Team Jonathan and Team Buhari keep voting. Just type Jonathan or Buhari before your comments

We must commend Nairaland as a platform, the role it has played in educating Nigerians by engaging Nigerians home and abroad to express themselves in a peaceful way.

Less than 100 hours left for Nigerians to go to polls and decide their destinies but let me quickly use this opportunity to say Vote and Don't Fight as the future belongs to all of us.

Lastly can you exactly point out the candidate who is more popular on the Africa's leading Social Networking Platform (Nairaland) between The PDP Presidential candidate, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and APC Presidential Candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd)

JONATHAN or BUHARI who is more popular? Choose one, Type JONATHAN or BUHARI for your entry to be valid.

This Thread is only Valid till Thursday 26th, March 2015. Winner will be announce here and as Press Release on major blogs across the country

Good Bless Nigeria.
#VoteNotFight

Things You Never Knew About AISHA BUHARI
Aisha Buhari is the wife of former Nigerian head of state, Major-General Muhammadu Leko Buhari.
FULL NAMES (alternate names): Hajia Mrs. Aisha Buhari
ORIGIN: She is Fulani from Adamawa State.

BIRTH AND EARLY DAYS: She was born on the 17th of February, 1971 to the family of Mallam Halilu Ahmed Ciroma, who happened to be the nephew of Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, Nigeria’s first minister of defence. She is the grand daughter of the Chiroman Adamawa, the first person to hold this traditional title.

EDUCATION & CAREER: Following her marriage as a teenager, her education received the full support of her husband who did not only encourage her but also got her a private tutor. She later proceeded and got a National Certificate in Education (NCE) from the National Teachers Institute (NTI) and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ambrose Alli University (Kaduna Satellite campus). Tall, elegant and bespectacled, she holds a masters degree in international affairs and strategic studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna. She also got a diploma in Beauty Therapy from the Carlton Institute of Beauty Therapy, Windsor, United Kingdom and did a certificate course at the French Beauty School, Esthetique Academie in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Mrs. Buhari is: Member, Vocational Training and Charitable Trust, VTCT, United Kingdom.
Member, International Health and Beauty Council. Resource Person (Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). At NBTE, she was actively involved in the curriculum for small and medium scale enterprises.
A business woman and entrepreneur, she is the Founder and Managing Director of the Hanzy Spa and she is also the Principal of the Hanzy Beauty Institute, one of the consultants on Youth Empowerment and Skill Acquisition Programme of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation/Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company.

General Buhari is particularly supportive and interested in his wife’s educational advancements and in order to ensure this goal was met, he hired a special English teacher from the Command Secondary School in Kaduna who gave her the necessary tutorials at home as hinted earlier. Thereafter, she enrolled at the Distance Learning Programme of the NCE at the National Teachers Institute, NTI, Kaduna. From there, she was off to the Ambrose Alli University where she enrolled in the undergraduate programme and received lectures with other students at the Leventis Building Satellite Campus in Kaduna, some months ago, she graduate from the NDA with her masters degree. Gingered by her husband and her own academic success, Mrs. Buhari is noted for contributing to and encouraging many other people, some of which were family members and non-relatives too, to pursue education to the highest level possible.

LOVE, FAMILY AND MARRIAGE
On the 2nd of February, 1989, a couple of months before her 19th birthday, she got married to Nigeria’s former head of state and military ruler, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). She is the only wife of the general but she is not his first wife. General Buhari was married to the late Hajia Safinatu Buhari whom he divorced legally for more than two years before tying the knots with Aisha. Their marriage is blessed with five children namely Halima, Yusuf, Zahra, Aisha and Amina and two grand children one of whom is her namesake.

INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT AISHA BUHARI
In 2003, she was not able to vote for her husband, General Buhari, who was then the presidential aspirant of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP. Why? Her name disappeared from the INEC voter register.
She speaks Fulani and English fluently.

When rumours were flying round that she is a foreigner, she responded on the 23rd of January via Deborah Iliya, an APC chieftain at the launch of a book titled “Wind of change: 72 leadership qualities of Buhari” in Kaduna:

“Let me use this opportunity to deliver a message because there may not be another opportunity to deliver it. We know what is going on in the country today. It has reached the stage that people are hunting for Buhari not to reach that day of election. They have also said that Aisha Buhari is not a Nigerian. Aisha said I should tell everyone that she is a Nigerian. Does it even matter if she is not a Nigerian? What has that got to do with what is happening in this country? “Aisha said she is pleased because the author is a young man; this is an indication that our youths have always understood the problems of this country and they are really pulling us together to fight a common front and that is change.
“We need change in Nigeria. For the past six years, we have been suffering; I wish a woman has been President we wouldn’t have been in this mess. So women, she (Aisha) has asked that I should encourage you to come out and be part of nation building. We are powerful; we are strong and stronger than the men.

