₦airaland Forum

I really do not agree with folks who believe that OBJ knew that Yaradua would die in office. I agree OBJ is crafty and his looks make him to be consistently underestimated but he is not God and could not have planned all these with the knowledge that Yaradua was going to die in office.but I believe that as a good military strategist, he is wonderfully capitalizing on the turn of events; not that he planned them to happen as they have.

Justcash:
What happens when a zone produces only candidates that has nothing to offer when it is their turn? For example, what if during the turn of the South East, PDP fields T.Orji, ACN fields Orji Uzor Kalu and ANPP fields Ohakim? (They will be the probable choices because they will make good Northern Dummies) That will mean a condemnation of Nigerians to further under-development for 8 wasted years. It means that if you have a child on the day that they are elected, for 8 years, that child will grow into a modern deprived Agbero. God forbid bad thing!!!!!! I will just gradually take my generation out of Nigeria.

Zoning limits alternatives. For example, If fashola can really transform Lagos into a world class city, then he should take a shot at transforming Nigeria through being the president, without being limited by Zoning. We need progress.

Pointed point

ALMUSTAQIM:
HERE IS THE PDP ZONING FORMULAR AS DRAWN IN 1999 AS I KNOW IT:

ASSUMING 2 TERMS EACH;

PRESIDENT V. P. SEN. PRES. H. OF REP
1999 SW NE SE NW
2007 NW SS NE SW
2015 SE NC SS NE
2023 NE SW NC SE
2031 SS NW SW NC
2039 NC SE NW SS

Source Please

udezue:
I still won't vote for IBB. How old was Jonathan during the Biafran war? Was he old enough to fight and what side did he fight? How old was IBB and was he able to fight? What side was he on?

The North will do anything possible to divide and conquer the South and East in particular and if invoking Biafra and the treachery of some Ijaw leaders will do it they won't hesitate invoking it.

However I am mature enough to know their game plan and won't fall for it. Is Asika not an Igbo man? He betrayed Biafra too. Are we going to penalize anyone that comes from his town because of his actions? Until Jonathan comes out and insults the Igbo I see no reason why I should go against him just because of comments made by Northern morons and that Ijaw bastardd Edwin Clark.

IBB is a Northerner and his people committed heinous crimes against not just the Igbo but all Easterners. I know the Ogoni won't even dare cast any vote for him coz it was through him that Abacha emerged to deal with them. Ogoni have their own issues with Ijaw but I doubt if they will let it be a reason to vote for IBB the DEVIL.

Fantastic logic. I wish this can be copied and pasted on the Ohaneze website and reproduced before all other Igbo elements against GEJ on NL and beyond.

A dynasty in Kwara in the 21st cy.

janus05:
Talk is cheap ♫♪♫♪

How? Was it impossible to put it in the constitution as agreed inthe Constitutional Conference of 94? Please explain which part of the talk that is cheap.

[quote author=na_so link=topic=515669.msg6779041#msg6779041 date=1284850306]Forget all this ABOKI gra gra, they just want to harass jonathan and make him feel like the world would come to an end if he runs. all na lie. If you understand the art of war here, you will know that the so-called north is just struggling.

This battle with jonathan started long ago, and each time  the north has always come out bruised. It started by UMYA not handing over properly,then northern elements pushing that Gej should not be empowered as president to perform the role,then the battle of acting president and subsequent threats of litigation by some northern apologists that acting president was illegal,then the hurried parceling of UMYA into the country, then the dissolution of the cabinet and the cabal and the cry of the north that it was done in bad fate. In all of these they(mallam) never hid their fear, and needed GEJ to just give them assurance that he will not run if made the president, he refused to comment .

All the initial northern bravado is now history, he has replaced the service chiefs and nothing happened. Remember that even the sultan of sokoto came in defence of dambazau when GEJ was initially pressured to sack him.

Now, the north
1 is seeking a consensus PDP candidate to face GEJ
2.It is threatening to take PDP to court for allowing GEJ to run,
3. it is also telling GEJ that he doesnt have any support in the north,hence he will be disgraced at the polls
4. It is threatening to pull out of pdp if GEJ wins the ticket

All these moves show a people who are not only desperate and but also confused, as they seem to be running out of options.

