₦airaland Forum

Onlytruth:
^^

I am more concerned with societal development- economic, social, political, cultural, technological, etc.
I don't see Buhari outperforming Jonathan in these. Frankly.

This is where education gives you the edge. This is why President Hu Jintao of China is a graduate

This is 21st century, not 19th century.

I see that you have modified your post to show correctly what it is, at least it shows you can use google! But then use it well, as it will let you know his rise to power was not just because he has a university education but that he rose through the party ranks.

Beaf:
Do you even know what percentage of our fuel needs the local refineries can meet? You really argue blindly!

We must import to cover any shortfalls; right now, the cost of any fuel on the World market is very high, leading to less fuel than projected budgets can meet. NNPC for its part recently pumped 50 million litres into the market.
The blame for the poor infrastructure in the petroleum sector lies squarely with our myopic past rulers, Buhari is one.

You are a confirmed dunce! In one breath you say the refineries have been working at full capacity which explains the constant availability of fuel. Then I asked you why those same refineries were not producing kerosene as part of the refining process, (or do you think they have to turn off and put a refinery in kerosene-mode before it can produce kerosene?) Then you reply about percentage in local consumption.
Ok, let me answer you, the installed capacities of our local refineries can meet our local kerosene demands but cannot meet demand for PMS (fuel). Hope you now know why I asked you the question.

I cant believe you intend to blame a man that as Petroleum Minister, oversaw the building of TWO BRAND NEW refineries as contributing to the poor infrastructure in the petroleum sector! Kai, you are indeed a confirmed dunce. QED.

Beaf:
Don't mind Akainzo that keeps arguing as if he left his brain in his arse. Buhari has zero social skills and can barely spell his name, talkless of functioning in a high-tech connected World, where relationships are as physical as they are virtual. How can someone like Buhari ever understand the PIB (much like the lost Akainzo)?

He has zero social skills? Yet when he goes campaigning you see people around him. Oh the campaign organisation are not people in the 21st century that he can work with?

Well, it seems you did not read the PIB because you believed you would not understand it, thus you concluded that others would not understand it either.  
You do amaze me with your ignorance. Just as an aside, I have made contributions towards PIB, thus I know it, need not say too much.

Onlytruth:
Again we are talking about Nigeria - a 150 million nation with 250 different ethnic groups and the most powerful country in Africa in practical terms.

We also have the highest number of educated folks in Africa.

Who can Buhari work with in this 21st century Nigeria?

Abeg Nigerian presidents should have at least a Masters degree level of education.  

This is the reason why Japan is governed only by PhD holders I guess.  

Your stupidity know no bounds. Out there are Nigerians delivering quality products and breaking new grounds across the world in the 21st century and you are here spewing jargons. Anyway, you are probably a government businessman, so no need for deep thinking, corruption would get you the jobs.

Beaf:
It goes without saying that all deadwoods will be weeded out. In fact that process is already well underway, how do you think petrol is now available 24/7 and at N65.00 per litre? How do you think the[b] refineries have been operating at near installed capacity[/b] (at least, before the Warri pipeline was blown up)? Guy, things are changing.

Ah hah ha, I am sure the refineries were operating at full installed capacity but were not producing kerosene, which explains why there has been kerosene scarcity for such a long time now. Such alarming nonsense you spew out to defend mediocrity. further increasing the amount of stupidity in circulation.

Beaf:
“Shagari’s regime (1979-1983), incurred Buhari’s wrath when it decided to investigate the US$2.8 billion that disappeared from the Midland Bank, London account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation, (NNPC), during General Obasanjo’s era as military head of state that preceded Shagari’s.  Dr. Olusola Saraki, Turaki of Ilorin, was the majority party leader of the Senate at the time and he headed the Senate Committee set up to trace the stolen money after some three years of clamour for such an investigation by members of the civil society.  The money was traced to the Midland Bank London branch fixed account of Buhari, Obasanjo’s appointee as military head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company. The Committee’s report was presented to the Senate during the tail end of Shagari’s regime in 1983, so the House decided to deal with the matter soon after the 1983 general elections.

Beaf:
Fast forward to Abacha's time. . . and a thief remains a thief!
“Abacha rehabilitated Buhari with the chairmanship of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) before he (Abacha) died in 1998.  When Obasanjo returned to power in May 1999 as civilian president, he found that over 2.5 billion naira had not been properly accounted for in the PTF and that there was not much on the ground to show for the colossal expenditure the agency was claiming. On the day Obasanjo announced the scrapping of the PTF, a non-staff brother-in-law of the boss, allegedly serving as his conduit on some PTF projects, died suddenly from what appeared to be heart failure.  Haruna Adamu, who was appointed by Obasanjo to investigate the PTF before finally consigning it to the dung heap, allegedly quickly pocketed one hundred million naira of PTF’s money before operating table could be set up for him, thus forcing Obasanjo to hurriedly close the place down without further investigations.  Buhari has been trying desperately since to return to power, perhaps to get a chance to shred the PTF documents?

I dey laff. If the guy in your first post is corerct and Buhari made away with $2.8B in 1984, how come he would need rehabilitation by Abacha as alluded to in your second quote? Or do you think $2.8B in a fixed deposit account will dwindle in 15 years? 

fstranger3:
EVeryone knows that Buhari stole

I think the point they are trying to make is that he did not stael as much as say IBB, which is very silly in my opinion.

A thief is a thief!

You are on your own on this. Everybody except the GEJ camp is saying Buihari is upright and free of corruption. If you allude to him stealing, what did he steal and where is the money at? How come he didn't use part of the money to build multiple houses? Acquire choice properties in Lagos or build hotels like GEj?

What the GEJ camp is even alluding to here is that he has double standards and not that he stole, so my dear stop hallucinating and get the facts straight.

Onlytruth:
Posted by: ROSSIKE
Seconded solidly. The truth is that there is something this government is doing already that it liberalizing the Nigerian economy. There is no way Buhari can understand the Nigerian economy more than Jonathan. NO WAY. Period.

Whether these anti-GEJ folks realize it or not, Jonathan is a Liberal while Buhari is a dubious conservative.

I don't want someone who would be shouting corruption this corruption that while our economy is pushed into the stone age, cos frankly, Buhari is not educated enough to have a clue. Quote me on that.  

You are probably one of those guys that went to school because popsie said so and could afford it, otherwise you'd not make the above statement.

Goodluck is a PhD holder and common knowledge in the public domain shows that Bill Gates was not as educated as him when he designed the DOS system that revolutionised computing. The same computer you are using to make baseless educational analogies. So if you'd have been alive at that time you'd have foolishly made the same statement about Bill Gates. Can't help shaking my head at your ignorant post.

