This is why I personally admire Okey Ndibe. He is in the category of totally detribalised Nigerians who always tell it as it is regardless of whose Ox is gored.


http://saharareporters.com/column/high-priced-mediocrities-okey-ndibe

High-Priced Mediocrities By Okey Ndibe
Posted: September 27, 2011 - 04:07


I wonder how many Nigerians read a report in the online edition of Next newspaper titled “Four African Countries Will Achieve MDGs by 2015”. One suspects that some Nigerians who didn’t see the report must wonder whether their country made the list of four.

Perish the thought!

Next’s account cited a World Bank report issued at the annual general meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It revealed that, of the fifty odd countries in Africa, only “Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Malawi will likely achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 or soon thereafter.” The document also gave credit to three African countries – Cape Verde, Rwanda and Zambia – for being among the 10 economies in the world that most improved the ease of doing business in 2010.

The Millennium Development Goals – for that’s what MDG stands for – are a set of objectives adopted by world leaders in 2000 with the aim of achieving significant improvements in socio-economic indices. The eight goals include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; the achievement of universal primary education; the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women; the reduction of child mortality and improvement of maternal health. In other words, the MDGs were conceived as a global tool for combating the scourge of disease and poverty. Each country had fifteen years to meet the goals.

Some countries went to work, determined to meet – or even surpass – the targets. These committed nations, with Brazil as a leading example, were fueled by the desire to transform their citizens as well as environments. Other countries – predictably Nigeria and the majority of African states – seem to have gone to sleep, determined to show up, not on the success lists, but on the rolls of the nations that can’t, won’t – or don’t care.

The difference is clear. On any score, the World Bank’s report is sobering, and shameful. The four success stories – the exception that proves the rule that African nations are still deeply mired in excruciating poverty – are products of “accelerated growth and progress on social indicators.” Four success stories in the midst of close to fifty failures is a portrait of abject failure. It’s no surprise that the World Bank implied that the four countries’ impressive showing served to highlight “serious development challenges [that] remain in Africa.”

It’s true, the report contained (the faintest) signs of progress. It found that the maternal mortality rate in Africa had declined by 26 percent between 1990 and 2009; even so, as many as 645 women per 100,000 still die during pregnancy and childbirth. It also noted a slight dip in child mortality and stabilization of HIV infection rates. The most dramatic positive showing is in the area of direct investment flows. In 2010, African nations – with estimated receipts of $21.5 billion – surpassed such investments that went to India.

Nigerians (as well as other Africans) ought to be outraged that their country did not make enough progress to earn a spot on the list of the few African nations that stayed awake to their responsibilities. Imagine the salutary impact that Nigeria would make in West Africa (and beyond) if it were to discover and embrace its mission – rather than persist in the prodigal habit of betraying it. Many Nigerians are jealous of Ghana’s steady, discernable progress. If Nigeria were in Ghana’s position, then its strides would have energized not only its 150 million citizens but also millions from neighboring countries.

[b]The Nigerian president, governors, legislators, ministers, commissioners and local government councilors are in the top tier of the most highly paid officials in the world. The president, governors and some ministers stow away hundreds of millions of naira each month in the scam called security votes – funds that are frequently and easily pocketed because, as a rule, they are never to be accounted for. Members of the National Assembly – senators as well as representatives – cart await millions of dollars each year in the name of “constituency allowances,” another entrenched scam. And one hasn’t counted the billions of naira embezzled through such schemes as fraudulent or over-inflated contracts.

Yet, for all that they are paid and all that they steal, most Nigerian officials won’t even spare a decent hour in a day to spend thinking about their dispossessed fellows and to figure out how to solve the nation’s manifold crises. It is as if the country wastes its scarce resources on certified mediocrities, men and women so bereft of vision that they don’t realize how ridiculous they look in the eyes of the world – and for all their loot.
[/b]
A Nigeria run by its least visionary and enlightened elements – men and women whose imagination is fixed on the size of their bank accounts – is in no shape to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. How is the country to reduce its health woes when hospitals are not just ill equipped, they are often not equipped at all? With Nigerian officials (and their families) skipping off to Europe, Asia or North America for medical treatment, who is left to think about the hapless condition of Nigerians beset by all manner of diseases?

