₦airaland Forum

Okwyjesus:
We are not crying. We are saying IF CAN GIVE CONSIDERATION TO EDUCATIONAL DISADVANTAGED REGION. GIVE CONSIDERATION ALSO TO " ASSUMED POLITICALLY DISADVANTAGED REGION"

Its simple to restore equity and justice. It's by doing the right thing.

As at when other Nigerians were Okay with the decentralized system, you used military might to change it against their wish without their consent. So why are you now asking for their consent about getting your fair share of the fruits of decentralization? Why not equally find a way to forcefully achieve it through an unpopular method as you did when you introduced the system which brought this quota system? You are strong enough to achieve anything with force against the wish of others and you have always beaten your chests about it. So show that strength again now to get Igbo presidency.

00FFT00:
I want to hope you're not attempting to play the usual Nigeria divisive politics here. Let's be honest, you will never find a Nigerian political aspirant who will campaign on the basis you suggest and survive a fortnight. Who will shake your hand and say "thank you very much"?. Northern Nigeria?.

Nigeria is a work in progress. Mr. Obi recognizes this fact and I believe that it is not incumbent on him to change the basis of our corporate existence. He is not Nigeria.

If you are a citizen of Nigeria as I want to assume that you are, you have as much responsibility as anyone to champion a refit of our union. Delegating our collective responsibility to a man who is trying to do what he can to save a country we all know is on the verge of collapse smacks of dishonesty.

Nigeria can be industrialized in the present configuration by the way. Industrial China is not a federalist republic. What we lacked and continue to lack in Nigeria are honest people and resource managers. People who truly understand what Nigeria needs and are willing to sacrifice their selfish interests in pursuit of it.

Per the first bolded, I never said that any one who campaigns with restructuring will survive the game. Contrary to your restriction of anti-restructuring resentment to Northerners only, some southerners, from even the SS hardest hit by this Unitary system, hate restructuring more than the average Northerner due to a mixture of ignorance and microeconomic benefit they enjoy on account of the status quo. My response to you was strictly about your insinuation that only Peter Obi can or is speaking truth to power and except you are deceiving yourself or just trying to be politically correct, the only truth as far as it concerns salvation of Nigeria is restructuring which neither Peter Obi nor any other aspirant will dare speak at least for now.
Even some Northerners agree only that they are afraid of the initial economic shock their region will suffer at the early stages in the life of a restructured Nigeria back to how it was before 1966.

Per the second bolded, your opinion betrays shallow knowledge on the factors that necessitate federalism in the first instance which is ethnic plurality. Industrialization can happen in any society provided they practice the structure which suits their ethnic composition. In a Unitary state like China, there is no need for federalism because the Chinese is relatively a homogeneous race with a single language hence no inter tribal suspicion, ethnic rivalry etc that militate against industrialization under a unitary system. But in Nigeria where we have not only different ethnicities but antagonistic tribes within the same ethnicity, industrialization can only happen under federalism which is the only system that guarantees each tribe, however, tiny, the power to assert themselves and decide their own destiny within the larger national framework. Your theory of honest and committed resources managers does not hold water because by nature, we are intrinsically born dishonest, self centered and wayward, hence the need for laws and institutions in the first instance. What we therefore need in Nigeria are not honest and committed men, but institutions which will compel people to possess the minimum level of discipline and rationality needed for industrialization, and true federalism is one of such institutions. The only time we had people like Awolowo, Michael Okpara, Ahmadu Bello, etc whom we all unanimously agree were excellent resource managers based on results they delivered was when we practiced true federalism.

Look how Fashola with all the demonstrated resource management skills as Lagos State Governor wobbled seriously as minister at the unitary center? Look how Wike who is doing excellently as Rivers Governor now did a horrible waste of resources as minister of Education by advising Jonathan to dump N500bn on Almajiri schools project which no Almajiri has been reported to have ever really attended let alone graduate from till today? That tells you how unitary system kills resource management skills in a multi-ethnic society.

Okwyjesus:
If quota system is allowed to in employment and admission bcs certain people can't match the brain of others.

Quota system should be allowed to pave way for lgbo presidency

Quota system is a fall out of the centralization of powers, resources and opportunities by Aguiyi Ironsi, an Igbo man, through his Unification Decree. Recall that before that decree, each region built and run their own Universities, e.g. University of Northern Nigeria with campuses in Zaria (Now ABU), Jos (Now Unijos), Sokoto (now UDU), Maiduguri (now Unimaid, and Kano (Now BUK) which were all controlled and run 100% by the Northern Region Government alone which also decided their admission criteria without any input from the office of the Prime Minister. Likewise, University of Ibadan and University of Ife (Now OAU) were founded, funded and administered entirely by the Western Region Government which as well set standards and admission criteria for them. Same with University of Nigeria Nsukka founded, administered and funded by the Eastern Region Government which determined its admission criteria. Under such a scenario, the government at the center couldn't dictate or impose any policy on those universities because the Independence Constitution simply forbade it.
But once Ironsi came and Whittled down the regions' powers through his Unification Decree that gave over so much powers to the center in his rather strange pursuit of national unity, the stage became set for the federal government to start making uniform policies binding on all these universities. Quota system, educationally disadvantaged states and catchment area were some of such policies.
For example the educationally disadvantaged states policy goes like this:
In a federal University like University of Portharcourt now: if a person from Edo State seeks to read Geology meets up with the cut off mark, and a person from Taraba State seeks to read the same Geology in the same Uniport but falls short of the cut off mark by, say, five marks; the admission is given to the Taraba applicant because his state he comes from has just one university which can't accommodate all them over there while the Edo person is rejected because his home state has about 11 universities. But the question is this, was it Edo State that stopped Taraba State government from setting up universities all this while? This is how Aguiyi Ironsi laid the foundation which only gave too much powers to the center to kill merit by making uniform policies for everyone in every aspect of our national lives thus limiting the potentially resourceful and gifted person to the same level as the dull and unintelligent person. So why are Igbos now crying blue murder over quota system?

otipoju:
I did not assume that you are yoruba and did not mention that anywhere in what i wrote.

In the last 22 years of democratic rule we have had non competent people in power. Obasanjo, Yaradua, Jonathan and Buhari are certainly not Nigeria's brightest minds.

In an ideal world, decentralization ,devolution of certain powers ,resource control ,true federalism or confederal government are absolutely neccessary for Nigeria to grow.

Nevertheless, facing the reality on ground and the peculiar Nigerian current situation, in the interest of equity, justice and fairness...an easterner should become president. It will help calm a lot of things.

Obasanjo's becoming president wasn't done in pursuit of fairness or equity to Yorubas but done by the Northern Oligarchy in cahoots with their Southern Collaborators mostly from the SE and my own SS in pursuit of perpetuating themselves in power and protecting their hold on the national treasury sustained by resources of the Niger Delta. If it were about fairness and equity towards Yorubas, then common sense dictated that it is the candidate whom the Yorubas themselves wanted, i.e. Olu Falae, that everyone should have supported to power back then in 1999. In fact Obasanjo was chosen by the Northern Oligarchy and supported by the SE and SS for the very fact that he had a rich dossier of anti- Yoruba antecedents and was sure to further perpetrate same if given power. So by what logic do you conclude that the choice of him was aimed at doing justice, equity and fairness to Yorubas? You can't claim you were doing justice to Yorubas over June 12 and then pick an enemy of June 12 as beneficiary of that Justice. It simply doesn't make sense anywhere in the world except in Nigeria where abnormality and normality have switched roles for long.