Dem no fit do nada to an ND man. GEJ is humble and patient, but sure he will never be intimated, its unfortunate the mallams will realise this too late.[/quote]So what makes you think that they will now lie down and die. Desperation is dangerous. They are tending towards that. So it is not wise to advise GEJ to no mind them. diplomacy is a great tool in the hands of a great leader. Even Abacha used it to get the SW behind him before he now unfurled his deadly colours. Telling your opponent that you can do nothing is a sure invitation to fiasco.

Thanks for the correction, my mistake. Well there is no nation called Biafra as of today. So yes they are Nigerians and fall under her responsibilities as part of the post war 3 R policy of Gowon; Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction, The resettlement camp was set up by the FG and was to be catered for by the FG and the 9 states in the former Eastern Region. But of course that should not stop easterners and any other public spirited individual to demonstrate his humaneness to suffering humanity. Never heard of anyone asking Yorubas to take care of Zik's resting place. I know that Zik wa being built a mausoleum by the FG but the construction got abandoned somewhere. Of course FG cannot shirk her responsibiulities to her first President and former Governor general but it does not stop Igbos and other well meaning Nigerians to contribute to the completion of the Mausoleum if the FG finally withdraws from thatbut she has not and will not. I personally think there is a logjam in the particular FG ministry doing it. At the death of Ojukwu , I doubt if Igbos will look at the FG for a state funeral.

I have no iota of doubt that GEJ will win the PDP primaries but I fear that a serious North South rift will happen after that as IBB and co will do every thing to whip up Northern sentiments to win the election but will fail. They will now try and make Nigeria ungovernable for GEJ via riots,etc. I hope GEJ knows this is what Jallo means by options ABC and should try now to plan now his own options ABCD, ie A/ win the primaries B/ win the peace in PDP, C/ win the elections D/ win the peace in Nigeria. Plans for war or fighting should be a distant last resort by GEJ. I believe involving all in a dialogue in plans BCD must be on the table. I dont trhink anybody wants war. Talking and making concessions to massage hurt egos are all parts of political ways to solve national problems. Nigeria certainly will not survive another war unless both GEJ and Ibb want that break up secretly.

[quote author=Akanbi_edu link=topic=515463.msg6777397#msg6777397 date=1284829967]Those Yoruba leaders (although they can't really be said to be Yoruba leaders) supporting Jonathan will realize they are committing political suicide on behalf of the entire Yoruba nation if the Igbo people eventually decide to go with the North.

In a way, I am going to enjoy it. You don't change the goal post during a match. We all know even if it was not written in Nigerian constitution that zoning is the only thing keeping Nigeria in peace.

It will be better to support Jonathan on another platform other than the PDP.[/quote]If it is not in the constitution how can it keep the peace. How can an unconstitutional contraption that is less than 10 years old be said to be keeping the peace in a nation that is 96 years old, 50 years an independent state and 47 years a republic. If IBB and by extension the North wanted it badly and did not have any plans of one day reneging on it, they would have made sure, Abdulsalami (who by the way was an IBB boy) put it in the constitution like the SE wanted and as some people say Abacha wanted to do before his death. Half measures are no measures at all and can keep no peace sir. The North should not cry now that it was not abided by when they had all the oportunity to give it legal teeth by making it constitutional as they were in power all that long. Guess they never believed that it is them that it will come back to bite their backside. Moral of the story. When you are in power, create a level playing ground, because tomorrow you might be the guy that needs the pitch for a football match. Well another opportunity will still come tomorrow for  creating that level playing ground and we will find out whether folks learn from history.

So sad but I wonder what happened to 197 if 400 out of 697 died of starvation and neglect. It does not add up. Credibility of a story gets questioned when the accuracy of its contents is lacking. However if it is true, it means some people in the federal and state governments are 'chopping' their money as I refuse to believe they were deliberately neglected. Just as our pensioners' and ex servicemen moneys are being mismanaged. These folks doing these things to these veterans and pensioners please have a change of heart. Stop destroying your future and those of your descendants for a mess of pottage. If it is really true that Ojukwu has never visited them Ndigbo should ask him why. The FG group did not go to visit them but went for de-mining so FG folks reading this, please do something. All those who are in position to intervene or assist should do so. Such matters about the less privileged and suffering humanity should come to NL for us to awake our humaneness and assist not to stoke our tribal supremacy ego or cause us to resort to tribal bashing, name calling and abuse.