Beaf:
You sound like those enemies of Nigeria in the Senate that are holding the bill up. Shame on you.

Yeah, like the same friends of Nigeria in the Senate that were holding the Freedom Of Information bill up.  

Two (Beaf and ROSSIKE ) clueless amd shameless dimwits.

Beaf:
^
So, talking about the PIB, which is the most fundamental fiscal thing that will hit Nigeria since the war is politics to you. Quit while you can, some of your mates have actually been spending their days protesting at the NASS, cos they are aware.

I wont answer you this one. Just go and read the PIB and then come back.

Dude, what are you even making noise about? You don't know what it means to add local content, do you? Neither can you imagine what it would mean for NNPC (as NOC) to compete globally. You still live in the small World of sign the paper, receive Shells money and watch like a spectator in your own country. You cannot imagine anything outside drilling, which is every bit like our clueless past govts. Dude, you're clueless.

You dunceness is typified by the bolded part above. NNPC cannot even compete favourably for an oil block in Equitorial Guines talk less of globally.
To educate you, I hope you are aware that NNPC actually has an oil producing company for like over Ten years now? It is called the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company with headquarters in Benin. Go and find out how many wells they have successfully drilled and what their daily production is. Mumu.
And in case you do not know again, there have been other Nigerian companies successfully drilling and producing oil in Nigeria for about 4 years now.

Much more money will come from local companies taking part in all areas that can be localised; from Nigeria taking part in prospecting and drilling; from NNPC having refineries in other parts of the World to which we export oil etc etc. I hope your mind can grasp such things?

Local companies taking part would not generate such a staggering amount to have a 600% increase in revenue. Let me help you here, even if PIB is passed as is, the best that can happen is that if it would take Schlumberger $15M to drill a well, Shell or Chevron would award it to a Nigerian company at $17M, which then sub-contract it to Schlumberger at $15M. Except of course you want to manufacture a Nigerian company that has the resources, equipments and  technical knowledge to carry out drilling operations.
Is it the same NNPC that cannot run a single refinery successfully in Nigeria that would pronto at the passing of PIB, be able to own and run refineries across the world?   You are defintely on some kinda drugs.

Do you know we lose a whopping $150 billion annually to gas flaring? Maybe you think we need to drill more oil wells to retrieve that money. Step aside for those who have a clue.

You, Beaf, defintely has no clue! If we lose $150B from gas flaring, how much is the nation's gross earnings annually from oil and gas? You need to lay off whatever you are smoking or injecting and start thinking rationally before you come up with high sounding figures.

ROSSIKE:
Beaf is correct. A lot of this expanded income issuing from the PIB is not going to be money going directly into government coffers, but rather, the wider economy.

Please shut up!

efisher:
Now, here is an article that sums up both of our points:
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/zayyad-muhammad/oby-ezekwesili-and-management-of-unity-schools.html

Some excerpts:
It is a known fact that, from the late 80’s, public schools in Nigeria, have been bewildered by government of Nigeria incessant revision of the education curriculum, constant amending of schools calendar, and the seeming joy in altering and introducing new system of education, these, coupled with, corruption in the system, over-bloated overhead cost at the detriment of academic tools, and the increasing decline  in fortunes of the Nigerian economy, are the major causes of the lapses in the education sector. it is sickening to note that, various measures introduced by past regimes in Nigeria and indeed the present regime of president Obasanjo have not yield a considerable improvement in creating an educational system that is maintainable, sustainable, reliable, dependable and responsive to our fast changing world, though, it is too early to start grading the present Universal Basic Education (UBE) introduced by the government of president Obasanjo.
       -- but the truth is, there is a huge hole on the health of our education system, and thus, as nation, we dearly need a means to finally construct a plan that will solve the continuing increasing problems in our education system, we really need a shift in the way our schools are run, and put up  a system that will provide adequate funding, help in improving standard and   quality of both teachers and students, a system that will completely aid in shifting away from the tradition, where government is the provider, administer, monitor and assessor of fund.


Now are we on the same page?

That Ezekwelisi made the mistake of referring to a sector as a system does not mean she is right. Except of course you want to say she is always right. 

If you read what she wrote up there, she clearly was not advocating for a change in the system of education but addressing the ills in the sector. Until, you differentiate between the sector and the system, you'd continue to get it wrong.
Ok, when OBJ introduced UBE, did he change the system, Nope! He merely coupled the 6-3 to make a 9 and make those compulsory that must be free. The same way a V6 engine is still a combustion engine despite having two chambers.

I thought you were on the right path before and I spent time to help you out, now you seem to have gone back to your old ways.

Beaf:
Sorry, but you are the joker here. Why should we have to drill more to make more money? Do you have a clue of how much Nigeria is being fleeced off on a daily basis?
It is obvious that you have no clue as to what Nigeria can make simply by adding value to the oil we drill, and you either know nothing about business or have the inferiority complex that makes certain Nigerians think what other countries attain on a routine basis is impossible for Nigerians. It isn't.
$687billion is a conservative amount, we could make quite a bit more if we stopped being the houseboys to Shell that we currently are.

Expand your mind.

Beaf, your ignorance would one day kill you! You need to drill oil or gas to make money from the oil industry.

Now due to your membership of OPEC, you are limited to 2 Million barrels of oil per day. It is from that drilling and producing that 2 million per day, that you can get Natural Gas for your LNG plants. It is from refining the oil produced that you can get the off shoot for the petrochemical plants.  Now the only one you can get on its own, is if you drill more gas wells which are not associated with oil, then you can make money from gas alone, but then you already have an installed capacity for LNG.

So given the above scenario, where would the extra $542B come from? Even if you retrieve the oil blocks from the current Shell or Chevron or Mobil of today, you can only sell oil blocks once, so where would the $687B annually come from?

Adding value to the oil we drill? That is some bonkum you filed away from listening to a program on TV ko? Itemised above are what you can do with oil and all are already in this country, except of course the tyre companies that have now ran away. But the basis upon which all are based, is oil production and that is limited by your OPEC quota.

Beaf:
You don't even know what the PIB is, thats why you are talking crap with confidence. You go and read the PIB, and then come and engage in an intelligent discussion.

Beaf, read my posts above and see if it suggests to you I don't know about the industry. You know why I started laughing when I read your post, it did not even include the most important change in the oil industry that PIB would bring about.
Once again, Beaf, GO and Read the PIB!

efisher:
Can we all agree on one thing first:

THERE ARE MANY THINGS WRONG IN THE NIGERIAN EDUCATION SECTOR (Yes I typed sector not system)

If we agree with the above, I will be happy that at least, we are not yet completely blind. Next, we all should do enough research online and on ground with a view to discovering what those problems are. If you have a friend working in the Ministry of Education, just ask them the same question.

