"It is time to give a common man the chance to rule Nigeria one who truly understands our needs, all the elitism of the past rulers and their alphabet soup of accolades have gotten us nowhere. Let us install real change in our leadership and bring about real progress and prosperity for all. We need and deserve Good Jobs, Electricity, Law and order and yes Good roads. Make sure you register to vote and join us! – IIB"

I Found This quote on Ishola Balogun's Facebook page today. There you can interact with him if you want, challenge him directly and have your questions answered. A few people have and he seems to address every issue directed at him. for those intersted here is the facebook link.

http://www.facebook.com/anewnigerianow#!/pages/Ishola-Balogun-for-Nigerian-President-2011/106635549364543

[quote][/quote]Dont you think you are getting us bored with this same message all the time even for a seemingly unknown candidate whose intention has only been made known on the internet while other aspirants are already on the field along with their foot soldiers combing all nooks and crannies of Nigeria spreading their messages?

Notice how other candidates seems to be following his lead. he was the first on the internet, then comes Donald Duke and now IBB that shows foresight. Speaking of foot soldiesrs spreading messages am I missing something Here, has any party held primaries yet let alone have a ticket to campaign for? The guy is playing by the rules and we compare him to rule breakers. That is tantamount to saying To be a crime fighter you must first be a criminal.

If he has a strategy for solving some of the problems facing this country as he seems to espouse, he better have a strategy to get 40million votes First. I will personally give him the benefit of the doubt let us promote aspects of his vision that we agree with and demand same of other candidates. That way regardless of which individual wins the race, NIGERIA AS A WHOLE WINS.

Ok I have to admit I may have done this guy (Ishola Balogun) a great disservice by dragging him to this forum. We seem to be preoccupied with who he is rather than what he is talking about as if he will put a gun to our heads and ask us to Vote for him by force come election time. I introduced him to this Forum because I like what he is saying and the way he says it and would like to see us compare his vision to that of other potential or declared candidates. The Man’s entire activity so far seems to be confined to the USA anyway. What if he never steps foot on Nigerian soil to campaign for this ideas of his, Does that stop us from demanding the things he is talking about that we agree with from other candidates?
That we don’t know anything about him doesn’t bother me at all because I doubt anyone will vote for him if he remains unknown or deemed incapable of the job he seeks. This guy could be a slowpoke for all I care but that doesn’t change the fact that I will like to see some of his visions become reality in our country. But I can see he is not a slowpoke because, he seems to know the insides of our electoral laws more than we “natives” do. Any action by him on the Ground in Nigeria at this time could easily be misinterpreted as “campaigning”, a presumable violation of electoral laws.
Let us debate his agenda and compare it to other candidates’ and if he ever shows up in front of us with unsatisfactory answers to our questions, then he must be crazy to expect our vote. After all that’s what the kind of Democracy he talks about dictates.
So, he not blasting his bio or CV all over Nigeria at this time just to satisfy a few critics might actually be a sign of this Man’s genius. Our challenge is what is he talking about that we agree with and what, is he talking about that we disagree with. To keep talking about whether or not he can deliver or has the “experience” is ludicrous, WHAT IF HE CAN?

There is a certain calmness and self assuredness about this man that intrigues me. His demeanor while answering questions about Nigeria on this video is very re assuring. He should be considered as a serious candidate and encouraged by Nigerians who really want change. Let us put him to the test just as the people in this video did and see if he passes our vetting process.

See videos:

Q & A Session 1: http://www.youtube.com/user/anewnigeria#p/a/u/6/8Armx92VuWk
Q & A Session 2: http://www.youtube.com/user/anewnigeria#p/u/5/Rq2KCvv2TZQ
Q & A Session 3: http://www.youtube.com/user/anewnigeria#p/u/4/WObGGlydR5w

Hey NLanders,

check out this Video.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV6eR_tzLrg

And Kobojunkie, You live in America, why don't you practise what you preach and find out about the guy since you are in the same part of the world with him. The guy is everywhere on google, yahoo, youtube this man is not hiding yet we say we dont know him,  we are not supposed to. He is supposed to introduce himself to us and he has, the rest is up to us.