“Please support women and next time we will have a woman President in Nigeria.”

ON HER HUSBAND:
In an interview with ThisDay Style, she said of her husband, General Buhari:
“Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is a very humorous person and enjoys listening to comic stories. Whenever he cracks jokes you will laugh till you shed tears. He also likes taking people by surprise. My husband is a family-oriented person. He has very close relationships with his children, grandchild, and entire members of the family. He is very caring and protective of us. My husband believes in women’s education. He encouraged me to pursue my educational goals. I’m sure Nigerian women know the truth that he is a gender sensitive leader and will vote for him against all the political propaganda to discredit him. He insisted during his time as Head of State, that every council should have a female representative.”

ON BEING A FIRST LADY: While in Abuja during the inaugural meeting of the APC women’s presidential campaign initiative, she said:
“My husband, General Muhammadu Buhari has been contesting presidential elections for over a decade now, but this particular election is unique because our leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu jettisoned his personal interest for the sake of Nigeria. In my life, I have never seen an incumbent President that is afraid of elections and PVCs before. Upon all the money the donor agencies contributed to the development of this new technology called PVC that will eliminate rigging, this government is running away from the elections. This is a month of clean hands, and you must go to your constituencies, wash your hands as if you are fighting Ebola virus, everybody should wash their hands because of the fingerprints. You must carry methylated spirits to clean your hands before voting. The PDP is afraid, and it is because they don’t have people.”.

Are you saying the west are taken sides and expressing it through their media outfits?

Sorry now OK. Thanks

In his famous BBC interview, where he expressed optimism that he would win this weekend’s presidential election, President Goodluck Jonathan also made an admission: he is not in charge of the military and he could not speak for them.

President Jonathan surely forgot that he is the commander-in-chief of the Nigerian armed forces.

His admission of powerlessness followed the interviewer’s barrage of questions on what the government used the yearly $5 billion security budget for, the whereabouts of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls and why it took so long for Nigeria, the ‘giant of Africa’, to embark on retaking territories lost to Boko Haram.

President Jonathan did not have any convincing explanation, except to say: I am not in charge.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZFy2JmXoEA

Nigerians still want JEGA to be the Electoral umpire. They have trust in him... Still waiting and watching...

TI1919:
Trash

Reasons why this is Trash?

In my own Opinion, Protesting Against the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is like Protesting Against Integrity. If you think it is right to get JEGA out of office before march 28, please state your reason here and lets educate ourselves. Thank you.

Read this piece... About the man buhari, I am now convinced that his inclusion in the GSOI list is not a mistake from the authors; anyhow! your opinion is welcome;

The Nigerian Civil War ended on January 15, 1970. Naturally, Nige­rian soldiers occupied every part of Igbo land and used school premises as their make-shift barracks. Less mal­nourished young men were sus­pected to be defunct Biafran soldiers and some ladies suf­fered at the hands of the ram­paging soldiers.

My village, Umueleke, in Ehime Mbano of Imo State, was one of the communities occupied by the Nigerian soldiers with their natural provocative utterances. The village shares a common boundary with Mbaise in Imo State, where we assumed to be the operational headquarters of the Nigerian soldiers within our area during that period.

On a certain day in March 1970, one of our brothers that fled Lagos to Biafra with his new car, but could not use same during the war for fear of being confis­cated by Biafran Soldiers, per­fectly concealed same throughout the period of the Civil War. He brought out the car in March of the same year and drove same to our market square where the sol­diers were stationed.

Unfortunately, the soldiers harassed him out of the car and confiscated same, luckily for him there was a divine intervention as the crowd of onlookers saw a con­voy coming from the Mbaise axis of our community and suddenly a young and slim officer alighted from the military jeep. He en­quired why the crowd gathered and why the man was weeping; the man informed him of how the soldiers had beaten him up and confiscated his car.

The slim officer was a captain with his name-tag Buhari. The officer reminded the people that the war had ended and such thing should not happen. He quickly ordered for the release of the car and also reprimanded the soldiers and as a result, our community enjoyed the usual freedom.