We will also agree that the following are possibly some problems plaguing the sector: Underfunding, Corruption, Indiscipline, Structural problems, Control Problems, Flexibility Problems, Curriculum Problems, etc.

The arguement left will be: DO THESE PROBLEMS EXIST? If yes, WHICH OF THESE ARE SYSTEM ISSUES?

If we can scale this hurdle, I will believe that we are on our way to recovery. I hope we can get to a common ground on this matter.

Now we are getting somewhere.  YES, there are problems with the educational sector.

To the bolded question, none are system issues rather they are problems borne about by the lack of funding and corruption. Let me try to explain my stance, I will leave out underfunding as that an underlying cause.

Corruption: The system is not built or based on corruption rather it is based on all things being equal without any corruption, thus it is not systemic but a problem that affects the core of the system.
Indiscipline: Discipline is not enforced due to the corruption of the system and the fact that government tends to appoint its own goons rather than qualified people. There are clear guidelines to discipline erring pupils/teachers/schools.
Structural problems: the structure is as clear as day 6-3-3-4 or 9-3-4 as some now refer to it. Based on this structure, there are technical colleges, technical schools, polytechnics, universities, colleges of education and teaching hospitals.
Control problems: There are sufficient controls built within the system, but there are no funds to implement them. The NUC is supposed to accredit every course every two years, where is the funds to do this?
Flexibility problems: I am actually lost at what you mean by this. So you'd help me if you can explain.
Curriculum problems: The curriculums are supposed to be evaluated every 3 years, and the Fed Min of Educ actually has a curriculum department. However, where are the funds for them to do their jobs?

From the above, you'd see that the underfunding of the sector has led to the festering of corruption which has led to the non-workings of the constituent part of the system. Once you have a leadership with the will to drive the needed change to ensure the adherence of the provisions of the educational policies and system, and backs it up with adequate funding, then you'd see rejuvenation in our educational sector.
Parents would no more clamour to send kids to Ghana.

chamber2:
There you failed again,not everyone in the US,UK etc is brilliant so to say,but i can say that both have seemly equal chance of going to school at a very young age.The d/f may only be in the prestige of the school they attend.The brilliant ones may go to Harvard why the others may go to some less prestigious schools elsewhere.You see the situation?

I think unilag is good enough to produce graduates who support facts with convincing empirical evidence.Most people lie about their age and it is a fact.This can be supporter by the preponderance of people without birth certificate,they all have sworn affidavits.

My dear,education wise am not doing so badly.

Really, chamber, I am at a loss at your comprehension ability. You made some statements to show that our educational system is not in tune with what the labour market is asking for and I showed you with facts that that assertion was wrong, and then you come up with this gibberish about US and UK universities, Harvard and mainstream!  
Everybody has a chance to go to school at an early age in the Nigerian educational system. Your choice of university will depend on your funds and how brilliant you are, same as in all other countries.

Most people around you lie about their age, so it is normal for you to believe it is a fact. I have never had an age declaration as I have always had my birth cerificiate, likewise majority of people I went to school with and surround myself with.

Beaf:
The PIB will absolutely modernise Nigeria's oil industry. As I said earlier, all past govts did was sign where Shell asked them to sign, and that was it; even the figure for barrels per day we drill cannot be verified by govt, we simply accepted any figure the oil companies gave us. A master-slave relationship.
That has changed, but the PIB promises much more, including the tearing up of the Petroleum Act handed down by the military.

The PIB will remedy the fiscal, ownership and operational defects of the current Petroleum Act. There are many aspects to the PIB:
1. Harnessing our gas and boosting it above oil, instead of flaring it.
2. Floating NNPC as an oil company that will compete on the Worldwide stage
3. Creating a petroleum Research and Development company
4. Reallocating dormant oil blocks to indegenious companies
5. Ensuring a high degree of local content, with local companies getting first call (as against zero local content currently)
6. A company floated out NNPC will oversee the upstream sector (drilling, prospecting and production)
7. NNPC will become a profit making, self funding company (though still govt owned)

Basically, the bill will make Nigeria a player in the energy market, as well as add value through local content and processing. It will be truly revolutionary if it succeeds, instead of being kicked around like balls, we would be able to call the shots and expand overseas.

Beaf, you are joking right? Or are you smoking some igbo? Please, please and please, go and read the PIB! Abeg you, go and read the PIB. Once again, go and READ the PIB.

[quote author=eku_bear link=topic=620957.msg7948762#msg7948762 date=1300625755]Good post Ibime. You are correct, seems way too much spent if the intent is just fertilizer.

The article is quite light on details though. Perhaps there is more planned. I'm trying to give the dude the benefit of the doubt.[/quote]Eku_bear, this Diezani is the same Minister that wept on seeing the Lagos-Benin expressway. She was Minister for 2 years and by the time she left, the Laos-Benin expressway was still the same!  
Now here she is at a campaign rally talking of an MOU with oil companies to build petrocheicals and fertilizer plants. It all crap and just words. Nothing like that would happen.

Beaf:
With due respect sir, you are simply starting a rumour. The FG has signed MOU's with investors who will inject $20billa worth of investments in the Nigerian economy.

As for the oil companies investing to create 300,000 jobs, its a new day! Gone are the days when people just collected brown envelopes, signed Nigeria away and enslaved us without the slightest thought for how the oil would be drilled, or how much oil would be drilled for that matter (Shell would just give Abuja any figure they liked and ship off something totally different).
It is the same govt that is pushing for the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and not renewing any drilling contracts until that bill is in place. In one word, it is a revolution!

Never has Nigeria seen a govt that can means to get our due from the oil companies. By the way, the PIB will multiply Nigeria's income 7 times, from $102billion annually, to $687billion annually. Thats yet another revolution.

Beaf, first it says, the government will sign, not has signed. So it is still a poposal, so don't spread any rumours or add to what was not said.

When I saw your bolded parts, I broke out into laughter. The entire oil industry in this nation does not currently employ 300,000 people, so how would a petrochemical plant now create such an amount of job? I aint one of those to be fooled by big numbers you know.
And you obviously don't know much about the oil industry either and how crude oil shipments are handled. Come to think of it, you do not know much about the Petroleum Industry Bill either. Nigeria cannot and will not make $687Billion annually from oil.
Let me explain it in simple mathematics:  If we assume that Nigeria currently makes $102B from oil, to make $687B it has to increase by 600% its annual oil production. Now our OPEC quota is 2 Million barrels per day, a 600% increase would translate to what per day? The pertinent questions are: Do we even have that nstalled capacity, what would happen to other OPEC countries, what would happen to price of oil if suddenly there is surplus of supply?

