₦airaland Forum

maasoap:
➜I just noticed now that it is you who have taken over . Debating with you can d[b]rive anyone crazy[/b] because the only person you always reasoned with is yourself

This is from someone who literally said protesting should be banned?

Ryda:
Track the terrorists and and their sponsors... NO!
Arrest and interrogate terrorist sympathizers... NO!
Arrest and question Gumi... NO!
Send the terrorists to their maker... NO!
Here's what the elder brothers of the terrorists in Nigeria knows how to do, arrest people criticizing their government.

Shut down opposition, and make themselves look like the victim.
Track and arrest whoever make the same statement they made during Goodluck Jonathan's administration.
Intimidate people when they hear the word "election has consequences"
Share rice every now and then because they believe that rice is the only solution to Nigeria's problem.

If you pick up and read the Sharia that has been adopted in Nigeria, you would understand better why an Islamic president cannot, in good faith, go after Islamic terrorists or persons like Gumi. It is right there in Sharia documents adopted in Nigeria. But Nigerians would rather wail and cry victims rather than arm themselves at least with knowledge that could potentially change the course of their history. 🥱

jaxxy:
➜Like i said people can be racist, tribal bigots and xenophobic all they want they can identify themselves as such its nobodys business but when u take that motive and let it cause u to break the law the xenophobic killing and attacking people intead of doing their xenophobia in their house them we have a problem and a crime. If tribal bigots attack and hurt other tribes we have a problem cos then it becomes a crime.
➜ So i cant stop anyone from being anything just dont break the law. Southafrican xenophobic are breaking the law and their government is doing nothing that is the only reason im talking. I dont care is they are racist or whatever just dont break the law in the name of racism or xenophobia.

1. And that is why I keep highlighting the crime separately from all other things, including the right to protest.

2. Then the focus should be on making the government do something about people committing crimes, not attacking the protesters for exercising their right.

jaxxy:
➜Have u heard me ever say allow illegal migrants anywhere be is southafrica or Uk or US? I have always stood by the laws of the lands and the lawful process anywhere.
➜ Racism, xenophobia and tribalism are not crimes and long as they respect other people's rights once they cross the legal boundries they consitute a crime.

If you have been following, you would have noted up until this point that I have been simply saying that the protest be separated from the crime or any personal biases.

2. They do not become crimes when they are a motive behind particular crimes. They are simply not crimes. For instance, if a man kills another man because the other is of another race that the first man hates, the crime is the murder and not the fact that the first man has racist motives. It is kind of like greed, which in and of itself is not a crime.

jaxxy:
➜They are against only black migrants legal or illegal and u think that is a human right?
➜ Is it a human right to be racist or xenophobic? Just listen to urself.
➜ Black southafrican commit the most domestic crimes in africa and also highest carriers of HIV so whos really talking about value?

1. I have instead seen stories highlight attacks against illegal black Africans and Middle Easterners.

2. Racism/Xenophobia/Tribalism/hate are not regulated by the criminal code in most countries,i.e., they are not considered criminal.

3. First of all, all illegal immigrants are criminals as well. So, pretending their acts should be compared to those of natives makes no sense. Just because black South Africans commit the most domestic crimes is no reason to provide an excuse for illegal immigration, another crime.

The main reason why countries allow immigrants into their borders is mainly for the net positive benefits they wish to gain from opening their gates. When that does not apply, then the country has every right to close its borders and deport immigrants already within its gates.

brain54:
The 'lil rocket 🚀 man no one wants to rumble with doing what he does best...

All while his people continue to starve to death.

Burob:
Some brave people fought a 73 million nation north & south for 3 years, today we have citizens that are afraid to take back their society, go and join the police, or army, or advocate the people join, so u can flush those misguided bandits out of your society.

Send your mother and father to the front lines, unarmed, against Islamic bandits who consider them the worst of humankind, please.

Burob:
Sowore typical noise maker, let them mobilize these protesters to enter all the forests in all the local governments that the NYSC has presence in, whether those useless bandits won’t flee, or surrender.
If 30 million descend on those 2 million bandits? Instead Abuja to make noise, let him go join the army as a civic duty if society doesn’t want to purge itself of this evil democrazy.

Mobilize unarmed civilians against armed Islamic terrorists dead set on Islamizing Nigeria, and ready to call [b]Taqfir [/b]on any Islamists that oppose their mission?

Where are your mama and papa? I hope you intend to have them right in front as the protesters march into the forest after the bandits.

flexgee:
"Free the Kids or Resign"- Sowore Leads Fresh Protest in Abuja Over Oyo Abduction

Sowore says: "LIVE IN ABUjA: Despite threats and the massive deployment of soldiers, we marched against Tinubu’s incompetence in handling insecurity and his obvious inability to rescue kidnapped schoolchildren. We made it clear—even to the soldiers deployed against us—that Tinubu must either ensure the safe rescue of these children or resign from office. #OccupyAsoRock #TinubuMustGo"

Where is Peter Obi in all of this?

maasoap:
➜Any protest that leads to murdering and destruction is no longer legal. It has to be banned.
➜ Imagine the victims of those protests so far are SA citizens and not immigrants, do you believe that your government would still allow the protests to continue? No way!

1. You should probably consult the letter of the law rather than make it up for kicks. The rights of the people cannot be banned. Protest is a right and cannot be banned.

2. Again, protests are legal rights of the people. Crime isn't. So, if crime is committed by protesters, then all government can do is prosecute the criminals who committed the crime, not penalize all of those protesting.

onyinyechi225:
➜Comprehension issues I guess😅🤷‍♀️ You’ll be fine😊

Given the response I posted previously was me literally saying no to your suggestion that I trust you, "No!"

maasoap:
➜That doesn't erase the destructions of lives and properties that occurred as a result of the few violent protests.
Like I always said, all of you are guilty and culpable, your governments, violent protesters, the non violent protesters and the the rest of you giving them online supports and defending them.

The only way to resolve those is prosecution of all those actually involved in the destruction of property and lives, not a ban on protests, as protests will always remain legal.

onyinyechi225:
➜Thats your headache, not mine anyways. Lets say your just one/singular approval sinks.
Millions more to go!😌😌 Unto the next⏭️

I can't make heads or tails of this response.

onyinyechi225:
😂😂😂.. i laf in Efik. You dont know Obi oo. Politics is One thing.✅ Standing up firmly for the right thing is another thing.✅ Just Let him have his way first..thats all i’ll have to say. See ehn..The evil doers in this country especially the ones that fails to repent, withdraw or halt their Evil Acts will so suffer ehnn..Obi is a very intelligent Man. The greatest mistake you will do is underate that Man. Yes, very peaceful and not troublesome, na why till today me sef dey vex for am say why e go beg Obidients to Calm down and wait for due process the other time Our mandate was stolen!!🥲 Truth is.. Obi may appear to shine teeth with all and sundry, but he sure knows the good and bad eggs and the necessary actions to take towards them. He may eventually step on soo many toes o, but im certain intelligently still knows just how well to tame them as well.👌. He already is self-aware of the right persons to form a Team with in the political helms of affair that will surely WORK RIGHT!. See ehn, this is not just meresay or hearsay Its a Prophecy, pregnant and soon be actualised and fufilled. It’s Only Tarrying, remeber they say “Goodthings dont come easy”!. Na the Bad ones dey reign pass and thrive easily, Sadly🤧. This Man knows why he didnt mind but even conceited to even just one term🤌🏻.. He believes and knows definitely Nigerians will make him want to stay again- By Gods grace (Look at Alex Otti today). All he’s asking for is a Chance. And trust me, WE CAN MAKE THAT HAPPEN WITH OUR VOTES!✅ Get that PVC today!!!!!🟩 NIGERIA CAN and WILL be OK!📌✊🏻❤️ Woo.. im talking too much sef. I evetually spoke lengthier than i should🤦🏼‍♀️😄 Ire ooo☮️☮️

I don't trust you! Hope that answers this sing-song of yours.

damble:
➜What ADEBOYE cannot do, your grand father can do it better. Drag your grandfather out

My grandfather was not a scammer and a tout like your Adeboye. He knew to respect himself and avoid defrauding people in the name of the gods.

