I said it during d election dat Peter Obi was coming back 2 make money for his business. I campained seriously 4 soludo, but my pple nearly killed me 4 supporting him. I still maintain it again dat soludo is the solution to Anambra. We have seen d best of Ngige in Anambra. Even though Ngige was under serious pressure/trouble, he only gave us roads. Any fool can do roads. If u bring him back, he cannot do more dan he did in d past. He needed to win pple's support when the ubas were fighting him, dat was why he achieved (only on roads).

Soludo is d man we need in anambra, i so much believe in his ability 2 deliver on his promises, because he did it CBN. He promised 13points agenda in CBN and delivered on 12points, yaradua stopped the last point. If he could deliver on 12 of 13points, what made us believe dat he cannot turn anambra 2 DUBAI-TAIWAN he promised during his campaigns.

A good gorvernor is d one who identifies d potential of his state and developes it, just like Donald Duke turned Calabar to turist city out of nothing. Dis is what soludo meant when he said, he would turn anambra to DUBAI-TAIWAN of africa. The potential of anambra state is in commerce and industry. If any governor can develope this sector in anambra, the whole of africa will move towards anambra, just like nigerians are moving 2 calabar for turism. Dis is what soludo promised us, unfortunately, my pple could not see beyound thier nose.

Yes, he made a mistake in his oversight functions in d CBN, but dat's not enough to write him off and forget his achievements in d apex bank and d economy. Igbos, let's learn 2 celebrate our own. D truth is dat sanusi found his shoes too big 2 fit into and he decided to show d world where he(soludo)failed, unfortunately we bought into his tricks. No top leader is an angel in nigeria, even if u probe d likes of fasholas 2day, u'll hate all of dem.

Nigeria economy blosomed so much under OBJ because of soludo, iweala & a few others. I like to liken soludo & OBJ's relationship to dat of d bibilical Joseph & Pharoah. Soludo drew up nigeria economic developmental strategies(NEEDS) 4 OBJ and he employed him 2 come and implement.

Fellow anambarians, we have seen d best of ngige, peter obi has failed us, let's give soludo a chance come 2014!. I so much believe in he is d mesiah we need in anambra.

WAIT A MOMENT….IF U READ THE REPORT, U WILL UNDERSTAND THAT PPPRA APPROVED BETWEEN N23B TO N25B MONTHLY SUBSIDY PAYMENT. IF U DO UR CALCULATIONS, IT GIVES U A TOTAL FIGURE OF AROUND N300B PER YEAR SUBSIDY PAYMENT…. THE QUESTION IS, WHERE DID GOVT SPEND THE N1.3T THEY HAVE BEEN CLAIMING TO HAVE BEEN SPENT…, NOW I UNDERSTAND WHAT EL-RUFAI SAID TODAY THAT THE TOTAL SUBSIDY BILL IS LESS THAN N400B PER YEAR. SO WHAT HAPPENED TO THE HUGE DEDUCTIONS MADE FROM THE FEDERATION ACCOUNT IN LATE LAST YEAR. IS IT THAT GEJ & CO SHARED THE MONEY OR THAT IT’S A MADE-UP STORY TO PUSH FOR SUBSIDY REMOVAL…, THAT SHOULD BE THE MAIN ISSUE HERE….SO MANY THINGS ARE NOT ADDING UP

I think the subsidy removal is pre-mature. If i were GEJ, i would ve focused on tax drive in 2012 to generate money from taxes & VAT, just like lagos state is doing under BRF, 90% of businesses in Nigeria do not pay company income tax. Federal government can make much more money from company income tax & VAT, than all other sources put together, by getting every business to pay income tax, like other developed countries, Use the money from tax to fund the 2012 budget and let subsidy remain till 2013.

In 2012
1)Make sure Nigeria generate reasonable power supply, at least 20hrs uninterupted, so that pple will depend less on fuel to power their homes and businesses.
2)Fix or privatise the rail lines.
3)Create a transport scheme similar to BRT in all states, managed by private investors, with CBN providing low interest funds to the big operators, Also create a regulatory body for this transport scheme.
4)Then, by 2013, remove subsidy, when all of the above is achieved.

This way, Nigerians will not suffer so much impact of subsidy removal.

What would u ve done, if u were GEJ?, Drop ur idea.

Let's not confuse man's ambition with God's calling. If this be of God, then no man can stop it, but if not, then Bakare is on his own. God does not send you without backing you. If he wins, then it's possible he was called by God, but if he looses, then surely it's not of God.