You guys like throwing numbers to deceive, but a critical examination always shows how shallow the thoughts behind these numbers are.

chamber2:
let me repeat this question to prove to you what a good system does.The labour market/employers of labour now want fresh graduates between 20-24 yrs,how is the Nigerian educational system responding to that? An average Nigerian graduate is b/w 25-28 yrs,that is why you see people lying about their age to get employment. A good system should cover this loophole.This not an issue of funding alone.If someone has headache,it could be as a result of fever or other ailments.If you leave the fever to cure headache the ailment will only subside but will resurface after a while.lets tackle the issue from the root.

chamber2, only dullards (or those with some other family/extant reasons) have to graduate between the ages of 25 - 28. Please go and check the NYSC list and you'd be amazed at how young people are when they are graduating. It’s so easy to think because you did it at the age of 27, others you were saying "whats-Up' to are your mates. My friend, they are far younger than you thought.

For your Information, by the time I was 21, I was already receiving salary and that was after graduating from studying Computer Science at University of Lagos and completing my NYSC program. The 6-3-3-4 system would produce gradates at the ripe age of 21 giving that the entrance age is 5. But if you get to skip classes due to brilliance, you can do it 19/20. So my guy, the labour markets is focussed on the brilliant ones that can do it, not those that would do JAMB in 5 attempts or need 3 WAEC/NECO to get 5 credits.

efisher:
^^ check my last post, you will find all the answers you desire there.

Firstly, you did not answer my questions. I believe you are smart enough to answer simple questions.

Second, I have read your post above and the links. The more for my delight link, I am sure you read it, yes? If you did, you'd realise that it called for more funding, better monitoring of guidelines, stamping out exam malpractices, all this are problems of the system. Not in one place, was there a recommendation to change the educational system.

And about the UN links, they are basically asking us to better fund our universities, improve research capabilities and be increase the scientific basis for our graduates. Nowhere did they say we should change the system, they pointed out flaws/problems but did not advocate a change. Or did they say we should adopt a US, British or Japanese system?

chamber2:
[b]What evidence do you have to suggest that the private schools are doing better than their government counterparts?[/b]How many researches have been carried out by these institutions?How many of their graduates are doing well compare to public schools?How many public lectures,discourse etc have been initiated by these institutions?How many of them can compete with any university abroad.Upon all the money Atiku Abubakar spent on building the American university of Nigeria,we are yet to feel the impact.The only good thing about them is that they don't go on strike.

Private universities employ poorly trained lecturers on the bid to reduce cost thereby undermining the standard.Before i gained admission into the university,i was employed to teach in a private secondary school with my o'level. How many government owned schools employ people with o'level?

You seem not to understand what ''system'' means,to further help you,a system is a group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole.What affects the leg affects other parts of the body.Or can you think without your brain?

You have rambled and rambled, and yet failed to answer any of the questions above. At this rate, are you sure your eduaction is complete, did you actually finish the university program or did you drop out?
Please address yourself to the questions asked, then give reasons to back up your claims. Thats something we learned from O'Levels back in school.

Now that Buhari has replied, I am patiently awaiting the reply from GEJ's team.

efisher:
^^^ You should have said efisher, chamber2, Wole Soyinka, UN, UNESCO and every other knowledgeable human being,
Don't make me post what UN and the rest of the world have said. I have facts and references to back up my arguements.

We all know what we are talking about. We can play around the words as much as we like but it doesnt change the facts. 

efisher, chamber2, (I will discount your attempt to ascribe authority to yourself by association) and please remove Soyinka from that list as I have shown you what he actually said and he definitely was not referring to the system, so please get your facts right. And do come out with the facts from those bodies that you have.

efisher, let me ask you the same question I have asked chamber2 which he has not replied, and am sure you have read but have deemed it fit not to respond to.

a. The Private Schools in Nigeria, are they using a different educational system than the one in operations presently in Nigeria?
b. Can those Private Schools graduates compete favourably in the best universities in the world?
c. What do you see as the difference between the public schools and the Private Schools?

Please do answer me clearly the above. I'm waiting.

danidon:
Why are some Nigerians always myopic and easily carried AWAY. pLS WHO CAN INFORM ME HOW MANY PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES THAT USA HAD. Why is it that all of a sudden every one in Nigeria want to conduct a presidential debate and that the president must attend. NIGERIA'S PRESIDENTIA L DEBATE THAT EVERYPNE KNOWS IS COMING UP TOWARDS THE END OF THIS MONTH AND THATS THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE THAT HAS BEEN IN THIS COUNTRY.

Just to humor you, kindly tell me the following:
i. The date of the BON debate in 1999 and those that attended.
ii. The date of the BON debate in 2003 and those that attended.
iii. The date of the BON debate in 2007 and those that attended.

Please I need this to confirm the bolded part of your statement.

efisher and chamber2

The two of you can dig up as much caption from unintelligent newsmen that are like you and cannot differentiate the system from its workings. Soyinka clearly stated in the actual write-up that the educational sector needs an emergency. How the jounalist came to use system in befuddling.

Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has condemned the state of education in describing the country educational system as a colossal failure. Mr. Soyinka said this at the opening of a two-day education summit organised by the Osun State government in Osogbo, the state capital. He added that the government has failed woefully in the education sector, and thereby called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the education sector. Although he appreciated the government for recognising that there is a crisis in the educational sector, he urged the three tiers of government in the country to create an enabling environment suitable for learning.

“Students nowadays learn under very harsh conditions which in itself could lead to crisis,” he said. “There are no sufficient teaching materials in our schools again, there is poor welfare for the students and the library and laboratories are now empty.”

Like me break it down to you, if there was a cholera outbreak and people are sick and dying, would you report that the human nervous system in Nigeria is not working and that the system needs to be changed?

The educational sector has broken down and parts of the system are in disarray, and that refers to the implementation/administration not the system itself. Another analogy, the combustion system of a car is not what has failed when the car has problems, but parts of the car. When you replace those parts, the car works fine and smooth using the same combustion system. You'd want to know that the petrol engine, the diesel engine and the jet engine are all based on the same combustion system.

Do you now understand why there is nothing wron with the system, but the parts are broken.

midewhator:
Buhari is not learned so hw ll he knw if there is anytin wrong wit d education system. He shuld ve bin asked in hausa

I pity people like you, who think being learned is going to university alone. Tell me, was the Egyptian pyramids built by university professors or have science being able to find the mixture that enabled the Egyptians to mummify after all these years? smh.