Eriokanmi:
You're not even hiding the fact thst you're tribalist smh. In case you're still sleeping, wake up! Obidients cut across all tribes and ethnic groups in Nigeria. Anyone who believes in the obi's manifesto and ideas are called Obidients. Why aren't you also tagging the city boy movement a yoruba formation, with ibos and other tribes as members ? Being tribalistic wont help this generation except we just want to keep deceiving ourselves. Those you're supporting out of sentiments don't even know you.

Obi literally
➜ stopped Nigerians from protesting the fraudulent election that got Tinubu into office.
➜ He also did not stand up to protest during the EndBadGovernance or the follow-up which took place the year after.
➜ And now he suggests that age is a reason why Adeboye should not be bothered with calling for RCCG members to protest against insecurity.
➜ Worse, he goes around mingling with many of the same elements that continue to frustrate life and living for Nigerians and has never once admitted that the best way forward would be a complete overhaul of the Nigerian constitution, which has entrenched Sharia and impunity for Islamists in the constitution.

I don't see what you folks see in that man at all.

SlavaUkraini:
https://www.thecable.ng/obi-to-youths-dont-expect-adeboye-to-champion-change-at-84-resist-political-manipulation/

This man needs to quit doing this nonsense
Age didn't stop Adeboye from helping engineer APC's entry into power. But now it will stop him from protesting insecurity caused by the people he helped enthrone? 🥱

Gbawe:
@ Paddy Lo.

Kayode Ogundamisi , the founder of Nigerian liberty forum, took to the Streets of London to protest that Jonathan be made acting President while many of the sycophants now surrounding Jonathan hid away. He now scathingly writes against Jonathan below:

http://www.saharareporters.com/article/not-god-not-jerry-rawlings-only-nigerians-can-save-nigeria-them

Below is one of the comments to the article by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika that demonstrates how Nigerians , from all walks of life are , beginning to think and talk. Certain occurences  hint at  pivotal moments in history for the observant individual . That Nigerians took to the Street recently all over the world is proof that our siddon look atitude is changing gradually . Pastor Adeboye has come out with his most incendiary words to date that "rig and we will fight you" .

By insisting it is only the PDP that can produce the President next year you are , like most insensitive election riggers, discounting the Nigerian voters . The PDP cannot punish Nigerians with odious and crippling misrule everywhere and yet posit that , because of the numbers of political position it holds, next years election is a done deal like Jonathan bragged recently. We should factor in how all Nigerians are talking to note that riggers will have it tough . If Nigerians are unanimously behind Ribadu , and given the current mood of the nation , he can win even with a "Yoruba Party".

APC is what Adeboye helped happen to Nigeria and Nigerians. 🥱

Danjos1:
Our winning strategies for April polls, by Bakare
The Nation
Bolade Omonijo 15/03/2011 00:05:00
Pastor Tunde Bakare is known as a fiery preacher. But, now, he wears a new toga. He is a politician. Last Saturday in Lagos, he met with select journalists to explain his journey into partisan politics and what it took General Muhammadu Buhari to enlist him in the Congress for Progressive Change’s army for the April 9 presidential election. He spoke on his party’s strategies and disclosed that he got the endorsement of Christian leaders before accepting to run with Buhari. Group Political Editor BOLADE OMONIJO attended the session. Excerpts:


As a pastor, your calling is to win souls for Christ. How did you end up in partisan politics and now as running mate to General Muhammadu Buhari?

Ordinarily, I shouldn’t have business in partisan politics, but it is too important to be left in the hands of politicians alone. I thought my job is just to raise the standard of God’s consciousness in our nation and ensure that righteousness exalts this nation by instilling the fear of God in our people. I have been harassed by military dictators and their civilian counterparts, but I never thought a day would come that I would do this. The last time I marched the streets in my life was in 1978 and that was during the days of Ali-must-go. When I left school, I thought marching the streets had ended, until the crisis that almost pushed Nigeria to the precipice recently. We rose by the grace of God, gathered all civil society organisations together on January 7 and fixed January 12 for mass protest against what was happening, a culture of impunity against a sitting Vice President, not a candidate at the time, and by the grace of God, the people joined us in the protest. We had our way, the president was endorsed and that was it.

How did you get fully involved in the whole thing?

We thought SNG should not end there; that we should move to the next phase, unblocking the minds of our people to know that sovereignty truly lies in their hands and that they must register to vote. We began to open SNG chapters across the nation, until one fateful afternoon of May 3. Someone asked me a question: ‘Pastor Bakare, are you raising responsible people to vote for irresponsible people?’ It hit me like a thunder bolt and that was the turning point for me. Then we decided to engage the political class and show Nigerians the irreducible minimum they should be looking for in a candidate. So, we came up with a contract for Nigeria, which was launched in Nigeria on May 5, 2010. We began to engage the political class. I personally engaged Atiku and we drew our seven-point irreducible minimum that we wanted to see in parties and politicians and key players in every political party – high-level transparency and internal democracy which is germane to our development. We finally took a stand. We went to the President with a document which we gave to elders in some parts of the country including religious leaders like Pastor Adeboye on why we would not support Jonathan. We listed three or four things.

The culture of impunity we rose to fight had returned full circle into our country and we gave him examples like what was happening in Ogun State where SNG had to intervene alongside Professor Wole Soyinka at a town hall meeting to decry the situation. The same thing happened in Bauchi; the governor moved from ANPP to PDP; his deputy did not move along with him. The governor used the House to impeach him; the man went to court and won, but another person was sworn in as deputy governor. Now, the governors of Bauchi and Ogun states are now the coordinators for President Jonathan’s campaign, which means he has made up his mind, whether there is violation of people’s right or people’s will. The cry of my heart has been that except we return to true federalism, Nigeria cannot make progress because we were better than this when we had little resources. These were the things we were saying and began to position our people.

But, even if SNG felt strongly that something had to be done, couldn’t the body have identified and backed other credible Nigerians on the political scene? Why you?

On July 31, 2010, we summoned the first meeting; 10 people were invited, but only eight showed up. At the meeting were Nuhu Ribadu, Malam Nasiru el Rufai, Donald Duke, Oby Ezekwesili, Ngozi Iweala, Fola Adeola and Jimi Agbaje. Governor Fashola was also invited. So, we called these arrow-heads because we wanted to go outside of normal party structure, raise a new calibre of people that would either move to a political party en masse or start one. That day, we decided to use a new party because I loved the name, the New Democrats. I said to them that day the only way I would participate in this process is to give two conditions: I will spend and be spent for it, but I will not touch elective office and I will not join a political party. I’m fulfilled the way I’m functioning and everybody knows by the grace of God whether you like what I’m saying or not, when I rise to speak, I say it the way it is and leave it there, and we agreed. But unfortunately, the man who registered New Democrats, which we were going to use, decided to become the campaign director in the Diaspora for IBB; the rest is history

At a point you engaged the Labour Party?

We decided to engage Labour Party because it is generic; but one of us pulled the trigger. Nuhu Ribadu decided to pick the ticket of ACN, that was a good development, and I said if that’s the way you want to go, we will still go together and we were all going together on the platform of Labour Party. We then thought out who we should present as candidate. It was Donald Duke that we were going to feature as Vice President and Malam el Rufai as the presidential candidate. But Donald Duke came back and said he would not be able to accept such responsibility; he was even the one that suggested Labour Party to us.

How did you settle for working with General Buhari?

