you people are so gullible, great speech my foot. What has he done to suggest in anyway that he'll fight corruption. Goodluck has never won a political office/ never been elected on his own, he has no experience in governance.

If you can think properly, then experience should count for something. IBB would be a better a candidate.

someone pls tell me how to embed a video and ill embed the rest of the parts. Its a pretty interesting interview, you shouldn't miss it.

Vavavoom:

Our next president? Wasn't so sure you were an IBB apologist^{thanks for the clarification} , add soothsayer to that  ? . so much for honour and gentleman agreement

I dont have to be an "apologist" theres really nothing to "apologize" for. IBB is no different from any Nigerian or African leader.

most of the 12 billion dollars went into the development of abuja. Thats what our nexr president said in an interview.

@vavavoom

again, just to add, as in my car thief analogy, the guy may not even be a professional car thief, he may not have even stolen a car ever in his life, but that fine day, he saw a car, no alarm, unlocked doors, keys in the ignition. And he said, this is surely God's gift to me, even though he knows its wrong, he knows he's not being a good Samaritan by driving off in a car that doesn't belong to him, he knows he's not being a good and responsible citizen. But he does it anyway.

If you've ever seen money on the ground, picked it up and put it in your pocket and felt happy firm in the belief that God gave you the money, without being a good and responsible citizen and putting yourself in the original owners shoes (what if i dropped my money here, how would i feel if someone picked it up and left) and you never actually go investigating and hunting for someone that dropped his wad of cash (rarely). Why do we expect some sort of higher morality of public officers when they are simple men with as much weaknesses as anybody. My point being, never underestimate the length a man will go to justify a wrong that furnishes his self interest. (Mr. governors logic: Power belongs to God, God gave me power, God must surely want me to be rich, since nobody will say much if i take this money, after all, everybody else is doing it, its not just me)
This is an underlying philosophical argument im giving you to put across to you the idea that there is no such thing as good governance without responsible followership.

Vavavoom:

Mr. Gadogado you amaze me when you talk about agreement and principle with regards to the ruling pdp. Am astounded simply because in a country where trust amongst ethnic regions is non-existent , where Abubakar Rimi, a northerner of the same pdp extraction ran against OBJ ^{after this same much purported zoning formula} for the primary ticket , am i missing something here? Honour? Amongst thieves? In this dubious game of instant opportunity and checkmate you choose to be hypothetical and say ''had Yar'adua not died'', allow me to let you in on something; had my mother been my father I would have had lesbian parent . Politics is about opportunity and seizing the moemnt when in your grip.  It is contradictory that persons like IBB_{failed to honuourably handover power to an elected democratic president} and Atiku^{look up the meaning in a dictionary and you'll find entries such as: unprincipled, satnds for everything and nothing, dishourable,} are championing the doctrine of honour and fair principle , blabbibg about gentleman hogwash and what-have-you; as far as am concerned the whole of them lot in the pdp stink and no amount of image laundry will give them any semblance of credence nor honour. From IBB-to-Atiku-OBJ-Jonathan down to their party chair, all of them are dishonourable men and can't be looked at with the compass of honour.  You also astound me with ''Its about maintaining a delicate and fragile balance of power'', I ask, power for what purpose and for whom? The ordinary man on the streets just desire a life where he can have access to the basic neccessities for survival and cares less about power balance.  Don't you think the north can present better and people-centred credible aspirants that can hold their own against the south? Shouldn't that be the position of one who enjoys the freedom of good governance-accountability, justice and equity in good Ol' USA? I hope you are not offended but you come accross as elitist- a status quo keeper

Elitist? no I just realize and accept that "individuals" are not going to change Nigeria's course, hell, even if you have good intentions, the office and all the pressures that surround it may easily corrupt you. I believe corruption is a systemic social problem that can only be tackled by building institutions that check it. Is the government going to build the institutions, hell NO. People have to hold the govt accountable by pouring onto the streets en-mass like they do in France. You expect the govt to hold itself accountable? (oya mr. minister of justice, prosecute your friend and colleague mr. minister of transport for corruption) you think he'll do it when theres no real pressure and when he knows people will only mumble, groan and forget *shakes head* reasonable fear of the people (masses) has to instilled in the govt. The people themselves must be the institution that not only checks corruption but forces/pressures the govt to act on their behalf by prosecuting their corrupt members. As it stands, govt doesn't fear Nigerian people in the least bit. I once saw an ordinary guy lay flat on the ground while simultaneously crawling in front of a governor to "greet" him as if it was an act of worship.
How in the hell do you expect mr. governor not to see you as a serf with no honor whose money can be looted at will. Ask yourself this, and truthfully answer yourself, how will you behave in front of a governor, will your gestures send a signal to the governor informing him that he is alpha and omega??