About your bolded part, it shows your level of knowledge. The Japanese, Chinese, South Korean and even French schools I am sure ask their questions in English or are only taught in English. You guys are coming out as the bad products of a good educational system.!

chamber2:
Well,i do not call for total replacement of the present system.But we have to accept that there are problems,because only by so doing can we find solutions.When we identify the problems with the current system,we can then know areas that need amendments.The world will not wait for us.Even the US also agrees that something needs to be done about their educational system to make it follow current trends in the society.The educational system is the embodiment of the society and therefore must be continuously assessed to determine its relevance to the aspirations of the society.

Even democracy as a system has its own problems and research is ongoing to identify the best mix of democratic principles and practices.Change is inevitable and will only come when the status quo is questioned.

Look at the bolded parts of your statement above. If I thus follow your illogical statements about something being wrong with our educational system because it has problems, then I'd have to say there is something wrong with democracy since it has problems!

Hope you now understand how having problems does not imply that the system is wrong! Just that there are issues to be fixed.

chamber2:
The problem here is that most people think that the system of education is just the 6-3-3-4.This is only part of the system.An educational system encompasses the overall experience and ideology of the learning process.It connotes both the content of the curriculum and the teaching methodology.

And that system in Nigeria is well defined, and there is nothing wrong with it! The teaching methodology is well spelt out but it is another issue if it is followed by administrators, Principals or VCs. So understand the system and differentiate it from the people or the implementation.
As an analogy, in our criminal procedures, Bail is free, but have you seen people walk out of police stations on bail for free? Is that a problem with the procedure or the police team or force?

A system that lays emphasis on the amount of information a student can remember rather than what he can do with the information is not a good system.The difference b/w the Nigeria school system and that of US,UK etc is that why Nigerian students are merely passive learners(a product of the educational system) the US,UK etc are active learners.They place strong emphasis on skill acquisition rather than memorisation.Our system produce people like Hon.Patrick who does not know how to use simple English words to make meaning why the US,UK etc systems produce people like Barrack Obama who know the importance of language.

Every educational system emphasises what you can remember, that is why each sets an exam. You can’t use the information if you cannot remember it!
That you can pick out Patrick shows he is not the norm rather the exception, thus system don't judge a system by the exceptions but the normal products.

What about flexibility?Is our educational system flexible?Can it accommodate people irrespective of their background.In the UK,US etc it is so easy for people to change careers.An engineer can become an Economist vis versa.My friend's wife did not pass Math in school and yet she became a pharmacist in the US.My coursemate read Economics in Nigeria and went to the US and is now studying a medical related course.Nigerians travel to the US and become nurses even when they don't have Chemistry and Biology. Does this tell you that something is wrong with our system?

This shows the innate lack of depth and looking at the total picture in your comparisons. For your information, in the US, what you need to be a nurse is nothing compared to what you need to be a qualified nurse in Nigeria. This is why every Nneka, Jane or Biola that goes to US only has to attend classes and pronto , she is a nurse in US. Your cousin is just making ends meet by joining the bottom end of the ladder. You might want to check the career path/prospect of a nurse in Nigeria vis-a-vis the one in US. By the way, I am sure you know that 'medical related' does not imply the same as medical practitioner!

Putting more money in our education system as it were will be the same as pouring water in a leaking tank. It will never hold water no matter how hard you try.

So how come the Private Schools with more and better funding using the same system, produce high school leavers that compete favourably in the western schools?

In the US and UK,passing SAT or high UCAS point will enable you gain admission into institutions and course of your choice.In Nigeria,a student will be made to pass SSCE,JAMB,P-UMTE,interview etc and yet may not study the course of his choice.All these huddles placed on the way of a student makes transition from one level to the other difficult,if not impossible.Did you know the number of students who lost the desire to further their education as a result of all these huddles and frustration?

My guy, research a little prior to posting trash. In the US you need to pass SAT, which is equivalent of our SSCE. Then you need to pass the university exams/admission tests, for our own due to our unified system, we use JAMB. It seems you really do not understand the Nigerian educational system and I'd advice you to read up on it and you'd be better informed and enlightened.

Are there provision for those who can not pass any of these exams?If yes,what is the content of the curriculum?You can't be teaching someone how to build huts why his mates are building skyscrapers in other countries.

Yes, that is what the technical polytechnics & universities are for. Nobody teaches students how to build skyscrapers, but you are taught architectural design, strength of materials and it now depends on your cognitive abilities to put it all together to design a skyscrapers. As little as you think a hut is, you might not be able to design an effective one if you do not understand the principles inherent thereof.

Buhari was wrong to assume there is no problem with our education system when our science students will go abroad discover that what they were taught in school in Nigeria is quite d/f from what their mates all over the world learn't.

I can go on and on to enumerate the problems of our school system.

The only thing they discover is the vast array of opportunities to have learnt better, giving the array of available equipments for practicals. Or tell me do they discover that what is in the Principles of Physics that is used in Nigerian schools is not obtainable in a US or UK schools?

Chamber2, my candid advice to you: go learn about the Nigerian educational system and not just reading about the educational sector. They do mean different things!

oolumide:
In a statement by the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organisation, signed by Mr. Ide Eguabor, director of media/publicity, the president said that he opted out of the debate because he had accepted to attend the one organized by the Nigerian Election Debate Group (NEDG), an amalgamation of the Nigeria’s mass media, the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON), the Nigeria Bar Association, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), market women and other civil society groups, which has been organising the presidential debate series since 1999.

The campaign organization said that with what the NEDG has done, over the years, in organizing presidential debate, it “does not believe that this relevant and credible body, made up of Nigerians and who will moderate a presidential debate watched by Nigerians on all television and radio stations nationwide should be jettisoned for any other one on the eve of crucial national elections.”

Sorry to say this: Mr President, you lied!

The NEDG has not organised a single presidential debate in the history of Nigeria. From OBJ's time till now, PDP have refused to attend any proposed debate and thus the initiative have always collapsed. This is the first time there is an actual Presidential Debate. If Goodluck's camp can produce any reference to an elaction debate in Nigeria organised by NEDG, I will mobilise 20 people to at least vote for him.

For those saying something is wrong with the system, let me ask you this? Those private schools, do they run a different educational system than the one in operation for the country?

If those public/private Nigerian schools can produce students that readily gain admission into the top class American, British, French and Swedish schools, what then do you say is wrong with the system?

However, the operation of the system within the public school system is bedeft with corruption, which is what is killing the eduicational sector. It is corruption that ensures that less qualified teachers are employed; it is corruption that enables qualified Principals be overlooked as administrators and girlfriends/jobers selected for educational administration.