Malam el Rufai returned to the country and gave us some stiff conditions that for as long as Nuhu is out (campaigning), he would not come out because it could divide the north further. I saw the point and we said we should forget it. Before we got to that stage, we also engaged Buhari. We went to him in Kaduna like we sat with Jonathan and Atiku as well as Ribadu. I came back to Nigeria to engage Buhari because we didn’t give him any chance at all. If you read in the press all that I said about him (Buhari), I said they were all part of the old, who can’t produce anything for us; there is no point lying. I won’t say something and deny it. But when I engaged the man, I discovered that he had changed from what he used to be. And of all the people I sat with, he is the most credible that gave all the right answers and that was willing to engage us and to seek help. A good leader is not an all-rounder; he is the one who knows his weakness and can stab that weakness and will engage in people who are much more competent than himself and release them to accomplish a task. If you don’t mind who takes the credit, you will get much more done. When Malam el Rufai said he would not contest because he would be seen as competing with Nuhu, we felt that the other candidate left was Buhari; but we wished them all the best and washed off our hands.  I was tidying my wardrobe when the phone call came and it was Buhari on the other side and he said: “Pastor Bakare, after deep thoughts, I will consider it a great honour if you can run with me as my Vice Presidential candidate for the 2011 elections”.

The answer was not far- fetched, it was in my lips waiting: ‘Thanks, but no thanks and I told him that I didn’t come because I wanted to play politics. I want to be part of those who will reshape Nigeria and create a party that can be respected.’  I called Pastor Adeboye and he surprised me because I thought he would say no way; but I played into his hands. When we went to meet with President Jonathan, the documents we gave to him, we also submitted it to Pastor Adeboye and he asked who the best person that can salvage Nigeria was. I told him, from all I have seen, the person that can rescue us right now is Muhammadu Buhari, but he has no money. He is popular in the north, he does not have a clue of how to come into the south because of so many things they’ve hanged on his head over the years. I was still not persuaded. I went again to meet Pastor Adeboye, and submitted what we were doing. He said ‘if you are ever considering Muhammadu Buhari, then you need to look for a strong Christian to be his running mate.’ And I stood up and said ‘we will look for the strong Christian but I want you to know that it cannot be me; I’m satisfied with what I’m doing.’ I did not know that as I was doing all these, I was worming myself into the heart of Buhari. By the time I called Pastor Adeboye, he said, ‘that you did not lobby for this, it is an opportunity for you to express everything you have carried for this nation. Move forward.’ I called him (Adeboye) again the second day and said, ‘sir, will you support me?’ He (Adeboye) said, ‘with everything I have got in my own way, just go for it, I will be praying.’

What actually are you bringing to the table, that other people can join you in making your aspiration fruitful?

One of the conditions we gave before accepting this - and all my friends were there in Kaduna before I signed any paper - is that I said, “General, you can fight corruption. You have the courage and the will, because you have been adjudged a clean man, a man of probity, but beyond fighting corruption, I don’t know you to be an economist and me that you are asking to come, I am not an economist. Would it be acceptable to you that we build a change team, a people who are not just technocrats, who have been there before, who understand the issues, so that we build a formidable team from within our nation and outside of our country in the Diaspora. And he accepted.

The question is what political value you are adding to the ticket…

Someone once said that he had no political structure and I said, you didn’t build your own in one day, either. When I rose and people said you can’t pull it through, I remember the ACF person, Shettima Yerima, he said don’t go to Abuja to protest, stay in Lagos where you have people; but you do not know what we have done over the years building networks across this country. There is no part of this country, no zone where we are not represented. Look at the last voter registration, Lagos State has the highest number, more than six million people; you think it is because Lagosians are aware? We knew what we did. SNG started what we call VEAC-Voters Education Awareness Campaign. We sent 10 men to every ward to go knock at people’s doors to bring them out. Those we have on our data will shock you.

Do you think within the time frame, you can make impact?

I took that up in Ibadan three days ago. I assembled all our chairmen and stakeholders in Ibadan. And I said I have heard this repeatedly mentioned that we have no time. That time is against us. Time is not against us. Time is never against you. Number one, all the courses we studied in university called time management is a lie. You can only manage yourself in time. You can never manage time. The rich, the poor, the young, the old, the male, the female, the sick and the young; we all have the same amount of time. When God is behind a particular thing, when the people are yearning for change… how long did it take to remove a 28-year depot in Egypt?  We are not going to begin to invest money on billboards. I have been pastoring a church in this country for 22 years and we have never pasted a poster, no billboard; but people keep coming. The north has decided who the president would be. I also believe South West will play a critical role in presidential electoral victory in 2011; so is the South East. We need 25 per cent from 24 states. The whole of the north is 19, plus south West it is 25; if you get 25 per cent in the whole of the north and the Southwest, you are already president of Nigeria. But the battle for the south west must be fought with re-engineering in the mind of our people. That is what we want to do. That is why we have kept the flag-off of the South West to the last.

What would give anyone the optimism that Buhari who is principled and a forthright person like you would win election in Nigeria’s messy environment?

My exposure to the corridors of power frightens me. If the PDP by hook or crook wins the 2011 elections, we might just kiss Nigeria good bye and we will not be guilty of not trying. It is not a do-or-die affair. I am not going to borrow money or sell houses to run the election and Buhari will not do that either. One person gave him all the posters and bill boards in the North-West; another person gave us vehicles for the campaign. I took her aside and asked why she did that, she simply said: “In Petroleum Trust Fund days, I got contracts without lobbying and we tried to give this man, he refused and this is the only way we can compensate him.” Are we going to say because of the depravity in the system we won’t do what is right? The responses we are getting from ordinary people, if translated to votes, will see us through; but the environmental pollution has clouded our minds that we do not think it is possible. Most of the elite will not vote that day. Some say we can’t win; let’s do our best and leave the rest for God. In Tunisia, one man tired of oppression, set himself ablaze and the President is no longer in power. We can make a change if we all beam our searchlight on those things that are holding us back. I read in the papers that Jega has adopted the voting procedure used during the 1993 elections which I support - simultaneous voting. I presented this same position to Jega when I had no interest in politics. 

We have seen violence rock political campaigns and the PDP has accused the CPC of causing it…

Did the CPC cause the violence in Bayelsa? Did the CPC cause the stampede in Port-Harcourt where so many people died? I am an eyewitness to history we flew from Abuja to Maiduguri. The governor of Borno took away all the buses off the streets so that no one would come; but they trekked. Some came on motorcycles. It took us over one and a half hour on a five-kilometre road to arrive the palace of the Shehu of Borno. The CPC is not behind it; it is the revolt of the poor. That is why I said we should be careful, if the elections are not rigged and they are fair, everybody will be calm and the results will be acceptable. However, if the people feel they have been cheated, God save us.

Given the spate of injunctions by the courts, do you think the elections will hold as scheduled?

The judiciary is already compromised and all kinds of injunctions come from the courts. It is worrisome; I do agree. At some points, I felt it and for my passion, I was getting ready to open my chambers again because the likes of Chief Gani Fawehinmi are gone. This is solely why CPC is saying we are not going to the court; we will settle matters at the polls. We do not mean violence. There must be simultaneous voting, the modified open secret ballot system.

Adeboye has never been just a passive voice in the Nigerian political arena. 🥱

wales:
Why did you accept to become General Buhari’s running mate?
Ordinarily, I have no business in partisan politics. Politics is too important to be left in the hands of politicians alone. I thought my job is just to raise the standard of God’s consciousness in our nation and to ensure that righteousness exalts this nation by way of preaching and instilling the fear of God in our people. I have been harassed myself by military dictators and their civilians counterparts in mufti, but I never thought that a day would come that I would do this.

The last time I marched on the streets was in 1978 and that were the days of Ali-must-go, and all that happened was that they increased our fees from N30 to N90 and that was killing in those days. When I left school, I thought the marching had ended, until the crisis that almost put Nigeria into the precipice and we rose by the grace of God, gathered all civil society organisations together on January 7 and fixed a date for January 12.
Using our networks within the country to pull our people down to the streets, to protest what was happening.

A culture of impunity against a sitting Vice President, not a candidate at this time and by the grace of God, the people joined us in the protest. We had our way. The President was endorsed and that was it.We thought Save Nigeria Group (SNG) should not end there, that we should go to the next phase; the next phase is unblocking the minds of our people to know that sovereignty truly lies in their hands and to ensure that many of them this time around, would register to vote. We began to open SNG chapters across the nation, until one fateful afternoon, the 3rd of May (2010). I will never forget it. Someone asked me a question that: “Pastor Bakare, are you raising responsible people to vote for irresponsible people.” That hit me like a thunderbolt and that was the turning point for me.

