moodswing: As an economist, I have consistently argued that Lagos is borrowing more than it should and also not investing on strategic developmental projects with real economic value on the short/long term.

Just like When Ngige was governor, he spent almost all the money the state had and borrowed just to finance wonder projects with no commensurate economic value. Just because we ignorantly see building of certain infrastructures especially roads as development, politicians use it to a grave advantage.

Gov't should be strategic in drawing up it's scale of preference before arbitrarily spending on fancy projects just because it's an eye candy that appeals to the ignorant sense of the ordinary people.

Billions were expended to plant flowers on bad roads, then Roads and bridges concessioned, because the state can't fund the project.

Rochas is another dude preying on people's ignorance. In a bid to fulfill too many bogus campaign promises, he has extensively borrowed to finance dubious and highly inflated projects.

Even Elechi of Ebonyi state is another sorry story not even worth going into.

Brazil isn't as fancy as the UK, but the economy of Brazil did surpass that of the UK. Making more appealing to investment than the UK which in return boosts it's economic potential and growth.

Lagos is politically astute but economically irresponsible. If Lagos state is well managed, in 7yrs, not only with she be without debt, but also become the Hong Kong of Nigeria. The potential is there but every economic decision is usually not without a greater amount of political undertone and interest.

God help us and give us the leaders we need not the politicians we want.

One of the most insightful comments so far on this forum based on facts and empricism.Especially the one on Ngige and that clown Rochas.

Well done.

Spot on.

Ricky_Ross:

Wetin make the bridge the best in west Africa? How many west African countries have you traveled to? Which group of engineers did the testing/vetting of bridges in west Africa? From tagging this fake bridge suspension bridge to cable bridge, now it is clear people must pay to use it? Which other bridge in west Africa do people pay to use? This is not even a PPP project, the project was done with tax payers money and at the same time people must pay to use it? Bro stop washing your dirty linen in public.

Shame no dey catch you ni? The best road network in Lagos is the Lekki road but it is tolled, nothing is free in Lagos state. In many other Nigerian cities there are far much better roads networks that are constructed by state governors and its 100% free to everyone. See the type of world class roads in Uyo and no one pays to use them. All over the world its only Lagos state that increased school fees by more than 1000%, till date you still defend that stupid decision by the state government. If it were PDP they would be tagged clueless or evil, but since its ACN they are saints.

Look at the world class digital library in Uyo, no one pays to use it, if it were in Lagos it would be tolled as well. Tell me, in which other part of the world is a 1km bridge tooled? I mean a bridge that was built with tax payers money and not JV or PPP?

Who is fooling who..
Can't wait till Thursday,to see how this script pans out.

Very well said.You have a very good understanding of politics and the nature of politics in Nigeria.Jonathan will still be in Aso Rock come 2015.Mark my word,You will be shocked with the states that he will win come election time.Anybody that thinks otherwise must be suffering from eclipse of political reasoning and sagacity

thelastpope10: I told some funny chaps commenting here the other day that Amaechi was on a fools errand. It didnt matter if he won the NGF election or not. What he is playing is dangerous politics.

Politics 101

1. Never Isolate your support base. The SS and SE will never betray GEJ and vote for someone else, just because Amaechi is his running mate. That is just fantasy

2. Never play your cards too early. ACN and CPC have played all their cards too early. If anything, they have simply showed PDP what they need to put right before 2015

3. Never underestimate your opponent. Amaechi is probably listening to those who call GEJ clueless and will be shocked. If a man goes from Deputy Governor to President, there is something he is doing right. That he doesnt try to achieve things by being brash and arrogant doesnt mean he doesnt know what he is doing. So far, he hasnt lost any battle. That means his methods are working.

4. Always understand the political terrain. Here is one place Amaechi has failed woefully. The north never joins opposition. The worst scenario is that they will try to strike a deal with GEJ to see how they can come back after he lives. They will not do opposition. The PDP governors in the north will not submit themselves to Tinubu and Buhari and loose out their current power base. It wont happen. The SS will not betray their own. The south west will only do a block vote if APC presents a Yoruba candidate. But that is not likely because APC was formed to pave way for a northerner. If APC presents a SW candidate, they will not get much vote from the North. Amaechi apparently is not a smart politician. He is probably listening to people like Rochas, Fashola or Oshiomole urging him to do what he is doing but when the chips are down, he will be left in the cold like Mama Bimbo's cold turkey wings! Skinless, frozen and ice cold wet!

