Democracy and Politics are games only grown ups can play.

One day Chyz is encouraging GEJ to single-handedly correct all the ills in the South-East for him, another day he wants GEJ to correct census figures, sounds to me like he is asking GEJ to make up the numbers.

Why he does not also consider the fact that one day GEJ will leave office and the next President's priority if he happens to come from the North will be to re-correct GEJ's correction. What do we have, a case of every Government playing politics with serious issues like Census figures.

What we need is a long term solution of Nigeria's problems not the kind of justice that can only survive the life of one President.

So if you have zoning, there is no need to lie about census figures in order to rig elections because power will definitely come to your region anyway.
If we have true Fedralism where every zone is self sufficient, there is no need to lie about census figures anyway because since your zone no longer depends on allocation from the centre then no need to forge census figures because anybody doing so will be decieving themselves.

If we have devolution of power and State policing, then policing policies will be based on local needs not demons who get posted to other parts of the country to molest Nigerians.

These are Policies IBB stood for, these are policies Soludo has called for, these are policies Atiku will stand for. Has Jonathan had the courage to tell us where he stands on any of these issues? NO. He is afraid, all he wants is to win elections. On a week when the CBN Governor talked about waste in Government due to NASS overhead. where is Jonathan's leadership on that issue? None!!! Rather what we got is a record hike in Budget to over 4 trillion.

Jonathan's solution to everything is to even spend more without accounting for his previous expenditures. Trust me only illiterates will support Jonathan, only minority fools will follow Jonathan and dump zoning. He is not the President Nigeria needs at this time.

He clearly can not be the legitimate candidate of PDP. He is not good enough for the nation to extend his time in office by 1 minute.

Nnamani, may seem like Uncle Tom in your eyes but he knows what he is doing, so do the likes of Ekwueme, Soludo, Kalu Idika Kalu, prof AB Nwosu.

Jonathan will only lead his illiterate followers into a pit.

noblezone:

When OBJ gave a tactical support to the Uba family to destroy Anambra State and called it a "family affair", we rose to the occasion and condemned that insult on our psyche as a people. The internal party wranglings of any political party must not be allowed to degenerate to threats as this. The courts are there to address such issues. We saw it in Rivers, when OBJ forcefully removed Amechi: the man went to court and won.

I am not a member of any political party and I don't think I am becoming one soon. The parties should give us their candidates amongst whom we are to choose. The man/woman with the highest vote will win.

Atiku and every other aspirant should share with us intellectually and not threaten us with violence. Between Buhari and Atiku, until yesterday I would have voted Atiku but now, he has displayed such an immaturity and therefore has lost characteristics of a democrat.

What Atiku said is a quote from a reknowned politician who is not necessarily know for violence. Yes President JFK is not know for violence. It is not a threat to anybody, it is a warning and reminder that when laid down rules are not followed you are simply inviting catalysis. So if you are serious about not wanting violence your anger will be directed towards those not following the laid down rules of their own party.

Because if everyone respected the constitution of the PDP, there wont be any need for Atiku to remind us the implication of not following these rules.

Why don't you advise GEJ to respect the rules as it is or go to court and ask them to pronounce the PDP constitution illegal instead of using the office of the Presidency to muscle his party?

If there is anyone inviting confusion here it is GEJ, if you can not own up to this fact and choose to point accusing fingers to the wrong person then we can only assume you are a GEJ accomplice and partner in confusion formenting.

This man should not be allowed near any burial site because he has the capacity to turn a sober atmosphere into one of comedy.

Immagine people who have come to pay their last respect rolling on the floor and laughing helplessly?

Reference:

Marcdunu, GEJ, Zoning, the PDP and other interests are not bigger than the aspirations of the majority of well meaning and progressive Nigerians. If we say we want GEJ it is for a reason, a structural reason not based on sentiments or some undemocratic political manipulation. If the south felt in 1999 that rotation was its best chance of assuming power so be it. This is 2010 and things have changed or are you saying the south cannot change its mind. Does the north want to take over the MINDS of southerners as well.