Do we want CHANGE in this country or NOT? Will it be more acceptable if what this guy is saying comes from say IBB, ATIKU or BUHARI? Because this seems like the choices we are going to have in this election. And by the way. IBB, OBJ, BUHARI, ABACHA, SHAGARI, Which states did they govern again?, or which local government were they chairmen of before becoming PRESIDENTS? And, the current FORMER GOVERNORS in Power, What experiences have they transferred to their current positions? All I am saying is simple, OBJ, ATIKU, IBB, BUHARI etc, fool us once? Shame on you. Fool us TWICE? Shame on us. Presidency is about managing the resources of a Nation to the benefit of every citizen not just a few. NOBODY (despite all the requirement people are laying down here) have been able to do that in 50 years. Are we trying to change the rule for a so called "outsider" while ignoring the failures of our Favored insiders?

Perhaps we don’t know much about this guy because he is not a politician. Politicians Plan for “THE NEXT ELECTION” while statesmen Plan for the NEXT GENERATION. I don’t know why Mr Balogun chose this period in time for his cause but he seems to be talking more about us and the future of Nigeria and less about himself. I find that very refreshing. A leader, that’s focused on the need of the PEOPLE. I am less worried about his looks like you seem to be SAMMY107_d. Its OK not to like him – That’s DEMOCRACY what is not ok is to prefer a candidate with an inferior agenda, to him. We have a Huge forum here on NL, we can either promote HIM and his Ideas or we can chose to promote only his ideas so other potential candidates will know what we WANT in our next leader. The type of leader we get next year depends on US.

So let me get this straight fellow Nairalanders, this guy who for all we know has never stolen a kobo of Nigeria’s Money, says he wants to serve his people by bringing a “new brand” of leadership and we are going to discount him before even knowing what he is about? Na wah o, maybe we deserve the leaders we get. I saw the guy’s video on youtube (I think he is some kind of movie producer or broadcaster) taking questions from an audience, his answers were impressive to me, I must admit I like the guy call me an optimist or a dreamer. Like I said, I don’t know if this guy is the right guy but whoever we “elect” better give us what this guy is promising to do or our close mindedness would have cost us the services of a possible statesman.

An American based Nigerian citizen is planning to contest in next year’s elections as a Candidate for the Presidency. As part of his platform he promises to create 20 million jobs in his first 4 years in office. I don't know much about him yet but I plan to follow his actions very closely. He seems to have some serious and pragmatic plans that would benefit all Nigerians. I stumbled onto his website by accident. He seems to have his plans well thought out and might be the candidate we need. Check out his platform and I encourage everyone to stop by his website: www.anewnigerianow.org
Platform
1. Improve Public safety/Security
2. Create 5 million jobs each year in our first term through infrastructure work projects
3. Improve the education system
4. Establish a social security system for the elderly
5. Establish an independent judiciary
The work ahead of us is huge but not impossible. If you share the same dreams as in my platform, then
I invite you to forward this declaration to all in your social circle and community to come join hands with us shape the future of our illustrious nation.
We can ONLY do it with your support.

An American based Nigerian citizen is planning to contest in next year’s elections as a Candidate for the Presidency. Though not much is known about him he seems to have some serious and pragmatic plans that would benefit all Nigerians. I stumbled onto his website by accident but was glued to his speeches and agenda for almost an hour. He seems to have his plans well thought out and might be a candidate that we need if for nothing else just to have a change from all this people that have really done nothing to move our country forward. Until more is known about him I will reserve my judgment but, anyone interested can go to this website: www.anewnigerianow.org and see for yourself. I hope this guy is for real. If he is, he has my vote.
According to the press release on his website he officially launched his exploratory campaign on Saturday March 13th 2010 saying:“I formerly declare my potential candidacy for the 2011 Nigerian Presidential Election in front of you my Friends Family and Associates. I enter the race for two simple reasons (1) My Beloved Country Nigeria and (2) My fellow citizens. The past 50 years have been very tough on my people. It's time now to look towards better days ahead with good leadership for Nigeria and Africa as a whole. I can not do it alone, but with your support and with all of us working together we can usher in a new era of prosperity for Nigeria and Africa.
Our Platform is simple.
1. Improve Public safety/Security
2. Create 5 million jobs each year in our first term through infrastructure work projects
3. Improve the education system
4. Establish a social security system for the elderly
5. Establish an independent judiciary
The work ahead of us is huge but not impossible. If you share the same dreams as in my platform, then
I invite you to forward this declaration to all in your social circle and community to come join hands with us shape the future of our illustrious nation.
We can ONLY do it with your support.