Yaradua was chosen by Obasanjo not in pursuit of any equity, fairness and justice towards the Fulanis in general or the NW region, but as a compensation to the his family for the Abacha Junta murder of his elder brother who was his old friend in the army, his deputy as Military HoS and with whom he served in Abacha's gulag. So it was all about Oligarchy interest which him, the Yaradua family, some Yorubas, Igbos', Middle Belt people, Edos, Urhobos, Efiks, etc all belonged. The Oligarchy is pan-Nigerian in composition.

Jonathan's presidency was not in pursuit of any justice, equity or fairness to the Niger Delta common man because:
1. It was accidental on one hand as it was sure Yaradua wouldn't have ever allowed him succeed him had ill-health not truncated his tenure. You could easily deduce this from the fact that Yaradua never officially transmitted power to Jonathan in any of his trips overseas even when he knew such trips would keep him out of the country for a time longer than the minimum number of days of absence for which the constitution required him to hand over officially to Jonathan.

2. On the other hand, Jonathan's presidency was seen as an act of God by which God himself wanted to divinely intervene not in the plight of Niger Deltans alone but in the plight of every poor, oppressed, suffering and downtrodden common man in all parts of the country given his humble background and his equally ordinary personality as against all his co-aspirants who had been members of the Oligarchy directly or indirectly since independence. But unfortunately, Jonathan wasted that opportunity as he turned his back on the masses after getting to power and began tto prioritize the interest of the very oppressor Oligarchy, so the spirit of God left him and he fell.

Buhari's rise to power wasn't about the need to do any justice, equity or fairness to the Fulanis or his NW region as Yaradua who came before him was equally a Fulani from the NW as himself. Rather Buhari was supported on certain credentials about ideal leadership for a Nigeria working for everyone which he unfortunately failed to live up to just like Jonathan.

Based on the foregoing therefore, I find it difficult to find meaning in this premise of rotational fairness, equity and justice on which this Igbo presidency demand is premised.
Get it clear, I am not against Igbo presidency even though the Igbo rule of Aguiyi Ironsi derailed us from the initially working Nigeria into this dysfunctional one through his Unification Decree which destroyed the very structure we now ask for . In fact there are one or two intelligent and honest Igbo persons who have admitted that Ironsi destroyed Nigeria, thus can be trusted to actually bring about the new Nigeria on our lips through a genuine commitment to restructuring. What I am however against is this emotional blackmail that everyone should just cave into Igbo presidency project just because they have to be placated like it was done to Obasanjo on behalf of Yorubas, Yaradua and Buhari on behalf of Fulanis, and Jonathan on behalf of Ijaws when in actual fact we know that Obasanjo and Yaradua were the choices of an Oligarchy motivated with the desire to retain power and resources of the country within their family forever. Like I already said, the Oligarchy is pan-Nigerian in composition, so let it give power to any Igbo member of their family and call it compensation to Igbos' over the Biafra genocide against them, and that will make more sense than this theory of equity, justice and fairness being used to insult our sensibilities.

00FFT00:
This is exactly what Mr. Peter Obi has been telling us.

He said there is no way around the industrialization of Nigeria if we are to set on the pathway of exiting poverty.
But before that happens, we must also have the security of lives and property.

The problem does not lie fundamentally in the subsidies themselves but in the implementation thereof.

Peter Obi rightly diagnosed that fuel subsidy, for example, had always been weaponized by successive administrations as a conduit to steal Nigeria's Commonwealth for the elites.

Nigeria has too many evil people who see the country as a commodity they must sell.

With that in mind, it is going to be an uphill task to get Nigeria working as it should.

But we must give it to a man who is honest enough to tell us that his class is a precursory element to the problem we face today.

He also told us that he is willing to take the fight to them on our collective behalf.

He speaks truth to power. Mr. Obi speaks to the issues close to the man on the streets, unlike those who play the ostrich instead of adding their voices to find solutions to what is bedeviling Nigerians.

This is important because it goes to show that the man is not about politics or himself. He wants to unite this country, and I pray he succeeds.

I would have agreed with you on all your accolades on Peter Obi if the man had been bold enough to have campaigned with a return to true federalism for that is the only atmosphere on which industrialization can happen and that is the only truth to be spoken to power.
Please show me where Peter Obi has ever identified with the crusaders for true federalism and resource control. None!

whirlwind7:
Handouts is APC's style.
If you have any inkling about Peter Obi's ideology, you would realize that he was totally opposed to every style of governance APC adopted.
He is anti waste, anti patronage, anti flamboyance and doesn't let the culture of "share the money" anywhere around him.

Check his mode of administration during his tenure as gov of Anambra.
He made his mark and his wealth before going into politics.

You have forgotten the slogan "PDP! Share the money"

otipoju:
Error 101. Fallacy of hasty generalization.

Stop assuming that everyone who speaks of equity and fairness is Igbo. I am definitely not Igbo and can't even speak a full sentence of Igbo.

There is a no harm in voting for a Northern candidate as long as he is beleived to be competent.

Buhari's tenure and open marginalization of the Igbos who he believes are inconsequential has opened everyone's eyes to the nasty game that the northerners have been running for decades.

Stop assuming that Yorubas will not vote for an Igbo candidate. The hunger suffering and tribulation of the last seven years have cured a lot of Nigerians of their tribalism.

All Obi's campaign needs to be repeating is that

" hunger knows no tribe " vote for competency
" bullet no dey look face" vote for competency
Suffering no know your state of origin" vote for competency.



That is the message that will resonate deeply with Nigerians if he wins his party ticket

Neither am I Yoruba, hence making you even guiltier of the hasty generalization you accused me of.

How come the Obasanjo and Yaradua whom you argue Igbos' voted for because of competence both left Nigeria worse than they met it? The two major indicies of measuring the competence of a government are security and Economic growth.
Obasanjo met Dollar at N20 but after his eight years the Dollar was at N120....a 500% increase. On security, Obasanjo inherited only OPC from Abdulsalam but handed Yaradua a Nigeria riddled with insecurity outfits like Boko Haram, Niger Delta Militants, MASSOB, etc.
Then the "equally" competent Yaradua whom Igbos fell over one another to vote for inherited Dollar at N120 but within his 2½ years the Dollar was already at N170. He inherited mild Niger Delta militancy from Obasanjo but handed Jonathan a very cancerous form of it together with Fulani herdsmen menace which started in Plateau State in 2009 right under his nose.

The red pill which your idealistic likes are yet to swallow is that as long as we keep up with this unitary constitution which overconcentrates powers and revenues at the center, there will always be the fear that the tribe which clinches power at the center will tend to favour her members and home region above all others and the need to act in self defense on the part of all other tribes will always precipitate tribal consciousness and its attendant tribalism.
You can't preach tribalism out of existence any more than you can do same for corruption for these are natural human tendencies which we are all born with even though they have negative effects on the society. You rather organize the society in such a way that reduces as much as possible the need for people to hold tight to these vices and that is why we ask for true federalism which places most powers and revenues at the state level in order that people will hold their governors responsible and don't really care who the president is or what tribe he comes from.
The fact that we have had Yoruba President, Fulani presidents, Ijaw president, Hausa Vice president, Yoruba vice president, Ijaw vice president and Fulani vice president yet Nigeria is worse than it was in 1999 should have been an evidence to you that it is not by ethnicity thus Igbo presidency will equally fail us. Therefore what Nigeria has always needed and still needs now is a president that is favourably disposed to restructuring back to the true federalism which Igbos' destroyed in 1966. Whoever among the present contestants is most pro-restructuring is the person who should be voted for by any voter sincerely committed to a New Nigeria that works for everyone regardless of status be he Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo, Bini, Urhobo, Efik, Ijaw, Igala, Esan, Etuno, Okpameri, Etsako, Ibibio, Ogoja, Itsekiri, Isoko, Ekpeye, Ikwerre, Ogoni, Anioma, etc. All this talk about Igbo presidency is a fall out of the tribalistic consciousness that only Igbos are Wazobians yet to rule and not about a better Nigeria.

otipoju:
For justice, equity and fairness it is the turn of Igbos to be president. Most Yorubas that i know feel this way.