[quote author=Akin-Egba link=topic=515538.msg6774749#msg6774749 date=1284782413]GEJ will not contest in 2015
IBB will not contest in 2015
Atiku will not contest in 2015
The coast is getting clear for me to become the presido in 2015. lol[/quote]Bros the bolded is serious oh! Honestly I believe yeye dey smell. Something is just not right. The way which all these gladiators are desperate to get 2011 by promising to jettison 2015 makes me very uneasy. These statements may not be just political. Why is every body desperate for 2011? Are they believing the US prediction of Nigeria breaking up by 2015 and are all angling for who is to be in charge when the break up happens in order to determine how to share the spoils and who will get what? Friends please put on your thinking cap and do not just see these statements only as words to get into Aso rock. Edwin Clarke also said the same thing about GEJ ie that he needs only one term. The question is ;FOR WHAT? As for IBB, I wonder what he forgot at Aso rock in his 8 years totalitarian rule that he will pick up now in 4 years. Whenever I hear this One term mantra, I get a feeling of foreboding as those making them are clearly not Nelson Mandela. Altruism and Nationalism are not their forte. I think there is a hidden agenda for a National upheaval or looting spree or a life presidency, or zonal domination of power. Desperation is a sign of a hidden agenda. Yeye really dey smell. All nationalists need to open their eyes and try and decipher where these our 'great' men are coming from and prepare to counter them.

My Projections for PDP Presidential primaries.
                                   NE , IBB 50% GEJ 40% others 10% (Sambo Factor}
                                   NW, IBB 60% GEJ 30% others 10% (Islam Factor)
                                   NC, IBB 45% GEJ 45% others 10% (christian Factor)
                                   SE,IBB 40% GEJ 50% others 10%    (Ibb's Running mate (possibly Nnamani) factor)
                                   SW IBB 15% GEJ 70% others 15%   (June 12 and OBJ factors)
                                   SS IBB 30% GEJ 60% others 10%     (Anti Jonathan Factors in  parts of Rivers, Edo and  Delta)
           National Total  IBB  240/600  GEJ 285/600 others  65/ 600

                 Note that  developments before  or by Oct  can modify it further. Also actual number of delegates from each zone are not eqaul eg Nw has 7 states while SE has 5. Also Abuja delegates most likely will go for GEJ.

gadogado:
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.

#

It appears you are now modifying your position from 'all the say' to'more of a say'. Good Progress. Definitely greater progress is needed to achieve your dreams of a great Nigeria. Else what you will get is fragments therefore if there is a conscious or an unconscious policy to disenfranchise any group no matter how few, and  BTW which census are you using to evaluate the numerical strenght of the ethnicities, again why classify the hausa -fulani as one, are they identical twins joined at the hips?If you will classify two ethnicities as one then go ahead and join Yoruba to Edo and Igbo to Efik /Ibibio etc. Such classifications are used only for one agenda, Perpetuation of a myth for domination and intimidation purposes. But why not  wake up and smell the coffee. FGS it is no more working, a la GEJ vs the North. What we need in Nigeria Is what will work for us and make every citizen have a sense of belonging and belief that one day he might be the head of state. This in turn will ensure committment.

Beaf:
That is the wise thing (and the only choice) for any minority that has not been given any guarantees by the two gladiating behemoths, don't you think? To both sides, we were mere puns and so we behaved in a way that we weren't labelled and wiped out. The case for the Efiks, Ibibios and some Ijaws is very different, they were always in the Eastern region; the Isoko, Itsekiri, Urhobo and Western Ijaw were all in the Midwest region.

I don't know what you mean by voting with the North, Festus Okotie Eboh was in Ziks party, NCNC. The founding fathers of the Midwest region were Dennis Osadebay (NCNC), Jereton Marierie (NCNC), and James Otobo (AGN). Of course, we started out in alliance with the East with whom we share long borders and were against the West, because Awo's policies were percieved as divisive and the West did not initially support an autonomous Midwest.