We don't want rotation, period. Nigeria does not belong to any section neither did GEJ did kill Yaradua. He got there by fate. I repeat, no one is saying GEJ represents the best the South-South, the South or Nigeria has to offer but at this time - December 2010 he represents the best agent of structural change in this country. Let us fix the building before we take care of the furniture. The election of GEJ will prove that outside the north and west other regions belong and if you feel there are second class citizens in Nigeria with no aspirations as and when they want to rule, stand up and defend that position.

Which is why GEJ should leave PDP to safeguard whatever majority aspirations he thinks he represents. There are rules as enshrined in PDP constitution which even a Nigerian court of law has recognised. In the interest of peace GEJ must respect the PDP constitution or quit the PDP. Rules are rules, they are there to be obeyed.

They are not designed for you to ignore claiming to represent any ridiculous majority aspirations because if our politics has always been about majority aspirations GEJ would have still been a Bayelsa local politician by now.

He should not destroy Nigeria, the constitution of the PDP on zoning must be respected by members of that party. Anybody who does not agree with it are well in their right to disagree but they will also have to quit.

Disobeying the internal rules of a party is a recipe for catastrophe and confusion.

The CNN's Aisha Sessay also asked GEJ the same issue. GEJ should not cause confusion, he must respect the rules of his own party or quit the party all together.

A man who is not worth running a Local Government is holding a whole country to ransomn because he has been lucky enough to emerge President through zoning and now want to ditch a system he has imensely benefited from.

Solozzo:

All this is caused by GEJ who had refused to respect the rules of his own party by which he came to power. After a brief taste of power he is so desperate to continue that he is not willing to give up and respect his own party arrangement of zoning of the presidency. He should respect and pull out of the race. This is a common problem with Nigerian leaders.

He had not even done anything that would make us support his presidential bid anyway. GEJ SHOULD STEP DOWN from the race. Zoning may not be the best but the party had agreed to use it as a means of producing candidates and GEJ a chief beneficiary should do the honourable thing.

He is doing the same thing we complained about late Yar'Adua.

[size=18pt]I agree with you. If this country goes into flames GEJ should be held responsible.[/size]

correct man, always willing to learn.

How old is the Nigerian constitution? it is still evolving and I don't know what will be added and what wont be.

The Nigerian constitution recognises the right of political parties to make its own house rules on election, selection or nomination. A subsisting court Judgement also recognises zoning in the PDP constitution and did not pronounce it as illegal.

If anything, if Jonathan wants to remain greedy and run; let him leave the PDP to implement its own house rules. Let Jonathan go and run on another party platform.

PDP has zoning in its constitution and Jonathan must respect it.

yeswecan:

In essence there is no such thing as democracy-  what you called democracy is "Eurocentric system of government" which is voting. If you get down to the logic of it and agree that democracy is a government for the people, then just any system be it totalitarian or monarch can be classified as democracy if the people endorses it- and if the people insist on monarch and you give them voting then it is not in agreement with or according to democratic doctrine of "popular rule". This is an essentially contested concept in the academic realm. In this case,  Democracy is measured by what majority want not (don't miss it up with voting system).

That said - lets get down to eurocentric idea of democracy which our system is modeled on, this calls for anyone within the age range accepted as matured enough in this case 40 be eligible to stand for the office of presidency AND any other agreed criteria MUST be enshrined in the constitution. There is no ethnic consideration in the Nigeria constitution with regards to this issue  - so how would a presidential candidate claim some zoning that Nigeria constitution doesn't recognize - and you call that democracy. That's madness

Nigeria's limit to democracy must be in the constitution - if its not there its nonsense - null and void.  If the constitution does not have an age limit then just any sane person below 40 can contest. The key word here is " the people's choice" which will be in the (and) "constitution". If the people have a change of mind, they talk with their representative and change the constitution. That's the document that guilds us and thats the way democracy works

The European countries you are talking about do not have 300 ethnic groups with 3 tribes that don't usually agree on anything. They don't have their country split halfway between Christains and Muslims like we have in Nigeria. Without zoning for now Nigeria will be another Rwanda or Somalia and anybody denying this fact lives in disneyland.