"Omo wa ni, eje ko she" pattern no go work for this election.

Most of the current problems stem from the bias against the east by the incompetent northern oligarchy...who like to keep their people in ignorance and poverty,then feeding them crumbs so that they can control them.

But Igbos' have always been the highest percentage voters for the candidates of the incompetent Northern Oligarchy. Check the figures given by Igbos to Obasanjo a lackey of the Northern Oligarchy in 1999 and 2003, and also check the figures Yaradua, a son of the Northern Oligarchy, got from the SE in 2007 and see if you aren't indicting your people.

franchasofficia:
Good.


Wise Yoruba elders, Middlebelt Elders and Niger Delta elders who understand how earth works and know that giving Igbo Presidency will heal and unite Nigeria because they understand life more, and are busy telling their people the truth, but their gullible youths who have developed baseless tribal hatred and penchant love for crumbs from political criminals who looted their destiny refused to have sense.



Until Nigerians placate Igbos for the civil war, Nigeria will continue to run round and round without communal progress like the wheels in the bus

Placate Igbos' for the civil war they brought upon themselves by declaring secession 15 months after Promulgating the Anti-secession Decree which made secession punishable with death by hanging?

IGBOSON1:
See me see wahala! Dude, what sewer did you crawl out from to start having a go at me like this? What exactly is getting your knickers in a twist....is it me positing that Nigeria has been unworkable since the late 60s? Why does this statement rile you up so?

It is you who came out of the sewers to make a hypocritic insinuation that Nigeria was an ideal society until the late sixties which happened to be the time Igbos' first ever had the idea of secession crossing their minds.

IGBOSON1:
I agree with you that the 1914 amalgamantion was ill-advised, but you forget that act was out of our hands...we had no say in the matter! Post independence however was a diffrent ball game as the three regions discussed AS EQUALS on the kind of Nigeria they wanted to live in.

Can you provide links to buttress your point that the Northern Region asked for 'de-amalgamation' shortly after 1914?

When exactly did Westerners describe Nigeria as 'a mere geographical expression'? Was this done as a resolution of the Western Region parliament? Your assertion leads one to think they made this description of Nigeria shortly after the amalgamation. was this a mistake on your part? The way i read it, it was Obafemi Awolowo that made the statement, and it was shortly before or just after independence....can't remember the exact period, but i'm certain it wasn't made shortly after the amalgamation of 1914.

You posit that Azikiwe was 'singing 'one Nigeria' until the late 60s......'! What has this got to do with anything? Did Azikiwe have unilateral powers to drag the Northern and Western Regions kicking and screaming into a forced 'one Nigeria'? If not, then what exactly are you on about? In any case, didn't the very same Western and Northern Regions have the opportunity in 1967 to reverse things and detach themselves from the 'marriage Azikiwe forced them into'? Or where they speaking from both sides of their mouths?

You claim Azikiwe was promoting 'one Nigeria' in order to 'dominate' other regions/ ethnicities. Could you show us some practical proof of this....just how the Igbos were 'dominating the Northern and Western Regions at the time?

Dude, when i posit that Nigeria became unworkable since the late 60s, i'm also including the strife that led up to the ill-fated and ill-adviced Nzeogwu coup! The wetie debacle in the Western Region is the singular event that instigated the coup, and everything has been downhill ever since! Would you argue with this assertion?

You say Azikiwe was in cahoots with Balewa to cause trouble in Okrika and Tivland. Can you tell us what you think Azikiwe stood to gain from causing trouble in these places? Also, could you present limks/documentary proof of your assertion?

You claim that besides immediately after the amalgamation, that Northern Region again demanded for secession, and YET AGAIN they were denied this and Azikiwe 'instigated the British to threaten them to abandon their demand'! Could you equally provide documentary proof by way of links/documentary-evidence to prove this assertion?

More proof needed on when and where Azikiwe branded Enahoro a 'sectionalist and enemy of Nigeria' for proposing a secession clause be inserted in the constitution? Azikiwe is but one person....your assertions on him may be true, but i want to see links or documentary proof to buttress your accusations of him EXACTLY IN THE WORDS YOU PUT THEM!

You claim Isaac Boro declared a Republic abi? Could you tell us the limits of this Republic (ie, regions or countries it was bounded by)....the ethncities that made up this Republic.....its capital....and where and when the meeting was held with other stakeholders for the Republic to be declared?

You have to tell us how and when Biafra thwarted the secession bids of the Northern and Western Regions to justify them 'paying back Biafra in her own coin'! And where exactly did Biafra get this unilateral power to 'thwart said secession bids'?

Nigeria, as disparate as it was pre-1966, actually was working because the template being used was the one ALL REGIONS signed up to on 1st Oct, 1960. UCH Ibadan was a centre of excellence at the time that it was said that even the Saudi Royal family booked in for treatments. The Western Region recorded many firsts during this period and became a leading exporter of cocoa. Their was a healthy competition between the Western, Eastern and Northern Regions at the time. The Eastern Region was noted to be one of the fastest developing economies in the world at the time. The likes of Singapore, UAE and South korea that we look up to today were not our mate during this period! Etc! But like i said, everything started going downhill from the late 60s after that stupid Nzeogwu coup!

Your demand for evidences and links to all these scenarios clearly shows that you are either entirely new to NL or just being plain dishonest. These issues have been in focus with links posted to back them up since 2015 when members of all other tribes were compelled to start setting the records straight against Igbo propaganda of being oppressed through the conspiracy of all other tribes on the heels of the self inflicted downfall of Jonathan who wasn't even an Igbo man in the first instance to warrant being the one on whose 2015 loss Igbos'premised their accusation of marginalization and oppression.

IGBOSON1:
Any chance to bring Mazi Kanu into the discussion….even if the thread doesn’t warrant it! Aren’t we all living the ‘one Nigeria’ you cursed souls prefer!? First pray for God to deliver your own region from evil before crying crocodile tears and pretending to seek his grace and mercies over a people you despise so passionately!

Some of us have been shouting ourselves hoarse that Nigeria is unworkable….was unworkable since the late 60s to date, and that we just can’t keep on going on with the status-quo, pretending all is well and that all we need is to vote in the ‘right person’ (as if there’s ever been a genuine presidential election in Nigeria since 2011), and everything will be honky-dory!

Nigeria will continue to sustain its cursed and troubled existence with the blood of innocents until the right thing is done!