When he became the Head of State, I discovered from his facial appearance that it was the same Buhari that showed human con­cern to our brother.

But since Buhari indicated in­terest in ruling the country once again, I have read many commen­taries on the pages of newspapers and electronic media that are very uncomplimentary about his life and I wonder whether it is the same Buhari I met in 1970 who was full of passion for people.

However, from my encounter with GMB then, I came to the conclusion that he is not only hu­mane, but a stickler for justice as demonstrated by his insistence that my brother’s car is returned immediately and which the sol­diers did. That he ordered that the car be returned and the soldiers involved in such act be detained for stepping beyond their bounds depicted Buhari as a compassion­ate man and a disciplinarian who abhors maltreating innocent civil­ians. After all, Buhari could have joined forces with his men to con­fiscate the car, but he did not be­cause he believed that the war had ended and people should be set free form bondage and discrimi­nation. But he said “mbanau ooo!”

Of course, the lessons learnt from the above are: that a leader must stand for justice at all times; that a leader must take a decision when necessary; that a leader must instil discipline in his lieu­tenants; that not all Northern sol­diers were wicked after the war and that GMB is misrepresented by many Nigerians who see him as evil and tribalistic.

Indeed, from the lessons, one can deduce that GMB is far bet­ter than our South-South brothers who confiscated our property im­mediately after the war and nick­named it ‘abondoned property’ particularly in Rivers and Bayel­sa. Many Igbos died while in pur­suit of their legitimate rights over their property. My family mem­bers were victims and I nearly lost my life.. Again, I think some Igbos are still at war with Buhari, 45 years after the war ended. So, if by divine act, Buhari wins, what will be the fate of Igbos.?

.Barrister Onyebueke is the former Vice-Chairman,

Thread: https://www.nairaland.com/2198021/encounter-captain-buhari

http://sunnewsonline.com/new/?p=109383

Good Morning.

I see nothing wrong with people whose names are not there... I mean there are over millions of people out there who may have make the list but since its restricted to only 10 people then, we should not see those who did not it as bad people.
thank you.

The case of Pope Francis – Jorge Mario Bergoglio – Bishop of Rome, still wondering when people say young pope, is a man born in 1936 young? lol...

Anyway #MuchResepectforPope

Jonathan may not be there but does not make him a bad person either... The people there are only Exceptional. #myopinion

Elbubs:
Obama? That lies like Gej?

lol

I wish Mod can put this on frontpage to better educating the masses about #Integrity... I wish to see the people learning from Josephine Agwu - the poor lady who found twelve million naira and returned it to airport authority... To me she is an epitome of Integrity... She is Miss Integrity.. lol

how many people shouldn't have been in the list? Lets talk about them politely here...

lincolnj88:
buhari a dictator on such list , please add abacha

lol

Really Godluck Jonathan should make the list. if you think GEJ should make the list share if not Like

xpac01:
A fast reader from APC please summarise this piece.

Adeboye, Bill Clinton, Pope Francis, Buhari and others make list of 'World Most Exceptional People, in a list compiled by two young Nigerians, Emmanuel Joshua Omeiza and Godspower Oshodin.

Recipients;

Bill Clinton – Former President United States of America
Umar Musa Yar Adua (Late)- Former President of Nigeria
Barack Obama – President, United States of America
Nelson Mandela – (Late) Former President of South Africa
Muhammadu Buhari – former Head of States, Nigeria
Josephine Agwu (the lady who found and returned 12 million Nigerian Naira to the authority at MMA)
CNN – Cable News Network
Pope Francis – Jorge Mario Bergoglio – Bishop of Rome
Sa’adu Abubakar IV- Sultan of Sokoto
Enoch Adeboye – General Oversea, Redeemed Christian Church of God

INTEGRITY- Buhari, Josephine Agwu, Pope Francis Make List Of 'Global Seal Of Integrity' GSOI-2015 (Maiden Edition)
Adeboye, Bill Clinton, Pope Francis, Buhari and others make list of 'World Most Exceptional People, in a list compiled by two young Nigerians, Emmanuel Joshua Omeiza and Godspower Oshodin.