That  Mornachical system like UK and a Presidential system like US can both lay claim to democracy tells me that we too can define the limits of our own democracy. America's founding fathers adopted democracy from Europe but chose to do away with Monarchy; the blackman must learn to think outside the box and define for himself systems that suits his own needs.

Without zoning, and if we had a polity where all that matters is the numbers, given that who to vote in Nigeria are still driven by sentiments such as tribe, language or religion; I doubt Nigeria would have produced and Ijaw President and Idoma Senate President anytime in our first 50years of democracy.

So lets not knock zoning. While its easy to manage a post election where Buhari looses to Yar'adua, it may not be as easy to manage a post election where an Atiku looses to a Jonathan Goodluck especially when the Norrth has every right to think it is their turn.

Jonathan should thanks his stars and go back home and wait for the next turn of the South South, if his people choose him then good for him.

Jonathan should not destroy this country because of his blind ambtion. he is not even an inspiring candidate so what is the noise about? Nigeria is not missing anything by Jonathan going home. He has not given a good account of himself in the last 12 months.

His ambition must not destroy Nigeria.

yeswecan:

Its different from zoning. Federal character is enshrined in the constitution that's based on appointment. The issue with zoning if you get down to its implication - is that, it is in direct conflict with the sense or meaning of democracy/voting system which is exclusive to people's choice. In the case of zoning its not the people choosing but some elites .

Absolute untruth, zoning does not negate the idea of democracy. It may limit the pool of contestants but surely does not negate democracy.

Because at any point in time in this country, if you do a thorough search with the highest of standards you will find at any one time highly qualified Presidential candidates from all Geopolitical zones. So what if you decide that at anyone time let all the qualified candidates from one zone present themselves and let the Nation choose? What is wrong with that and how is that not democractic.

This is simply uniquely tayloring democracy to suit our needs as a country with specific challenges.

If democracy is only applicable when all are free to run, what do you say about the age limits which excludes some sections of the society to run for elections? why don't we also argue that it is undemocratic for any electoral process to exclude new born babies to run for office? Is'nt it the case that it is ok to excludes kids because they can not run a country? Is'nt this a practical case of defining the limits of democracy?

So why can't Nigeria practically define its own limits of democracy? we have a unique situation that could lead to post election violence if not for zoning. so why can't we taylor the limits of our own democracy to suit our needs? who wants open violence and blood on the streets every 4years in this country just because we have ethnic , religious and ethical differences?

Jonathan's ambition should not be allowed to destroy Nigeria, a word is enough for the wise.

Andre Uweh:

The most thing to happen to Nigeria at the moment is G.EBERE.J.

If violence breaks out after elections where will your Ohaneze be? I guess you will personally be chopping your own share of the loot given to you by Uwechue from Jonathan to yarn opata.

This country is still at risk of post election violence if the 2 major contenders to the election are from different zones. This is why zoning in still very necessary in Nigeria. Post election violence is still very much possible in Nigeria.

Do you know who will bear the brunt most? Igbos!!!!! Because we have more Igbos in non-Igbo parts of the country than any other tribe living in other parts of the country. Ohaneze will not guarantee the security of Ndigbo at such a time because they have never done so in the past and do not have the capacity to protect all Igbos in all parts of Nigeria.

This country is bigger than Jonathan, the peace and security of Nigeria is bigger than Jonathan's blind ambition based on nothing, if violence breaks out after election; Jonathan will be held responsible. This is the turn of the North to produce the President from 2011 - 2015. It is not South-South turn.

Jonathan should not be allowed to destroy Nigeria.

Becomrich}:

So are you saying atiku want to pick Soludo. If Soludo lost in anambra state , it means Atiku would loss again.

Even I think Iweala would be more politically useful to Atiku than soludo. since she is a woman.
why is atiku look for an igbo president. the bulk of the vote is in yorubaland. And it means he has lost the election before it even start. Why do you think Buhari is only focus on the yorubas, because he knows igbos would not vote for northerners.