God called Moses & backed him up to deliver the isrealites from the almighty Pharoah.
He annointed David & enthroned him.
He called Joseph thru his dream & lead him all the way to bcome the prime minister, even in a foreign land.

Let's not condenm Bakare yet, till after the elections.

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Soludo has openned our eyes to many critical issues facing Nigeria. So many questions that need answers.
Our government agents have called him prophet of doom.
Unfortunately, many people don't seem to like Soludo, but at least, lets take the message and forget about the messanger.
The problem with the people in leadership of this nation is mental laziness.

I've read Goodluck Jonathan's Road Map to Power in details and i think our nation needs detailed road maps, such as that, on every issue raised by Soludo. Only then, shall we begin the journey of transforming this nation.

Even if Jonathan cannot address all the issues in his tenure, He should at least create this road map, anchored by law and well publised. By so doing, it will be difficult 4 successive government to ignore. After all, his power sector reform was packaged by Obj.

Whatever problem that has a solution plan, is half solved.

It's time to face issues and take actions that will shape our great nation.

Prof. Soludo

The 2011 general election will mark a watershed in Nigeria’s history. It comes immediately after Nigeria bids farewell to the first 50 years of political independence (and 96 years of existence as a country) and will usher in the set of leaders that will lay the foundation for the journey to the next 50 years. Like every other election all over the world, the 2011 elections in Nigeria should be mainly about the economy. As Bill Clinton once said, it is the economy, stupid! Put differently, sound economics ought to be excellent politics. But, have we even realized this?


Our first 50 years had a chequered history as we struggled to forge a nation out of the disparate nationalities. The first few years of independence with the regional economies as the driving force saw spectacular growth of the economy. With oil came a new political economy based essentially on consumption- distributional politics rather than production. So far more than $400 billion of oil rents have been spent with modest progress. We seem to be saddled with an oil resource curse and a political economy that emasculates the future. We have gone through series of development plans, programmes, visions, etc. On paper, some were far reaching. We have also had the courage to implement some radical reforms. But, without a holistic systemic change and commitment to sustain reforms, we often take three steps forward and four backwards.

It appears that the future is foggy and serious discussions about that future—the new Nigeria in the next 50 years has not begun. The debate so far is about who would be President or so, and not about what they will offer. I am afraid that we may again conduct elections without any serious issues being canvassed and ‘winners’ will emerge. Our politics has degenerated. In the Second Republic, I recall the robust debates relating to the alternative ideologies and manifestoes of the five political parties during the 1978/79 elections. I remember specifically listening to Obafemi Awolowo in 1979 explaining how much it would cost to implement free education at all levels and free medical care, and how he would reconstruct public finance to squeeze out the money to implement them.
Not anymore! There are no alternative visions, no ideologies and no programmes that offer the voters clear choices about their future. Even my political party, the behemoth PDP, has no clear road map for the country. It has remained a platform to grab power, and I am not sure how many party members can coherently explain what the party stands for. Some of us joined it in the hope of changing it from within, and we have not given up. That is a separate issue for another day.

I am a strong believer in Nigeria’s future and in its God given destiny to lead the black race. If Nigeria does not make it, sub Saharan Africa cannot make it. It is not by accident that God has chosen to make us Nigerians. It is our collective duty to realize God’s purpose for Nigeria. That is why some of us have elected to devote the rest of our lifetime to work for Nigeria’s future.

But Nigeria’s future cannot be taken for granted. The challenges are herculean, and the next four years are critical. Given the population growth rate and if you believe the last census figures, there will be 161 million Nigerians this year, and 212 millions in 2020. By the time a child born this year turns 50 years in 2060, there will be 650 million Nigerians. At current GDP and population growth rates, Nigeria will still be a developing country in 2060 (below $11,000 per capita income). At current rates, it will only be in 30 years time (2040) that Nigeria will attain the current South Africa’s per capita income. The tragedy is that the country has no implementable plan to steer a different outcome. Under the current political economy, the Vision 2020 will remain what it is—a beautiful dream! Neither the investment levels nor the productivity (given the decaying educational system and poor skills) required to realize Vision 2020 will happen.