It is mediocrity and not our educational system that enables the Senate to confirm as an ambassador someone that cannot recite the National Anthem or Pledge on the basis of a 'poor pass'. The problem is definitely not the system.

Pharoh:
They are right for a presidential debate but not the major debate judging from peoples post here that the opposition should boycott the debate organized by BON.  BON should have been the first to host a debate and then there can be other debates by private stations. I will be in support of NN24 if BON and the other national station srefused to host one or they have been ill prepared to host one. I was against debates because i don't want to see personal attacks against PDP or the president but just forward suggested solutions to our problems simple. The governorship debates was more of an attack than a debate but i am impressed by this debate. I have been rooting for BON because leaving it in the hands of a private station might have affected the quality but i give a slightly passmark to NN24.

My guy, you apparently do not understand the Nigerian system amd thus your premise is wrong! BON is parastatal of government just like NTA, much more so, BON is NOT a TV or Radio Station thus they have no equipments on ground to organise any presidential debate. BON simply holds broadcasts rights on behalf of Nigerian media outfits. chikena!
That ruse of BON organising a debate, came to be by reason of GEJ's team trying to avoid the NN24 debate. The best that BON can do is get NTA to organise one.

On your bolded part, where was NTA before NN24 muted their own? WHich one has NTA publicised? WHich one has NTA ever organised? The issue ogff BON/NTA came up because GEJ wanfted expo, which NN24 was not willing to accede to. Tell me, which station has the best quality across the nation? Is it NTA?
If you have DSTV, do compare the NN24 on Channel 414 to NTA on 130 and tell me if NTA is of better quality. Let's do away with mediocrity, we'd be better for it!

FOR BETTER OR WORSE?
Ironically, the same people who prematurely rejoiced at Buhari and Idiagbon’s downfall are the same people who today recall their tenure with nostalgia. If Buhari and Idiagbon had been allowed to stay in office for as long as Babangida did, they would have changed Nigeria forever – for the better. As usual, Nigerians have only themselves to blame for creating the circumstances that led to their downfall.

Journalists who thought that better times lay ahead post-Buhari need only recall the murder of Dele Giwa to see how wrong they were. The prisoners who thought that life would be less harsh under Babangida and Abacha should recall the consistent harassment and death of Gani Fawehinmi and Moshood Abiola respectively. People complained about the draconian Decree 2 of 1984 – the State security (Detention of Persons) Decree which permitted the Federal Military Government to detain any person considered by the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters to be a security threat, for up to three months without charge or trial. Civil liberties organizations fumed and breathed a sigh of relief when Babangida took over, expecting Babangida to repeal Decree 2. Babangida not only retained it, but extended the detention period under Decree 2 to six months and used it to detain those civil liberties and pro-democracy movements that had welcomed his assent to power.

Those that felt that Buhari and Idiagbon were too "harsh" for imprisoning corrupt public officials, executing convicted drug dealers and armed robbers, should ask themselves whether they are proud of the fact that the average European cannot point out Nigeria’s location on a map, does not know its capital city, but "knows" that Nigeria is a country where corrupt people, drug dealers and other criminals come from. Those that criticized the WAI for attempting to militarize civilian society need to ask themselves whether they prefer the undisciplined, corruption infested society that is Nigeria in 2003.

Nigeria missed a golden opportunity to change for the better.

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-611863.0.html#msg7797588 (from http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/barticles/buhari_and_idiagbon_a_missed_opp.htm)

Speak to any Nigerian and you will hear the familiar complaints about Nigeria’s sorry plight. About the waste, mismanagement, corruption and lack of environmental sanitation. Nigerians yearn for a Government that will tackle these problems head on. Nigerians although supporting democracy believe that the institutional checks and balances it imposes would inhibit even a well intentioned government, and would prevent it from pushing through the punishing reforms and hardline policies that are necessary to change Nigeria. As one acquaintance put it to me: "Nigeria missed its chance with the military". The acquaintance is no apologist for military rule but his point was that Nigeria needs a tough, authoritarian regime to tackle its problems and implement the unpopular but corrective policies that a democratic government cannot afford to take for fear of being voted out of office. Yet while Nigerians complain about the problems all around them, they seem to have collective amnesia and never refer to the fact that almost two generations ago, they had a regime with a programme to tackle all of the problems they always complain about.

YET ANOTHER COUP
The stage was set for another military rescue operation. On the last day of 1983, the army abandoned the barracks in order to "save this nation from imminent collapse". President Shehu Shagari was overthrown only three months after being re-elected for his second and final term of office in an election that was marred by accusations of electoral malpractice. Scarred by the memory of the mass the bloodshed that followed the bloody military coups of 1966, the coup plotters wisely did not harm any senior Government figures. The only casualty of the coup was Brigadier Ibrahim Bako who was killed while trying to arrest President Shagari in Abuja. Some have speculated that Bako was the leader of the coup.

If Shagari has taken a look at Nigeria’s history books, he would have noticed that the country’s military coups have almost always been carried out by the same group of soldiers. The young NCOs and Lieutenants that blasted Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi from power in 1966, became Colonels that overthrew his successor: General Gowon in 1975, and they became the Brigadiers and Major-Generals that overthrew Shagari. Had Shagari acted decisively early during his term and retired these men, his Government may have survived (the only notable senior officer retired by Shagari was Major-General Joe Garba – who had double crossed his own brother in law during a military coup in 1975). Oversight of history and military postings played a part in Shagari’s downfall. Had he, in his position as the Nigerian Armed Forces’ Commander-in-Chief, paid more attention to sensitive military postings he would have noticed that many of the officers who took part in the coup were stationed in or in close proximity to the country’s commercial nerve centre in Lagos. Among the plotters stationed in Lagos were the Army’s Director of Staff Duties and Plans: Major-General Ibrahim Babangida, the Military Secretary: Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon, and a hitherto unknown brigade commander called Brigadier Sani Abacha.

THE NEW ORDER
As usual the Nigerian public welcomed news of a military coup d’etat and the overthrow of a Government they elected, with characteristic jubilation. The officers who led the coup installed Major-General Muhammadu Buhari as Head of State, and as the Chairman of a new Supreme Military Council (SMC). Up till the time of the coup, Buhari had been the General Officer Commanding the 3rd Armoured Division in Jos. The disciplined, tough and stoic Brigadier (later Major-General) Tunde Idiagbon, was appointed as the Chief of Staff at Supreme Headquarters. Having neutralised the incumbent Chief of Army Staff – Major General Mohammed Wushishi, Major-General Ibrahim Babangida became the new Chief of Army Staff and de facto number three in the new regime. Wushishi was a symbol of the remarkable reconciliation that had occurred in Nigeria after the civil war of 1967-1970. At the end of the war in early 1970, Wushishi had entertained Conrad Nwawo (a leading officer on the opposing side) as his "guest of honour" at Onitsha barracks.