Trying to be clever by half. You claim Nigeria has been unworkable since late sixties because you want to rewrite history against the widely known truth that Nigeria's non workability began to prove itself almost as immediately as the 1914 amalgamation happened as Northerners began to ask for de-amalgamation almost immediately, Westerners too were describing Nigeria as a mere geographical expression not qualified to be called a country but your uncle Azikiwe and his fellow Igbo cheerleaders were singing one-Nigeria until the late sixties that it rudely dawned on them that the one-Nigeria fraud they were promoting in order to dominate Nigeria was beginning to boomerang and causing them unimaginable damage. So Nigeria was workable when Azikiwe was in cahoots with Tafawa Balewa causing trouble and violent demonstrations in Okrika, Tiv land and the entire Western Region in the early sixties? Nigeria was working in 1953 when Northerners again demanded secession and Azikiwe instigated the British to threaten them with treason charges? Nigeria was working when Azikiwe labelled Enahoro a sectionalist and enemy of Nigeria's unity for proposing secession clause which would have actually made Nigeria work by way of instilling the fear of the consequences of misgovernance in all our future rulers. Nigeria was working when Isaac Boro declared Niger Delta Republic and Ojukwu used the federal Military might to force him back into Azikiwe's fraudulent one-Nigeria. It was only in the late sixties that Nigeria stopped working because Biafra wanted to pull out but were paid back in their own coin by the other tribes whose own secession bids they earlier on thwarted. Comedian!

Peter Obi might have all the enthralling campaign jingles but I am yet to see how his candidacy will appeal to Northerners, especially the NW against whom his people have sustained a steady flow of diatribes and venom of unprintable name calling demonization, verbal dehumanization, etc for the past seven years and still counting. I even doubt if he will get the PDP ticket going by the signals coming from the Northcentric wing of the party so far.
The Core North people amongst whom I lived for ten years and studied closely, don't easily forget instances of denigration their religious persuasions, political philosophy and cultural values even though they don't immediately react to verbal attacks and provocations.

Gozac:
It's a pity patriot is a word used mostly in SS and SE

The SS and SE delude themselves with that word "patriot". That was how they used it to whitewash a recycled Obasanjo in 1999 who was only being fronted by the militaristic Northern Oligarchy in pursuit of their perpetual hold on power through a confirmed lackey from the South but unfortunately, while his own SW saw through that deceit by the North, the SS and SE fell for it and championed the campaign slogan of him being a detribalized patriot and a born again Christian.
Give a SS or SE man a position of power and influence at the national level and see him turn use it for the benefit Northern interests at the expense of his own region in the name of pursuing national unity and patriotism like GEJ, Amaechi and lot of others did. But try same with a SW person and see him give priority to his SW region first and defend it intelligently like Fashola did when, as minister for works and housing, earmarked the highest allocation on federal roads to the rehabilitation of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and used superior arguement to shut up all those who questioned the propriety and ethicality of the act. This is the reason the Northern cabal is afraid of Tinubu and won't mind a Jonathan whom they now know for a hard core one-Nigerianist cast in the mould of Nnamdi Azikiwe who was plagued with the DNA of always been ready to sacrifice his people's interest for the convenience of the North in the guise of one-Nigerianism.

AreaFada2:
Because they thought that being gentle means stupidity. Cunning self-acclaimed sophisticated lot believe that others are not wise. They thought GEJ would do their bidding. Lifelong ambition man supported GEJ to protect his family oil and gas business and share of oil subsidy robbery.

He duped Ribadu into being ACN presidential candidate but worked against Ribadu and his own party to protect personal interest.
Is such a duplicitous individual the best to be Nigerian president? People mumu never do.

When GEJ dared to suggest oil subsidy removal (their daylight highway robbery business), they turned against him.

Most of your allegations here are very oblivious of history. To say that Tinubu supported Jonathan for selfish interest and that only Yorubas trooped out against him on fuel subsidy removal means you are speaking from emotions.
First and foremost, Tinubu didn't just jump out to support Jonathan in 2011. Rather Jonathan visited him twice in Lagos to seek his support before he conceeded on the bargain that Jonathan would convene an SNC towards restructuring. I don't know what is selfish about that. Had he been he was the one who left Lagos to meet Jonathan in Abuja for negotiations, then your allegation of selfish motive for the 2011 support would have held water. It was clear that Jonathan was the one who needed him and not the other way round.

The same SW were the ones who, with leading figures like Tunde Bakare, Wole Soyinka, etc, quickly convened the SNG Group which poured out into the street to threaten the Northern Oligarchy of an end to Nigeria should the constitution be violated and Jonathan denied presidency when the Turai-led cabal which a prominent SS son, James Ibori, was part of, was hell bent on shoving Jonathan out of the way for a Northerner to replace Yaradua. Pray tell me where any similar gathering and protest was staged in Jonathan's home SS or SE Region for Jonathan back then in the face of that intimidation from the Northern cabal?.

On the fuel subsidy removal, Jonathan caught Nigerians unaware as he announced it with immediate effect on a New Year day when most people who travelled home got caught up with skyrocketed transportation fares as against what they had earmarked for return journey based on the previous pump prices. It was very unwise and ill-advised on Jonathan's part and the protest was nationwide. Please watch the video clips on YouTube.
If Jonathan had given a two or three months notice ahead, no one would have protested because everyone knew that fuel subsidy would eventually go one day coupled with the fact that Jonathan's immense goodwill was still intact as of that moment.

The Ribadu candidacy you talk about was actually a plot between him and Jonathan to block the ACN so that Atiku, the only actual threat to Jonathan in that election, would have no major party to run to for ticket should he lose the PDP primary.
Now, ask yourself whether Jonathan ended up being genuinely committed to restructuring pact he entered into with Tinubu in his two time visit to Lagos. If you cite the 2014 confab I will give you at least five solid evidences of Jonathan's non commitment to it. If you recall, the first time Tinubu publicly criticized Jonathan post 2011 inauguration was in 2014 when Jonathan first declared that to him the problem of Nigeria was corruption and had nothing to do with the structure. What does the tell you about the character of Jonathan himself?

Then on the issue of speakership, after visiting Tinubu and getting SW support through him to victory in the election, Jonathan chose to support a loyalist of Obasanjo whom he knew was Tinubu's political enemy. Why didn't Jonathan visit Obasanjo in Ota when he was seeking support of the SW but chose Burdillon? Put yourself in Tinubu's shoes in those circumstances and see if you would react differently.

To tell you more about Jonathan's character which made him a bad politician, during the anti-subsidy demonstration against him, he had to invite Oshiomhole to give credibility to his reasons for that removal. Oshiomhole decided to blindly put his credibility at stake by agreeing on SS solidarity despite he was of a party different from Jonathan's even though he didn't see any SS governor of the PDP publicly identify with Jonathan on that unpopular policy. against the risk of being accused of antiparty activities, he went ahead to publicly defend and rationalize it. That was the beginning of the erosion of the goodwill Oshiomhole had struggle to gather over the years.
How did Jonathan repay him later? Answer: by sponsoring some EDHA members to impeach him.

IDeyNL:
If Jonathan had been an average Afonja Muslim politician, he would have joined APC long ago just to clinch power.

I find it very funny SW are saying Jonathan will betray the south of he joins APC because he has just one term and it would be a shortchange to the whole South. Whereas the same SW betrayed the whole South when we had our opportunity. Now they are Jonathan as a betrayal.

I just hope Jonathan doesn't fall for APC northern trick, be shouldn't behave like a typical SW politician who betrays his brothers.