It is not that easy for northerners to get the igbo vote.

you are a worried man.

Beaf,

please kindly post the International Warrant of arrest against Atiku for all to see.

Please remember that mere newspaper allegations is not a warrant of arrest.

Post the warrant or any news talking about the warrant of arrest (NOT news about the allegation).

Post that immediately or remain silent on this issue forever.

This is a pragmatic policy and people should stop associating everything with the Igbo vote.

The ban is not working simple.

Beaf:

Mere allegations.
In the meantime, poor lil Atiku! He has to watch what plane to travel in, look furtively over his shoulder on foreign streets and sleep with one eye open. . . Cos he's wanted by the United States Government for the very serious crime of laundering a stolen 40 billa! Chei! Odi very serious!

Did you see his rejoinder, were he wondered why the US govt thinks all his money is stolen?
Damn hilarious!

Mere allegations?

Have you convicted Atiku in a court yet?

If those of Jonathan are allegations; so too are those of Atiku.

Stop having one rule for some and another for others.

The momentum is clearly with Atiku.

Beaf:

Bros, why should I insult you when you haven't strated the ball rolling? In the past, its always been you either making unfortunate comments (most I just ignore) or opening personal threads on me, of course I ignore such rubbish.

Anyway, let the jokes continue about probable running mates for an internationally wanted man. The whole thing is so damn funny! Only in 9ja!
If Lawrence Anini could wake from the dead, maybe he too would be looking for a running mate. Damn!

While you are also laughing also remember to laugh about the current Aso Rock occupant who was caught pants down trying to offer a Pastor bribe for his political support.

Why is the Jonathan crowd not calling their principal to attend this debate?

I thought they said he was the only credible candidate in the country?

Nobody is fishing for anything. Murtala Nyako simply has Presidential ambition because he will complete his second term in 2011.

But with time him go chill.

A very shrewd and important bargaining chip by Atiku there.

Go boy.

Let them deploy their principal President Jonathan Goodluck to come and defend their records in a live head-to-head debate against Atiku if they are confident in what they are saying.

I think someone like Cyril Stober will do a good job being the debate moderator for NTA.

Onlytruth:

Which is why Igbo are the butt of Nigeria; an object of national ridicule and ignominy. That is why no one would take Igbo serious in national politicking.

That is why all edeeots in Igboland need to be expelled. In the olden days, they'll all be sold into slavery.

Most of these edeeots will even rebel against themselves just for the heck of it!

Thats if it does not turn out that you are actually among the eeddeeoottsss!!!!!!

If not for Ohaneze leadership, who is Uwechue in Igbo political affairs?

Uwechue will now banish Ojukwu, Ekwueme, Nnamani, Sam Egwu from Igbo land? You have no clue yet!!!!!

Don't believe everything you read in the media.

The North will line up behind Atiku at the appointed time.

[size=18pt]2011 Elections: Let the Real Debate Begin[/size]

Prof. Chukwuma C. Soludo, CFR

The 2011 general election will mark a watershed in Nigeria’s history. It comes immediately after Nigeria bids farewell to the first 50 years of political independence (and 96 years of existence as a country) and will usher in the set of leaders that will lay the foundation for the journey to the next 50 years. Like every other election all over the world, the 2011 elections in Nigeria should be mainly about the economy. As Bill Clinton once said, it is the economy, silly! Put differently, sound economics ought to be excellent politics. But, have we even realized this?

Our first 50 years had a chequered history as we struggled to forge a nation out of the disparate nationalities. The first few years of independence with the regional economies as the driving force saw spectacular growth of the economy. With oil came a new political economy based essentially on consumption- distributional politics rather than production. So far more than $400 billion of oil rents have been spent with modest progress. We seem to be saddled with an oil resource curse and a political economy that emasculates the future. We have gone through series of development plans, programmes, visions, etc.  On paper, some were far reaching. We have also had the courage to implement some radical reforms. But, without a holistic systemic change and commitment to sustain reforms, we often take three steps forward and four backwards.

