IGBO ARE TAKING THIS TOO FAR.

Why are they crying for the Yoruba people.

They said they don't want PDP in SW. Period

What has NL turned to.

I thought we have a moderator here.

This is another tribalism tread .

Lol ! Becomrich no go kill person!

Just because politicians from the SW squandered their chance to bring development to their region when they were at the center of power, does not mean other groups will choose that same fate. Their leaders are known to amass huge wealth while they are in politics. Look at Bankole, Obasanjo and now Emperor Tinubu.

that is quite true. any solution/suggestions?

Pf what significance is the not having anybody in the top 6 to the well being of the Yorubas . I don't think we are that gullible to start crying because we know that the years having  people in those position did n't improve not much that could have been achieved without them there. Infact  Lagos State can testify ( LGA creation and the revenue withheld for years), Ogun, Oyo,can testify to the ruined and  the squandering of communal wealth and assets ! and the downturn in the fortunes in education from being the Mainstream politics".

It is really hight ime we make the whole of Nigeria realise that all need not go to the centre cap in hand at all times begging for alms and peanuts. We showed them before how to and by His grace we'll show them again. However to me it really makes no difference and it's not worth crying over whinying Marginalisation . An dif somebody says they hate us, well, YES it's no news!