The SW purveyors of this narrative that Jonathan's acceptance of this present APC offer will amount to betrayal of the South appear to me as very ill-informed and unintelligent section of the SW. However, the records need to be set straight once and for all about this issue of SW betraying Jonathan.
In 2011, the entire South and Middle Belt voted for Jonathan with an unprecedented massiveness in the history of Nigeria, and once Jonathan was declared winner of that election the Core North broke into violent demonstrations killing whoever they perceived as traitors among them for supporting Jonathan against their son Buhari. But on assumption of office, Jonathan pursued the interest of the Core North at the detriment of the SW and Middle Belt especially. He nearly practically abandoned the SW in terms of appointments and projects. He disappointed the Middle Belt with his body language on state police and other agitations by which the Middle Belt people would have lawfully taken into their hands their destiny on the insecurity ravaging them courtesy of Fulani herdsmen menace from the Core North. Even a SS state like Edo got nothing from Jonathan despite championing the media and publicity aspect of the struggle that finally culminated in Jonathan's presidency. All these bred discontent for which these sections of the country felt betrayed hence chose to cut their pound of flesh in 2015 as Jonathan's presidency came to represent the interest of the Core North which never wanted him there in the first instance.
If Jonathan were a shrewd politician and therefore reinforced and sustained the Southern/Middle Belt solidarity which brought him to power, it would have been the beginning of the end of the Northern Oligarchy's grip on power and might have gone a long way to finally amicably address the perennial Igbo vs Yoruba antipathy which the North harvests to remain dominant. But his waste of such golden opportunity to solidify the much needed unity of the South and Middle solidarity much needed for the achievement of the Nigeria of our dreams made the Middle Belt and SW vote against him in 2015. Igbos had nearly all the juiciest position in his government hence their solidarity for him was understandable. His being from the SS also explained why they stuck to him despite all he was doing against their interest. So how come only the SW is now being accused of betraying Jonathan when the middle belt also made a U-turn against him in 2015? Then the Amaechi who openly fought him from his own SS region, hence the biggest betrayer, is now being favoured for presidency by some very folks fighting Tinubu for the same crime Amaechi is guiltier of?

sapele914:
Dead on arrival, ordinary vigilante groups they can organize, it is indisciplined police with impunity a state wants to control?

Fayose would have still been Governor of Ekiti State.

Hisbah Police is wholly owned and controlled by Kano State Government with a religious security mandate. Would you mind reminding us of just one instance of Hisbah Police being used by any Kano State governor to perpetuate himself in power through disruption of voting or hounding of political foes?

Amotekun is a wholly SW states owned police system. Has there been any report of its abuse by any of the SW governors for electoral heist?

In my state of Edo, one of the major reasons for which most 4 + 4 / Edo no be Lagos crew members are disappointed utterly in Obaseki now is that rather than convert the Edo State vigilante group to a full state security architecture through an act of the Edo State House of Assembly just as SW states and Kano did, he has even technically disbanded it by completely stopping the N15,000 stipends he was paying them shortly before the last guber election despite the huge security votes he collects. When Edo State Vigilante group came on board, even with the little salaries they were getting from free will donations from natives of the communities, Fulani herdsmen menace became history within a month. But now they are all back especially in Ovia NE, Ovia SW and Orhimwon having a field day ever since the state vigilante left the scene on account of salary stoppage by the state government. Desperate as Obaseki was to win the 2020 election by hook or crook, he still didn't deploy state vigilante to the polls even though he was paying them.
So with all these examples before us, I still don't understand why people can't see that there is no substance in the argument that state police will be abused by the governors.

LegendHero:
When PDP was in power, OBJ openly rejected the call for state policing. If Baba had use his powers to effect that, we wouldn’t have been in the current dilemma.

One thing about our politician is hypocrisy. When they are outside power, they have the best people friendly agenda but when they get to power they suddenly become the people’s enemy.

Let’s hope the next government can carefully lobby the legislative arm to get us state policing in Nigeria.

God bless you abundantly for this reminder. I just realized that the only actual problem in this country is the short memory of those who call themselves youths. I was shocked to see people online giving credit Obasanjo for this hypocritic outburst just because he seems to be against the present administration. This attitude of the enemy of my enemy is my friend is what is killing this country and not corruption or any of the other factors we blame.
Who is Obasanjo to advise the government to look the way of state police which he himself argued would never work even though the centralized police was clearly failing right under his nose as president from 1999 to 2007? This shameless opportunist's hypocrisy is further appreciated when one considers how he quickly volunteered his property as LCDA secretariat when Amosun created LCDAs in Ogun State and made his village one of the headquarters .....the same man who held Lagos State's allocation for years claiming the creation of LCDAs was illegal even when the Supreme Court had ruled otherwise.

Skyview01:
You should know during Obasanjo time, The country was not worse like this. I am sure you are not comparing Obasanjo to this clueless and evil administration.

All that makes this government appear evil and clueless to you started during Obasanjo's time but because of political capital, Obasanjo deliberately refused to address them back then when they had not taken root hence could have easily been crushed in the bud. Consequently these problems grew bigger and bigger all through his eight uneventful years leaving all his succesors with the difficult task of clearing up the mess. Even Jonathan could not do much as the problems had already grown to full maturity. Only Yaradua was lucky to meet these problems at stages when they could still be quite easily surmountable but he did very little only on Boko Haram and made a window dressing attempt on Niger Delta militancy. Obasanjo is at the root of everything wrong with Nigeria in this democratic dispensation. Till today he still hobnobs with Boko Haram and even appologising to them for their pioneer leader being killed by Yaradua. Imagine that? Then he gives cash gifts to Boko Haram members. There was actually nothing good about Obasanjo's government. He was only lucky to have come in at a time people had not totally lost hope in the system enough to resort to self help and outright violence.

Eriokanmi:
I agree with you. (My response was straightforward to address the issued previously raised)... most of the problem we have today weren't there when Afe Babalola was AG which was the truth and that wasn't tantamount to me praising Obasanjo. If you read my earlier post, you'd have seen where I said the PDP couldn't address insecurity since 1999, same as in the military era where the same obj was head of state, which is why constitutional amendment is inevitable and without excusing this gang of politicians by allowing the interim government take over, I don't see that happening. You could see the way the NA dribbled Nigerians in the recent amazement.

Obj's government might not be the best but all the vices we have today were either not there or not so serious. Its getting worse bro. I remember Obj killing the boko haram leader that time and they gave him breathing space, only for them to reinforce and come back in full force after he left.

Most, in fact all of the problems we had today, actually started during the time of Afe Babalola as legal adviser to Obasanjo. Be it Boko Haram, Niger Delta militancy, kidnapping for ransom, banditry, Fulani herdsmen menace etc. For example in 1999 there was a crisis in Lagos over Fulanis claim over a land. Wasn't it during Obasanjo's time that Buhari is reported today to have traveled all the way from Katsina to Ibadan to question Late Lamidi Adesina, the AD governor of Oyo State over how he was handling a clash between some Fulani Herdsmen and the natives of that part of the state? What about the Jos North LGA crisis between the indegenous Birom ethnic group and settler Fulanis' we started hearing about as far back as 2003/2004? What about MASSOB which started in 1999 and has over time morphed into the almighty deadly IPOB and UGM of today?
If you cast your mind vividly back to those early days of Obasanjo's administration, you would realize that all the insecurity challenges and milita groups we have in our hands today are metamorphoses of the remote agitations which started as mere ethnic pressure groups. Those who had insight and vision knew and cautioned that it was just a question of time for each and every one of those groups to morph into very powerful and invincible terrorist groups if their concerns were not realistically addressed. As a retired General, Obasanjo can't claim not to know the future security implication of allowing young embryonic stage ethnicity based milita grow and fester for too long without government lifting a finger about them. As a legal luminary, Afe Babalola can't claim not to have read Awolowo's book "Nigeria's path to Greatness" in which Awolowo strongly and compellingly made a case for decentralized police system in a multi-ethnic nation like Nigeria regardless of whether there were existential security challenges or not. So what kept Afe Babalola's mouth shut even when these existential security challenges had begun to germinate?
Unfortunately, Obasanjo never sincerely committed himself to addressing any one of them. Rather than engage them, he used state powers to suppress some like Niger Delta Militants, OPC and MASSOB while ignoring the others like Boko Haram/ Sharia for political capital only for them to either fester or go back to the drawing board to restrategise, acquire state of the art weapons and reemerge stronger and more equipped than the Nigeria Army.