For Nigeria to take a shot at 2020, the economy needs to be growing at about 14- 15% per annum (more than twice the current rates of 6-7%). Even with improved efficiency, this requires annual investment rates of more than 40% of GDP (higher than total earnings from oil). With the cessation of hostilities in the Niger Delta, and oil price rising to about $79, external reserves ought to be growing. Rather, external reserves are depleting precariously to about $36 billion currently, with weekly sales at the WDAS running into hundreds of millions of dollars. Private capital inflows have largely ceased. The capital market is comatose and capital flight is back with vengeance! With private saving rate of below 20%, public sector dis-saving (borrowing), and huge net capital flight, the numbers on the macro economy do not simply add up. Add to this the surfeit of liquidity and misalignment of basic prices and the conclusion is self evident: sooner or later, something will have to give!

As I ponder the future, I am deeply worried. As a consequence of deliberate choices made by public sector managers and the constitutional/structural bottlenecks, the economy cannot generate the required investment to secure prosperity for all. In spite of the heavy external debt of $34 billion and oil prices ranging between $25- $50 during the Obasanjo’s second term, we managed to grow the economy at about 6 -7% per annum (from average of 2.8% in the 1990s). We started saving for the rainy day when oil prices reached $35 and by 2007, despite paying $12 billion to write-off the Paris Club debt in 2006, we had saved about $22 billion as ‘Excess Crude’.

In the last few years, oil prices have averaged $70 to $85 per barrel. What has happened? We have spent the $22 billion saved under Obasanjo, and now massively borrowing at an alarming rate (domestically and externally) during a period of unprecedented oil price boom, and yet the economy remains static at 6-7% growth rate. Recurrent expenditure of the public sector has more than doubled since 2004, leaving very little for investment. Recall that during the global financial crisis, we took a deliberate decision to allow the Naira to depreciate as part of the strategies to mitigate the effects of the global crisis. Today, that effectively means that governments at all levels receive (in Naira terms) about 27% more revenue from oil receipts than would otherwise. Indeed, but for this exchange rate change under this circumstance, there would not be more than 11 state governments that can still pay salaries on a consistent basis. With massive government borrowing during a boom and paradoxically very low levels of public investment, the private sector is stymied into a trap. Who has the strategy to unbind this trap?

Effectively, we are repeating the worst forms of the mistakes of the late 1970s to early 1980s: accumulated huge debts and raised government consumption to unsustainable levels during the oil boom which we could not sustain during the slump and hence led to the inevitable SAP. Sadly, we are going through the same cycle again, and if the current trend continues, we are doomed to a worst form of SAP in the future. God forbid! As it is, the economy and the future of hundreds of millions of Nigerians are hinged on a life support of a temporary oil boom. Our economy is still driven by the volatile primary commodity sector—oil, gas, and agriculture. With poverty incidence at about 50%, and urban youth unemployment at over 20%, we are sitting on a time bomb. The issue is not if the oil price will crash, but when. If oil price falls below $40 tomorrow, the economy will come down on its knees, with catastrophic consequences. Surely, the oil price will sooner or later crash, but Nigeria has no contingency plan.

The good news is that Nigeria has all the potentials to be great. There are huge idle resources that can be put to productive use. With economy-wide capacity underutilization at about 60% and oil prices at unprecedented levels, broadly shared growth rate of about 15% is possible. This is where the debate needs to begin. Candidates and political parties need to outline their visions of Nigeria in the next 50 years and HOW they intend to rapidly create a broadly shared and sustainable prosperity. The debate must begin! Can fundamental results be achieved by tinkering with programmes or will major changes in the political structure and Constitution be required? It is time the prospective candidates roll out their agenda, and HOW they intend to finance them! Nigerians will no longer be contented with a plethora of platitudes and wish-lists. Each candidate must tell us how he/she intends to finance each programme, the deliverables and timelines. More specifically, we need to know where they stand on critical national issues, even if they have no concrete plans on them. This is a necessary element of a democratic process.
Below, we outline some of the issues/questions we need answers from the prospective candidates.

The first issue we need answers to is how the candidates hope to reconstruct our public finance and put it back on the path of sustainability. How can they rein-in the obtuse and rapacious federal bureaucracy in particular, and the state bureaucracies, balance our budget during this period of oil boom, and yet spend at least 40% of the budget on capital expenditure as required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act? Personally, I am not convinced that we need more than 10 ministries and 10 ministers at the Federal level. They should explain to us their contingency plans in case oil price crashes tomorrow. Candidates should also let us know their views on, and framework for, borrowing (when to borrow, for what, and how it will be paid back?). Without clarity on these issues, much of the talk about government providing power/electricity and infrastructure on a sustainable basis will remain a joke as funding will always remain a binding constraint. In other words, candidates should tell us their plans to shrink the domain of the public sector to free resources to enlarge the domain of the private sector— to truly have a private sector-led, market economy. For example, I have always believed that company profit tax rate should not be more than 10% (down from the current 30% plus education tax of another 2%) especially at a period of oil price boom, and where the businesses provide their own infrastructure. For businesses to expand and create jobs, the tax rate needs to go down significantly. We need to debate this.