[b]I must illustrate with my home state of Anambra, a place where one man has instituted propaganda as the substitute for governance. A few weeks ago, former Commonwealth Secretary General Emeka Anyaoku and a few others gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the creation of Anambra State. Mr. Anyaoku, who chaired the event, was content to cheer Governor Peter Obi, describing him in superlative terms. Yet, Mr. Anyaoku knows – he must know – that doctors in the state have been on strike for more than six months in a dispute over modest increments in their pay. Is it not a scandal that any government would treat its people so callously, indifferent to something as critical as their health?

One wondered whether Mr. Anyaoku would be satisfied with the state of affairs in Anambra were he compelled to seek medical attention in the state? If enlightened Nigerians would not raise their expectations of those who govern; if they would not advocate for decent healthcare, better education and improved lives for all citizens; if they would not voice their outrage at a situation where the lowliest citizens are denied access to affordable medical care, then it is no surprise that Nigeria now lags far behind Ghana, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zambia and Malawi – and many more African countries – in measurements of quality of life. [/b]

And I am equally suprised that no one has responded 2 this thread
If it was one market gist thread wil be runin 14 pages

How many Nigerians read and how many can argue intelligibly
No wonder our leaders take us for a ride!

DrummaBoy:

And I am equally suprised that no one has responded 2 this thread
If it was one market gist thread wil be runin 14 pages

Indeed my brother. If Nigeria is even near what can be called a sensible nation, then it would be the likes of Ndibe that would naturally make it to leadership positions and not mediocrities, half-wits, and thugs like GEJ, Theodore Orji and Alao Akala respectively. The truth is that the present Government cannot get Nigeria far because it is one not ready to advance unavoidable reforms that will vastly speeden up Nigeria's march towards progress. What we will get from GEJ at best is gradualism so that the "owners of Nigeria" continue to thrive to the detriment of us all. This is why GEJ is busy telling us he does not need to be Goliath to lead.

Mr. President knows that astute Nigerians , like Ndibe, have already seen through him hence the reason they criticise his weak style that see things remain exactly as they have always been to the detriment of our Nation. It is criminal what our political office holders earn in comparison to their peers from rich Nation let alone their colleagues from fellow developing Countries like Ghana. It is madness that recurrent expenditure is 74% of our budget when the most populous nation (China) spends 12% of its budget maintaining it Government with Chinese people complaining that that amount is too much !!! It is insanity that our President announced that "leaner Government not possible" considering we are a nation saddled with one of the most unproductively bloated Bureacracies in the entire world !! Jonathan should lead by example so others must naturally follow suit. Instead things are being done as they have always been done to lead us to where we are now . Jonathan did not see ift fit ,as a matter of utmost priority, to seek constitutional amendments to impact on these things yet he wants tenure elongation."High priced mediocrities" indeed.

What suprises me the most is how some argue 4 this mediocre GEJ as if he is a messiah
They obviously dont know any beta

Government is Nigeria is a business. Sorry, that would be an insult to businessmen. It is actually nothing but a criminal enterprise run by criminals, crooks and fraudsters. Our elections are like Mafia gang wars where the spoils go to the most cunning and the most ruthless.

DrummaBoy:

And I am equally suprised that no one has responded 2 this thread
If it was one market gist thread wil be runin 14 pages

They are bussy with Tinubu and no stolen money bank accounts.

Tinubu's trial is going to save Nigeria and make Nigeria's problems go away.

@Topic/Commenrts,

If the election were to be re-run today, with the same candidates, GEJ will amass more votes than he did in the last election. The reason is obvious, despite all his so called flaws, discerning and rational Nigerians know that his is better able than the bigoted General and the clueless Czar to lead the current Nigeria.

But since we are entitled to our freedom of speech, cursing, ranting and raving is your unassailable right to let our your frustration and hatred for our humble and hard working president. And Nigerians who voted him in (22million and counting) are in full support of him and they way he is tackling substantive issues raised by the erudite Ndibe, and other objective critics.

Professional pessimists, and hypocritical critics can cry their heart out, while GEJ keep doing his thing!  

U are biased. GEJ is th worse President Nigeria ever had. Mtchhhw

PointB:

@Topic/Commenrts,

If the election were to be re-run today, with the same candidate, GEJ will amass more votes than he did in the last election. The reason is obvious, despite all his so called flaws, discerning and rational Nigerians know that his is better able than the bigoted General and the clueless Czar to lead the current Nigeria.