The annual list was created by two Nigerians, and is based on the level of trust and honesty these people have shown over the years;
General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Enoch Adeboye , has bagged a Global Seal of Integrity award for being one of the people who have tried their best in making the world a better place.
Two other religious leaders on the list are Pope Francis and Sultan of Sokoto - Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar IV .
The annual list was created by two Nigerians, Joshua Omeiza and Godspower Oshodin based on the level of trust and honesty these people have shown over the years .
The list which is named world most exceptional people also has All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, Nelson Mandela, late former President of Nigeria, Umaru Musa Yar’adua and President of America, Barack Obama amongst others.

Global Seal of Integrity is a grassroots based award dedicated to the well being of the universe, it features an annual list of world most exceptional people who are doing their best in making the world a better place by living and discharging their duties in line with trust and honesty .
The maiden edition of the annual list which is authored by two Nigerian Youths, Emmanuel Joshua Omeiza and Godspower Oshodin under is billed to promote honesty and trust among the people in all sphere of life.
Integrity is forever. Integrity means doing the right thing at all times and in all circumstances, whether or not anyone is watching.

Recipients;

Bill Clinton – Former President United States of America
William Jefferson “Bill” Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Previously, he served as Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992, and the state’s Attorney General from 1977 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, ideologically Clinton was a New Democrat, and many of his policies reflected a centrist Third Way philosophy of governance.

Umar Musa Yar Adua (Late)- Former President of Nigeria
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (16 August 1951 – 5 May 2010) was the President of Nigeria and the 13th Head of State. He served as governor of Katsina State in northern Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 28 May 2007. He was declared the winner of the controversial Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 2007. He was a member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In 2009, Yar’Adua left for Saudi Arabia to receive treatment for pericarditis. He returned to Nigeria in 2010, where he died on 5 May. He was arguably one of the country’s best leaders of all time.

Barack Obama – President, United States of America
Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States, and the first African American to hold the office. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review. He was a community organizer in Chicago before earning his law degree. He worked as a civil rights attorney and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, running unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 2000.
In 2004, Obama received national attention during his campaign to represent Illinois in the United States Senate with his victory in the March Democratic Party primary, his keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July, and his election to the Senate in November. He began his presidential campaign in 2007 and, after a close primary campaign against Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2008, he won sufficient delegates in the Democratic Party primaries to receive the presidential nomination. He then defeated Republican nominee John McCain in the general election, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months after his election, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Nelson Mandela – (Late) Former President of South Africa
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was South Africa’s first black chief executive, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.

Muhammadu Buhari – former Head of States, Nigeria
Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and a retired Major General in the Nigerian Army who ruled Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 August 1985, after taking power in a military coup d’état. The term Buharism is ascribed to the Buhari military government. He also ran unsuccessfully for the office of President in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections. In December 2014, he emerged as the Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, for the 2015 elections. A native of Daura in Katsina State, Buhari is of the Fulani ethnic background.


Josephine Agwu (the lady who found and returned 12 million Nigerian Naira to the authority at MMA)
Miss Josephine Agwu a cleaner who works at the Murtala Mohammed international Airport and found 12million Naira earlier this week. Josephine not only found the money but returned it to the owner… An Epitome of true Integrity.

CNN – Cable News Network
The Cable News Network (CNN) is an American basic cable and satellite television channel that is owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. The 24-hour cable news channel was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage, and was the first all-news television channel in the United States.

Pope Francis – Jorge Mario Bergoglio – Bishop of Rome.
Pope Francis (born 17 December 1936) is pope of the Catholic Church, a title he holds for being the Bishop of Rome, in which capacity he is also the absolute sovereign of the Vatican City State.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked briefly as a chemical technician and nightclub bouncer before beginning seminary studies. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina’s Provincial superior of the Society of Jesus. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.

Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis is the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III in 741, 1,272 years earlier. Pope Francis at the Holy Week

Throughout his public life, both as an individual and as a religious leader, Pope Francis has been noted for his humility, his concern for the poor and his commitment to dialogue as a way to build bridges between people of all backgrounds, beliefs and faiths.

Amirul Mumineen Sa’adu Abubakar IV- Sultan of Sokoto
Sultan Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar IV (born August 24, 1956 in Sokoto) is the 20th Sultan of Sokoto, the titular ruler of Sokoto in northern Nigeria, head of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (Society for the Support of Islam – JNI), and president-general of the Nigerian National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). As Sultan of Sokoto, he is considered the spiritual leader of Nigeria’s 70 million Muslims, roughly 50 percent of the nation’s population. Sa’adu Abubakar succeeded his brother, Muhammadu Maccido. the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III in 741, 1,272 years earlier. Pope Francis at the Holy Week
Throughout his public life, both as an individual and as a religious leader, Pope Francis has been noted for his humility, his concern for the poor and his commitment to dialogue as a way to build bridges between people of all backgrounds, beliefs and faiths.