This says a lot about Arik air.If it is BA or Virgin Atlantic,They would have done all within their power to shut these scumbags down.

Bottom line is Arik doesn't care about their customers.And this will definitely affect them when potential customers avoid them like plague.

I visit this forum most days and I follow all the topics and discuss keenly.

On Lagos state,I honestly believe that a state like Lagos should be at par with cities like Singapore or Kuala Lumpur and even Johannesburg.

That is what a dynamic city like Lagos should be like if not better.

I will give Fashola AA+ for his vision and dynamism that he has brought to governance.And will gladly recommend him for a third term minus the Tinubu baggage.

The only gripe that I have with Fashola is that toll gate on Lekki-Epe road.

Sealeddeal: Even Federal govt of Nigeria owe debt. Any business tycoon must surely take loan from bank or any organ.if the creditors of Nigeria govt should ask Nigeria to pay up,Nigeria will not pay it up immediately.its business. And in this case,Acess bank shouldnt have held Ubah to account because he didnt take loan from them directly.Ifeanyi Uba imported petroleum products amounting to several billion of Naira and Okonjo Iweala refuse to pay the subsidy on that,holding on that Ifeanyi swindled FG and therefore need not pay subsidy but Ifeanyi claimed that the said money owe by FG is among the money he got from Access bank and if there is fraud there-in,then its Acess bank and him and not him alone.this issue should not generate this type of publicity mess.the behaviour of Acess bank Chief and Coscharis bears the face of a 'set-up'.if they are truly professional,they should have followed normal procedure of law.whats the basis for freezing his account.its done so that the company wil not function again and to take it over which Ifeanyi Uba said earlier.why is the issue not going the professional way.whats the insult there-in. Dangote is owing several billions of naira and how many times have u heard him struggling with his creditors even when he couldnt pay immediately. Otedola recently pay some his after little argument with his creditor.Coscharis and Aig has ulterior motives and it political.

Don't be ridiculous,Part of the terms and conditions of their joint venture or partnership according to what I have read from both sides, states that; "If there is any disputes or disagrements arising from this transaction that arbitration should be done in English court hence the resort by Coscharis to UK courts.Its normal in business that parties agree where issues or disputes will be settled.

Reconstructing Nigeria for Prosperity

By Chukwuma Charles Soludo


Today, at independence, we focus part three of the series on a re-examination of Nigeria’s political structure. We ask whether Nigeria can create and sustain prosperity under the current multiplicity of unviable States as federating units and the uniform local government system- all ‘created’ by the Federal Government and enshrined in the constitution.

At independence in 1960, Nigeria had three regions: Eastern, Northern and Western regions. In 1963, the Mid-western region was ‘created’ out of the Western region to assuage the demands of the ‘minorities’. As the threat of Biafra and civil war became imminent, the military again thought that state creation was the means to ensure ‘stability’.In order to ensure ‘stability’, ‘equity’ and ‘justice’, the four regions were divided into 12 states by Gen. Yakubu Gowon on May 27, 1967, with six each from the North and South, and thus supposedly addressed the ‘fears of domination’ by minorities following the Report of the Willink Commission of 1958.

Obsessed with the central goal of keeping Nigeria so ‘united’ that no component part of it would ever be strong enough to threaten its ‘unity’, the military went ahead to literally dismantle most of the building blocks of federalism. A new revenue allocation formula (as promised by Gowon in his 1967 speech) was adopted. All minerals (oil, gas, solid minerals) became the exclusive properties of the Federal Government. Rights over revenues changed. States became the basis for sharing the common pot. In effect, the more ‘states’ any group could get, the higher their collective ‘share’ of the national pot. Fiscal viability was not an issue. The free money from the centre, especially following the oil boom, destroyed the incentive for states to expand their tax bases through wealth creation, and also destroyed the local institutions for tax administration that existed under the regions.

A perverse incentive was immediately created, and centred around the struggle for maximisation of the share of the national cake rather than competition to bake it. The politics of state creation quickly moved away from ethnic balancing to an economic struggle. The hitherto relatively homogenous groups suddenly found a dozen reasons why each village or clan is so different that it deserved its own state. To complete the unitary structure, the military also imposed a uniform local government administration throughout the country, and proceeded to also ‘create’ local governments. Not done, these created local governments are now directly funded from the Federation Account.