Point of correction: Yaradua was the first president to attack Boko Haram killing over 800 of them in Kano on a particular day. It was also him that got the first Boko Haram leader apprehended and killed but unfortunately extrajudicially hence losing the opportunity to have had him interrogated to reveal vital information that could have led to nipping the whole group in the bud. Such never happened under Obasanjo who has since leaving office been negotiating with Boko Haram, visiting their leaders and giving them gifts. You might think this is a lie, but the link below should clear your doubt that Obasanjo had been the most sympathetic president to Boko Haram and sharia related terrorists and not even Buhari who is accused of Islamic fundamentalism.


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/09/obasanjo-visits-late-boko-harams-leaders-family/amp/

Obasanjo met Yusuf’s family members at Railway Quarters, the demolished headquarters of the sect.

Note where the report reads:

Obasanjo, at the meeting said: “This is a personal initiative. I urge you to forgive and forget the past. I plead with you, give me the chance to mediate between the family and government.”

In response, Yusuf’s brother-in-law, Babakura Fuggu, whose father was also executed in 2009 (Yaradua's tenure) said: “Since 2009, this is the first time any high profile figure would be commiserating with the family. We are happy with this visit. About 30 to 40 per cent of our members are scattered in neighbouring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroun.”
In response, Yusuf’s brother-in-law, Babakura Fuggu, whose father was also executed in 2009 said: “Since 2009, this is the first time any high profile figure would be commiserating with the family. We are happy with this visit. About 30 to 40 per cent of our members are scattered in neighbouring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroun.”

The former president thereafter departed for the airport.




Babakura Fugu , the representative of Mohammed Yusuf’s family that received former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Thursday, has been killed.

Yusuf was the deceased leader of the now dreaded Ahlan Sunnah Lid Da’waati wal Jihad Yaanaa (brothers), popularly known as the Boko Haram sect, who was killed while in police custody in December 2009.

Sources told Sunday Vanguard that members of the sect may have felt he (Fugu) shouldn’t have been the one to receive Obasanjo.

Yusuf was the deceased leader of the now dreaded Ahlan Sunnah Lid Da’waati wal Jihad Yaanaa (brothers), popularly known as the Boko Haram sect, who was killed while in police custody in December 2009.

Sources told Sunday Vanguard that members of the sect may have felt he (Fugu) shouldn’t have been the one to receive Obasanjo.

The money (the exact amount which could not be ascertained) is being rumoured to be a source of friction among the sect members.

According to the sources, Boko Haram members had put in place a formula for the sharing of whatever proceeds that may come into the purse of the sect – made up of either money stolen from banks or gifts.

God1000:
Obasanjo did a lot for Nigeria, he never divided Nigeria along ethnic and religious lines, he was a president for all and sundry, the reason nobody agitated for restructuring under him.

The same cannot be said about this government that keeps dividing Nigeria everyday.

Buhari's body language has so much emboldened killer herdsmen and bandits to continue their heinous acts particularly in my state benue, they kill innocent people everyday and get away with it, no punishment.

He also made Nigeria the poverty capital of the world.

He's not a good and patriotic president, history won't be kind to him

My biggest mistake was voting for him in 2015 thinking he was the Messiah we've been waiting for

It pains me so much what Nigerian has been reduced to, I'm stained by the ugliness of this place

Your quest for political correctness is legendary. If the agitation for restructuring didn'r start during Obasanjo's time as you would have us believe, then what was the meaning and objective behind the various civil societies' demand for a Sovereign National Conference which Obasanjo frustrated repeatedly and labelled the agitators as agents of division? You claim he wasn't divisive and was a president for all and sundry yet it was in his time the word marginalization came into Nigeria's political dictionary from the Northerners who even railroaded him to presidency? Didn't Northerners accuse him of religious bigotry and favouritism? He was not divisive to you but ordered soldiers to massacre over 5000 innocent civilians in Odi (Bayelsa State) and Zakibiam ( your home Benue State) combined for what he described as assault on security operatives while on duty but when the same assault on security operatives on duty happened in Ota and Shagamu both in his home state of Ogun he looked the other way and feigned Ignorance.
A man you claim did a lot for Nigeria is the same man who allowed the seeds of the intractable insecurity we have today germinate and nutured to maturity because he felt taking action at a time it was all at its easily crushable bud stage would rob him of political capital necessary for his 2003 second term bid.
See where he confessed to have allowed Boko Haram freedom to grow into the monster it is today:
https://www.channelstv.com/tag/chief-olusegun-obasanjo/page/3/
Note where the report reads thus:
General Obasanjo further noted, “Boko Haram have been in existence for years…they didn’t disturb my government because when I was in government I did not disturb their Sharia.” He declared, “Sharia is part of our constitution".

Then, the man who purportedly did a lot for Nigeria by your own standards left a legacy of the worst elections in the history of Nigeria, ballot box snatching in broad daylight, Ghana Must Go (GMG) syndrome, signed into law for federal legislators the jumbo allowances which have become a drain pipe on national purse, declared that elections were a do-or-die affair for him and his party, singlehandedly imposed a terminally ill succesor from deep obscurity, slept with his daughter in-law, milked the nation of $16bn in the name of power sector reforms which ended up in greater darkness, supervised the high profile political assassinations of at least twenty national figures including a minister of justice in his own cabinet without any trace of the perpetrators, conducted sham elections and defended the fraud with the declaration that Jesus would not be able to conduct a free and fair election in Nigeria 14 years after IBB (a man who namd himself a form of Devil - evil genius) had successfully conducted the freest and fairest election in the history of Nigeria, etc.
No one is saying Buhari has not disappointed those who supported him but trying to paint Obasanjo a saint just to get at Buhari only shows that you have the tendency to likewise paint Buhari a saint in future to make a point against a future president who disappoints as well, and this exactly is why Nigeria will ever remain in the doldrums.

If you regret that Buhari is a disaster whom you voted for, yet the Obasanjo who also supported him to power hence brought the disaster appears to have done a lot for Nigeria in your eyes, don't you think you are guilty of cognitive dissonance? Think.

Eriokanmi:
The situation of the country wasn't this bad during that era to warrant an ING, if you were quite aware and grown up to know of what happened during OBJ time. The only issues faced that time was that of political sharia. Economy was ok and you could tell from exchange rate. No insecurity but Niger delta agitations which was later taken care of.