Enoch Adeboye – General Overseer, Redeemed Christian Church of God
Enoch Adejare Adeboye is a Nigerian pastor and the General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)
Pastor Adeboye had his B.Sc. in Mathematics at University of Nigeria Nsukka and subsequently got his PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Lagos, and worked as a lecturer in mathematics at the universities of Lagos and Ilorin; After joining the RCCG, he began working to translate the sermons of its then Pastor and founder, Rev. Josiah Olufemi Akindayomi, from Yoruba into English.

http://pulse.ng/religion/trustworthy-and-honest-adeboye-pope-francis-make-list-of-world-most-exceptional-people-id3558125.html

I saw this on Facebook, and it was written by Rahaman Onike. Some Nigerians on Facebook reacted to President Jonathan's decay spending political strategy. Read below......

Money is indeed required for logistics by political parties but when it becomes instrument for lobbying in politics one is bound to worry. In the present situation, GEJ seems to rely on power of money to woo the voters than to raise issues of development and to talk about his manifesto. A lot of millioniares and even billioniares had emerged through his re-election bid. The ill-gotten wealth are being distributed to the clergy men, traditional rulers, opinion leaders and other interest groups. If not that my conscience is not for sales, I would have been receiving parts of the national cake. It beats my imagination that GEJ could turn himself to ATM, even when his electoral fortune is becoming a dashed hope. Money or no money,Nigerians are determined to bring about change. It will be honourable for GEJ to loose and handover peacefully than to be disgraced out of power. When it is time, sources of the election campaign funds shall be investigated and Nigerians will be shocked to the bone marrows that our common wealth that had been stolen are being distributed to individuals across the geo- political zones to canvass support.

Source: http://www.naijagistngossips.com/2015/03/president-goodluck-jonathan-is-now-atm.html

nonnystar:
Pls has anyone hear from them or have been invited? @OP! pls what is happening? no reply from you again, pls keep me posted

No one has been invited. Follow up on this thread for updates

Two weeks after former President Olusegun
Obasanjo tore his Peoples Democratic Party
membership card, the party claimed on Tuesday
that the card being held by the former President
had expired.
It said that the card hitherto owned by Obasanjo
was signed by the party’s former Acting National
Chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje.
Baraje has since left the party and he is now a
chieftain of the main opposition party, the All
Progressives Congress.
While declaring his leaving the party, Obasanjo
had asked the Chairman of the PDP in his ward at
Abeokuta, Mr. Usman Oladunjoye, to tear his
membership card.
Commenting on Obasanjo’s action, the National
Secretary of the party, Dr. Wale Oladipo, said the
card had been changed.
Oladipo spoke during a courtesy call on him by
some students, who claimed to be working for the
re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji
Adamu Mu’azu, and himself signed the current
cards being used by the party members.
He said, “Baba (Obasanjo) is over 80 years and
my mother is around Obasanjo’s age and when
you reach that age, you do things that only you
can explain.
“Secondly, you will see that Baba did not tear our
card. He asked somebody ostensibly to do the
tearing and I am assuring you that the card that
was torn was not the current PDP card.
“The current PDP card is signed by Mu’azu and
Oladipo. So, the card he tore was a Baraje card
which we were going to destroy anyway. So, I
think Baba started it.”
He added that Obasanjo might have left the party
in order for it to have more followers.
Oladipo said, “Lastly, Baba is a very intelligent
man. When Baba was helping us, he knows that a
lot of people could have complained that they
could have voted for the PDP but Baba is there.
“You know when a big tree thrives in a big forest,
smaller trees cannot grow. If that big tree leaves,
10 to 20 smaller trees will grow.
“In politics, one big tree has a vote while 20 small
trees have 20 votes. If you do the arithmetic, I am
a scientist, I know that head or tail, it is a win-
win situation for the PDP.”
The party also vowed to shock the APC in the
South-West, where it said it would spring
surprises.
The Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Uche
Secondus, stated this while speaking with
journalists in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said with the support which he said was
coming for the party, there was no way the party
would not win the presidential election.
Secondus said this was where the confidence was
coming from for the party and the President.
He said, “Look at our pedigree. A party that was
formed less than one year ago can’t win elections
with media vibes.
“Elections are won at polling units and we have
the pedigree and statistics that have shown from
1999 till date that we have been consistent.”