For the military, state creation became an instrument of divide and rule and elite appeasement. As a legitimising carrot, powerful elite who constituted major oppositions to successive military regimes were patronised by ‘giving’ them a state or local government or ‘capital’ of state or local government. At least, those elite could have their own ‘empires’ to rule or ‘chop’ from. Almost every military regime dangled state creation to keep the elite busy and to also buy support. Currently, state creation is also being dangled and the elite are busy campaigning and lobbying. The legislators and executives are promising different groups that they will ‘give’ them more states. It always works, but to Nigeria’s collective loss.

For a start, we must admit that state creation is a failed strategy. After the 12 states failed to ensure ‘stability’, ‘equality’, ‘justice’, and ‘remove the fear of domination’ as envisaged in 1967, we have now tripled the number to 36, and there is still demand for another 57 or more states. The more states we create, the greater the demand for more.

Our major hypothesis is that under the current centralised, obtuse but largely inefficient Federal Government and the consumption drains as states and local government, Nigeria will not be able to muster the level of savings and investment required for economic transformation. The consolidated public sector basically consumes much of our national income, and the kind of federal structure we run is at the heart of it. On a per capita basis, and compared with any other viable federation in the world, Nigeria has too much government.

The purported economic argument for state creation is to ‘bring development closer to the people’. Examples are given of how the new state capitals have ‘developed’. Unfortunately, this argument is often repeated without much scrutiny: no counterfactuals are examined. But the economic waste inherent in the multiplicity of states can be seen through a simple illustration. Assume for the sake of discussion that each of the six geopolitical zones is a state. There would be six state ministries of education in the country, with six commissioners for education, six permanent secretaries of education, etc. Today, in each zone, you have five, six or seven states. In sum, you now have 36 such ministries of education, 36 commissioners, and 36 permanent secretaries--- doing the job that could have been done by six. We now have 36 state parliaments, 774 local government councils. The other recurrent costs are also multiplied, as there are certain fixed costs irrespective of the size of the government.

Currently, most state governments spend more than 70 per cent of the budget on recurrent expenditure. The implication is that in each zone, if you were to aggregate the total recurrent expenditure for running governments relative to what it should have cost, you get a sense of the monumental waste. Our casual computation is that aggregating the states and eliminating the duplications will free up between 65 and 80 per cent of current expenditures for investment in infrastructure. If such investment is efficiently made, the private sector will be unleashed and the true development that is closer to the people will begin to emerge.

Make no mistake about it: there is some less than one per cent of our population that benefits from the state creation. There have been more state governors, more commissioners, more personal assistants, etc, and the ‘sharing’ that has gone with it but the common man gets poorer and worse off. On the economic front, we have set out to create many empires (states) but have ended up with a plethora of insulated and unviable villages all of which do not add up to one glorified town.

Rather than uniting us, it is my observation that Nigerians are more divided under the state structure than before. Suddenly, the man from Abia State thinks he is different from one from Imo State or one from Bauchi as different from Gombe.

Can there be an optimal number of states at which the demand for more states will cease? It is my view that in so far as states continue to receive ‘allocations’ from Abuja, there will be no end to the demand for states until every family has one. There will be no end to ‘fear of domination’. Estimates of the number of ethno-linguistic groups in Nigeria range from 102 to over 374. Just imagine that every group gets a state. Today, there is hardly any state where there is no ‘fear of marginalisation’ and clamour for ‘equity’.

What is to be done? The first point to make is that there will be no easy solution. Institutions, once created, assume a life of their own, with powerful interest groups that would do anything to ensure their continued existence. So far, in the public discourse, there seem to be two options. They are no tailor made solutions but as starting point for serious debate.