People say the problem with Nigeria and corruption is "BAD LEADERSHIP" no, its passive foolish followers. Thats the problem. Its like if I have a car with no alarm and I leave the doors unlocked and maybe the keys in the ignition in the market, and i go off shopping, then come back and find my car stolen, then i utter "kai the problem with this market is car thieves" without apportioning even a percent of the blame to myself! do you follow where im coming from

In America (a system i happen to know fairly well) If the media carries a story of corruption by a government official, that day, the phones lines of congressmen will be jammed, see pressure, from ordinary folks, left-right-center making demands that the corrupt guy be jailed. I'm serious, non stop ringing, congressional aides will tell you this.

Onlytruth:

I may not agree with some of gadogado's points, but the one he keeps making about Nigerian military defending the whole country should not be dismissed offhand. I know, for instance, that under IBB and Abacha, the Nigerian military defended Bakassi and kept Camerounian gendarmes at bay. They staunchly defended Nigeria and made Nigerians proud. I know I was far more proud as a Nigerian under IBB and Abacha than under Obasanjo. Guess who handed Bakassi to Cameroun? It was a south westerner called Obasanjo, not a northerner. 

Or is Bakassi not part of the so called Niger delta? 
If the Nigerian military is defending Nigerian territories against invaders like they did in Bakassi, how can any Nigerian deny what they did?

Politics is making Nigerians delusional these days. Truth must be told always no matter whose ox is gored.
If the so called Niger delta doesn't like the idea of sharing the oil money, the people there should try to secede.
If a northern soldier can die to defend the oil fields, how dare you question their claims to equal ownership of the oil.



Justice should be done even if heavens fall! 

Thank you my brother. Simple logic, you cant have it both ways.

Solomon227:

@ godogodo

So in your own definition of power balance a minority like GEJ has no right to constitutionally approved 4 years out of 50 years existence of the Nation? But the North should have more of the already gulped 38 years ? U are a big joke

Of course he has a right to be president. I respect that right. But he should uphold his party's agreements which came to be from a desire to ensure equitable distribution of power among the different interests in our country. Had Yar'adua not died, nobody would be ask him to hand over to Jonathan in 2011. Everybody would expect that he stays till 2015 then switch zones. But you're capitalizing on an unfortunate tragedy, see how dishonorable that is?

Solomon227:

@ godogodo

Anger gini! The only person that I am reserving my anger for is IBB not a an unrepentant beggar like u

Call it whatever you like, the day you stop needing the Nigerian military to protect your borders and the oil in it from foreign invasion is the day i'll qualify as a beggar proper. Now, the oil is eminent domain of the FG and it allows the FG to meet its national and international responsibilities such as maintaining a military, diplomatic relations with other countries amongst other things.
ME: My country is Nigeria and our number 1 export is oil.
YOU: My country is Ijaw land, our export is oil, revenue from which we have to share with a foreign country called Nigeria.

Vavavoom:

I have read Gadogado's rebuttals and can't seem to understand his insistence on not changing the rule or moving the zoning/rotation_{depending on who you plan on deceiving} goal post mid way but has evasively refused to answer the question of a change from regions contributing to the centre during the groundnut era to the centre taking charge of allotment upon the discovery of oil. Maybe I should repeat the question, Where has the groundnut gone?

On a personal level I find it disturbing when educated folks would rather champion ethnicity rather than competence_{in matters of leadership} on the basis of prevailing realities_{I think more about the fear of change than anything}. So instead of sensitizing people around one to vote for a competent Buhari or have a Tunde Bakare lead us for example the admonishment is all for zoning based on ethno-religious sentiments .