Source: www.punchng.com/news/obasanjos-membership-card-had-expired-says-pdp/

Call me on 08038103801 and will shock you at what investment opportunity is on ground.

Guaranteed 100 to 200% Returns anually.

In this piece, TOLUWANI ENIOLA examines the interviews by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, and the candidate of the opposition All Progressives Congress, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)

The news of a proposed debate between the two major presidential candidates of the 2015 general elections, President Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) of the All Progressives Congress, was widely welcomed by many Nigerians who had been seeking avenues to weigh the options of who to vote for at the polls.

While many Nigerians looked forward to the debate with curiosity, it failed to hold. The APC had declined to present its candidate on the grounds of perceived bias on the part of the organisers. The APC spokesperson, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos, said the party distanced itself from the debate because “the organisers were biased and we don’t want to be ambushed.” Mohammed, however, said the party would honour the debate if the organisers are credible.

Recent interviews granted by the two presidential candidates, however, compensated for the failed debate as many Nigerians listened to Buhari and Jonathan discussed their plans for the country.

While Jonathan was interviewed by Nigerian journalists on the Nigerian Television Authority, Buhari was interviewed by CNN’s Chief International Correspondent, Christine Amanpour, on the same day. That the interviews were held virtually at the same time but on different platforms further sparked interest. some 30 minutes after Jonathan’s interview commenced, Buhari appeared on CNN. The interviews provided a great opportunity to compare the plans of the two candidates. The week preceding this, Buhari had entertained questions on Aljazeera.

Jonathan, during the live media chat apparently organised to calm the tension generated by the postponement of the general elections, spoke on the alleged plot to sack the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, the postponement of the elections, insurgency and corruption, among others.

Buhari also fielded similar questions form Amanpour. The APC candidate’s voice was, however, clearer and sharper than other occasions when he spoke on local media. Amanpour took turns to ask him about his reaction to the poll shift, his plans on ensuring the return of the Chibok girls if elected in March; corruption and allegations of human rights abuses levelled against his military regime.

Justifying the election postponement on the grounds of insecurity earlier presented by the security chiefs, President Jonathan failed to assuage the suspicion of the opposition who believed that he (Jonathan) prevailed on the Independent National Electoral Commission to shift the polls in order to buy more time. Although INEC had maintained that it was ready to conduct the elections, Jonathan said INEC was not ready.

Jonathan said, “When INEC picked the dates for elections, the threat level was not high until we started the campaign. So, it was important for the security chiefs to review the security architecture, otherwise, the country would have gone up in flames.

“When the issue of PVC was being branded as a problem, INEC, from what Jega mentioned that day, clearly was not ready for the elections. They said they were ready but they were not. The day we held that meeting that led to this adjustment of dates, in Lagos for example, only about 38 per cent of registered voters had their PVCs. That means if we conduct elections in Lagos, 62 per cent of voters not would not have been able to vote.”

Buhari, while reacting to the poll delay, disagreed with Jonathan and the PDP on the reasons behind the postponement of the elections. He maintained that INEC was forced by the military to delay the elections even after INEC insisted it was prepared.

While responding to questions about the Chibok girls, Jonathan did not promise their quick return. His simple response was that he was “confident that most of the girls would be rescued soon.” Jonathan, however, said he does not want to be quoted that the girls would be rescued in two weeks, further confirming that he was not convinced of his assurance that the girls will be freed soon.

The President had said, “I believe now that we are working with Chad and Cameroon, in the next few weeks, the story of the Chibok girls will change. It’s going to get better. I believe we should be able to rescue some of them. But I don’t want to be quoted; I don’t want you to say the President said so, that in two weeks time or in four weeks time, I cannot say that because the disappearance of those girls has taken quite some time. But we have mapped out strategies, we are working with our neighbours and we will comb all the areas. So, just give us some time.”

The request for more time which seems to have been the President’s usual response on the subject contrasted sharply with Buhari’s view about the real reasons why Nigerian soldiers have failed to curb the insurgency. The APC presidential candidate, who is contesting for the fourth time, noted that the Federal Government was not prepared to fight Boko Haram.