The new military regime suspended several parts of the constitution (primarily those relating to freedom of assembly, association and political activity), banned party politics, declared all borders closed, and began to arrest and detain ministers and officials from Shagari’s Government on charges of corruption and embezzlement.

WAR AGAINST INDISCIPLINE
Buhari and Idiagbon correctly identified corruption and indiscipline as the main constraints on Nigeria’s development. These twin evils have in the view of many, become a way of life for many Nigerians. For this reason, they launched a nationwide campaign called "War Against Indiscipline" ("WAI". The WAI campaign was aimed at tackling the most anti-social Nigerian characteristics such as indiscipline, corruption, and lack of environmental sanitation. Nigerians learned and grudgingly accepted social behaviour that was the norm in other countries around the world. Queuing suddenly became all the rage in Nigeria! Buhari and Idiagbon understood that the undisciplined Nigerian psyche was not going to change by persuasion and that their WAI campaign had to backed by the threat of force. Although they had always cried out for a Government that would root out the rampant indiscipline in Nigeria, white collar workers were irked when they learned that the WAI campaign would lead to them being punished and that it would apply to them as well as the rest of Nigeria.

Corruption
There had been widespread allegations of corruption against many members of Shagari’s government. For this reason, military tribunals were set up to try ministers in Shagari’s administration that had been accused of embezzling public funds. These tribunals were chaired by military officers and had the power to impose massive prison sentences. The only right of appeal from the tribunals was to the SMC which was also exclusively comprised of military officers (and the Inspector-General of police). The military were effectively acting as prosecutor, judge and jury. Unsurprisingly the Nigerian Bar Association barred its member lawyers from participating in the tribunals. Undeterred, Buhari and Idiagbon pressed on with the tribunals and several prominent politicians were convicted of various corruption charges and given massive prison sentences ranging from twenty to over two hundred years. Given that most of the convicted were already over fifty years old, it was obvious that those would die in prison if they served the rest of their sentences. Among those convicted were prominent politicians such as Anthony Enahoro and Jim Nobodo. The tribunals effectively put Nigeria’s political elite in jail.

Although the harsh sentences and nature of the tribunals were criticised, it is arguable that Nigeria needed these Nuremberg style trials in order to free itself from its corrupt past. The era of Buhari and Idiagbon was the first, and only time that Nigerian public officials were tried, and held accountable for their actions in office. The trials would have had more legitimacy if they had been held in civilian courts, presided over by civilian legal officers, and open to the public. This way Nigerians would have seen justice in action and had a chance to scrutinise the actions of their leaders who had so badly let them down and misused their resources. By virtue of their centrally regimented military training and doctrines, Idiagbon and Buhari were fundamentally unable to grasp the niceties of, and the political legitimacy they could have derived from holding fair and open trials. The public fully backed their assault on the corrupt elite, if not their methods. The trials and WAI campaign also had a psychological impact on other "don’t know how he got rich" individuals in Nigeria. For the first time in Nigeria’s history it became unwise for those with ill gotten to flaunt their wealth – for fear of attracting the attention of Buhari’s anti-corruption drive.

The Press
The press had a field day under the civilian Government of Shagari. Freed by the absence of criticism-sensitive soldiers in Government, the press launched constant vitriolic attacks against public officials and often published articles that would not be tolerated in even the most liberal western democracy. The press quite literally abused the freedom given to it and the stinging criticism directed by the press actually resulted in a couple of journalists being charged with sedition (inciting rebellion against the Government). As a reaction to this, on 1st January 1984 (day one of Buhari’s regime), the SMC promulgated Decree 4 of 1984: the Public Officers (Protection Against False Accusation) Decree. Decree 4 made it a criminal offence to publish any article that brought the Government or any public official into disrepute. Tunde Thompson and Nduka Iraboh of The Guardian Newspapers were unfortunate enough to fall foul of Decree 4 and were imprisoned. Decree 4 was no doubt an overreaction by Buhari’s regime and strained relations between the FMG and the press.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END
While Buhari’s austere policies could be justified on the basis that he was battling against corruption and economic waste, his public relations machinery was poor. He made a number of strategic errors and failed to ingratiate himself with the mainly southern based print media. His regime was savaged by the press as a result (many of Nigeria’s print houses were then owned by the multi-billionaire businessman/politician: the late Moshood Abiola).

Loss of the South
There are several reasons for the Buhari’s loss of support in the south. Firstly, the governing National Party of Nigeria which Buhari replaced had a "zoning" system for key Government posts which provided that certain Government positions would be "zoned" or reserved to persons from certain geographic parts of the country. Since the presidency had been zoned to President Shagari (from the North), south-westerners logically thought that the presidency would be zoned to them when president Shagari completed his second and final term of office in 1987. They were wrong. One of those who hoped to benefit from the NPN’s zoning system was the multi-billionaire businessman, Moshood Abiola. Abiola assumed that when President Shagari’s term of office expired in 1987, the governing National Party of Nigeria (NPN) would "zone" the presidency to the south, and he would be allowed to run for president. How wrong he was. When Abiola articulated his presidential ambition, he was rebuffed by the powerful Transport Minister: Umaru Dikko, who told him that "the Presidency is not for sale to the highest bidder". Abiola "retired" from politics soon after – totally exasperated with the NPN. Abiola was however to reemerge from the shadows to play a key role in Nigeria’s political history.

The make up of Buhari’s SMC also troubled southerners. Virtually all of the senior positions in the SMC were occupied by northern Muslims: only five of the SMC’s fourteen members were from the south. Additionally, there has always been an unwritten rule that the Nigerian Head of State and his deputy cannot be from the same religion or part of the country. Buhari broke this unwritten rule when he appointed Tunde Idiagbon (who although Yoruba, was from the north and was also a muslim). The other influential pro-Buhari figure in the regime was the Minister for Internal Affairs: Major-General Mohammed Magoro, who was a muslim from Buhari’s home state of Sokoto. The lopsided ethno-religious composition of the SMC, coupled with the fact that Buhari’s ascension to power pre-empted the zoning of the presidency to the south prompted some mischievous southerners to claim that the New Year’s Eve coup was a deliberate plan to prevent the south from gaining political control of the country, and was nothing more than an orchestrated preservation of the north’s political control of Nigeria by transferring power from northern civilians to northern soldiers. I personally think that the personal ambition of the primary actors in the coup such as Babangida and Dogonyaro played the primary motivating role for the coup rather than any Machiavellian plot to thwart the south (or any altruistic motives to benefit Nigeria as a whole). Nevertheless, southerners were irked by the perceived northern bias of Buhari’s regime.