I couldn't help but realise upon reading 8 pages that what binds us is thin & stretching and sooner will give way. Hurting Igbos, dissatisfied and harbouring deep-seated grudge are waiting to move on yet none to pacify them of injustices meted out before & after 66, and continues till date. Then there's the case of the niger deltan, he sees his resources being controlled by another whose authority he is prevented from determining. He sees profligacy by another, the arbiter of his estate-his grieviance just like his Igbo neighbour is real, near and present.  Besides, there's the Hausa-fulani, the man in whose hands susbsist power to give and to take back for over 30 years in a period of 44 years! It is sad that the coming voting exercise has already  the denouement of power capturing instead of nation building through service_{we need more than ever to talk the way we desire to live together}. A system in which few progress against the many is bound to elicit anger and violent change down the road.

This is hardly about "championing" ethnicity. Its about maintaining a delicate and fragile balance of power. With that balance skewed in a democratic dispensation, we stand no chance of developing as a nation. America is selling $60 billion worth of arms to Saudi, i read this yesterday, but the reason is (according to America) that the sale is to achieve the objective of maintaining the "balance of power" in the middle east. See how important "balance" is?
The perceived imbalance of power was what partly informed Ojukwu's decision to secede. It can cause wars, political friction and over heated polity. Care must be taken to preserve this balance.

Solomon227:

@ godogodo
Shut up and reason, stop comparing US to Nigeria

US has a system dat can hardly work in Nigeria where d likes of IBB will publicly state since the south controls economic power the North should control political power.

Clinton was Arkansa's governor befor vying for presidency (Arkansa,s to California 4 instance is like Bayelsa to kano). Obama can also be likened to a minority from small Hawaii Island and popularly elected as a president to lead your so called majority.

Thre is nothing like majority rule in the US as electorability of a candidate is determined by his antecedents, charisma and suitability of his/her policies to the electorates and  has little or nothing to do with where u are coming from.

I suppose running out of points breeds anger. The simple fact is there are what you call majority and minorities in America, its not based on what state you're from but what your skin color is. In Nigeria, its not based on skin color but what ethnicity you are. SIMPLE!!

houvest:

I actually thought you were going to modify the sentiments you initially expressed or clarify them to accomodater the Nigerian Pluralism but you went ahead to insist on your original position. Honestly this frightens me as to the future of Nigeria as a single Nation. However I suspect that you have lived so long in the US and has become unaware of the realities in Nigeria today. If however it is really representative of the Hausa /Fulani muslim opinion then the future of the Nation is in doubt. Could it then be the reason why the North vigorously opposed the SE position for power rotation among the 6 geo-political zones ie some groups are not qaulified to rule because they are a minority? in the 21st century? What better quotes would seperatist advocates site?
If your sentiments are really representative of the North, the middle betters  and christian Northerners better watch it and it means that we are all really not understanding ourselves in Nigeria and so Southerners also better watch it.

Nigeria is a plural country, so is America. But the fact is democracy is a game of numbers and majority counts for something. Minorities typically have less say, thats a fact of life. The single largest majority in Nigeria is the Hausa-Fulani. The three majorities in the entire country are wazobia. So these people will/should have more of a say in how things are done.

ELE-OVIE:

This is like guiding a child through the path of failure all through his  formative and teenage years and when he is mature, demand success from him.
Ever heard of the adage " a fool at 40 is a fool forever" ?
You see, the above quoted ideology is everything Nigerians should run away from. This is the PLAGUE of Nigeria.

Upholding ethnicity and religion as the yard stick for electing persons into political offices certainly makes us mature - in tribalism and religious hate and bias.
Fighting for competence today against all odds will certainly make us mature in competence and good governance and will form a more solid foundation for the country NIGERIA if we must remain as one country.

IBB is the best thing that describes corruption in any dictionary and the only thing Nigerians should remove from our political equation for us to have positive results.


As for Dokpesi, he is a smart man. He is basically there 4 d money.