The schism with NCNC in the region was created after Osadebay was foisted over Omo Osagie (Edo) and Jereton Marierie (Urhobo); this move particularly upset the Edo, because as early as 1952, Oba Akenzua had already personally taken on the fight for the creation of the MidWest region. You need to look into that to satisfy your question, but we don't hold tightly to the past; politics like life, is a fluid game, sometimes we agree, at other times we don't. Should we be enemies pointing fingers generations later? I think not.

I do not really know much about Okotie Eboh, Osadebey vs Osagie et al but your postulation as to the situation of the midwest then especially after the Aburi fiasco is quite sincere. Your suggestion for burying the hatchet is also quite profound only that the victim finds it difficult to forgive especially when the perceived agent provocateurs appear not to have repented of his acts nor apologised.And this goes for all sides. THE OPUTA panel would have been helpful but for OBJ's hidden agenda  that incapacitated its proceedings and  findings . GEJ  or whoever comes next could revisit that initiative in order to give Nigeria a fresh  start.

gadogado:
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.

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.

gadogado:
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. [b]They tried to say that OBJ should hand over to SE [/bW] but they quickly reminded him of the AGREEMENT (north-south)

Please when did the bolded happen? Who tried to tell OBJ that? So Nigeria's presidency is now handed over from hand to hand without any elections? With all due respect may I ask, what sort of mentality is this ? Please stick to facts or give us sources to your assertions. I personally believe that Dokpesi has the inalienable rights to support whoever he desires but we also have the rights to analyse his actions and  reasons without quoting fallacies while agreeing or disagreeing with him.

gadogado:
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)

You have tried to acquaint us with the history of the zoning arrangement of PDP. Thanks a lot . I have always maintained that as long as zoning or power rotation is not enshrined in the constitution, it's got no teeth. It is in PDP constitution yet it has been continously flouted since 98 simply because it is void. If SE insisted on zoning, I remember clearly that their position in 94 was rotation among the zones. It was the North that insisted on bw North and South . Must the North's opinion always prevail? I think the SE should have no qaulms setting zoning aside since 1/ It did not meet with their irreducable minimum. 2/ It eventually was not included by Abdulsalami in the Constitution. How can SE believe that it will be followed when it gets to their turn since their is no constitutional backing? It can only be kept by mutual goodwill which has been historically lacking in Nigeria.
Even if Zonong were constitutional, It will still have to meet halfway with meritocracy. Therefore one Zone bringing out a clearly inept candidate will not make other zones to willy nilly accept him. Fast forward to IBB vs SW WRT to June 12.,etc. I believe though that the North might have had a better chance with another candidate that is not really IBB. Just might. A situation where an incumbent  head of state that had sworn to defend the Constitution of the Nation is been told to vacate without testing his rights to contest because of an unconstitutional party constitution  does not carry weight. Which constitution is superior? GEJ will be breaking his oath of office if he does not contest merely based on the unconstitutional zoning. Now he has decided to prosecute the Haliburton culprits, many candidates will soon drop out or be made to do so. I think it is still morning on creation day . New vistas will yet unfold.

gadogado:
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!!

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.

abadaba:
Why did you not transfer all the threads that were not meant for politic section to the right sections e.g beware of gold circle condom, men of God and acquisition of wealth, all the koran threads etc.
It was only the Igbo thread that you felt needs to be transfered to somewhere else. Not even to culture section but to tribalism section before we shouted no.
@Mukina, stop hating.

My brother. Take it easy. She has patiently explained why.  It has been in politics section long enough. I also followed the thread and think it is quite informative but I also think the main gist of the thread has been dealt with. ie @"the true extent of Igboland." Later developments in the thread can actually be dealt with in the culture section or a new thread can also be opened wrt to those. Do not be quick to label one a hater unless there are enough evidence which you should then state. Moving it to Racism section at first can be seen as human error instead of tribalism unless as I already said there are other facts known to you. If not please give folks the benefit of doubt.

mukina2:
Yes, I am a tribalist my colour is Green, white and blue
The thread is where it should have been created and where it should have been moved to long ago.
its about a tribe ,its in culture, it has nothing to do with the politic section.