He told Aljazeera, “I made a statement early on which some Nigerian media reported. The troops deployed in Ekiti State where we (APC) believe we were rigged out, if they were deployed in the North-East, they would have been able to rescue our over 220 girls that were abducted by Boko Haram. They know where the girls are and know whether they have the capacity to rescue them or not. Another interesting part of the Jonathan interview was when he had to clarify the difference between stealing and corruption. The President had said that there was a difference between the two acts. He was, however, swift in correcting the statement credited to him that stealing is not corruption.

Jonathan insisted that many social vices were being wrongly referred to as corruption. He cited an example that people could be easily isolated or lynched if they were called thieves rather than being referred to as being corrupt. Jonathan’s stance about the relationship between the two acts has continued to generate reactions.

For the sake of clarity, many are of the opinion that both corruption and stealing mean the same. A lawyer and human rights activist, Prof. Itse Sagay, in an interview with Saturday Punch, puts it succinctly when he said, “Ultimately, every act of corruption is an act of stealing. There is no question about it. There is no moral or ethical difference between them. Both are criminal, immoral and anti-social acts and nobody should attempt to make one look lighter than the other. People who commit either should be dealt with seriously.”

Buhari was firm on his stance on the subject of corruption. He said during the interview with CNN that corruption has to be tackled “because there are serious citizens of this country that (have) said unless Nigeria kills corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria.”

When asked by Amanpour what he thought of Obasano’s endorsement, Buhari said, “It would certainly bring more supporters to us and more confidence again to us for those who are sitting on the fence.”

He described Obasanjo as a highly respected politician, adding that as far as the Nigerian nation is concerned, “there is no serious issue that can be discussed without people seeking his opinion and listening to it.”

Exhibiting the spirit of sportsmanship, President Jonathan said he is ready to hand over to Buhari if he loses the election just as he debunked the insinuation that he was panning to send Jega on a terminal leave.

The president said, “In 2011, I said I will conduct a free and fair election and that if I lose, I will happily move on and that it should be recorded. Then I just concluded the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s tenure. I said I will be happy to go if I lose. I said this nation is more important than anybody. Anyone who wants to hold the office of President and feels he is more important than the nation is not right. So, if as of 2011, I made a commitment that if I lose I will go, it should tell you more about my stand on free and fair elections.”

While discussing their strategies about how to end the insurgency, Buhari and Jonathan expressed different views about the problem. While Jonathan accused his opponents of politicising the kidnap of the Chibok girls, Buhari maintained that the military had been unable to overcome the insurgents because “resources meant for the military had been misappropriated.”

Buhari listed the failed plans by the National Assembly to probe the funding of the Army over the last three years and interviews granted to foreign media by soldiers, whom he said, claimed that they had to fight without proper weapons, to back his claim.

He said, “The National Assembly attempted to conduct a hearing by getting the budget approved by the National Assembly over the last three years and inviting the service chiefs to come and tell them why the weapons were not procured and sent to the soldiers under competent leadership and that hearing was scuttled. So, it showed the misapplication or misappropriation of the resources provided by government and says why the Nigerian military was unable to defeat Boko Haram.”

The President said, “People are playing politics with Chibok girls and it is very unfortunate. In other countries, when there is an issue of terror, political boundaries collapse and people work together. The interest of the country is paramount but in this case when we have terror, then Nigerians believe it is better to go to the United States or the United Kingdom or France and appear on television to celebrate themselves. Is that how we will bring back those girls?

“Let us face facts. When there was 9/11 in the US, how many Americans went round the world criticising their government? Is it by carrying flags and singing around the world that we will bring those girls back? I expected that those with international connections would help the country and not the other way round.”

President Jonathan’s interview ended on a philosophical note. Asked about what he would do differently if he is re-elected, President Goodluck Jonathan confessed that he had learnt a lesson. He said he had learnt that Nigerians don’t really care about what is done but about how the things really get done.

On how prepared he is at 72 to tackle the immense challenges of Africa’s largest economy and Africa’s most populous nation, Buhari said, “My countrymen remember me for the proper utilisation of those resources in education, infrastructure, roads, social services, healthcare, etc. and these are still there to be seen by a lot of Nigerians.”

Source: The Punch Newspaper http://www.punchng.com/politics/between-jonathans-transformation-and-buharis-change/

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skyprofm:
So true

GMB for now
If he messes up, we vote him out
Its our right, its our future, its our country


God bless Nigeria

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