But since we are entitled to our freedom of speech, cursing, ranting and raving is your unassailable right to let our your frustration and hatred for our humble and hard working president. And Nigerians who voted him in (22million and counting) are in full support of him and they way he is tackling substantive issues raised by the erudite Ndibe, and other objective critics.

Professional pessimist, and hypocritical critics can cry their heart out, while GEJ keep doing his thing!  

The issue here is not as simple as you have put it.  Mr Jonathan may trounce Mr Buhari 1,000 times in an election but the issues are far deeper and more profound. One of the issues here is the Nigerian system which seems not to be able to produce the best of us to govern us, due to so many reasons. How did we end up with those two folks that you mentioned as the front-runners of the last election?  

For the benefit of our country, let's stay on this article and try to engage ourselves on the far-reaching problems which are keeping this country down and preventing it from achieving what those 4 countries would likely achieve by 2015.  How come Nigeria was not mentioned?  What can we do to achieve the MDGs? Are we willing and able to do those things?

In the honest and objective process of doing this, Mr Jonathan (as the President) might get mentioned and criticized.  This is not enough to call anyone professional pessimists or other unsalutary names because doing so will not solve the problem.  In fact, doing so is tantamount to evading the issue and throwing a smokescreen over the matter at stake.

I doubt if there's any sincere/patriotic Nigerian who doesn't want Jonathan to succeed but it's not a crime to guide, critique and be hard on him, when necessary, in order to achieve this. There's absolutely no reason for Nigerians, given the level of suffering and the pace at which so many countries are moving, to be shy of this except they are ignorant/not exposed, too tired to care/bother or have been compromised.

DrummaBoy:

And I am equally suprised that no one has responded 2 this thread
If it was one market gist thread wil be runin 14 pages

Big sigh. Breaks my heart God created me in the midst of such mediocrity. Once more; thank you Okey for educating me some more. Im one of your biggest fan. Atleast we still have people like you.

Truly great write up. I'm just pissed that ndibe did not dissect my "able governor" peter obi's arse as wide open as I would have liked

I don't understand how amidst so much talent our leadership no dey get head? Gej on a good day would be sonebody's favourite uncle but his temperament and his threshold of compromise is unsuitable for a country like nigeria. Peter obi is just too limited in the ideas department.

I am particularly piqued by the way our lawmakers constantly defend their "legalized loot", the outrageous salaries and allowances that they receive for doing almost nothing. Nasir El-Rufai was analyzing the issue the other day, and he came to the conclusion that, based on the 2011 budgetary appropriation for the NASS, each bill passed will cost the country about N10 billion (based on the quotient of the total legislative appropriation and the number of bills passed). Between executives pocketing security votes and legislators pocketing constituency allowances, its all one big tale of legalized looting.

Pukkah:

The issue here is not as simple as you have put it.  Mr Jonathan may trounce Mr Buhari 1,000 times in an election but the issues are far deeper and more profound. One of the issues here is the Nigerian system which seems not to be able to produce the best of us to govern us, due to so many reasons. How did we end up with those two folks that you mentioned as the front-runners of the last election?  

For the benefit of our country, let's stay on this article and try to engage ourselves on the far-reaching problems which are keeping this country down and preventing it from achieving what those 4 countries would likely achieve by 2015.  How come Nigeria was not mentioned?  What can we do to achieve the MDGs? Are we willing and able to do those things?

In the honest and objective process of doing this, Mr Jonathan (as the President) might get mentioned and criticized.  This is not enough to call anyone professional pessimists or other unsalutary names because doing so will not solve the problem.  In fact, doing so is tantamount to evading the issue and throwing a smokescreen over the matter at stake.

I doubt if there's any sincere/patriotic Nigerian who doesn't want Jonathan to succeed but it's not a crime to guide, critique and be hard on him, when necessary, in order to achieve this. There's absolutely no reason for Nigerians, given the level of suffering and the pace at which so many countries are moving, to be shy of this except they are ignorant/not exposed, too tired to care/bother or have been compromised.

Most critics on Nairaland for instance fall into that category. They simply wish the man to fail simply because their favoured candidate did not win.

Now if indeed you want to discuss the issues raised in the article, here is my take:

High-Priced Mediocrities By Okey Ndibe
Posted: September 27, 2011 - 04:07
I wonder how many Nigerians read a report in the online edition of Next newspaper titled “Four African Countries Will Achieve MDGs by 2015”. One suspects that some Nigerians who didn’t see the report must wonder whether their country made the list of four.