Second, Nigerians would like to know the plans of the candidates for reconstructing our political structures to create the new Nigeria with a new sustainable prosperity. Currently, we are running unitary-federalism, with a plethora of fiscally unviable states as the ‘federating units’, with the attendant wasteful duplication of bureaucracies all over the country. So far as everyone is spoilt with monthly allocations from oil rents, there is no incentive to recreate the prosperity engendered by the palm or cocoa plantations and groundnut pyramids of the old regions. Every village wants to become a state in so far as ‘allocations continue to come from Abuja to pay salaries’. Nigeria’s fiscal federalism seems to have its incentive system upside down, supporting a political economy based upon consumption- distribution rather than production. Should this continue?

Where do we stand on state creation? Should we create 8 states per zone as being proposed, or consolidate the existing ones into six regions with Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt as special territories as being proposed by some people? What do we do with revenues from exhaustible natural resources (oil, gas, solid minerals)? Some propose that we can create as many states as we want (perhaps until every village becomes a state), but that revenue from Federation Account should never be used for recurrent expenditure but only as matching grants to create wealth and productive capacity for present and future generations, such as only for infrastructure, security and education. Where do candidates stand on this issue? What kind of constitutional changes are required to create a functional fiscal federalism, appropriate devolution of powers from the centre to the states/regions, and ensure effective economic management? What is our plan for effective policing of the country to ensure security of life and property? Where do we stand on the proposal for state or regional police?

On specific sectoral issues, the questions are endless. Who has the strategy to achieve uninterrupted power supply over the 2011- 2015 period? Where is the strategy to ensure accurate population census with biometric data of every citizen? If the last census figure is correct, then Nigeria’s population is exploding without any plans for the children of today and tomorrow. Are we happy with the rate of growth of our population or will someone have the courage to propose a robust population policy? What is the magic wand to ensure that we have a free, fair and transparent electoral system where only votes count and all votes are counted? What is the new strategy to fight corruption? Where is the sustainable plan for the Niger Delta and the long term strategy for environmental sustainability of locations amenable to natural resource extraction? Since our current university system is a road to nowhere and producing largely unemployable graduates, candidates need to flesh out their plans to revolutionarise the sector for Nigeria to join the 21st century.

It is estimated that Nigerians have their wealth running into tens of billions of dollars stashed away outside the country, and capital flight has resumed. Who has the plans to reverse the trend? The Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS 2020) was designed to make Nigeria Africa’s financial hub and an international financial centre by 2020. What is the commitment of the candidates to make this happen? How will the candidates address the various cries of marginalization by sections of the country, especially the South East? What are the plans for women and youths, as well as the physically challenged? How do we deal with huge but unrecognized national emergencies such as erosion and desertification?

Furthermore, the future depends on how we deal with the tripartite problems of poverty, urbanization, and unemployment. Candidates need to spell out how they intend to solve the pervasive poverty in the North (averaging over 70% compared to average of less than 35% in the South). To create high value-adding jobs and reduce poverty in the medium term require more than quadrupling of productivity in agriculture as well as mainstreaming of large-scale commercial agriculture. We need to hear the plans of candidates in this regard given the current irrigation level of less than 6%. More specifically, we need to hear from the aspirants how many jobs they can create over the four year period and the strategies to do so.

There is also the challenge of urbanization and urban renewal strategies. At about 5.3%, Nigeria’s urbanization rate is one of the fastest in the world, with the attendant urban decay, slums and urban unemployment, poverty and crime. What is the plan to stem rural-urban migration? In the medium term, what special strategies for the renewal of mega cities like Lagos, PortHarcourt, Aba/Onitsha, Abuja, and Kano which continue to receive the largest influx of youth population in search of non-existing opportunities? What are the strategies to provide safe drinking water to our population?