The Babangida Factor
With the civilian population powerless to terminate military rule, it was clear that only the military could do away with Buhari. From this perspective, the Chief of Army Staff, Major-General Ibrahim Babangida was his greatest threat. Babangida was a contrast to Buhari. While Buhari was stern, serious and resolute, Babangida was deft, tactical and extremely devious. He had systematically cultivated a loyal following of sycophantic mid-ranking officers over the years by making grandiose gestures and buying lavish presents for officers junior to him. These officers now owed allegiance to him rather than to their nation, institution, or to the Head of State Buhari. Babangida had managed to create a mini-personality cult within the military. It is amazing that Buhari, knowing Babangida’s ambition and propensity for coup plotting allowed him to sit with his finger on the trigger as the Chief of Army Staff for so long.

As the net of Buhari’s anti-corruption drive widened, the trail of investigations led back to the Ministry of Defence. There were allegations that senior army officers were involved in drug dealing and rumours of some suspicious financial dealings at the Defence Ministry. Some accusatory fingers were pointed at Babangida. Nigerians never did get to find out the extent or nature of the allegations as a coup led by Babangida swept Buhari away before matters could proceed further. Not long after Buhari was replaced by Babangida, a senior and well respected journalist (Dele Giwa) was killed by a parcel bomb while he was working on a story that accused senior army officers of involvement in drug dealing. Giwa’s murderers have never been found, although attempts have been made to prosecute Babangida, and two military intelligence officers: Colonel Tunde Togun and Brigadier Halilu Akilu, for his murder.

THE END
Buhari and Idiagbon did not realize that Babangida loyalists had been pre-positioned in key positions, ready for when Babangida needed them. Buhari later spoke of certain elements within his regime who deliberately sanctioned unpopular moves which were disliked by the public so that they could create an atmosphere of political dissatisfaction great enough to justify another coup.

In early 1985, a military intelligence officer: Colonel Chris Alli, entered the office of Major-General Idiagbon and voiced his concerns about rumours of a pending coup. In characteristically taciturn manner, Idiagbon simply replied "let them try" (a thinly veiled invitation for any potential for any coup plotter to do his worst). Erroneously believing that Idiagbon had the security situation under control, Alli said no more about the coup rumours. On December 27th 1985 (while Idiagbon was out of the country on a religious visit to Saudi Arabia), Buhari was overthrown in a military coup led by the Chief of Army Staff: Major-General Ibrahim Babangida. On the evening of 26th August 1985, Buhari was joined in his official residence by Majors Dangiwa Umar (a Harvard University educated officer born into an aristocratic northern family), Lawan Gwadabe, Abdulmumuni Aminu and Sambo Dasuki. After the five men watched the evening news, the Majors arrested Buhari at gunpoint. Proving the old adage that "what goes around comes around", a decade later Gwadabe and Dasuki were caught up in an alleged coup plot against General Sani Abacha for which Gwadabe was tortured and imprisoned, and Dasuki driven into exile.

If Buhari had taken a look at the past, he would have realized that in Nigerian politics, and in the Nigerian military, it is those to whom one entrusts his safety that need to be feared most. In January 1966, Prime Minister Balewa was abducted and murdered by soldiers from the Federal Guard: a unit whose primary responsibility was to protect and guarantee the safety of Balewa. Balewa’s successor as Head of State Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi was abducted, tortured and shot dead by soldiers in his own entourage only seven months after the death of Balewa. Aguiyi-Ironsi’s successor General Gowon was overthrown in July 1975, again with the connivance of officers from the Federal Guard – which as in Balewa’s case in 1966, was supposed to protect him. In a stunning act of betrayal, the commanding officer of the Federal Guards Colonel Joe Garba (who was also Gowon’s brother in law) actually made a nationwide television broadcast to announce Gowon’s overthrow. As mentioned above, the officers that overthrew President Shagari were pre-positioned around Nigeria’s nerve centre in Lagos. Had Buhari and Idiagbon paid greater attention to those in their midst, their regime may have survived and Nigeria may have been a different country today. Another factor that may have hastened Buhari and Idiagbon’s fall from power may have been their failure to award plum jobs to the officers who risked their necks in the 1983/4 coup that brought them to power. It was an understood but unwritten rule from the July 1975 coup onwards that soldiers that executed successful coup plots should be rewarded with the bounty of juicy Government postings. Buhari did not adhere to this rule. Although the coup plotters that brought him to power were active in his regime, they were not in the upper echelons. Many of these officers were middle grade officers, and perhaps in an attempt to maintain military hierarchy, Buhari did not want to appoint them to senior Government positions over the heads of more senior officers (who albeit had not played a part in the coup).


FOR BETTER OR WORSE?
Ironically, the same people who prematurely rejoiced at Buhari and Idiagbon’s downfall are the same people who today recall their tenure with nostalgia. If Buhari and Idiagbon had been allowed to stay in office for as long as Babangida did, they would have changed Nigeria forever – for the better. As usual, Nigerians have only themselves to blame for creating the circumstances that led to their downfall.

Journalists who thought that better times lay ahead post-Buhari need only recall the murder of Dele Giwa to see how wrong they were. The prisoners who thought that life would be less harsh under Babangida and Abacha should recall the consistent harassment and death of Gani Fawehinmi and Moshood Abiola respectively. People complained about the draconian Decree 2 of 1984 – the State security (Detention of Persons) Decree which permitted the Federal Military Government to detain any person considered by the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters to be a security threat, for up to three months without charge or trial. Civil liberties organizations fumed and breathed a sigh of relief when Babangida took over, expecting Babangida to repeal Decree 2. Babangida not only retained it, but extended the detention period under Decree 2 to six months and used it to detain those civil liberties and pro-democracy movements that had welcomed his assent to power.

Those that felt that Buhari and Idiagbon were too "harsh" for imprisoning corrupt public officials, executing convicted drug dealers and armed robbers, should ask themselves whether they are proud of the fact that the average European cannot point out Nigeria’s location on a map, does not know its capital city, but "knows" that Nigeria is a country where corrupt people, drug dealers and other criminals come from. Those that criticized the WAI for attempting to militarize civilian society need to ask themselves whether they prefer the undisciplined, corruption infested society that is Nigeria in 2003.

Nigeria missed a golden opportunity to change for the better.

October 2003

http://www.nigerdeltacongress.com/barticles/buhari_and_idiagbon_a_missed_opp.htm