First, consolidate the states in each geo-political zone into potentially more viable six regions. The six regions become the ‘federating units’, and operate largely on the principle of equality of regions in terms of representation and all spheres of national engagements. Under this, Nigeria should return to the revenue allocation formula in the 1963 Republican constitution, thereby stopping the feeding bottle federalism. Each region should take charge of its mineral resources and pay taxes to the Federal Government.
The aggregation will eliminate the unbelievable waste and duplications in bureaucracies and free up resources needed for investment. Economies of scale resulting from the consolidation of states will ensure. Competition among the regions as was the case before the oil boom and ‘creation of states’ could unleash a transformation boom, with one or two regions becoming bigger than the current Nigerian economy in the near future. We look forward to seeing regional interconnected rail lines, private sector-led regional power plants, water schemes, etc. The current states could still exist as provinces within the regions for purposes of service delivery. The bottom line is for the federating units to be fiscally viable entities, because only then can they drive different economic transformation agenda. If states are no longer the constitutional basis for appointing ministers, there may be no reason to have more than 15 ministers at the federal level.

The second option is to assume that politicians and current beneficiaries of the state structure will not allow any change. Under this scenario, some analysts argue that the issue is to equalise the six zones by having seven or eight states per geo-political zone. For me, this can only be a potentially viable proposition if we fundamentally re-think the revenue allocation formula and entrench fiscal responsibility in the constitution. At the minimum, we should revisit the 1963 constitutional provision. Once states stop receiving free money from Abuja, demand for new states will be based mostly on fiscal viability, which in turn, drives wealth creation.

I have seen some weak arguments that most states will be ‘viable’ once they are allowed rights over minerals in their states. Yes, some will be viable in the short to medium term. However, such minerals are depleting and if fully exploited, will probably not last more than 30 years. In the long term, innovation and productivity which emanate from competition are the only true drivers of sustained prosperity.

Whether the current state structure or regional structure is adopted, it is absurd and wasteful to retain the current ‘uniform’ local government structure. Each state or region should decide on the best local government system that serves it best, and the number that it can adequately fund. The greatest absurdity of our ‘federation’ is the ‘creation’ and direct funding of 774 local governments by the centre. There is no logic to the number of LGAs per state where Lagos State which, by official census figure, is of equal population with Kano has less than half the number of councils of Kano State. If you believe Lagos State government’s census which puts it at twice the population of Kano, the absurdity becomes gargantuan. Why impose ‘common’ ‘local’ system everywhere? Why not let it become the preserve of the regions or states to determine the nature of ‘local government’ they desire? For example in the South-east, the ‘community’ is the authentic local administration with functional town unions and most developmental projects are community-based. Why, if the South-east chooses, would it not adopt a different kind of ‘local administration’? These are issues for debates. We are currently wrongly preoccupied with getting ‘autonomous’ council funding instead of asking whether they make sense at all.

I wish all Nigerians a happy independence day! There is no better way to celebrate it than to ponder the dysfunctional structure of our federation and agree to re-engineer it. The powers of the various levels of government must be seriously reviewed: Abuja is too powerful to permit a competitive federalism

Killing Libyans to free Libyans,Hmn.And some narrow minded and stupid Nigerians are supporting this grave injustice meted out to Libya.
The Western governments are hypocrites and liars.Look at what they did to Iraq.I pity the Libyans.The most worrisome aspect of this war on Libya was the way the western press was embedded with the rebels reporting their propaganda 24hrs,even the left leaning news media.

They said that they were going to protect civilians and not regime change.
They saw a large convoy of civilian cars and suspected they they might be some one of high value and bombed it saying that it was a command and control post.Liars.

France and Qatar broke a UN embargo and supplied weapons to the rebels as well as putting troops on the ground by Britain and the western media saw all these and refused to report it.

Bottom line Qaddafi was killed by America,Britain and France.

Rest in Peace,The Lion of Africa.

We Nigerians are a sorry bunch,NEPA takes power for days and brings it for one hour,We will say Thank God ooo,The tap runs for some minutes,Thank God ooo,We drive/travel on the most neglected and eyesore and gut wrenching roads;Thank God oooo;We queue for hours to buy petrol or kerosene;Thank God oooo.

Instead of We to hold the Nigerian Policewhom are being paid by the tax payers to account for the gross incompetence;Lets pray for the police.
Anyway my prayer is thus;,Dear God,Please vanquish and scatter this miserably lot called the Nigerian Police.
Put yourselves in array against the ( Nigerian Police ) round about her :all ye that bend the bow,shoot at her(Nigerian Police),Spare no arrows: for she(Nigerian Police) has sinned and committed terrible crimes against the Nigerian People.