There is no quality leadership to provide not just direction, but to supervise our development. That day after that question came to me, we decided to engage the political class and not just cry out, let’s come out with what we will show Nigerians that is the irreducible minimum that we should be looking for in a candidate that you will cast your vote for. So, we came up with a contract for Nigeria, which was launched in Nigeria on the May 5, 2010, we held a meeting in the afternoon, the rest they say, is history.We began to engage the political class; I personally engaged Abubakar Atiku and we drew our seven points irreducible minimum that we want to see in parties and politicians and key players in every political party. High level transparency, internal democracy which is germane to our development. We engaged the political class and finally we took a stand. We went to the President with a document, which we gave to elders in some parts of the country and religious leaders like Pastor Adeboye on why we will not support Jonathan.

We listed three or four things.The culture of impunity we rose to fight had returned full circle back into our country, and we gave him examples like what was happening in Ogun State which SNG had to intervene and we followed alongside Prof Wole Soyinka at a town hall meeting to decry what was happening in Ogun State. The same thing happened in Bauchi. The governor moved from All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); his deputy did not move along with him, the governor used the House of Assembly to impeach him. The man went to court and won, but another person was sworn in as deputy governor.

Now these two people, the governors of Bauchi and Ogun states are now the co-ordinators for President Jonathan’s campaign, which means he has made up his mind, whether there is violation of people’s right or will, it does not matter. The cry of my heart has been that except we return to true federalism, Nigeria cannot make progress because we were better than this when we had little resources. These were the things we were saying and began to position our people. July 31, 2010, we summoned the first meeting, 10 people were invited but only eight showed up. At the meeting, was Nuhu Ribadu himself, Malam Nasiru el-Rufai, Donald Duke, Oby Ezekwesili, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Fola Adeola, Jimi Agbaje, Governor Fashola was also invited.

So, we called these arrowheads together, because we wanted to go all outside of normal party structure, raised a new caliber of people that will move enmasse to a political party or start one. That day we decided to use a new party because I loved the name, the Liberal Democrats. The name was good and I said to them that day the only way I would participate in this process is to give two conditions: I will spend and be spent for it, but I will not touch elective office and I will not join a political party. Those were the two conditions I gave them.

I’m fulfilled the way I’m functioning and everybody knows by the grace of God whether you like what I’m saying or not, when I rise to speak, I say it the way it is and leave it there and we agreed. But unfortunately, the man who registered Liberal Democrats, which we were going to use, decided to become the campaign director in the diaspora for IBB. The rest is history. And so, we decided to use Labour Party (LP) and we engaged LP because it is generic; but one of us pulled the trigger, Ribadu decided to pick the ticket of ACN, that was a good development, and I said if that’s the way you want to go, we will still go together and we were all going together on the platform. We now thought who we should present as candidate. I’m giving you this background because stories have a way of being muddled up and I like saying it the way it is because there is nothing you can do to truth. Even if people don’t believe you, your conscience is clean. It was Duke that we were going to feature as vice president and Mallam el-Rufai as the presidential candidate. But Duke came back and said right now, I’m not able to accept such responsibility, it was even him that suggested Labour Party to us.

So, we retained Mallam el-Rufai, who the first day I met him, was the one saying to me, let’s use Nuhu Ribadu and I said we can’t present Ribadu for obvious reasons that were known to us at that point. You will be doing so many things and having to correct and explain so many things. So, we decided to pair el-Rufai and Oby Ezekwesili; he (el-Rufai) was away and I called him to return and that we are going to galvanise everyone to fight this monster called PDP, because there are some things that I know, if time permits, I will expose them.With another four years of PDP, you can kiss Nigeria, goodbye. Mallam el-Rufai returned to the country and gave us some stiff conditions that for as long as Ribadu is out, he would not come out. It will look like competition and it will just divide the North further. I saw the point and we said let’s forget this, we are not guilty of not trying. Before we got to that stage, we also engaged General Muhammadu Buhari. We went to him in Kaduna like we sat with Jonathan and Atiku as well as Ribadu.

I will never forget my encounter with Nuhu Ribadu at a town hall meeting in Washington which was put together by Professor Aluko. This time we were pure SNG, we weren’t partisan and Nuhu rose up that day and said “ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to tell you why I want to rule Nigeria.” It was my time to speak and I said “Nuhu, I would have almost cursed the day I met you, but because you are my younger brother, I will not do that, you want to rule Nigeria, who would be your subjects” I told him that all these anti-corruption czar, we have stories we can tell, but we keep quiet for now, until the appropriate time. I came back to Nigeria to engage Buhari because we didn’t give him any chance at all. If you read in the press all that I said about him (Buhari), I said they were all part of the whole, who can’t produce anything for us, there is no point lying. I won’t say something and deny it. Until I engaged the man and I discovered that he has changed from what he used to be. And of all the people I sat with, he is the most credible that gave all the right answers and that was willing to engage us and to seek help. A good leader is not an all rounder, he is the one who knows his weakness and can starve that weakness and will engage in people who are much more competent than himself and release them to accomplish a task. If you don’t mind who takes the credit, you will get much more done.

When Mallam el-Rufai said he would not contest because he would be seen as competing with Ribadu, we felt that the other candidate that is left is Buhari, but we wished them all the best and washed off our hands. I was tidying my wardrobe when the phone call came and it was General Buhari on the other side and he said ‘Pastor Bakare, after deep thoughts, I will consider it a great honour if you can run with me as my Vice Presidential candidate for the 2011 elections. The answer was not far-fetched, it was in my lips waiting to explode: thanks, but no thanks and I gave him the reasons that I didn’t come because I wanted to play politics. I want to be part of those who reshape Nigeria and create a party that can be respected. I called Pastor Adeboye and he surprised me because I thought he would say no way, but I played into his hands. When we went to meet with President Jonathan, the documents we gave to him, we also submitted them to Pastor Adeboye and he asked who is the best person that can salvage Nigeria. I told him, from all I have seen, the person that can rescue us right now, is Muhammadu Buhari, but he has no money, he is popular in the North, he does not have a clue of how to come into the South because of so many things they’ve hung on his head over the years.

I was still not persuaded. I went again to see Pastor Adeboye, submitted what we were doing; he said ‘if you are ever considering Muhammadu Buhari, then you need to look for a strong christian to be his running mate and the emphasis was strong. And I stood up and said we will look for the strong christian, but I want you to know that it cannot be me, I’m satisfied with what I’m doing. I did not know when I was doing all these, I was warming myself in the heart of Buhari. But it was ACN who first came to me through their publicity secretary and said can you persuade General Buhari to run on our platform; that was part of the engagement, to let the best of the North and the best of the South pair. I preached it that let ACN and CPC form an alliance and let’s call it ACPC and PDP will be history, but there are other issues that did not make that work. Move forward, I called him (Adeboye) again the second day and said sir, will you support me, he (Adeboye) said ‘with everything I have got in my own way, just go for it, I will be praying.’

What actually are you bringing to the table, that other people can join you in making your aspiration fruitful?
One of the things that we made a condition precedent before accepting this, and all my friends were there in Kaduna before I signed any paper, General, you can fight corruption. You have the courage and the will, because you have been adjudged a clean man, a man of probity, but beyond fighting corruption, I don’t know you to be an economist and me that you are asking to come, I am not an economist. Would it be acceptable to you that we build a change team, a people who are not just technocrats, who have been there before, who understands the issues, so that we build a formidable team from within our nation and outside of our country in the diaspora, to bring in this people, for this first and foremost rescue operation, because we need to recover Nigeria, we need to rescue Nigeria.

If you ask me to give those names, permit me to still keep them where we keep them behind the scene. Because at the crucial time their faces will be out and you will know who they are.
But if you are asking me if I am adding any value, if that is the question, politics is a game of number. Someone said, he has no political structure and I said, you didn’t build your own in one day either. There was the first day that the man who has political structure also stepped in without structure. Where was your political structure when Nigeria was sliding into precipice. And when I rose and people said you can’t pull it through, I remember the ACF person, Shettima Yerima, he said don’t go to Abuja to protest, stay in Lagos where you have people; but you do not know what we have done over the years building networks across this country.