It appears that the future is foggy and serious discussions about that future—the new Nigeria in the next 50 years has not begun. The debate so far is about who would be President or so, and not about what they will offer. I am afraid that we may again conduct elections without any serious issues being canvassed and ‘winners’ will emerge. Our politics has degenerated. In the Second Republic, I recall the robust debates relating to the alternative ideologies and manifestoes of the five political parties during the 1978/79 elections. I remember specifically listening to Obafemi Awolowo in 1979 explaining how much it would cost to implement free education at all levels and free medical care, and how he would reconstruct public finance to squeeze out the money to implement them.
Not anymore! There are no alternative visions, no ideologies and no programmes that offer the voters clear choices about their future. Even my political party, the behemoth PDP, has no clear road map for the country. It has remained a platform to grab power, and I am not sure how many party members can coherently explain what the party stands for. Some of us joined it in the hope of changing it from within, and we have not given up. That is a separate issue for another day.

I am a strong believer in Nigeria’s future and in its God given destiny to lead the black race. If Nigeria does not make it, sub Saharan Africa cannot make it. It is not by accident that God has chosen to make us Nigerians. It is our collective duty to realize God’s purpose for Nigeria. That is why some of us have elected to devote the rest of our lifetime to work for Nigeria’s future.

But Nigeria’s future cannot be taken for granted. The challenges are herculean, and the next four years are critical. Given the population growth rate and if you believe the last census figures, there will be 161 million Nigerians this year, and 212 millions in 2020. By the time a child born this year turns 50 years in 2060, there will be 650 million Nigerians. At current GDP and population growth rates, Nigeria will still be a developing country in 2060 (below $11,000 per capita income). At current rates, it will only be in 30 years time (2040) that Nigeria will attain the current South Africa’s per capita income. The tragedy is that the country has no implementable plan to steer a different outcome. Under the current political economy, the Vision 2020 will remain what it is—a beautiful dream! Neither the investment levels nor the productivity (given the decaying educational system and poor skills) required to realize Vision 2020 will happen.

For Nigeria to take a shot at 2020, the economy needs to be growing at about 14- 15% per annum (more than twice the current rates of 6-7%). Even with improved efficiency, this requires annual investment rates of more than 40% of GDP (higher than total earnings from oil). With the cessation of hostilities in the Niger Delta, and oil price rising to about $79, external reserves ought to be growing. Rather, external reserves are depleting precariously to about $36 billion currently, with weekly sales at the WDAS running into hundreds of millions of dollars. Private capital inflows have largely ceased. The capital market is comatose and capital flight is back with vengeance! With private saving rate of below 20%, public sector dis-saving (borrowing), and huge net capital flight, the numbers on the macro economy do not simply add up. Add to this the surfeit of liquidity and misalignment of basic prices and the conclusion is self evident: sooner or later, something will have to give!

As I ponder the future, I am deeply worried. As a consequence of deliberate choices made by public sector managers and the constitutional/structural bottlenecks, the economy cannot generate the required investment to secure prosperity for all. In spite of the heavy external debt of $34 billion and oil prices ranging between $25- $50 during the Obasanjo’s second term, we managed to grow the economy at about 6 -7% per annum (from average of 2.8% in the 1990s). We started saving for the rainy day when oil prices reached $35 and by 2007, despite paying $12 billion to write-off the Paris Club debt in 2006, we had saved about $22 billion as ‘Excess Crude’.

In the last few years, oil prices have averaged $70 to $85 per barrel. What has happened? We have spent the $22 billion saved under Obasanjo, and now massively borrowing at an alarming rate (domestically and externally) during a period of unprecedented oil price boom, and yet the economy remains static at 6-7% growth rate.  Recurrent expenditure of the public sector has more than doubled since 2004, leaving very little for investment. Recall that during the global financial crisis, we took a deliberate decision to allow the Naira to depreciate as part of the strategies to mitigate the effects of the global crisis. Today, that effectively means that governments at all levels receive (in Naira terms) about 27% more revenue from oil receipts than would otherwise. Indeed, but for this exchange rate change under this circumstance, there would not be more than 11 state governments that can still pay salaries on a consistent basis. With massive government borrowing during a boom and paradoxically very low levels of public investment, the private sector is stymied into a trap. Who has the strategy to unbind this trap?