Perish the thought!

Indeed we need to perish the thought. Every keen observer will know that as far as Core North remains with Nigeria with their conservative and religious dogmas, many of the MDG goals will never be met. Polio is still prevalent in Northern Nigeria despite all best efforts!

Next’s account cited a World Bank report issued at the annual general meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It revealed that, of the fifty odd countries in Africa, only “Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Malawi will likely achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 or soon thereafter.” The document also gave credit to three African countries – Cape Verde, Rwanda and Zambia – for being among the 10 economies in the world that most improved the ease of doing business in 2010.

Cape Verde is a country of 500,000 people. In order words, shouldn't have feature in this article. Some local government areas in Nigeria have more population than this country

Ethiopia [/b]was never colonized. Ethiopia is uniquely positioned to achieve the MDGs. I am surprised they have not by now.

[b]Ghana

They are covered with World Bank loans and foreign aid (Ghana’s budget is 50 percent aid-financed and Uganda’s is 60 percent). If the aid is insufficient, the rest of the budget shortfall is financed by printing money.  .  .  . In 2003, some 30,000 ghost names were discovered on the payroll of the Ministry of Education, costing the government $1.2 million a month in salaries heisted by living workers. When Ghana demanded foreign aid to purge the payroll of these ghost names, Japan coughed up $5 million.
http://www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=135

Malawi
Malawi is highly aid-dependent; currently 37% of the government budget is financed by international donors. With 85% of the population engaged in subsistence farming, a high prevalence of HIV and AIDS, poor infrastructure, high rates of population growth and a susceptibility to both drought and flooding, Malawi’s prospects for future economic growth are constrained.
http://www.irishaid.gov.ie/Malawi.asp

Ghana and Malawi are a laugh. How can over 40% of their annual budget be financed with foreign aids/donors and you they are still struggling to meet these MDG goals? These countries are uniquely placed, yet . . .?

The Millennium Development Goals – for that’s what MDG stands for – are a set of objectives adopted by world leaders in 2000 with the aim of achieving significant improvements in socio-economic indices. The eight goals include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; the achievement of universal primary education; the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women; the reduction of child mortality and improvement of maternal health. In other words, the MDGs were conceived as a global tool for combating the scourge of disease and poverty. Each country had fifteen years to meet the goals.

Some countries went to work, determined to meet – or even surpass – the targets. These committed nations, with Brazil as a leading example, were fueled by the desire to transform their citizens as well as environments. Other countries – predictably Nigeria and the majority of African states – seem to have gone to sleep, determined to show up, not on the success lists, but on the rolls of the nations that can’t, won’t – or don’t care.

Obviously something is wrong with the time set for the target. Besides, Nigeria challenges is even more unique. Keeping the country united and functioning is a bigger challenge/goal than MDG. Wonder why Okey didn't see that. Or does Okey believe in the fake illusion of one Nigeria?

The difference is clear. On any score, the World Bank’s report is sobering, and shameful. The four success stories – the exception that proves the rule that African nations are still deeply mired in excruciating poverty – are products of “accelerated growth and progress on social indicators.” Four success stories in the midst of close to fifty failures is a portrait of abject failure. It’s no surprise that the World Bank implied that the four countries’ impressive showing served to highlight “serious development challenges [that] remain in Africa.”

Success stories indeed! Lazy journalism is the bane of Nigeria. How can this man write all this without verifying any of the 'facts' and circumstance. Na wa o! 

It’s true, the report contained (the faintest) signs of progress. It found that the maternal mortality rate in Africa had declined by 26 percent between 1990 and 2009; even so, as many as 645 women per 100,000 still die during pregnancy and childbirth. It also noted a slight dip in child mortality and stabilization of HIV infection rates. The most dramatic positive showing is in the area of direct investment flows. In 2010, African nations – with estimated receipts of $21.5 billion – surpassed such investments that went to India.

I can't make anything out of this, is direct investment flow also part of the MDG?