No im simply pointing out the reality of the situation. Democracy largely depends on trial and error, we're a young democracy, you have to give us time to mature. Today if a yoruba person votes for his kin only because they share an ethnicity and then finds out that this same kin he voted for did nothing to effect positive change in his life or in his community, he'll think twice, the same guy will now decide to vote for a hausa man and he'll notice that the hausa man has changed his life and community positively, he'll realize that ethnicity may not be as important a consideration as he initially thought. This is how minds are changed, through trial and error, this is how stereotypes are defeated, it all takes time. But for now, stick to the reality so we dont inflame passions.

chyz:

You are a selfish imperialist. This is exactly why we wont vote for you people.Do you not see how condescending what you typed is? What do you mean balance of power,between who and who?

imperialist? no, im actually a nationalist while you are a "tribalist". I believe in keeping Nigeria united and strong. I want Nigeria to assume her role as the true giant of africa with the largest economy, largest military, largest population and eventually a dominant force in the international community. with those "largests" mentioned, no one can brush a 150 million strong Nigeria to the side.

Solomon227:

@ godogodo

Who is this foolish godogodo self? U dont just compare Nigerian politics to American politics where the system has developed over centuries to d present near-perfect state.

Im merely giving you an example of "majority rule" as practiced in "near-perfect" democracies

africanist:

No rational human-being can deny the south-south of their natural resources. The idea that all resources in Nigeria belong to all Nigerians is fraudulent. Nigeria is a State of Nations. The Northerners re being pampered by d revenue accrued from the Niger-Delta. Instead of investing in quality education and agriculture, they think the Army is their tribal property;a property and instrument of political control. I'm from the south west but 'll never deny how d south-south oil is sustaining Nigerian economy. Any Northerner who disagrees can learn from their cousin in NIGER.

In conclusion, Nigeria should adopt and implement true federalism including resource control. This will bring out the beauty in our cultural diversity and guarantee our economic development.

Ok so going by your logic (Nigerian being "a state of nations" If a foreign army, lets say the Ghanaian army invades Bayelsa with all its military might, will you expect the Nigerian army to defend Bayelsa or will your local militants defend Bayelsa from armored tanks, fighter jets, heavy artillery and war ships? Just answer that. since a nation is supposed to protect its territorial integrity, each "nation" in Nigeria (whatever Nigeria is in your opinion, apparently not a nation) should protect its own region from foreign invasion, right?

houvest:


I think sir that you were doing fairly well untill you made such simplistic statements about Nigeria. If your logic is followed to its conclusion, Christians and non-Hausa Fulanis in the North will never smell power and also Southern Muslims will also never smell power. You have practically dis-enfranchised those people. Why then should they support zoning? If your views are representative of the North, then there is a serious misapprehension of parties for  the reasons for zoning in PDP.

Well, in the United States of America, we know there are four major groups that make up that population, the African Americans, the European Americans (whites), Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans (American Indians making up 1% of the population)
All these groups minus whites who make up more than 70% of the population are considered minorities. The first minority to become president in Americas 200+ years of existence as a country is Barack Obama.

Ok, It is standard practice and a norm that Majorities have more say in any society since they represent a larger base within this society. When Nigerias democracy is mature enough, we can discard ethnicity and religion and vote for competence. Bit for right now, care has to be taken to preserve the delicate balance of power in the country.

sbeezy8:

HAHAHAHA did Mko Abiola not beat Tofa in the north east and even some of the NW? LOL
THE ONLY THING CORE NORTH HAS IS ISLAM- without it north aint shiot.

when you put two muslim candidates up for election see how the north divides themselves.

Even now the core north hasnt presented a real candidate- Atiku is lookin unlikely, IBB is not hausa or fulani or kanuri and Saraki is what fulani/yoruba and leaning on the yoruba. All the northerners are screaming for IBB or Saraki even more than Atiku who is a hausa-fulani. una no get brain.

MKO won the north because he was in the SDP, the party of yar'adua senior, atiku, kingibe and many many others who agreed to support him after deals had been struck.

chyz:


U northerners really are dumb arent you people. You try to conquer the minority northern groups with your hausa and fulani nonsense and you think that us,the educated ones in the south are going to believe that the north has less minority groups than us? lol. i laugh in kanuri. The north is already being divided with the realization of the minority groups of marginalization and identity.Also by the blatant fulani expansionism going on in jos. you people can divide and conquer nothing.leave that to the europeans.

Hope you know Kanuri's and hausa-fulani people love each other, they have so much respect for each other. It was the Kanuri that brought Islam to Hausa's. The acceptance is so deep and wide between those groups. Thats what you miss, what groups in the north "love" each other, you cant tell a kanuri man that h should support a yoruba over a hausa. You're a fool.