There is no part of this country, no zone that we are not represented. If politics is the game of number, Dr Akingba pointed us in the right direction when he said, are you raising credible people to vote for unreasonable men. Look at the last voter’s registration, Lagos State has the highest number, 6 something million people is it because Lagosians are aware? We knew what we did. SNG started what we call VEAC-Voters Education Awareness Campaign. We sent 10 men to every ward to knock at people’s doors to bring them out. Those we have on our data will shock you.

Also in our deliberation, we decided that there was no point wasting our energy and resources. Fashola is good in Lagos. You can’t beat Fashola in the next election except if the Almighty decides otherwise. So, instead of you looking for one candidate that is not going anywhere and you waste your resources around him, let’s build party structure. Let’s build a Unilateral Strategic Alliance, USA, go to such governors and , say ‘here are our people, they will vote for you, we want you also to help our own cause so that when it comes to presidency, we will have such collaboration’. And we know we don’t want them involved in any anti party activity. We don’t want that.

But nobody has monopoly over South-West right now. It is so open. And we are going to do what people don’t do. We are not going to win this battle just on the pages of newspapers, just as much as we need the press. We need the press so that what we are doing is communicated accurately out there. We need the Press to also showcase some of the things behind what we are doing and what we stand for.

What our government can do for the people of Nigeria. And there is no place in Nigeria that the Press is so powerful like in the South West. But we are not going to be paper tigers like you call them. It is not just going to be television appearances. We are going to the people where they are. And that is why after the flag-off, you are not likely going to see us doing rallies and doing fashion parade.

I told them at the NN24 debate, you see how many times (President) Jonathan has changed clothes, it is because he is conducting a farewell party across Nigeria. That’s all. Let him enjoy it. We don’t have time for that. We are rolling our sleeves to go to where the people are, in the hinterland, in rural areas, everywhere to give them hope.

Many years I transverse this county going from campus to campus, there is no university in Nigeria, except the ones just being established that have no foundation, no classrooms, I went to all those universities to begin to raise new generations. We call them, a new breed without greed. If you are asking about people and numbers, you will be shocked at the right time.





http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/politics/2011/mar/23/politics-23-03-2011-001.htm

This is who Adeboye was and what he did during the Jonathan regime. 🥱

bodejohn:
Why did you accept to become General Buhari’s running mate?
Ordinarily, I have no business in partisan politics. Politics is too important to be left in the hands of politicians alone. I thought my job is just to raise the standard of God’s consciousness in our nation and to ensure that righteousness exalts this nation by way of preaching and instilling the fear of God in our people. I have been harassed myself by military dictators and their civilians counterparts in mufti, but I never thought that a day would come that I would do this.

The last time I marched on the streets was in 1978 and that were the days of Ali-must-go, and all that happened was that they increased our fees from N30 to N90 and that was killing in those days. When I left school, I thought the marching had ended, until the crisis that almost put Nigeria into the precipice and we rose by the grace of God, gathered all civil society organisations together on January 7 and fixed a date for January 12.
Using our networks within the country to pull our people down to the streets, to protest what was happening.

A culture of impunity against a sitting Vice President, not a candidate at this time and by the grace of God, the people joined us in the protest. We had our way. The President was endorsed and that was it.We thought Save Nigeria Group (SNG) should not end there, that we should go to the next phase; the next phase is unblocking the minds of our people to know that sovereignty truly lies in their hands and to ensure that many of them this time around, would register to vote. We began to open SNG chapters across the nation, until one fateful afternoon, the 3rd of May (2010). I will never forget it. Someone asked me a question that: “Pastor Bakare, are you raising responsible people to vote for irresponsible people.” That hit me like a thunderbolt and that was the turning point for me.

There is no quality leadership to provide not just direction, but to supervise our development. That day after that question came to me, we decided to engage the political class and not just cry out, let’s come out with what we will show Nigerians that is the irreducible minimum that we should be looking for in a candidate that you will cast your vote for. So, we came up with a contract for Nigeria, which was launched in Nigeria on the May 5, 2010, we held a meeting in the afternoon, the rest they say, is history.We began to engage the political class; I personally engaged Abubakar Atiku and we drew our seven points irreducible minimum that we want to see in parties and politicians and key players in every political party. High level transparency, internal democracy which is germane to our development. We engaged the political class and finally we took a stand. We went to the President with a document, which we gave to elders in some parts of the country and religious leaders like Pastor Adeboye on why we will not support Jonathan.

We listed three or four things.The culture of impunity we rose to fight had returned full circle back into our country, and we gave him examples like what was happening in Ogun State which SNG had to intervene and we followed alongside Prof Wole Soyinka at a town hall meeting to decry what was happening in Ogun State. The same thing happened in Bauchi. The governor moved from All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); his deputy did not move along with him, the governor used the House of Assembly to impeach him. The man went to court and won, but another person was sworn in as deputy governor.

Now these two people, the governors of Bauchi and Ogun states are now the co-ordinators for President Jonathan’s campaign, which means he has made up his mind, whether there is violation of people’s right or will, it does not matter. The cry of my heart has been that except we return to true federalism, Nigeria cannot make progress because we were better than this when we had little resources. These were the things we were saying and began to position our people. July 31, 2010, we summoned the first meeting, 10 people were invited but only eight showed up. At the meeting, was Nuhu Ribadu himself, Malam Nasiru el-Rufai, Donald Duke, Oby Ezekwesili, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Fola Adeola, Jimi Agbaje, Governor Fashola was also invited.

So, we called these arrowheads together, because we wanted to go all outside of normal party structure, raised a new caliber of people that will move enmasse to a political party or start one. That day we decided to use a new party because I loved the name, the Liberal Democrats. The name was good and I said to them that day the only way I would participate in this process is to give two conditions: I will spend and be spent for it, but I will not touch elective office and I will not join a political party. Those were the two conditions I gave them.

I’m fulfilled the way I’m functioning and everybody knows by the grace of God whether you like what I’m saying or not, when I rise to speak, I say it the way it is and leave it there and we agreed. But unfortunately, the man who registered Liberal Democrats, which we were going to use, decided to become the campaign director in the diaspora for IBB. The rest is history. And so, we decided to use Labour Party (LP) and we engaged LP because it is generic; but one of us pulled the trigger, Ribadu decided to pick the ticket of ACN, that was a good development, and I said if that’s the way you want to go, we will still go together and we were all going together on the platform. We now thought who we should present as candidate. I’m giving you this background because stories have a way of being muddled up and I like saying it the way it is because there is nothing you can do to truth. Even if people don’t believe you, your conscience is clean. It was Duke that we were going to feature as vice president and Mallam el-Rufai as the presidential candidate. But Duke came back and said right now, I’m not able to accept such responsibility, it was even him that suggested Labour Party to us.

So, we retained Mallam el-Rufai, who the first day I met him, was the one saying to me, let’s use Nuhu Ribadu and I said we can’t present Ribadu for obvious reasons that were known to us at that point. You will be doing so many things and having to correct and explain so many things. So, we decided to pair el-Rufai and Oby Ezekwesili; he (el-Rufai) was away and I called him to return and that we are going to galvanise everyone to fight this monster called PDP, because there are some things that I know, if time permits, I will expose them.With another four years of PDP, you can kiss Nigeria, goodbye. Mallam el-Rufai returned to the country and gave us some stiff conditions that for as long as Ribadu is out, he would not come out. It will look like competition and it will just divide the North further. I saw the point and we said let’s forget this, we are not guilty of not trying. Before we got to that stage, we also engaged General Muhammadu Buhari. We went to him in Kaduna like we sat with Jonathan and Atiku as well as Ribadu.