Nigerians (as well as other Africans) ought to be outraged that their country did not make enough progress to earn a spot on the list of the few African nations that stayed awake to their responsibilities. Imagine the salutary impact that Nigeria would make in West Africa (and beyond) if it were to discover and embrace its mission – rather than persist in the prodigal habit of betraying it. Many Nigerians are jealous of Ghana’s steady, discernable progress. If Nigeria were in Ghana’s position, then its strides would have energized not only its 150 million citizens but also millions from neighboring countries.

There is nothing to be outraged by. Nigeria's budget is not funded by any donor, however Nigeria is making steady progress.

The Nigerian president, governors, legislators, ministers, commissioners and local government councilors are in the top tier of the most highly paid officials in the world. The president, governors and some ministers stow away hundreds of millions of naira each month in the scam called security votes – funds that are frequently and easily pocketed because, as a rule, they are never to be accounted for. Members of the National Assembly – senators as well as representatives – cart await millions of dollars each year in the name of “constituency allowances,” another entrenched scam. And one hasn’t counted the billions of naira embezzled through such schemes as fraudulent or over-inflated contracts.

Yet, for all that they are paid and all that they steal, most Nigerian officials won’t even spare a decent hour in a day to spend thinking about their dispossessed fellows and to figure out how to solve the nation’s manifold crises. It is as if the country wastes its scarce resources on certified mediocrities, men and women so bereft of vision that they don’t realize how ridiculous they look in the eyes of the world – and for all their loot.

This is the most recycled item, but no one has actually made effort to find out the truth. Okey Ndibe, please make use of the FOI bill, lazy journalism has gotten us no where!

A Nigeria run by its least visionary and enlightened elements – men and women whose imagination is fixed on the size of their bank accounts – is in no shape to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. How is the country to reduce its health woes when hospitals are not just ill equipped, they are often not equipped at all? With Nigerian officials (and their families) skipping off to Europe, Asia or North America for medical treatment, who is left to think about the hapless condition of Nigerians beset by all manner of diseases?

Indeed, some of those 'least visionary and enlightened elements' running Nigeria are Barth Nnaji, Okonjo Iweala, Babaunde Fashola, Sullivan Chime, Olusegun Aganga, Deizani Alison-Madueke, Rochas okorocha, Rotimi Ameachi.

W-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l  

I must illustrate with my home state of Anambra, a place where one man has instituted propaganda as the substitute for governance. A few weeks ago, former Commonwealth Secretary General Emeka Anyaoku and a few others gathered to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the creation of Anambra State. Mr. Anyaoku, who chaired the event, was content to cheer Governor Peter Obi, describing him in superlative terms. Yet, Mr. Anyaoku knows – he must know – that doctors in the state have been on strike for more than six months in a dispute over modest increments in their pay. Is it not a scandal that any government would treat its people so callously, indifferent to something as critical as their health?

Israeli doctors strike finally ends after five months as landmark deal inked
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/israeli-doctors-strike-finally-ends-after-five-months-as-landmark-deal-inked-1.380681

Time to End Lagos Doctors' Strike
http://allafrica.com/stories/201103150833.html

Oga Okey Ndibe. Just say you dont like the face of your governor.  

One wondered whether Mr. Anyaoku would be satisfied with the state of affairs in Anambra were he compelled to seek medical attention in the state? If enlightened Nigerians would not raise their expectations of those who govern; if they would not advocate for decent healthcare, better education and improved lives for all citizens; if they would not voice their outrage at a situation where the lowliest citizens are denied access to affordable medical care, then it is no surprise that Nigeria now lags far behind Ghana, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zambia and Malawi – and many more African countries – in measurements of quality of life.

Oga just continue to position yourself very well. You need to sharpen you pencil or ink you pen; it worked for Segun Adeniyi, it worked for Reuben Abati, certainly it will work for you. You willl soon be invited to see the truth, as Senior Special Adviser or Presidential Spokesman. Governance is not a joke!

Pukkah:

The issue here is not as simple as you have put it.  Mr Jonathan may trounce Mr Buhari 1,000 times in an election but the issues are far deeper and more profound. One of the issues here is the Nigerian system which seems not to be able to produce the best of us to govern us, due to so many reasons. How did we end up with those two folks that you mentioned as the front-runners of the last election?  

For the benefit of our country, let's stay on this article and try to engage ourselves on the far-reaching problems which are keeping this country down and preventing it from achieving what those 4 countries would likely achieve by 2015.  How come Nigeria was not mentioned?  What can we do to achieve the MDGs? Are we willing and able to do those things?