@Beaf,Why are you wasting your time arguing with people with jaundiced views.I wonder what they will do when they see pictures of Warri GRA's and you are being quite honest with them with the pictures,I am sure that they will start hallucinating when you post pictures of Shell Main office,Edejba and ogunu,NNPC Staff quarters,NPA,DSC,etc.

All the beautiful Estate dotted around Warri,infact they is one lovely one behind Mega Hilton hotel.

The bottom line is that Warri is not a state capital,that is the crux of the argument!,if you want to compare, please send pictures of the towns in your state and not the capital.

My People things are happenning in Waffi,better get on board or be left behind, .

The question is what are these governors doing with private jet.This level of primitive accumulation is beyond shocking.
Seriously,this country is overdue for a revolution.

I don't even know which one is more annoying,The governors stealing their states blind or some deluded fools trying to justify their actions.

We really need to see the pictures of these model schools.

@Deji.Ariyo,You are spot on with your analysis.The western press are pure evil and a disgrace.
Nato have committed unmitigated human rights abuse in Libya and nobody will make them answer to the crimes.
The ICCJ is a joke.The UN a pawn to the western bloc.The Libyans don't know what they are getting themselves into,look at Iraq today and before any one will say that Ghaddafi should face the international criminal court,I want to ask about the two war criminals Tony Blair and George Bush,why are they not been prosecuted.Moreover public opinion in the west has been against this war in Libya.

The wicked NATO destroyed all of Libyan infrastructure in the name of protecting civilians,Killing Libyans to protect Libyans.What a fallacy.

I feel nothing for these idiots called NATO but unmitigated contempt.As for people on this forum supporting NATO,all I have to say is please stay away from discussing issues that are beyond your intellectual comprehension.

0lumide:

Look, I'm tired of all these he is weak arguments and party loyalists faulting opponent's candidates,

Beaf and gbawe, you too need to grow da hell up and I'm sure I'm saying this to people my dad probably drinks beer with!!!

Look, unless you kill Jonathan, he is still the one who is the closest to changing things and if things won't change, he is the closest to making things change,

Feedeefee or essien, it doesn't matter now; the elections are over and now isn't the time to have that "I told y'all so attitude",

We won't get no where if after elections, parties are waiting for their opposition to fail because they didn't win the election,

Seriously, I see too many buhari supporters coming out to say all sorts of nonsense hia!! Even Igbos that voted zombiatically for odechukwu are coming out to denounce him,

Look the nation in heading down, now if you can't help stop the down spiral, don't sit down entertain yourselves with the failure of our dreams!!!!

I don't care what party is in charge, Jonathan like many of you agreed is weak is in need of your support to strengthen his will right now!!! Don't wait for him to lose his will so you can laugh!!!

Organize, let him know you are in full support of him, show him the lack of change hurts, This guy hasn't seen a crying hungry baby in years so really, you know even though he had no shoes, he can now step on gold,

I want Odua nation but not that Nigeria must fail for such to happen,

Stop with the peniss measuring competitions you grown for nothing drones! The internet is not for you, you are suppose to be out there protesting, campaigning for what you think is right,

The internet is to spread information not to act, You can't change Nigeria by dissing odechukwu on here you retardeens,

If you are too scared to live and die for what's right then you deserve to die for the wrong reasons (Jmaine, my words not from movies lol) ,

How do you old folks in your 30s and 40s feel sitting here with 24yrs olds and below but still getting schooled on what it do

Seriously shame on you decays of humanity, shame on you,

Jonathan needs your honest and best support to know that Nigerians will die for him if he does the right thing, There are powerful cabals running this nation to the dark and if you let them absolve Jonathan, you won't say up nepa for a long time,

Kindly drop your slow unforgiving attitudes and go out there and show support for the president, let all the ACN senators, all the opposition members show their support for him, not kiss his Bottom but show him if he does the right thing, they are right behind him!!!!

We can't afford to be Republican, democrat crap right now in Nigeria,

Let them get involved too. If Jonathan fails, Nigeria is over but the real failures are those who out of hatred watch it fail,

Agbayas beaf, seanet, eko ile, aloy emeka, jason123, dayokonu, ezeuche, dede1, aigbofa, alj harem, Ileke Idi, kobojunkie, chyz, south east, gbawe, antitipiah, ekt bear, bluetooth, haka nai, big boi, Jarus, Negro_ntn.