Wow 4 more to make up the tribalistic roygbiv in rainbow. You must be from South Africa

[quote author=Akin-Egba link=topic=508578.msg6699727#msg6699727 date=1283650477]For your memory upgrade: Otueke is in Ogbia, in Ijaw land, Bayelsa state. Plus could you kindly show us the so-called list that contains Jonathan as an Igbo man that Igbos want to specially mention? I know some Igbos like to claim everything on earth. This one will not wash though. Again, Ekpeye is not Ijaw.[/quote]Thanks but no need to be insultive. Just try and keep the discourse civil. It kills nobody.However you might know that on another thread "the true extent of Igboland", Many areas not hitherto classified as Igboland have been discovered to be such by the forumites. So Ogbia being in Bayelsa does not preclude them from being Igbo. Definitely Ekpeye is not Ijaw by your admission and is classified as an igbo sub ethnic group. Beaf has responded to your enquiry about the Ohaneze website so no need to belabour it.

EzeUche22:
Jonathan answers his father's name and his father is an Ijaw. Nor does Jonathan see himself as an Igbo so he will not be treated as such.

What If post civil war politics made the Jonathans distance themselves from their Igbo heritage as a survival strategy, does that make them non-Igbo?? Just asking.
I have friends from Isoko who tell me that their part of Isokoland can actually trace their origin to Mgbidi in Imo State and their grandparents spoke Igbo and did visit Mgbidi regularly but since after the civil war they did distance themselves from their Igbo origin for survival reasons and identified themselves as Isoko with other Isoko people. There are many other  Igbo groups that have been sadly made to play that  survival politics. It does not make them non-Igbo
I think the Ohaneze realizes this and therefore are going about identifying Igbo communities that have detached or made to detach from  the larger Igbo race. So Igbos should look again at GEJ and determine who he really is and whom his people are especially pre-civil war and determine whether to extend to him the right hand of fellowship lest they be found working against their own son.

[

MetalGong4:
Ok, let me look over your ignorance and answer your question: Goodluck Jonathan is not Igbo but an Ijaw man.

Not Satisfactory.
Again is Ekpeye not an Igbo sub-ethnic group? is Otueke not an Igbo community? Why did Ohaneze include GEJ in a list of Igbo men for special mention? Thanks

[[quote author=Akin-Egba link=topic=508578.msg6699502#msg6699502 date=1283644584]Na you make Jonathan Igbo? Haba! Why are some Nigerians so ignorant? It is like those ignorant Americans calling Obama a muslim even with all his rebuttal.[/quote]I raised very serious issues the Igbo should address concerning GEJs ethnicity and you just dismissed me as ignorant. Good. I never claimed perfect knowlegde about GEJ's origin but asked questions. If you are ignorant of the answers like me, why not just pass and allow more knowlegeable folks than us to respond instead of trivializing it by comparing it to Obama's religion. Two parallel lines.

Again is Ekpeye not an Igbo sub-ethnic group? is Otueke not an Igbo community? Why did Ohaneze include GEJ in a list of Igbo men for special mention? Thanks.

I am a bit confused on the matter of GEJ's Ethnic origin. Is he not Igbo? Is Ekpeye not an Igbo sub ethnic group? Is Otueke not an Igbo town. Please more informed people should enlighten me. GEJ is even in the list of Igbo men mentioned in Ohanezes website for recognition. So if Igbos are willing to present Utomi, Uwechue, Amaechi and other SS Igbos as their presidential candidates, why do they not see GEJ as such?That is if the issue is a president of Igbo extraction  as Atiku pontificatedand not SE extraction. The Igbo should really check out this before buying into Atiku and IBB's package. Even if there is a written agreement (I have not seen it. Anybody who has could post the contents on NL for us to peruse and analyse. Else it remains a propaganda tool) Is such cast in stone?. Is it not ab Initio void, being unconstitutionasl? ie what gives such agreement teeth? How can it be implemented? To me a gentleman's agreement would even have been better . A written one smacks of distrust and will be eventually not abided by. As long as Power rotation is not enshrined in the constitution, Any agreement has no authority and will eventually cause more tension in the polity. It is clear to me that none of these contestants will stay one term including GEJ so the matter of Igbo Presidency by 2015 seems unrealistic but it is good to aim at the sky in other to get at the roof ,that is if it is proved that GEJ is not igbo.

Sia1 is da man

EzeUche:
RichyBlack,

You words have swayed me. I owe [b]Beaf [/b]an apology for the aggressiveness of my response and the crude language I used against him.