Beaf:

100% tosh!

What if PDP disintegrates, would that too be binding on the country in your eyes?
To every other person but you, Nigeria is superior to PDP and its weird arrangements for the benefit of Hausa-Fulani ex-generals; so if the Hausa's feel betrayed, tough! The whole of Nigeria that they have milked feels betrayed and has felt so for decades. Tough!

Everybody in the world would be corrupt if they had their way. Wasn't it Adam Smith that said self interest is the main motivator of human beings. Isn't it true that humans strive for self preservation more than anything else. Don't expect Nigeria to be Utopia or that there is some sort of higher morality that is expected of common men be it fulani ex generals, bush and cheney connected oil & energy tycoons that prompted a foreign invasion, western trained Afghan government officials, Pakistani military and what have you.

What we lack are institutions that check corruption. We say nuhu ribadu instead of legal system as if the two are euphemisms. who builds these institutions, the govt? you must be joking, its the people, the ordinary Nigerians that must build it. This is so off topic though that I cant say more.

naijaking1:

By north, I would guess that you don't regard Kogi, Kwarans, Tiv, Idoma, Gwaris, and even Nupes as true northerners, because by the last time I checked they have more common genetic similarities with southerners.
Fulanis unquestionably are berbers in origin, but what how can you say that a Yorubaman living in Kogi or Kwara is more Arab than his brothers in Oyo state and African

Geographically, they belong to the north, their long term political objectives are not only compatible with the wider north but in line with the political agenda of the north. Bukola Saraki is a northerner, nobody disputes that but he's a yoruba. In the north, he is considered a northern minority. So are all those groups you mentioned, all are northern minorities. Minorities equally exist in SE and SW.

You always like doing this divide and conquer tactic by extracting minorities in the north and giving the an anti-northern identity and attempting to make them believe that they have everything to lose if they dont rebel against the wider north.

Ok, tell me, does a gwarri man feel more at home with a hausa man or yoruba man Do Igbira or Igala people identify themselves as Igbos or yourbas The south has many more minorities than the north, so if we start our own divide and conquer, we'll cause problems for you. better chill out with that nonsense.

Ibime:

All this one na talk. Who asked you about Afro-Asiatic, Sudanese and Bantu?

The North deliberately insisted on zoning, not rotation. ZOning allowed them to specifically pick between Yoruba, Igo and Niger-Delta depending on who is pissed off with the Hausa-Fulani at the time.

Actually, the SE insisted on zoning, they first brought the matter up in the constitutional conference of 1994. The SE insisted and demanded that zoning be put in the Nigerian constitution. Abacha liked the Idea and promised to adopt it, he died, abdulsalami came in and discarded the idea of "constitutionalizing" it. However the party's agreement is between North and South as far as the presidents office is concerned. And everybody knows IBB's father is from Kano and mother from Zamfara. Well northerners know this, he's hausa/fulani not nupe or gwarri. Thats besides the point though. The idea of zoning is if the president is from a certain area, then other important positions in the legislature and beyond should be spread out to ensure equitable distribution of power. You know how they say in the west "the spirit of the constitution" this is exactly what you guys are missing "the spirit of the agreement" meaning the common sense and goodwill of the agreement. Hausas will feel betrayed if Goodluck stays in a northern slot.

So let me ask you this, if IBB withdraws, will you support a candidate from NW and agree Jonathan should not run under the PDP platform?? PLEASE answer this. LOOK at the PDP agreement, all those privy to the agreement will tell you that what was agreed was north-south. They tried to say that OBJ should hand over to SE but they quickly reminded him of the AGREEMENT (north-south)

The agreement was that power would rotate between the north and south. This was the agreement. The northern caucus decided to zone it to NW since Atiku being the VP was from NE. The PDP agreement recognizes the north/south power sharing and zoning agreement. Rotation simply means that power will move back and forth between the two regions. Zoning implies the same thing. The idea is to "SHARE POWER" between our Afro Asiatic brothers to the north and our Niger Congo brothers to the south. Its really simple to grasp.
The most apparent differences in religion and culture is between north and south, so both regions should be represented on interval basis at the national level. The idea is to give power to the muslims in the north who are genetically closer to North African berbers, nubians, sudanese, in some cases Ethiopains and Arabs. Then after they do theirs, give power back to the christians in the south who are genetically closer to the people found in coastal west Africa and central-southern Africa (Bantus)

Very simple to grasp. You dont need to be hypocritical about something glaringly obvious!!

