₦airaland Forum

mbulela:
I don't want to waste my vote, so who do i vote for?

Same dilemma here. But I'll rather waste my vote for Buhari or Ribadu than vote PDP. My campaign now is OPERATION FLUSH OUT PDP

mbulela:
Irrespective of my view on Jonathan which is well noted on this site, i wish to vehemently refute the bold part shown above.
Zoning is no cardial rule of Nigerian politics.
It is a device created by the thieving elite as an attempt to ensure that the loot goes round.
The common man is unconcerned where his president comes from.What we care about is a man that would arrest our steep decline and perpetual lack of direction as a country.
What we care for is a president who will not only have a plan but have the will to execute the plan.
What we care for are intelligent men and women who will address corruption in its totality and lead by example.
What we care for is a man that will surround himself with men who love this country and have something tangible to contribute to its development without being naive of the danger of the barbarians that have held us hostage for almost 60 years.
Most Nigerians do not care where that man or woman comes from.

I beg to disagree here, my oga. As you know, I'm a mid-way person, not a dyed-in-the-wool critic. Conservative radicalism is my political ideology.
The reality we are shying away from in Nigeria is that given our very heterogenous and mutually-competing society, zoning may be inevitable.
Get me right, I believe having the best man for the job, irrespective of his region, is the best for any society, but I'm not sure that can happen now -or even in the foreseeable future- given our very complex society.

In advanced democracies, this may not be an issue, but at this stage of Nigeria's democracy, we may not be able to shy away from this reality. I personally don't see anything wrong in moulding our democracy to take care of our peculiar complexity.

Zoning is an unwritten part of Nigeria's system.
Two examples:
1, In 1999, all the parties(APP & PDP) fielded South-Westerners as presidential candidates for the simple reason that it was obvious that it was teh turn of somebody from SW then. Everybody impliedly agrees.

2, As we prepare for 2011, no Yoruba person is showing interest in presidency(except Dele Momodu), for the obvious reason that everybody agrees that Obj has spent our term and it is the turn of other region. Subtly, we are all agreeing that there should be rotation.
This said, I only pointed out the above to show that Mahmud is correct to state that zoning is a cardinal, though unwritten, principle in Nigeria's politics, my anti-GEJ stance doesn't stem from the issue of zoning. In fact, guys like Pat Utomi and Donald Duke are better presidential materials than GEJ, and they are not from the North.

sandee575:
@Jarus
are you not scared of snakes in that bush?

Where is there no snake?

Actually, it's a new developing area. There are a few completed houses and equally in-progress houses around there not captured by the pic.

Am not buying any land and can two plot of land be enough for it? and still have some space.

2 plots should be enough. Mine is a little over 2 plots, and it has 3 bedroom main building, BQ at the back, space for parking and enough open space.

My candid advice is go ahead.

In summary, in the village, 1.3m can go very far, but will surely not finish. 2m may.

Main building, starting. At the background is the BQ.

View of the 2 twin one-bedroom flats BQ up to lintel level, floored.

janus05:
My brother, I am not sure Ribadu is contesting any election. He is a pseudo-candidate and a tool acting out the script spelt out to him by OBJ[FG]. Go and check how and the timing of his re-entrance into the country after his awol.

If only Buhari has the logistics, we would have seen the most interesting political battle of our time. However, I am still hoping that he will re-energise his campaign.

Ribadu has declared today. I saw his advert inside The Nation newspaper of today under AC banner.

The key thing in house building, as I ahve come to find out, is determination. Just start with whatever you have and you will see how far you will go.
1.3m can obviously not complete a 3-bedroom flat, even in the remotest, crudest village but it will reach a stage which will motivate you to sacrifice all your best, including starving yourself or foregoing many unnecessary expenses, if need be.

I'm currently regretting hesitating for so long before starting my own(in my Kwara village, of course). I foot-dragged for a couple of years, fearing starting, asked all sorts of questions like you, even on NL here, but today, after a couple of months of finally kicking off, I am doing a 3 bedroom flat plus 2 one-bedroom twin flat.

I started a couple of months ago and I have spent about 1.3m, exclusive of land.

The supervisor started from the 2 one-bedroom twin flats and it's now up to lintel stage, the floor already filled, just to tile, plaster and roof.
We have decided to face the main building now. I estimate 3m to complete all. Mine, over all, is 5 rooms. Main building (3 bedrooms, 1 sitting room+ dining, 4 toilets, 1 kitchen ) and BQ(2 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 sitting rooms, 2 toilets).

Now juxtaposing to your own, the cost of doing my 2 twin one-bedroom flat up to that stage in picture is about 1m. Same cost can do your 3 bedroom up to that stage.
The joy of having it gone taht far will motivate you to do all your best to wrap it up.

Attached are the pics I took when I was at home for the sallah a couple of weeks ago. A little further development has occurred.

@Netotse,
I have always held the belief that all of us cannot have same opinions. And I always respect dissenting views. In fact, if convincing enough, I don't hesitate to swallow my pride and openly declare my shift in view.
So you are very, very free to support GEJ.