Isn't it surprising that you who are known for advocacy of good leadership qualities which proactiveness is one of such are the very one exonerating Afe Babalola and Obasanjo with the argument that the situation back then was just limited to Sharia as if the bloody Sharia riots back then weren't enough signal for any proactive and visionary government to have seen that it could only worsen if no constitutional ammendments were made towards decentralization of the internal security architecture? And mind you that your theory that only sharia disturbances were the challenge then is very wrong because it was in the news then that as far back as 2002, the Russian Government alerted Obasanjo that a very potentially deadly Islamic sect was brewing somewhere along the Bauchi-Maiduguri Expressway and winning proselytes with its Jihadist message and that it was just a question of time for them to start acquiring fire arms to put into reality their Jihadist ideology. Obasanjo was aware of this but didn't lift a finger. Even the Sharia you want to use as excuse, what did Obasanjo do about it other than say casually that it would die a natural death just because he was in pursuit of political capital towards his 2003 second term bid? Didn't Obasanjo later grant to Channels TV an interview in which he admitted with his own mouth that Boko Haram was linked to the sudden agitation for sharia and came into existence during his administration but that he purposely chose to ignore them completely in pursuit of
political gains?
See it below:

https://www.channelstv.com/tag/chief-olusegun-obasanjo/page/3/

Note where the report reads:


General Obasanjo further noted, “Boko Haram have been in existence for years…they didn’t disturb my government because when I was in government I did not disturb their Sharia.” He declared, “Sharia is part of our constitution.


So how come you are denying on behalf of Obasanjo what he himself admitted and even trying to disconnect the sudden Sharia agitation from Boko Haram in defense of the Obasanjo who himself connected them together in his argument?
Some of you love political correctness too much and that is the real cause of our woes as a country.

Eriokanmi:
This kidnsp of a thing always has police collaboration in it. The Edo and other south south region is even worse. The day kidnappers would be having a field day, you'd not see a single police on the road. Thieves would be robbing at a close range and the police would look the other way at their checkpoint. Things cannot continue this way. That's why I'm in support of the interim government as proposed by Pa Afe Babalola, former AG of the federation. We can't say someone like him proposing such a great move either has a pecuniary motive or doesn't mean well for Nigeria. He's lived his life to the fullest, only awaiting glorious call. Nobody can also say such a legal luminary doesn't know or think before putting forward such a proposal. He's one of the few nationalists we have around. Things have become awry in every sector, not only in defence. Any politicians who oppose this move is either an enemy of state or a greedy fellow. No security, no jobs, no meaningful life, no education, no electricity, no infrastructure, nothing. I wonder why they're still in government.

With the interim government any politicians found culpable in these mess would not be under any shield or immunity. Our constitution would need to be amended to address all the agitations and perceived inequalities in the country. Boko haram who said western education has failed them, they need to ask them questions and put things right. Everyone needs a good life. Anyone who has seen where boko haram had been killed would know they're not looking good. They fight with their blood for a government style which they believe would give them a good life.

2023 elections isn't what we need right now. If buhari, a war general and former head of state could fail this woefully, if pdp couid not bring any meaningful development to the doorsteps of Nigerians since 1999, If the preceding military era couldn't fare better which led to agitation for democracy, then constitution amendment is inevitable to address several areas, except we want to keep deceiving ourselves and if we want tovremain as a united Nigeria

Afe Babalola was Obasanjo's legal adviser and lawyer throughout his tenure in which he (Obasanjo) resisted and frustrated all calls for a Sovereign National Conference with the objective of drawing up a genuinely we-the-people constitution marked with decentralization and state police to replace this current one which was a product of the military establishment of which Obasanjo was an integral part.
Pray tell me why Afe Babalola couldn't give him this same advice for which you have just soaked him in all the eulogies in the whole world if he was truly not merely after pecuniary interest as you would have us believe?

tollyboy5:
No true lagosians will be against that, that's not what came up during that time. Lagos is well mixed all family has Muslim and christian. I'm a Christian and many of my family are Muslims. Good to see you mention me.
You're one of the people I respect on this forum over years.

I have always lived in Lagos too as an adult and have been following SW politics generally and Lagos State politics specifically which I like so much for being the most issues based and most devoid of the traditional Nigerian sentiments among all the 36 states. However, even though I personally wouldn't have had any problem with Hamzat, a moslem, succeeding Fashola provided he had featured in the governorship debate and outshone all his competitors as Fashola did in both 2007 and 2011, the non-Yoruba section of Lagos State residents, which I happen to belong to, was beginning to insinuate that a Hamzat succession of Fashola a Moslem who himself succeeded another moslem, Tinubu, was going to be an evidence of the Islamization of Nigeria and the dipping of Koran in Atlantic Ocean finally in achievement of Usman Dan Fodio's objective especially at a time Buhari, an alleged Islamic extremist, was vying for presidency through the same APC being a party with it's base in Lagos State. That insinuation, jejune as it was, began to gain traction even among some Yoruba Christians in Lagos. One of such was my very boss in my workplace. So would you expect Tinubu to have allowed Hamzat in such a circumstance? In politics and even in non-political human interrelationships, you don't do something merely because your conscience is clear about it. As long as people watching you don't have the ability to see the inside of your mind, then perception is everything and you must dance to it.

tollyboy5:
According to your analysis we should be happy because we're one eyed man in the land of the blind?
You haven't compared cities with the same pollution and human resources around the world.
Is it that politicians fight so hard to keep on in one Nigeria so as for us not to get to our potentials?

You're the one seeing imaginary success here. When business people are suffering bitterly
Almost everyone in my adugbo are on solar inverter to push their business.

The political class don't speak of how resilient and smart Lagos citizen are. What they do is over tax hustling lagosians

Some of the economic set backs you see in Lagos are not as a result of Lagos State Government's failure but due to the unitary constitution being operated at the center which has very limited items on the concurrent and residual lists. The issue of poor electricity provision you mentioned as regards Lagos is on the exclusive list hence there is practically nothing Lagos State government could have ever done about it. This was one of the reasons the present call for restructuring was born in Lagos. With most of the items currently in the exclusive list moved over to the concurrent and residual lists, Lagos will so harness her potentials and leave all other states so far behind that nearly half of Nigeria's entire population will troop into Lagos within the next 20 years for actually existing greener pastures that will proliferate all over the state thus leaving most other states nearly empty and this exactly is what frightens the Federal Government so much that it always tactically resists restructuring. Presently, Lagos State alone generates 55% of the total VAT collected in Nigeria but what it gets back as allocation from that vat is not even up to 10% yet it is still the state with the highest IGR with Rivers State coming a distant second despite its huge crude oil revenue advantage. In summary, nearly all states with the exception of Rivers, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Ogun and Bayelsa, are feeding fat on Lagos and Lagos is still able to survive and beat them in all economic indicies.

tollyboy5:
Yeah, he pays attention to people of power than masses.
A country where things work he'll have gone to political oblivion. But the people he gives money and desperate people that will do all for money.
That's what his fans are banking on. As for Lagos he reduce Lagos potential to what he wanted.
The present deputy governor would have done better when fashola recommend him, but a puppet was needed.

So you had this perception but persons like you kept on shouting that a Muslim-Muslim-Muslim succession twould be bad for Lagos? Wasn't that the major reason Ambode had to be brought in? Or you think Hamzat was a Christian?

rickyrex:
Efcc is currently in the hands of APC why are they finding it hard to find charges against him or to even invite him. But tinubu and atiku has been invited. What you hard about the Pandora was an aligation with no prove. And for tinubu let him tell us about Alfa better

APC doesn't dictate for EFCC unlike PDP would do. Alpha Beta is as well patronized by a lot of PDP states, so are you suggesting that PDP itself is aiding Tinubu's alleged pocketing of Lagos State?