In the honest and objective process of doing this, Mr Jonathan (as the President) might get mentioned and criticized.  This is not enough to call anyone professional pessimists or other unsalutary names because doing so will not solve the problem.  In fact, doing so is tantamount to evading the issue and throwing a smokescreen over the matter at stake.

I doubt if there's any sincere/patriotic Nigerian who doesn't want Jonathan to succeed but it's not a crime to guide, critique and be hard on him, when necessary, in order to achieve this. There's absolutely no reason for Nigerians, given the level of suffering and the pace at which so many countries are moving, to be shy of this except they are ignorant/not exposed, too tired to care/bother or have been compromised.

Fair enough, but I wonder what part the telling of bare faced lies, fraud and deceit have to play in your assessment, because that is what most of the "guidance" and "criticisms" are? As for being hard on him, what sort of reaction would you call boko haram? Hard or beyond the pale?
Dude, I don't doubt that you mean well for the country, but you've got to open your eyes and see around the corners, so that you do not  unwittingly aid the battle of evil against progress.

Most people don't have the slightest clue about how the country was structured from day one to fit into the pockets of a select group of ex-generals and their cronies forever, and most are too lazy or blinded by bigotry to dig deep and find out why the reactions to GEJ from the country's elite are so extreme. I will list just four areas:

[list]
[li]Improving power supply (research what that has done to the generator mafia and transformer sellers)[/li]
[li]Pushing uncompromisingly for the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) against international and local vulture interests (research who really owns Nigeria and why)[/li]
[li]Metering oil pumps at the point of lifting and moving aggressively to meter oil wells. In the past, Rilwanu Lukman or some other mallam would crawl on their belly to Shell to ask how much oil Nigeria had drilled for the day; Shell would pass a brown envelope under the table and give any figure, then tell the official where to go for bunkering, Shell would get their cut from drilling free oil and the Nigerian fool would get obscenely rich from the mortgaging of the country (research what this has done to big time bunkerers like IBB, Atiku etc)[/li]
[li]Making fuel available and at the right price (research what this has done to petroleum black-marketers and "fuel subsidy" collectors)[/li]
[/list]

Who has dared do any of these in the past? Who dared face the mafia's in the past? Nobody. Yet you find all sorts of ill-bred clowns with the morals of a dung heap lining up to call GEJ unsalutary names, as if they were brought up by Neanderthals in the worst pigsty.

GEJ is moving this country in a direction it has never gone before, but many are too willingly unintelligent to be able to tell that the ship has swung full circle and is finally headed in a positive direction, so they fight the person that's helping them on the path they always wanted to tread. Shameful really.

MDGs, top 20 economies by 2020, even eliminating simple polio or building roads.

Nigeria is truly a mediocre country. I dunno what the deal is

@Ekt bear.

The point is that superficial effort , without a serious attempt to carry out badly required reform, is akin to planning to fail. It will always end in failure. I have no time or inclination to list these very obvious and badly required reforms Nigeria cannot move significantly forward without save to say serious government, not too compromised to the extent of being a joke, always tackle the root cause of problems.

We saw the Cameron government immediately introducing a raft of cuts everywhere even affecting the erstwhile sacrosanct benefit sector. Did we hear any talk about constitutional impediments before money was taken away from the most vulnerable? No, because it was what had to be done as fundamental reform. In Nigeria they say the constitution makes leaner govt impossible yet they will avoid seeking the required amendments, to bring about the much needed and unavoidale change, only to focus on constitutional change that aid their mission i.e tenure elongation and the likes. They will move to amend electoral bills when it suits them yet remain uninterested in checkmating election rigging by fighting for amendments that punishes and ban election riggers. Only ireedeemable apologists, deliberately feigning ignorance of how things are done elsewhere to great effect, will think there is method to the madness of GEJ.

Our politicians and leaders have only 2 Ps they care for.Their Party and Their Pockets.

When some here say Beaf is a paid GEJ apologist, we hear U insulting Beaf but what wil U call what he has writen here?

@PointB
despite Ur lenghty discuss U make no point at all
Like Gbawe said what is stoppin dis govt operatin a leana govt

If d govt thinks it shal hav a weak oppositn to its warpd policies, it should think again

We'll not morgage dis hard earnd democracy for sentiments
NIGERIANS DEMAND GOOD GOVERNANCE!
And we will get it.