Shame on all the above people shame!!! 30s, 40s all coming online to vent and hate even in a society that has freedom of speech SHAAAAAMEEEEE 30s 40 somethings coming online to cry that their age mates are making life difficult for them SHAAAME, They are your age mates, confront them already you silly pansies !!!!!!

You can't vent your angers by organizing massive protests but you can come online and cry and cry cry!!!

I came here and realized I'm dealing with relics of years and years of failures, You guys almost changed my view on tribes and almost made me a stoopid tirbal nutjob like you losers but good thing for me, I have Igbo friend's Hausa friends and their lives aren't like you relics of failures want it to be,

Tpia/musiwa are probably the only respectable ones among you all, you failed relics of failures, You and yours are the reason Nigeria is as it is, My generation will send you foools to nursing homes and abandon y'all there, Failures bunch of losers coming online to cry their mates are beating them hard!!! GTFOH

You are not differnt from the people you mentioned in your thread.Imagine calling the Ibos zombies.By the way who told you that the whole south east voted for GEJ.This forum is full of bigotry and venom and ehtnic irredentists
@jason123,I still see where you are coming from,at the end of the day,I believe that the only way forward for Nigeria is for us to sit down and discuss.

Eg:I see no reason why the money collected from tax on alcohol from Lagos for example should be shared with other states that abhor alcohol.It is a local tax and should be used within the state where it was collected.
The same for different states of the federation.The states should have a greater percentage of the revenue accruing from their states.

I have challenged that demented socio-path that I am ready to meet him anywhere and at any time so that he can repeat spurt that his rubbish in my face but like the coward that he is,he didn't take me up on it.

That rabid F/YStranger and his type here on Nl will die a very miserable and painful death.Homo erectus that's what they all are.

This article was written by Dele Sobowale in His column in yesterday's Vanguard.

ISSUES FOR PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN – 1
“4818-406-2802

Oga Dele, why is it dat u are so hard and insincere about your criticism of our president? Anyway, whether u like it or not, he will be our president till 2015. If u don’t like him when he becomes pres, u can go on exile. Dr Great.”

Anyone who calls himself Dr. Great must be suffering from delusions of grandeur. But, that is not the point. The point dear “Dr Great” is that you must have been on exile yourself when the military and northern leaders, ably supported by most of the 100 million Nigerian fools imposed Obasanjo as President. Right from the time he was nominated as the Presidential candidate of PDP till he left office, I never stopped warning “My Fellow Nigerians” that they had made a bloody mistake. I didn’t go on exile then for a simple reason. I waited to see all the damn fools stew in the boiling pot that Obasanjo prepared for us. Today, virtually everybody, except people like President Jonathan, now knows that OBJ is poison to the polity. And, now that Baba Iyabo has the President under his thumb, you can bet the question of exile does not arise. In the unlikely event that Jonathan becomes president this year, I will stay and I go laugh O!

Let me quickly tell you why. It might not have occurred to you that you cannot vote Jonathan alone. With him will come people like OBJ, Anenih, Bode George, Ibori, Lucky Igbinedon, and those National Assembly members who awarded themselves jumbo remuneration packages; the IOC spies who run our Petroleum Ministry – the most corrupt party in Nigerian history. Certainly, you can kiss goodbye to the $13 billion that was wasted on the power project because Jonathan is a candidate of those who stole the funds as a result of which we are still in darkness today.
To be continued

I rest my case.

buJu-234:

I am not a supporter of Gaddafi; but I think the UN is somehow partial here;

if a no-fly zone is passed on Libya SKY; then similar thing should be done in places like:-

(1) Saudi Arabia---> for killing the Shia Moslem's protesting for their right
(2) Bahrain -----> for inviting the Saudi & UAE military to stop the same protest that is going on right now in Libya
(3) Yemen----> for killing the Shia moslem protesting for their right
(4) Israel----> for killing innocent and defend-less Palestine who are crying daily for their right to normal life
(5) Somalia ------> where Alshaba militants are killing people
(6) Ivory Coast -----> where Laurent Gbagbo is killing people for an election that he lost.

The question is why didnt the western-power raised a resolution to intervene in the following crises above, why!!!