There are about 20 million housing deficit in Nigeria. What strategies do the aspirants have to unleash a housing boom and a mortgage system in Nigeria? Surely, this can create millions of jobs, and Nigerians need to know how.
Nigeria has one of the most inefficient ports in the world, and much worse than many other West African countries. What are the strategies to revolutionarise our ports and ensure that importers clear customs in 12 -24 hours over the next four years? Also where do the aspirants stand with respect to the proposed West African monetary union and common currency? Where do they stand with regards to the WTO and the Millennium Development Round, and the European Union’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) vis-a-vis the Everything but Arms initiative of the EU? What about the West African common tariffs vis-a-vis the plans for the manufacturing sector? If the aspirants believe that our foreign policy should focus largely on commercial diplomacy, how many missions abroad now make sense, and what kind of ambassadors do we need?

The questions and issues are legion. The essence of this piece is to provoke debate. The next 50 years will make or break Nigeria. Next year marks the beginning of the journey. The current players have a duty to lay a solid foundation for the future. As things are, that future cannot be guaranteed without a big struggle. Those who know, and who have the capacity to contribute to the struggle for a new, prosperous Nigeria must stand up now to be counted! Elite indifference to the political process is not an option. Since we have adopted the U.S. style of state primaries for the President, can we also adopt the U.S.-style debates in various states among the aspirants of the same party? When will the debate begin? The world is watching, and Nigerians are waiting for answers.

Prof. Chukwuma C. Soludo, CFR
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Goodluck is not fighting corruption now does not mean he does not have balls to fight corruption ever. A smart politicians knows that in a time and country like this and in his situation, there are certain areas you don't tread, in order to get what you want.

If Jonathan creates an impression now that he will fight corruption, i bet u, non of the governors will support his 2011 presidential ambition, because they don't want anybody that will encourage a fight against corruption.

I believe he's only playing his politics well. Just watch him when re-elected.

I am not suprised to see Ken Nnamani there. IBB gave him billions of naira to kill 3rd term, so what do u expect him to do?. The man is enjoying part of IBB's loot.

IBB and Atiku should stop fooling us, the Igbos. We know them too well.

1) IBB said he was forced to annul June 12 by his surbodinates. How can he now withstand the preasure from the North to continue in 2015.
2) IBB was forced to to step-down in 1993, how can he willingly step down for Igbo presidency come 2015, knowing he has the constitutional right to continue. IBB is a power monger who will never relinqiush power in 2015.
3) IBB is a maradona and he knows how to dribble you to get what he wants. That's excactlly what he is doing now to the Igbos.

My Igbo brothers, let's shine our eyes well well, before these fools use & dump us.

To my fellow Nigerians, for so long, we have sacrificed the greatness of our dear country on the alter of ethnic politics. It's time to rise up against this evil and let the best man rule.

IBB and Atiku should stop fooling us, the Igbos. We know them too well.

1) IBB said he was forced to annul June 12 by his surbodinates. How can he now withstand the preasure from the North to continue in 2015.
2) IBB was forced to to step-down in 1993, how can he willingly step down for Igbo presidency come 2015, knowing he has the constitutional right to continue. IBB is a power monger who will never relinqiush power in 2015.
3) IBB is a maradona and he knows how to dribble you to get what he wants. That's excactlly what he is doing now to the Igbos.

My Igbo brothers, let's shine our eyes well well, before these fools use & dump us.

To my fellow Nigerians, for so long, we have sacrificed the greatness of our dear country on the alter of ethnic politics. It's time to rise up against this evil and let the best man rule.

Jonathan is very smart, he has already done his political calculations as follow.

1) Try his best to secure PDP ticket during primary.
2) Put a creadible man in charge of inec, who will play no game with PDP.
3) Get Nigerians to love him through constant communications(facebook), good projects(power project), etc.
4) If he fails to secure PDP ticket, he decamps to another party(ACN 4 instance).
5) ACN gives him the ticket with Ribadu as his vice.
6) Nigerians, whom have fallen in love with him(facebook, power projects effort, others), will vote 4 him en-mass.
7) Because the credible man in inec will not allow PDP to rig, Jonathan wins.

This, i suspect, is his game plan. I hope ACN will be wise enough to position ACN to take advantage of this PDP's impending mistake. Babangida will never win a general election in Nigeria without PDP rigging the election, which i know, Jega cannot give to them.

Nlanders, let's analize the above 7 points. What do you think?.

Plus IBB has too much to lose if things are not done accordingly, his neck is on the line. Trust me, he can not afford to fumble this time around.
He is only contesting to clean up the mess that has been lingering for many years. He has the courage, he is brave, he has military background, he [b]can not be pushed by anybody,[/b][b][/b] he has the experience, no governor in this country has the ball to mess with IBB.
He is fighting for his legency, we must never allow this opportunity to slip away.

Allow him to put it together

But he was pushed to nulify june 12?

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