I personally just feel Ribadu or Buhari will make a better president. Corruption is a great malady that has eaten deep into our fabric, and I believe, if fought head-on, many other things will fall in place. GEJ doesn't appear to have the ball, to use Nairalanders' common word, to fight corruption. I expect Buhari and Ribadu to do better here.

Two, Buhari is the only consistently principled top political personality in Nigeria today. While others have believed that if you can't beat them, join them, he has consistently gave the ruling party opposition, while the Kalus, Atikus of this world are eating their vomit, moving in and out of rotten PDP.

Furthermore, Buhari is one politician that has clear-cut political and economic ideology of the lot: SLS, writing in 2002, wrote extensively on Buhari's economic ideology:http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/guest-articles/buharism-economic-theory-and-political-economy.html

I also made a case for Buhari-Fashola candidacy here:  http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/opinion/11202-a-case-for-buhari-fashola-candidacy

By Mahmud Jega
http://www.dailytrust.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3038:why-was-this-man-smiling&catid=6:daily-columns&Itemid=6

During the American presidential race of 1992, Time magazine featured a large double-page colour picture of President George Bush Senior at a campaign rally, with his outsize Texas cowboy hat [not unlike the trademark Niger Delta hat currently gaining popularity here]. He was very happy, it seemed, for he was laughing heartily and gesticulating cheerfully to a group of supporters. Yet at that very moment the American economy was nose-diving, the euphoria of the first Gulf War had dissipated and Bush was facing an uphill re-election battle. The picture’s caption, splashed across the page, was “Why is this man smiling?”

Watching last Saturday’s huge political spectacle at Abuja’s Eagle Square on television, I was also impressed by the ecstatic dancers, the wildly cheering “supporters,” the many music bands, some great Nollywood and Kannywood actors, the giant balloons, and the tens of thousands of other men and women who danced and sang and laughed and cheered. In the midst of it was President Goodluck Jonathan who at one point beamed broadly and waved cheerfully. At that point I thought, “Why is this man smiling?”

Now, in this Nigeria, I will like people at all times to be fair. Three days earlier, when General Ibrahim Babangida staged a spectacular ceremony of his own to gun for the same PDP ticket and also had many thousands of people in attendance and many ecstatic dance and music groups, some newspapers and political websites said IBB had “rented a crowd.” There is no agency in Nigeria right now that forces political candidates to disclose the amount of money they spent in a campaign event, but it is reasonable to believe that President Jonathan outspent General Babangida in staging his declaration event. Why hasn’t any website as yet used the “r” word to describe last Saturday’s event? In this Nigeria, how does anyone measure the altruism of men and women who turn up at campaign rallies?

There must be some people in Nigeria who were genuinely happy that President Goodluck Jonathan was seeking election in his own right in 2011. Apart from those who stand to personally benefit from a Jonathan presidency, the most apparent such group would be Niger Delta patriots and activists who feel genuinely happy that a son of the oil-producing area is sitting atop the oil soaked Federal treasury.

Beyond that, what’s the cause of all the excitement? The man at the centre of the event, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, is not an electrifying politician. Even though Jonathan’s stage performance is better than Obasanjo’s and Yar’adua’s combined, he is not a dazzling orator. More substantively, he is not a politician with a grand vision of rule; he has no enviable record in office; and he is allied to the most distrusted man in Nigerian politics, namely Chief Obasanjo. In order to run for the PDP ticket, Jonathan had to surreptitiously upturn a cardinal rule of Nigerian politics, which is zoning; he has upset Igbo presidential calculations; he has antagonised most of the state governors; and he has surrounded himself with many unsavoury AGIP men. So what was the excitement all about?

The most solid reason for the massive turnout last Saturday, including the turn out by many men who were known to be very unhappy with Dr. Jonathan, was that he is the incumbent President, one with massive patronage facilities at his disposal and also with the facility [EFCC and ICPC] for political punishment and the increasing inclination to use it.

Sitting at the centre of the spectacle at Eagles Square, President Jonathan often smiled broadly and waved cheerfully, but at many other moments he looked tense and bewildered. I didn’t blame him. There must be many things that crossed his mind that afternoon to make for a tense feeling.

Where, for example, was the man who started it all, Chief Obasanjo? Many Nigerians believe that Jonathan’s presidency was the culmination of an artful Obasanjo plot by which he handed over power to a Northerner in 2007 but programmed it to return to the South within a few years. [I know that this amounts to ascribing God’s powers to Obasanjo, but that’s what many people are saying]. At least, it was public knowledge that Obasanjo openly campaigned to accelerate a sick Yar’adua’s departure from the presidency last January in order to make way for Jonathan, and was the first to publicly urge the new president to overthrow power rotation and seek the PDP ticket. So why was he not at Eagle Square last Saturday?

Maybe Obasanjo’s absence was reminiscent of President George Bush’s absence from the 2008 Republican Party convention that anointed Senator John McCain; Bush was asked to stay away due to his 28% job approval rating. Obasanjo’s approval rating is close to zero, so who would invite him to a declaration?