This beaf guy, it is in the PDP's constitution. Zoning is to be adhered to (political office is to be rotated between the zones)
a) Jonathan himself is a product of Zoning
b) His former boss (yar'adua) was too
c) Obj was a product of zoning.

If you belong to a party, then you should adhere to the rules of your party, you should abide by agreements cast in cold print and you must certainly abide by your party's constitution. If Jonathan insists on contesting, then he should contest under another party. That would be the honorable thing for him to do.

You cant use something (zoning) to ascend to power then ignore it simply because you're in power. Its like crossing a bridge to get to the other side of a river then burning the bridge so no one else can cross. What honorable man rescinds on an written agreement half way through it? especially if that agreement has serious political repercussions. He should think about how his greed for power will affect others, how it'll affect the delicate balance of power in the Nigerian polity.

So you sir, have it wrong. Lets keep to agreements in order to have a smooth sail in our national life and dis-entertain mutual suspicion.

you're a fool. Why not just tell the south-south to declare independence if they want to keep the oil money and not remain part of ONE country. Theres oil in the north too but coz you're ignorant, im sure you dont know about the reserves there.

MetalGong4:

So after other zones have benefitted from the PDP zoning agreement, you and your fellow Igbo sellouts would truncate the zoning arrangement at a time  Igbos are about to produce theirs. . . . . .  You must be a son or relative of Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu who revels in working against the interest of Ndigbo.
I promise your camp a thorough thrashing at the polls.

Thank you

not only is chief Raymond Dokpesi courageous but he's an upright individual with honor and integrity. Zoning was an agreement adhered to by PDP stake holders, why are you trying to betray an agreement? because goodluck is not an honorable man, thats why!! So if he an betray an agreement just for greed and lust for power, then of course he'll loot the treasury.

@beaf, I actually agree with most of the issues you raised.

Rubbish, you dont know what you're talking about? This resource we call oil belongs to all Nigerians. so I as a Nigerian citizen have a stake in all natural resources found anywhere in Nigerian territory not just oil but cocoa as well. At this point in time, oil happens to be valuable, tomorrow, it could be a resource in the north that becomes valuable. And all Nigerians will have an interest in the new found value of the resources. It is because of oil that the country left the other sectors of the economy to deteriorate so it was national shift. At that time (when petro dollars started pouring in) no one said that it was the exclusive preserve of ND, ND didn't even exist, no one said that the north should be excluded from oil revenue. Its now that all of a sudden, you're claiming only you should have access to the oil revenue. Like I said, if you want to keep all the oil, then declare independence. But as a country, all the resources, oil and others belongs to the entirety of the Nigerian citizenry.

That was the majority opinion of the Nigerian supreme court when selfish Niger Deltans wanted to claim derivation on even the oil deep in the ocean.

Justice Michael Ekundayo Ogundare, delivering the opinion for the majority, held that the southern boundaries of the littoral States of Nigeria are the sea, meaning the seaward point of the states’ land territory is the low-water mark or the limit of their internal waters toward the sea. Ogundare bases his conclusion first on Common Law, which he said provides that the "seashore…belongs to the Crown," meaning national territory. The Justice further cites Hales as stating that ""The shore is that ground that is between the ordinary high-water and low-water mark. Thus both prima facie and of common right belong to the King, both in the shore of the sea, and the shore of the arms of the sea."

The Court traced the geo-political history of the regions now consisting of the littoral states to support its holding. Justice Ogundare said the coastal states were created out of the old Western, Mid West and Eastern Regions all of whose southern boundary was the sea. He says it goes without saying that the states’ southern or seaward boundary was therefore the sea, citing Section II of the Nigeria Protectorate Order in Council 1922 and the Colony of Niger Order in Council, 1913. The Justice said if the boundary of the old regions was the "sea," it is logical that the states’ boundary cannot go beyond the sea.