I will never forget my encounter with Nuhu Ribadu at a town hall meeting in Washington which was put together by Professor Aluko. This time we were pure SNG, we weren’t partisan and Nuhu rose up that day and said “ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to tell you why I want to rule Nigeria.” It was my time to speak and I said “Nuhu, I would have almost cursed the day I met you, but because you are my younger brother, I will not do that, you want to rule Nigeria, who would be your subjects” I told him that all these anti-corruption czar, we have stories we can tell, but we keep quiet for now, until the appropriate time. I came back to Nigeria to engage Buhari because we didn’t give him any chance at all. If you read in the press all that I said about him (Buhari), I said they were all part of the whole, who can’t produce anything for us, there is no point lying. I won’t say something and deny it. Until I engaged the man and I discovered that he has changed from what he used to be. And of all the people I sat with, he is the most credible that gave all the right answers and that was willing to engage us and to seek help. A good leader is not an all rounder, he is the one who knows his weakness and can starve that weakness and will engage in people who are much more competent than himself and release them to accomplish a task. If you don’t mind who takes the credit, you will get much more done.

When Mallam el-Rufai said he would not contest because he would be seen as competing with Ribadu, we felt that the other candidate that is left is Buhari, but we wished them all the best and washed off our hands. I was tidying my wardrobe when the phone call came and it was General Buhari on the other side and he said ‘Pastor Bakare, after deep thoughts, I will consider it a great honour if you can run with me as my Vice Presidential candidate for the 2011 elections. The answer was not far-fetched, it was in my lips waiting to explode: thanks, but no thanks and I gave him the reasons that I didn’t come because I wanted to play politics. I want to be part of those who reshape Nigeria and create a party that can be respected. I called Pastor Adeboye and he surprised me because I thought he would say no way, but I played into his hands. When we went to meet with President Jonathan, the documents we gave to him, we also submitted them to Pastor Adeboye and he asked who is the best person that can salvage Nigeria. I told him, from all I have seen, the person that can rescue us right now, is Muhammadu Buhari, but he has no money, he is popular in the North, he does not have a clue of how to come into the South because of so many things they’ve hung on his head over the years.

I was still not persuaded. I went again to see Pastor Adeboye, submitted what we were doing; he said ‘if you are ever considering Muhammadu Buhari, then you need to look for a strong christian to be his running mate and the emphasis was strong. And I stood up and said we will look for the strong christian, but I want you to know that it cannot be me, I’m satisfied with what I’m doing. I did not know when I was doing all these, I was warming myself in the heart of Buhari. But it was ACN who first came to me through their publicity secretary and said can you persuade General Buhari to run on our platform; that was part of the engagement, to let the best of the North and the best of the South pair. I preached it that let ACN and CPC form an alliance and let’s call it ACPC and PDP will be history, but there are other issues that did not make that work. Move forward, I called him (Adeboye) again the second day and said sir, will you support me, he (Adeboye) said ‘with everything I have got in my own way, just go for it, I will be praying.’

What actually are you bringing to the table, that other people can join you in making your aspiration fruitful?
One of the things that we made a condition precedent before accepting this, and all my friends were there in Kaduna before I signed any paper, General, you can fight corruption. You have the courage and the will, because you have been adjudged a clean man, a man of probity, but beyond fighting corruption, I don’t know you to be an economist and me that you are asking to come, I am not an economist. Would it be acceptable to you that we build a change team, a people who are not just technocrats, who have been there before, who understands the issues, so that we build a formidable team from within our nation and outside of our country in the diaspora, to bring in this people, for this first and foremost rescue operation, because we need to recover Nigeria, we need to rescue Nigeria.

If you ask me to give those names, permit me to still keep them where we keep them behind the scene. Because at the crucial time their faces will be out and you will know who they are.
But if you are asking me if I am adding any value, if that is the question, politics is a game of number. Someone said, he has no political structure and I said, you didn’t build your own in one day either. There was the first day that the man who has political structure also stepped in without structure. Where was your political structure when Nigeria was sliding into precipice. And when I rose and people said you can’t pull it through, I remember the ACF person, Shettima Yerima, he said don’t go to Abuja to protest, stay in Lagos where you have people; but you do not know what we have done over the years building networks across this country.

There is no part of this country, no zone that we are not represented. If politics is the game of number, Dr Akingba pointed us in the right direction when he said, are you raising credible people to vote for unreasonable men. Look at the last voter’s registration, Lagos State has the highest number, 6 something million people is it because Lagosians are aware? We knew what we did. SNG started what we call VEAC-Voters Education Awareness Campaign. We sent 10 men to every ward to knock at people’s doors to bring them out. Those we have on our data will shock you.

Also in our deliberation, we decided that there was no point wasting our energy and resources. Fashola is good in Lagos. You can’t beat Fashola in the next election except if the Almighty decides otherwise. So, instead of you looking for one candidate that is not going anywhere and you waste your resources around him, let’s build party structure. Let’s build a Unilateral Strategic Alliance, USA, go to such governors and , say ‘here are our people, they will vote for you, we want you also to help our own cause so that when it comes to presidency, we will have such collaboration’. And we know we don’t want them involved in any anti party activity. We don’t want that.

But nobody has monopoly over South-West right now. It is so open. And we are going to do what people don’t do. We are not going to win this battle just on the pages of newspapers, just as much as we need the press. We need the press so that what we are doing is communicated accurately out there. We need the Press to also showcase some of the things behind what we are doing and what we stand for.

What our government can do for the people of Nigeria. And there is no place in Nigeria that the Press is so powerful like in the South West. But we are not going to be paper tigers like you call them. It is not just going to be television appearances. We are going to the people where they are. And that is why after the flag-off, you are not likely going to see us doing rallies and doing fashion parade.

I told them at the NN24 debate, you see how many times (President) Jonathan has changed clothes, it is because he is conducting a farewell party across Nigeria. That’s all. Let him enjoy it. We don’t have time for that. We are rolling our sleeves to go to where the people are, in the hinterland, in rural areas, everywhere to give them hope.

Many years I transverse this county going from campus to campus, there is no university in Nigeria, except the ones just being established that have no foundation, no classrooms, I went to all those universities to begin to raise new generations. We call them, a new breed without greed. If you are asking about people and numbers, you will be shocked at the right time.

This article from back around that time shows that Adeboye was not just some passive voice of individual. 🥱

Tenses:
In a couple of hours, maximum 16 hours, Obidients go supply receipts.

The Internet don't forgets

Actually, it seems the RCCG team has done a job to remove much of the information from that time from the internet. I was shocked to find that even Nairaland seems to have been scrubbed of the articles and discussions on the issue. 🥱

wales:
Why did you accept to become General Buhari’s running mate?
Ordinarily, I have no business in partisan politics. Politics is too important to be left in the hands of politicians alone. I thought my job is just to raise the standard of God’s consciousness in our nation and to ensure that righteousness exalts this nation by way of preaching and instilling the fear of God in our people. I have been harassed myself by military dictators and their civilians counterparts in mufti, but I never thought that a day would come that I would do this.

The last time I marched on the streets was in 1978 and that were the days of Ali-must-go, and all that happened was that they increased our fees from N30 to N90 and that was killing in those days. When I left school, I thought the marching had ended, until the crisis that almost put Nigeria into the precipice and we rose by the grace of God, gathered all civil society organisations together on January 7 and fixed a date for January 12.
Using our networks within the country to pull our people down to the streets, to protest what was happening.

A culture of impunity against a sitting Vice President, not a candidate at this time and by the grace of God, the people joined us in the protest. We had our way. The President was endorsed and that was it.We thought Save Nigeria Group (SNG) should not end there, that we should go to the next phase; the next phase is unblocking the minds of our people to know that sovereignty truly lies in their hands and to ensure that many of them this time around, would register to vote. We began to open SNG chapters across the nation, until one fateful afternoon, the 3rd of May (2010). I will never forget it. Someone asked me a question that: “Pastor Bakare, are you raising responsible people to vote for irresponsible people.” That hit me like a thunderbolt and that was the turning point for me.

There is no quality leadership to provide not just direction, but to supervise our development. That day after that question came to me, we decided to engage the political class and not just cry out, let’s come out with what we will show Nigerians that is the irreducible minimum that we should be looking for in a candidate that you will cast your vote for. So, we came up with a contract for Nigeria, which was launched in Nigeria on the May 5, 2010, we held a meeting in the afternoon, the rest they say, is history.We began to engage the political class; I personally engaged Abubakar Atiku and we drew our seven points irreducible minimum that we want to see in parties and politicians and key players in every political party. High level transparency, internal democracy which is germane to our development. We engaged the political class and finally we took a stand. We went to the President with a document, which we gave to elders in some parts of the country and religious leaders like Pastor Adeboye on why we will not support Jonathan.