Deltatoto:
bros I supported iyamu in that election o.make I just tell u.I have serious hatred for ppl who go about speaking English.that’s why if u give u gun I go shoot osibanjo.We need result and not gramma I no like Obaseki one day.although u guys have been unlucky with candidates cos even the iyamu no really get head.

Unfortunately, once person sabi speak grammar for Nigeria, him don be good candidate so for most people eyes.
Though Obaseki matter na Oshiomhole fault sha....truth be told as it was obvious that Oshiomhole didn't allow the party decide her candidate in 2016. Obaseki was a nobody politically in Edo State before Oshiomhole influenced his emergence as the APC candidate that year. Those who voted for him in 2016 did so because they trusted in Oshiomhole's judgement of choice without knowing that Oshiomhole was in addition to wanting to continue with his projects, also wanted a loyalist which he mistook Obaseki for going by how Obaseki pretended successfully for eight years to be very loyal to him. But on the other hand it exposed Oshiomhole's own naivety which made him mistake yesmanism for loyalty,and that was why he went against Ize Iyamu in preference for Obaseki in 2016 whom he never knew from Adam politically even though Iyamu was the one who started the fight against the Tony Anenih and Igbinedion cabal that led to his emergence as governor in 2007. If you know the complete story of how Ize Iyamu fought and pulled down the Tony Anenih-Gabriel Igbinedion cabal which had held Edo State by the jugular even before 1999, you would know that part of what both Edo State and Oshiomhole are suffering in Obaseki's hands today is a form of karma for voting against Iyamu's governorship bid twice even though every Edo State person easily admits that that Iyamu showcases brilliance, realistic and superior arguement delivered in very simple English during debate and campaign.

rickyrex:
tinubu is been over hyped.. am show Lagos vote will be divided by anybody who contest with him from other party. What i see is media hype... Go to the street and hear what people are saying about him. Saraki as well is a thief with little conscience unlike tinubu and atiku. Peter obi is one million times better than them all. What did saraki achieved as a governor compare to Peter obi. Aside the Pandora issue of which nobody has convicted him over it what other corruption aligation do you have towards him

It is funny that you are using lack of conviction to whitewash Peter Obi but indicting Tinubu, Atiku, Saraki and others who also lack conviction even more than Peter Obi in the sense that Tinubu and Atiku were once investigated by EFCC and ICPC and these two bodies came to publicly state that they found nothing against them. Same can't be said of Peter Obi. Care remind us when he was ever investigated by EFCC of the Pandora allegation?

rickyrex:
tinubu is been over hyped.. am show Lagos vote will be divided by anybody who contest with him from other party. What i see is media hype... Go to the street and hear what people are saying about him. Saraki as well is a thief with little conscience unlike tinubu and atiku. Peter obi is one million times better than them all. What did saraki achieved as a governor compare to Peter obi. Aside the Pandora issue of which nobody has convicted him over it what other corruption aligation do you have towards him

It is funny that you are using lack of conviction to whitewash Peter Obi but indicting Tinubu, Atiku, Saraki and others who also lack conviction.

candidtalk:
Indeed ......and that is because of the "anyone but Yoruba" hatred killing most of them. They don't mind Nigeria becoming Afghanistan so long as a Yoruba is not President.

Whoever is President, be it Frog or even the Devil, they are okay with so long as it is not a Yoruba person.

Only naive Yorubas will not know that virtually all Igbos accept deep down that no Igbo man can be President in 2023.


All their noise of Obi does not hide the fact that the only motivation for their involvement in 2023 is to blackmail, insult and threaten Yorubas out of the race or support anyone they feel can use dictatorial powers to disenfranchise the Yorubas.

Buhari they claim is one of the reason for their self-destruction of the SE, with IPOB and UGM madness, was their best friend a few weeks ago when they believed PMB would would consensus to impose his supposed anointed candidate of Amaechi on APC.

Today they have gone back to hating PMB when it became obvious that Osinbajo is likely his choice.

Igbos are trapped in a vicious cycle of their own hate and envy of the Yorubas. While Yorubas, with a free mind, strategize to win in 2023 it is obvious everything Igbos do involves trying to ensure Yorubas fail rather than laying a stake themselves.

Like you said, Tinubu has never done them wrong so it is obvious where the toxic and rabid hate they have for him comes from.

At different stages they have swung behind Umahi, OUK, GEJ, Amaechi etal. Feel sorry for them sha. To be in psychological battle with yourself daily, and stuck in mental prison, cannot be easy.

Most of them don't understand that it is a very fundamental principle of life that "It takes being down yourself to keep trying to pull someone else down, and sometimes the person you are trying to pull down might just escape your grip by luck and actually move up while you remain down in your failed pull.
Even though I am not Yoruba myself, I have many times challenged them on this attitude of theirs which divide and weaken the South against the North and all they can say in trying to justify it is that Yorubas betrayed them during the war and also worked with the Gowon-led Northern Government which massacred them. Then I ask them if they were expecting Awolowo to have come out of prison to join they themselves (who colluded with Balewa to hound Awolowo to prison for fabricated charges) to fight the Gowon who released him from that prison. Then I also ask them why they started this whole game of a part of the South colluding with the North against other Southern region as they did at independence when they rejected the proposed all-South alliance for the ideologically bankrupt NPC-NCNC master-slave coalition with the same Hausafulanis they claimed carried out massacres on them first in 1945 in Jos and next in 1953 in Kano. Rather than respond with superior contrary facts and logic which they really don't have, or accept that they sowed the seeds of the intra-South rivalry which the North harvests to remain on top politically they resort to insults. Now they are at anoth historic crossroads again where their alliance with a Northern party is about failing them as it did with NPC-NCNC alliance. We watch.

Deltatoto:
visit abia and edo then u will appreciate wike.Julius Berger is not a cheap firm they are currently only in 4 states in Nigeria.wike has given them a lot of jobs.as rich as my state is they couldn’t pay jb.delta.you ppl don’t value what u have.my brother compared to most states wike has tried o.I don’t know him I don’t benefit anythg from him but if I see who is trying I say it.I hate umahi so much but I can’t castigate him in terms of development.he has done well too.

I am still surprised how most Deltans here on NL now deride Obaseki, though correctly, as a failure in the class of Ikpeazu. But these were the same Deltans all defending Obaseki just two years ago here as being a victim of Oshiomhole's evil machinations because he wanted to work rather than hand over Edo State treasury to Oshiomhole even when it was clear that his first term was not anywhere near one twentieth of Oshiomhole's first term in terms of performance? So how come it is just dawning on Deltans now that Obaseki is actually a failure? Abi una been no know wetin really dey happen before for Edo State before now? Honestly I don't understand Delta State people these days at all.

Deltatoto:
visit abia and edo then u will appreciate wike.Julius Berger is not a cheap firm they are currently only in 4 states in Nigeria.wike has given them a lot of jobs.as rich as my state is they couldn’t pay jb.delta.you ppl don’t value what u have.my brother compared to most states wike has tried o.I don’t know him I don’t benefit anythg from him but if I see who is trying I say it.I hate umahi so much but I can’t castigate him in terms of development.he has done well too.

I am still surprised how most Deltans here on NL now deride Obaseki, though correctly, as a failure in the class of Ikpeazu. Wasn't it these same Deltans that were all defending Obaseki as being a victim of Oshiomhole's machinations because he wanted to work rather than hand over Edo State treasury to Oshiomhole even when it was clear that his first term was not anywhere near one twentieth of Oshiomhole's first term in terms of performance? Honestly I don't understand Delta State people these days at all.