(1) Saudi Arabia -----> is the biggest supplier of oil to the west; so her government weather good or bad can do any thing
(2) Bahrain -----> supplies oil to the west and also host the US military base
(3) Yemen ------> No oil to gain; so there`s no need to send their forces there; so they are free to die like the Rwandans
(4) Israel----> US best friend in the mid-east; there fore the west decided to close their eyes to their crimes against humanity
(5) Somalia ------>No oil to gain; so there`s no need to send their forces there; so they are free to die like the Rwandans
(6) Ivory Coast -----> Cocoa can be gotten from another country; so No oil to gain; so there`s no need to send their forces there; so they are free to die like the Rwandans

so with the above; i feel their interest is Libya oil so that companies like TOTAL; BP; STATOIL will control oil blocks there.

DIALOGUE IS STILL THE BEST OPTION; LET GADDAFFI AND THE REPELS HOLD TALKS ORGANISED BY THE UN.

The hypocrisy of the western government is something else.They don't care about the Libyan people,but about the own interests.

And people are supporting this man to be president.GEJ is devoid of ideas and it seems that he is also suffering from eclipse of reason.Infact  he has reinforced my belief that he is not adequately equipped to rule this country.How can a whole PhD holder open his mouth and talk without rhyme and reason.

I can't wait for April.

I don't know why these GEJ supporters are delusional.There is no way GEJ will win the SE,I don't see that happening.

The truth and the momentum behind his campaign is that Nigerians knows quality when they see one,Pray how on earth will GEJ win this election when even if Buhari is not in the picture,I still don't see him beating Nuhu Ribadu.

Guys put it this way,Nigerians have had enough of this leaking umbrella.

This election is like no other,although I am based abroad,me and quite a lot of people I know was in Nigeria to register during the voters registration and will be live in Nigeria next weekend for the elections.I know quite a lot of Nigerians in the Diaspora who if they have the means will do the same.

I witnessed an incident involving Nigerians in Geneva when I went on a business trip on June last year,which nearly brought tears to my eyes.

The PDP controlled government has consistently failed to provide the enabling environment and opportunities for its citizens to fulfil their potentials and in my view is the most useless party ever

There is no place like home,and Nigerian will be saved from the hands of this klepto-patrimonial PDP.

I believe that Buhari/Bakare are the best candidates to restore hope and bring change to Nigeria and I support and will vote for BB2011

@GenBuhari,Well done,It was one of your post on BB2011 that made me change my mind about voting for Ribadu after weighing the con and pros,I came to the conclusion that he is the change that we need in Nigeria.

I have previously show great apathy and disdain to elections in Nigeria,But since i joined the BB2011 campaign It has been relentless campaign at every opportunity that I get.

Like I said in my previous posts and as repeated here by El-Rufai,GEJ had more that one year to show what he can do or not do.The verdict is out,he has been a colossal and umitigated failure.

Nigerians,over this past weeks have been through some fundamental soul searching and self introspection and the verdict all over the land is that we need to put and end to that leaking umbrella.

We should not relent but make the final push,Victory beckons.

Sai Buhari/Bakare.

Buhari,has got my vote plus my families votes.This is the easiest question ,I have ever answered.

Seriously,I still don't understand why people are not giving Buhari his due,few weeks back on this forum the GEJ supporters with their leaking umbrella were saying that BB will not win this election because he started his campaign late,but look at what is happening all over Nigeria,the fact is CPC is the fastest growing part ever in the world,for them to have amassed this level of support within just a short time is phenomenal.

Another thing that BB2011 has achieved which is clearly overlooked is that even here in NL he has being able to unite arch enemies who spend the whole day insulting each other on NL to a common purpose.

From Sokoto,to Kebbi,to Ibadan,Owerri,Enugu,Calabar,Jos,Maiduguri,all over Nigeria,people want the government to provide the enabling environment for them to better their lives.This humble man has brought hope to Nigerians.

I am from the SE and under normal circumstances,I would not touch BB2011,but this election is not about sentiments,but rather about our collective desire to for change and the need to protect our children's future.

PDP has failed Nigerians and posterity will never forgive them.

Vote for BB2011.I am voting for Buhari come April,that is the least I can do to help salvage this country.

Guys,Can we maintain eternal vigilance,We are almost have way there.I have only one vote but I will make sure that about the 17 votes that I can influence in my family goes to BB,Can we all make sure that whatever vote we can influence within our families goes to BB This country needs to be salvaged.