We listed three or four things.The culture of impunity we rose to fight had returned full circle back into our country, and we gave him examples like what was happening in Ogun State which SNG had to intervene and we followed alongside Prof Wole Soyinka at a town hall meeting to decry what was happening in Ogun State. The same thing happened in Bauchi. The governor moved from All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); his deputy did not move along with him, the governor used the House of Assembly to impeach him. The man went to court and won, but another person was sworn in as deputy governor.

Now these two people, the governors of Bauchi and Ogun states are now the co-ordinators for President Jonathan’s campaign, which means he has made up his mind, whether there is violation of people’s right or will, it does not matter. The cry of my heart has been that except we return to true federalism, Nigeria cannot make progress because we were better than this when we had little resources. These were the things we were saying and began to position our people. July 31, 2010, we summoned the first meeting, 10 people were invited but only eight showed up. At the meeting, was Nuhu Ribadu himself, Malam Nasiru el-Rufai, Donald Duke, Oby Ezekwesili, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Fola Adeola, Jimi Agbaje, Governor Fashola was also invited.

So, we called these arrowheads together, because we wanted to go all outside of normal party structure, raised a new caliber of people that will move enmasse to a political party or start one. That day we decided to use a new party because I loved the name, the Liberal Democrats. The name was good and I said to them that day the only way I would participate in this process is to give two conditions: I will spend and be spent for it, but I will not touch elective office and I will not join a political party. Those were the two conditions I gave them.

I’m fulfilled the way I’m functioning and everybody knows by the grace of God whether you like what I’m saying or not, when I rise to speak, I say it the way it is and leave it there and we agreed. But unfortunately, the man who registered Liberal Democrats, which we were going to use, decided to become the campaign director in the diaspora for IBB. The rest is history. And so, we decided to use Labour Party (LP) and we engaged LP because it is generic; but one of us pulled the trigger, Ribadu decided to pick the ticket of ACN, that was a good development, and I said if that’s the way you want to go, we will still go together and we were all going together on the platform. We now thought who we should present as candidate. I’m giving you this background because stories have a way of being muddled up and I like saying it the way it is because there is nothing you can do to truth. Even if people don’t believe you, your conscience is clean. It was Duke that we were going to feature as vice president and Mallam el-Rufai as the presidential candidate. But Duke came back and said right now, I’m not able to accept such responsibility, it was even him that suggested Labour Party to us.

So, we retained Mallam el-Rufai, who the first day I met him, was the one saying to me, let’s use Nuhu Ribadu and I said we can’t present Ribadu for obvious reasons that were known to us at that point. You will be doing so many things and having to correct and explain so many things. So, we decided to pair el-Rufai and Oby Ezekwesili; he (el-Rufai) was away and I called him to return and that we are going to galvanise everyone to fight this monster called PDP, because there are some things that I know, if time permits, I will expose them.With another four years of PDP, you can kiss Nigeria, goodbye. Mallam el-Rufai returned to the country and gave us some stiff conditions that for as long as Ribadu is out, he would not come out. It will look like competition and it will just divide the North further. I saw the point and we said let’s forget this, we are not guilty of not trying. Before we got to that stage, we also engaged General Muhammadu Buhari. We went to him in Kaduna like we sat with Jonathan and Atiku as well as Ribadu.

I will never forget my encounter with Nuhu Ribadu at a town hall meeting in Washington which was put together by Professor Aluko. This time we were pure SNG, we weren’t partisan and Nuhu rose up that day and said “ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to tell you why I want to rule Nigeria.” It was my time to speak and I said “Nuhu, I would have almost cursed the day I met you, but because you are my younger brother, I will not do that, you want to rule Nigeria, who would be your subjects” I told him that all these anti-corruption czar, we have stories we can tell, but we keep quiet for now, until the appropriate time. I came back to Nigeria to engage Buhari because we didn’t give him any chance at all. If you read in the press all that I said about him (Buhari), I said they were all part of the whole, who can’t produce anything for us, there is no point lying. I won’t say something and deny it. Until I engaged the man and I discovered that he has changed from what he used to be. And of all the people I sat with, he is the most credible that gave all the right answers and that was willing to engage us and to seek help. A good leader is not an all rounder, he is the one who knows his weakness and can starve that weakness and will engage in people who are much more competent than himself and release them to accomplish a task. If you don’t mind who takes the credit, you will get much more done.

When Mallam el-Rufai said he would not contest because he would be seen as competing with Ribadu, we felt that the other candidate that is left is Buhari, but we wished them all the best and washed off our hands. I was tidying my wardrobe when the phone call came and it was General Buhari on the other side and he said ‘Pastor Bakare, after deep thoughts, I will consider it a great honour if you can run with me as my Vice Presidential candidate for the 2011 elections. The answer was not far-fetched, it was in my lips waiting to explode: thanks, but no thanks and I gave him the reasons that I didn’t come because I wanted to play politics. I want to be part of those who reshape Nigeria and create a party that can be respected. I called Pastor Adeboye and he surprised me because I thought he would say no way, but I played into his hands. When we went to meet with President Jonathan, the documents we gave to him, we also submitted them to Pastor Adeboye and he asked who is the best person that can salvage Nigeria. I told him, from all I have seen, the person that can rescue us right now, is Muhammadu Buhari, but he has no money, he is popular in the North, he does not have a clue of how to come into the South because of so many things they’ve hung on his head over the years.

I was still not persuaded. I went again to see Pastor Adeboye, submitted what we were doing; he said ‘if you are ever considering Muhammadu Buhari, then you need to look for a strong christian to be his running mate and the emphasis was strong. And I stood up and said we will look for the strong christian, but I want you to know that it cannot be me, I’m satisfied with what I’m doing. I did not know when I was doing all these, I was warming myself in the heart of Buhari. But it was ACN who first came to me through their publicity secretary and said can you persuade General Buhari to run on our platform; that was part of the engagement, to let the best of the North and the best of the South pair. I preached it that let ACN and CPC form an alliance and let’s call it ACPC and PDP will be history, but there are other issues that did not make that work. Move forward, I called him (Adeboye) again the second day and said sir, will you support me, he (Adeboye) said ‘with everything I have got in my own way, just go for it, I will be praying.’

What actually are you bringing to the table, that other people can join you in making your aspiration fruitful?
One of the things that we made a condition precedent before accepting this, and all my friends were there in Kaduna before I signed any paper, General, you can fight corruption. You have the courage and the will, because you have been adjudged a clean man, a man of probity, but beyond fighting corruption, I don’t know you to be an economist and me that you are asking to come, I am not an economist. Would it be acceptable to you that we build a change team, a people who are not just technocrats, who have been there before, who understands the issues, so that we build a formidable team from within our nation and outside of our country in the diaspora, to bring in this people, for this first and foremost rescue operation, because we need to recover Nigeria, we need to rescue Nigeria.

If you ask me to give those names, permit me to still keep them where we keep them behind the scene. Because at the crucial time their faces will be out and you will know who they are.
But if you are asking me if I am adding any value, if that is the question, politics is a game of number. Someone said, he has no political structure and I said, you didn’t build your own in one day either. There was the first day that the man who has political structure also stepped in without structure. Where was your political structure when Nigeria was sliding into precipice. And when I rose and people said you can’t pull it through, I remember the ACF person, Shettima Yerima, he said don’t go to Abuja to protest, stay in Lagos where you have people; but you do not know what we have done over the years building networks across this country.

There is no part of this country, no zone that we are not represented. If politics is the game of number, Dr Akingba pointed us in the right direction when he said, are you raising credible people to vote for unreasonable men. Look at the last voter’s registration, Lagos State has the highest number, 6 something million people is it because Lagosians are aware? We knew what we did. SNG started what we call VEAC-Voters Education Awareness Campaign. We sent 10 men to every ward to knock at people’s doors to bring them out. Those we have on our data will shock you.