Jonathan may have been worried too about the quality, rather than the quantity, of the men and women at the rally. Although one newspaper said “the cream of Nigerian politicians” was there, some alleged that “the scum” of Nigerian politics was more like it. Some of the most recognisable faces were the great old AGIPs. The biggest Northern politicians stayed well away. And many of the men who were the first to fight Jonathan’s pitched political battles earlier this year, namely Senator Ken Nnamani, Alhaji Aminu Masari and Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, have since defected from his camp and were not at Eagle Square.

Probably the most unsettling phenomenon at Eagle Square was the many tongue-in-cheek, neither-here-nor-there, werewolf, evasive, word-scrambler speeches delivered by many of the PDP governors “in support” of the Jonathan aspiration. The Northern governors, majority of whom had earlier voted for zoning [i.e. to stop Jonathan], three of whom had attended General Babangida’s declaration three days earlier, and several of whom refused to wear the Jonathan hat over their flowing gowns, were most visible in this regard. Governors Sule Lamido, Danjuma Goje, Babangida Aliyu, Aliyu Wamakko, Saidu Dakingari, Mamuda Shinkafi and Murtala Nyako all evaded the issue at hand and made evasive speeches, while Southern Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan and Rotimi Amaechi danced around the stage to obscure their stance.

Dr. Jonathan’s speech at the event, described by one newspaper as the best in his political career, said something about the speeches in his career. He listed several achievements of his eight-month-old regime, some of them interesting, others unappealing to say the least. He also made some promises for the next term, none of them very stirring.

President Jonathan however learnt a big lesson from Obasanjo’s disastrous 2002 declaration to seek re-election. Days to that event, Obasanjo’s men had removed all references to an Obasanjo/Atiku ticket; they later restored it, but that was what sowed the seeds of an epic political enmity that still poisons the landscape today. President Jonathan however declared there and then that Vice President Namadi Sambo is his running mate, thus ending newspaper speculations that the VP could be dropped.

Although the president nipped that one in the bud, he shied away from addressing the issue of whether he will serve one term or two terms. In order to neutralise the issue of his age and to reinforce the power rotation idea, IBB had said on Wednesday that he would serve a single four-year term. A similar pledge from Jonathan could have chinked the armour of Northern resistance to his aspiration, but he made no such pledge.

Superintending at a gala event but with enough political worries to kill a horse, I could not but wonder, why was this man smiling?

Done.

Amingafar, which state are you from and what tribe are you?

Soludo is not a good sell at the moment. Not sure anybody will choose him as vice.

A friend asked me to help him get this from NL.
From their website, I can see '4, Shaw road, Onilegbale Road).' But this is not enough. Which area is Shaw road? Ikeja? Ikoyi? Obalende? Where?
Pls help.

Ok. We'll put as many as possible, but can't be more than 10.

At GEJ declaration, Hausa was also spoken by many speakers.
Well I'm not defending ANPP, but it is clear their the North is their stronghold. All the states they won 2003 and 2007 were core NW & NE. I'm sure majority of the people at the convention are from these states. I'm not defending them, but in politics, you do what gives you better result.

Hausa language stole the show even in GEJ declaration. In Nigerian politics, ignore Hausa langauge at your own peril. They appreciate their language to the extent that understanding of the language unlocks many opportunities for you in Naija politics and public service.
Even Bola Ige, an avid Yoruba supremacist, spoke Hausa when he went on political campaign in Zamfara, to the rousing applause of the masses present.

That one will end Jan 21.

Eve of actual primary. Or we will put another one up for the last mean standing after the stepping-downs.
We will then compare NL result with actual result.
Also, after all parties have presented their candidates, we'll put up another poll on general elections with PDP, ANPP, CPC(Buhari), AC candidates and 'others' as last option.

Instead of addressing or at least acknowledging Soludo's advice, the FG came out the next day to castigate the messenger. Soludo may have contributed to the mess we now find ourselves in, the reality is Soludo spoke well here. Given his credential, he is still eminently qualified to contribute to economic discourse, his shortcomings notwithstanding.

Soludo spoke well.

Just knowing the full meaning of smh now

GEJ no ugly, only dat him face no sharp.

Ona kan o w'oja, l'omu teacher g'ope.

U can get it if you extensive internet search

After starting and submitting the thread, re-open it, you will see an 'add poll' button at the bottom right of the first(your) post. You cannot add poll while starting a thread, you do so after starting itz by reopening.

No nairalander, I REPENT, no nairalander can stop becomrich.

Wow, Sonala.So angry that he even wrote 'show them no messy' instead of 'show them no mercy'.
Its frustrating. 2011 is operation flush out PDP. I'm joining the campaign right away. My FB status, NL signature to change to this message. PDP must go.

Hey all, please let's not throw civility to the dogs. Let's stop attacking beaf and face issues.
Thanks

No 'none'. You may not border to vote.