Effectively, we are repeating the worst forms of the mistakes of the late 1970s to early 1980s: accumulated huge debts and raised government consumption to unsustainable levels during the oil boom which we could not sustain during the slump and hence led to the inevitable SAP. Sadly, we are going through the same cycle again, and if the current trend continues, we are doomed to a worst form of SAP in the future. God forbid! As it is, the economy and the future of hundreds of millions of Nigerians are hinged on a life support of a temporary oil boom.  Our economy is still driven by the volatile primary commodity sector—oil, gas, and agriculture. With poverty incidence at about 50%, and urban youth unemployment at over 20%, we are sitting on a time bomb. The issue is not if the oil price will crash, but when. If oil price falls below $40 tomorrow, the economy will come down on its knees, with catastrophic consequences.  Surely, the oil price will sooner or later crash, but Nigeria has no contingency plan.

The good news is that Nigeria has all the potentials to be great. There are huge idle resources that can be put to productive use. With economy-wide capacity underutilization at about 60% and oil prices at unprecedented levels, broadly shared growth rate of about 15% is possible. This is where the debate needs to begin. Candidates and political parties need to outline their visions of Nigeria in the next 50 years and HOW they intend to rapidly create a broadly shared and sustainable prosperity. The debate must begin! Can fundamental results be achieved by tinkering with programmes or will major changes in the political structure and Constitution be required? It is time the prospective candidates roll out their agenda, and HOW they intend to finance them! Nigerians will no longer be contented with a plethora of platitudes and wish-lists. Each candidate must tell us how he/she intends to finance each programme, the deliverables and timelines. More specifically, we need to know where they stand on critical national issues, even if they have no concrete plans on them. This is a necessary element of a democratic process.
Below, we outline some of the issues/questions we need answers from the prospective candidates.

The first issue we need answers to is how the candidates hope to reconstruct our public finance and put it back on the path of sustainability. How can they rein-in the obtuse and rapacious federal bureaucracy in particular, and the state bureaucracies, balance our budget during this period of oil boom, and yet spend at least 40% of the budget on capital expenditure as required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act? Personally, I am not convinced that we need more than 10 ministries and 10 ministers at the Federal level. They should explain to us their contingency plans in case oil price crashes tomorrow. Candidates should also let us know their views on, and framework for, borrowing (when to borrow, for what, and how it will be paid back?). Without clarity on these issues, much of the talk about government providing power/electricity and infrastructure on a sustainable basis will remain a joke as funding will always remain a binding constraint. In other words, candidates should tell us their plans to shrink the domain of the public sector to free resources to enlarge the domain of the private sector--- to truly have a private sector-led, market economy. For example, I have always believed that company profit tax rate should not be more than 10% (down from the current 30% plus education tax of another 2%) especially at a period of oil price boom, and where the businesses provide their own infrastructure. For businesses to expand and create jobs, the tax rate needs to go down significantly. We need to debate this.

Second, Nigerians would like to know the plans of the candidates for reconstructing our political structures to create the new Nigeria with a new sustainable prosperity. Currently, we are running unitary-federalism, with a plethora of fiscally unviable states as the ‘federating units’, with the attendant wasteful duplication of bureaucracies all over the country. So far as everyone is spoilt with monthly allocations from oil rents, there is no incentive to recreate the prosperity engendered by the palm or cocoa plantations and groundnut pyramids of the old regions. Every village wants to become a state in so far as ‘allocations continue to come from Abuja to pay salaries’. Nigeria’s fiscal federalism seems to have its incentive system upside down, supporting a political economy based upon consumption- distribution rather than production. Should this continue?