Also in our deliberation, we decided that there was no point wasting our energy and resources. Fashola is good in Lagos. You can’t beat Fashola in the next election except if the Almighty decides otherwise. So, instead of you looking for one candidate that is not going anywhere and you waste your resources around him, let’s build party structure. Let’s build a Unilateral Strategic Alliance, USA, go to such governors and , say ‘here are our people, they will vote for you, we want you also to help our own cause so that when it comes to presidency, we will have such collaboration’. And we know we don’t want them involved in any anti party activity. We don’t want that.

But nobody has monopoly over South-West right now. It is so open. And we are going to do what people don’t do. We are not going to win this battle just on the pages of newspapers, just as much as we need the press. We need the press so that what we are doing is communicated accurately out there. We need the Press to also showcase some of the things behind what we are doing and what we stand for.

What our government can do for the people of Nigeria. And there is no place in Nigeria that the Press is so powerful like in the South West. But we are not going to be paper tigers like you call them. It is not just going to be television appearances. We are going to the people where they are. And that is why after the flag-off, you are not likely going to see us doing rallies and doing fashion parade.

I told them at the NN24 debate, you see how many times (President) Jonathan has changed clothes, it is because he is conducting a farewell party across Nigeria. That’s all. Let him enjoy it. We don’t have time for that. We are rolling our sleeves to go to where the people are, in the hinterland, in rural areas, everywhere to give them hope.

Many years I transverse this county going from campus to campus, there is no university in Nigeria, except the ones just being established that have no foundation, no classrooms, I went to all those universities to begin to raise new generations. We call them, a new breed without greed. If you are asking about people and numbers, you will be shocked at the right time.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/politics/2011/mar/23/politics-23-03-2011-001.htm

This is who Adeboye was and what he did during the Jonathan regime. 🥱

jaxxy:
✓ Seems u cant read the read by reading i btwn the lines, infact they have been saying it boldly without mincing words but seems u are either unaware or pretending to be.
Illegal immigration is a decoy after the backlash has gone global so the educated and widely travelled southafricans who have international commitments or businesses are trying to soften the truth and reality but their local lowlife southafrican brothers keep embarassing them online. And the stupidd ones seem to be in the majority to the exposed one.
This xenophobia been twisted into antiimigration and illegal migrants when we all know they asked both legal and illegals to leave southafrica.
✓ Black southafricans hate black africans. They like whites except for the whites who built southafrica and taking more of their resources.

Tagging them losers for exercising their right to protest helps nothing. The fact is they have a right to not want mass migration into their country by foreigners and they also have a right to demand all illegal immigration be put a stop to. 🥱

If the people gain nothing or see no benefit to having foreigners in their country, they have every right to demand their government ship the foreigners back to where they came from. Similar is happening in many countries across the world. 🥱

Protest is a right citizens have in their own country. Xenophobia is not a criminal offense or a thing of shame. Crime is what everyone should instead be against.🥱

jaxxy:
➜They are self hating and xenophobic cos they are hating on their own race. killing their own race.
➜ The government is the one attacking white South Africans not the black South Africans themselves. White foreigners are not being attacked.
➜ I'm not interested in beating about the Bush here.

1. That sounds a lot like a biased assessment of things. On the other hand, hating oneself is not a crime or a civil issue that one should use as a reason to ignore the issue being raised, which is illegal immigration.

2. Isn't that the same government you accuse of turning the other way as illegal immigrants are being protested against by the black South Africans?

3. I would say that is much of what most foreigners have been doing for a long time now whenever the issue of illegal immigration and deportation of said aliens is raised in South Africa. The fact remains that immigration is not a right, but a privilege extended only by government to the select few, on its own terms. Citizens have a right to demand that illegal aliens be removed by their government from their territory.

bamayo:
➜poverty reduces religiosity.
➜ paying tax makes people to hold Thier government responsibility just as we see in Western world. they pay tax heavily and when they felt unsatisfied with any leader, they take it up with that person.
Our problem still lies heavily on poverty. we are on survival of the fittest mode which is natural whenever resources are limited.

1. I don't agree! Over 400 million people are living in poverty in China, for example, and they aren't really known for being religious.

2. Poverty may be a problem today, but it was not as bad back in the 70s/80s. Yet, Nigerians allowed religion to ravage their minds to the point that you have it today.

jaxxy:
➜if some says they are doing something about and issue but the issue still persist and increasing will u believe them?
2. The issue of black South Africans and white South Africans is a different issue based majorly on resources they are not asking them to go because they know they can't even do that the whites will not listen to them and there is nothing they can do.
3. My earlier points about blacks or whites was specifically to foreigners, they are not attacking or driving away white people who are foreigners because they think they are better than their fellow blacks.
4. This is the current mentality of the xenophobic self hating black South Africans.

1. I don't believe them. However, at the same time, I know not to expect the government to get me results overnight, especially one like South Africa.

2. White South Africans are being discriminated against in their own country. They are being attacked, and some have had their properties looted. That is even worse than the issue with illegal aliens, in my opinion, as governments are primarily designed to protect first the interests of their citizenry before that of all others.

3. According to stats, the vast majority of illegal immigrants in South Africa are black Africans(over 75%), while the rest are mostly from the Middle East and parts of Asia. What whites are you alluding to?

4. Self-hating, yet what they have been agitating for is that foreigners -- possibly millions of them -- be removed from their country? While I am not for criminal attacks and looting, something I hope the government is indeed investigating and doing something about, I understand all too well what having illegal immigrants can do to general safety and the economy of a nation. We see that playing out in Nigeria with the terrorists, many of them illegal immigrants who have been ravaging the country for over a decade now, and have already made their way into parts of Oyo State, killing and destroying lives in their way.

post=139603276:
Source: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2026/06/naira-appreciates-to-n1385-in-parallel-market/

Parallel market still? Na wa oo 🥱🥱

Yampotatocarrot:
Exactly what I just commented. He planned a one million march against insecurity DURING JONATHAN'S TIME, but cancelled it. He spoke out also during that time

As much as I don't care what action he takes, they shouldn't try changing the narrative

Changing the narrative seems to be what is happening at this time as even Nairaland seems to have wiped much of our old posts of this matter off its search history. 🤔

jaxxy:
✓There are many videos online with security agents either doing nothing and helping the africans leave the area rather than confronting the xenophobics.
✓ The government knows about the killings are are doing nothing, they are not investigating.
✓ Last they are not "some" they are wide spread asking all black foreigners to go. They only want white people. Its a shame

1. I have yet to come across such videos. Also, if they were caught on camera, have the authorities been informed? 🥱

2. Did the government state this or are you assuming this? 🤔

3. Last I checked, many of those whites are themselves South Africans, born and raised. So, why should they prefer foreigners in this case. Also, white South Africans are also being discriminated against by the government of South Africa. I recall the back and forth Trump had with SA where about 6900 white South Africans left of the US. 🤔

Ade2024:
➜Stop being hopeless about nigeria getting better We just need to vote right

Well, until you begin to vote right, I will continue to state the facts as they are, whether you think my standing on the truth makes me hopeless or not.

jaxxy:
➜It is not commited by a minority it is commited under the watchful eye of their xenophobic government and security agents.
➜ Didnt u see where they told people to leave their business and go back. Even those with papers. That is what most of them are doing. Dont let this guy decieve u.
➜ He once said no african immigrants have been killed but it was later admited by his xenophobic government that 3 people had been killex then and now more have been killed.
➜ Let him show u a video where people with legal papers are checked and allowed to stay.

1. You mean government and security agents witnessed the looting and killings and did nothing?

2. They? Can you please provide a link to this proclamation?

3. Did the government dismiss the killings, refuse to investigate, and ensure that those responsible would be prosecuted?

4. I am not certain what you are asking here. Are you saying that because some nefarious characters have committed crimes against foreigners, therefore even those who have papers in SA are targeted?

yongg:
➜That you can't see the connection is a huge betrayal.

I am not interested in time wasters.