PDP + GEJ=Unmitigated disaster for Nigerians.We need to take our country back from these hooligans in power.

fstranger3:


Thanks to Mike Adenuga, my brother from Ogun state who invested $1 billion on a submarine cable connecting Nigeria to the rest of the world.


Did I answer your question?  


Did I mention he is #597 on Forbes' richest list and that he is Yoruba, not Igbo, not Ibibio, no Eebo, not Heebo, not Arochukwu. Yoruba 100%.  Now, go get me some cappuccino from Emeka in Alaba, make sure it isnt adulterated Ok?

@fstranger3,You are nothing but a demented socio-path,shameless coward,its so easy to hide behind the internet and spew rubbish.Slime drinking tick from a camel's backside.If you are half the man you claim to be,Choose the place ,day and time and I would like you to repent your rabid nonsense in front of me.

dayokanu:

Is Aljazeera part of the Western press too?

For your information Aljazeera English Network is based in Knightsbridge London and majority of their staff are English some poached from BBC and even in the middle East last January the Palestines wanted to burn their office in reaction to their biased reporting of events there.

Again today,Hugo Rifkind writing in The London Times said " Liberal interventionism,however well meaning,has become the opposite of that.Its a big picture and grand scheme.It theorises from a distance and treats individual lives as irrelevances to be nudged and squashed for greater good.Never mind the fact that Even by its own internal logic,liberal intervention doesn't yet have a case in Libya.It is yesterday's Game."

Remember the lies that they said about Saddam having weapons of mass distruction to justify their desire to invade Iraq and till today nothing has been found and remember the role the western press played ,churning out propaganda after propaganda and was in fact embedded with the coalition forces .

TCD:

Oh, Sir, they should sit back and watch foot soldiers of the military despot withholding their freedom shoot them and rain them with bombs so you can be happy they are civilians, right?

A big bullet hole through their skulls is what makes them legitimate in your own opinion.

Jesus, some people are really amazing in the way they think.

It has never been my style to join issues with people who are less discerning and intellectually limited.Bottom Line is don't believe anything you hear from the western press.Read my post again.

After reading this morning about Bankole boasting about the change to the electoral act that will make it impossible for the courts to throw out governors who had rigged elections and saying that the worst case they will only order a re-run of which the PDP will win again and again,I expect that every right thinking Nigeria will know beyond any shadow of doubt that voting for PDP is like a death wish.

This Party simple stands for every malaise that has afflicted Nigeria these past 12 years.This is a party without any shame.
They have failed to meet the most basic needs of Nigerian.

And for anyone to compare Buhari to Mubarak,Qaddafi and Ben Ali is the height of ignorance and stupidity and the person must be suffering from poverty of logic and eclipse of reason.

What is happening in Libya is no longer a civil protest,Once the protesters took over military bases and are carrying military grade weapons,they have lost all legitimacy as per saying that they are civilians protesters.

Moreover,the amount of propaganda coming out through the western media is shocking,and the foolish Libyan Minster of justice came out last week to say that he had evidence that Qaddafi was responsible for the lockerbie bombing of the Pan am plane without any hard evidence and it made headline news all over the western press.

They have been violating Libyan airspace within impunity since this crisis began and if care is not taken Libya will go the way of Iraq.

I am no fan of Qaddafi but if there is no oil in Libya they won't have given a damn about what is going on there.

BB2011 would have been a non issue now if this inept and jaundiced President who had almost more than one year to stamp his authority on governance and at least show us what he is all about and obviously give us an idea of what the next four years will look like with him as president and he failed comprehensively.

That is the reason people are disillusioned and those that are discerning have come to the conclusion that with Jonathan as president it will be business as usual.

What has Jonathan presidency achieved in the past one year? Absolutely nothing.Instead it has been nothing but an unmitigated disaster,lies,deceit,half truths,stupid and inept policies.

And his worst crime of all is that he is representing PDP,A party in my opinion has been the worst thing that has ever happened to Nigeria.

The most frustrating thing is that we now have an opportunity to vote these dinosaurs out come April and some mentally retarded youths in Nigeria are routing for PDP.What a shame.

All is not lost yet,please lets put and end to this charade of a party called PDP in April.History beckons,lets take our destiny into our own hands.Vote BB2011,For Change to happen.