I wil be joinin d nation to PRAY 4 5min @ noon tomoro
But dat does not mean I would not WATCH
Jesus said WATCH & PRAY!

@PointB
You raised a couple of good points but the quote below is not the way to forward for Nigeria.

Indeed we need to perish the thought. Every keen observer will know that as far as Core North remains with Nigeria with their conservative and religious dogmas, many of the MDG goals will never be met. Polio is still prevalent in Northern Nigeria despite all best efforts!

Yes! there are a lot of problems in the north but they also have great potential. Don't throw away the baby with the bath water!

For suggestions on how to make Nigeria better please check out the thread below
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-764430.32.html

Please endeavour to make a suggestion. No suggestion is too small!

PointB:

@Topic/Commenrts,

If the election were to be re-run today, with the same candidates, GEJ will amass more votes than he did in the last election. The reason is obvious, despite all his so called flaws, discerning and rational Nigerians know that his is better able than the bigoted General and the clueless Czar to lead the current Nigeria.

But since we are entitled to our freedom of speech, cursing, ranting and raving is your unassailable right to let our your frustration and hatred for our humble and hard working president. And Nigerians who voted him in (22million and counting) are in full support of him and they way he is tackling substantive issues raised by the erudite Ndibe, and other objective critics.

Professional pessimists, and hypocritical critics can cry their heart out, while GEJ keep doing his thing!  

Well spoken.

DrummaBoy:

@PointB
despite your lenghty discuss U make no point at all
Like Gbawe said what is stoppin dis govt operatin a leana govt

If you were not too eager to lick Gbawe's a$$ despite his poo, you won't be talking this sort of trash!

Beaf:

Fair enough, but I wonder what part the telling of bare faced lies, fraud and deceit have to play in your assessment, because that is what most of the "guidance" and "criticisms" are? As for being hard on him, what sort of reaction would you call boko haram? Hard or beyond the pale?
Dude, I don't doubt that you mean well for the country, but you've got to open your eyes and see around the corners, so that you do not  unwittingly aid the battle of evil against progress.

Most people don't have the slightest clue about how the country was structured from day one to fit into the pockets of a select group of ex-generals and their cronies forever, and most are too lazy or blinded by bigotry to dig deep and find out why the reactions to GEJ from the country's elite are so extreme. I will list just four areas:

[list]
[li]Improving power supply (research what that has done to the generator mafia and transformer sellers)[/li]
[li]Pushing uncompromisingly for the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) against international and local vulture interests (research who really owns Nigeria and why)[/li]
[li]Metering oil pumps at the point of lifting and moving aggressively to meter oil wells. In the past, Rilwanu Lukman or some other mallam would crawl on their belly to Shell to ask how much oil Nigeria had drilled for the day; Shell would pass a brown envelope under the table and give any figure, then tell the official where to go for bunkering, Shell would get their cut from drilling free oil and the Nigerian fool would get obscenely rich from the mortgaging of the country (research what this has done to big time bunkerers like IBB, Atiku etc)[/li]
[li]Making fuel available and at the right price (research what this has done to petroleum black-marketers and "fuel subsidy" collectors)[/li]
[/list]

Who has dared do any of these in the past? Who dared face the mafia's in the past? Nobody. Yet you find all sorts of ill-bred clowns with the morals of a dung heap lining up to call GEJ unsalutary names, as if they were brought up by Neanderthals in the worst pigsty.

GEJ is moving this country in a direction it has never gone before, but many are too willingly unintelligent to be able to tell that the ship has swung full circle and is finally headed in a positive direction, so they fight the person that's helping them on the path they always wanted to tread. Shameful really.

No sir, Nairaland critics are not interested in functional progress! They are interested in the mocking and antagonising the president's barefoot while relaxing at home, these simple minded critics are pissed at his humble prayers to his powerful God, they loath his sincere frustration at a bad system, and pay no second attention to his vow to deal with many issues.

This mundane fixations aside, GEJ critics other pipe dream is to see him give way for Ayatollah Buhari  to run the show. A pipe dream it will ever remain nonetheless.

That is the sad reality that so many so-called intellectuals have reduced themselves to. Very sad and shameful. I weep for Nigeria, while I pity them!   

@ Johndoe100

Well spoken.

This is a shame and you know what I'm talking about. ,. Two is not enough for you but three on a single thread, Pls