So, [b]Beaf [/b]as a real man, I am sorry for the way I behaved.

What? This happening In Nairaland? wow. my faith in Nigeria is rejuvenated. Thank you Richy for this intervention and Eze for being responsive. Hope Beaf reciprocates. There is hope for 9ja. What is left is a handshake across The Niger( across Ore specifically) and Benue.

[quote author=Akanbi_edu link=topic=502909.msg6644846#msg6644846 date=1282838060]I'd like the Yoruba elites to support zoning too. Agreements have to be respected in a multi-ethnic society like ours.

Yoruba leaders should not Follow Obj on this one, the man is simply out on a revenge mission. he works for himslef, only.[/quote]Thank you Akanbi. In a Nation with so many ethnic groups that are mutually suspicious, I think power rotation among the Zones ( not necessarily bw North and South) is the best thing that can happen. We do not have to pretend as if we are so politically mature not to help ourselves survive as a Nation. My problem however is that it has to be enshrined in the constitution to make all groups and political parties mutually compliant because tomorrow another section that has benefitted from it can also renege or use another party to sabotage the sections that have not thus introducing more mistrust and tension in the polity. So Constitution review needs to capture it for it to have authority. We do not have to also pretend that we are so politically mature to toe the line of other democracies as per their Constitution. What we should evovle for ourselves is what is best for our survival as a Nation, constitutionally speaking. See my post on this issue 2 months ago:
  Forums / Politics / Re: Presidency: Northern Leaders Want Zoning Till 2047  on: June 19, 2010, 12:14 PM  
My feelings are that most folks started pushing for a Jonathan candidacy for 2011 and the abandoning or altering of the PDP zoning formula for 2011 because of all the noise IBB started making about his plans to run . These sentiments for Jonathan i think are mainly because of IBB's giant shadow and the need for an incumbent to use state machinery to crush it and overrun him in the elections. Methinks that most folks that want Jonathan to run are IBB opponents. If for instance IBB drops out of the race and the North brings out more credible, acceptable and younger candidates like El Ruffai, Umar, Ribadu,etc. wont it be more prudent to sit back and analyse the virtues of the PDP zoning formula for at least another 36 years ie till each of the 6 geo -political zones had ruled for 8 years. I think it is not the best democratic arrangement but the best option so far for a Nation as diverse and mutually suspicious as Nigeria. If this is written into the constitution to ensure mutual compliance by all parties and zones it will not be a bad idea but will go a long way to welding the entity called Nigeria more strongly together and avoid a future apocalypse, bloodbath and eventual failure as predicted by US intelligence. The time is for now the elders of the Nation to sit down and talk reach such a consensus and encourage Jonathan and the National Assembly in a constitution amendment exercise that will engender mutual trust, love and make everybody have a sense of belonging, have a future and hope in Nigeria and go a long way in conquering separatist sentiments and agenda.
With Such a Constitutional arrangement made that is subject to amendment by May 29 2047, we would have taken our destiny in our hands, dealt with mistrust and thwarted the prediction of Nigeria failing by year 2015. We could now go into the full democratic mode or continue for another 48 or 24 years till we have matured as a nation. The American experience in democracy is almost 250 years old and they have gone through developmental stages before this era that a black man can win the presidency without any Affirmative Action of any sort.
Now look at the upside of a non -Jonathan candidacy.
He will have his full attention on governance for one solid year without distractions or politicking, he. would tackle tough national questions like true federalism, electoral reforms, a people's Constitution, an acceptable census, uninterrupted power supply, capacity building and self sustenance in oil and gas, institutionalized infrastructural development and maintenance, sustainability in the corruption war, Independence of the judiciary and Legislative maturity, educational, health and housing ,etc reforms without fear or favour , things OBJ should have tackled in his second term. Above all he will conduct the 2011 elections transparently since like Mandela and perhaps Azikiwe nation-building would be his goal not kingship and by so doing he would have laid a solid foundation for a great and successful Nigeria, midwife-ing the Nigeria of our dreams in the process and so becomes the father of a modern Nigerian state. The time is short but he can set the ball rolling. Who knows whether that is why God brought him to lead Nigeria into her jubilee .

Methinks that 2011 is a ticking timebomb for Nigeria  or when Nigeria will make a giant stride to really becoming one Nation. Nuff Said.