Where do we stand on state creation? Should we create 8 states per zone as being proposed, or consolidate the existing ones into six regions with Abuja, Kano, Lagos and Port Harcourt as special territories as being proposed by some people?  What do we do with revenues from exhaustible natural resources (oil, gas, solid minerals)? Some propose that we can create as many states as we want (perhaps until every village becomes a state), but that revenue from Federation Account should never be used for recurrent expenditure but only as matching grants to create wealth and productive capacity for present and future generations, such as only for infrastructure, security and education. Where do candidates stand on this issue? What kind of constitutional changes are required to create a functional fiscal federalism, appropriate devolution of powers from the centre to the states/regions, and ensure effective economic management? What is our plan for effective policing of the country to ensure security of life and property? Where do we stand on the proposal for state or regional police?

On specific sectoral issues, the questions are endless. Who has the strategy to achieve uninterrupted power supply over the 2011- 2015 period? Where is the strategy to ensure accurate population census with biometric data of every citizen? If the last census figure is correct, then Nigeria’s population is exploding without any plans for the children of today and tomorrow. Are we happy with the rate of growth of our population or will someone have the courage to propose a robust population policy? What is the magic wand to ensure that we have a free, fair and transparent electoral system where only votes count and all votes are counted? What is the new strategy to fight corruption? Where is the sustainable plan for the Niger Delta and the long term strategy for environmental sustainability of locations amenable to natural resource extraction? Since our current university system is a road to nowhere and producing largely unemployable graduates, candidates need to flesh out their plans to revolutionarise the sector for Nigeria to join the 21st century.

It is estimated that Nigerians have their wealth running into tens of billions of dollars stashed away outside the country, and capital flight has resumed. Who has the plans to reverse the trend? The Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS 2020) was designed to make Nigeria Africa’s financial hub and an international financial centre by 2020. What is the commitment of the candidates to make this happen? How will the candidates address the various cries of marginalization by sections of the country, especially the South East?  What are the plans for women and youths, as well as the physically challenged? How do we deal with huge but unrecognized national emergencies such as erosion and desertification?

Furthermore, the future depends on how we deal with the tripartite problems of poverty, urbanization, and unemployment. Candidates need to spell out how they intend to solve the pervasive poverty in the North (averaging over 70% compared to average of less than 35% in the South).  To create high value-adding jobs and reduce poverty in the medium term require more than quadrupling of productivity in agriculture as well as mainstreaming of large-scale commercial agriculture. We need to hear the plans of candidates in this regard given the current irrigation level of less than 6%.  More specifically, we need to hear from the aspirants how many jobs they can create over the four year period and the strategies to do so.

There is also the challenge of urbanization and urban renewal strategies. At about 5.3%, Nigeria’s urbanization rate is one of the fastest in the world, with the attendant urban decay, slums and urban unemployment, poverty and crime. What is the plan to stem rural-urban migration? In the medium term, what special strategies for the renewal of mega cities like Lagos, PortHarcourt, Aba/Onitsha, Abuja, and Kano which continue to receive the largest influx of youth population in search of non-existing opportunities? What are the strategies to provide safe drinking water to our population?

There are about 20 million housing deficit in Nigeria. What strategies do the aspirants have to unleash a housing boom and a mortgage system in Nigeria? Surely, this can create millions of jobs, and Nigerians need to know how.
Nigeria has one of the most inefficient ports in the world, and much worse than many other West African countries. What are the strategies to revolutionarise our ports and ensure that importers clear customs in 12 -24 hours over the next four years?  Also where do the aspirants stand with respect to the proposed West African monetary union and common currency? Where do they stand with regards to the WTO and the Millennium Development Round, and the European Union’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) vis-a-vis the Everything but Arms initiative of the EU?  What about the West African common tariffs vis-a-vis the plans for the manufacturing sector? If the aspirants believe that our foreign policy should focus largely on commercial diplomacy, how many missions abroad now make sense, and what kind of ambassadors do we need?

The questions and issues are legion. The essence of this piece is to provoke debate. The next 50 years will make or break Nigeria. Next year marks the beginning of the journey. The current players have a duty to lay a solid foundation for the future. As things are, that future cannot be guaranteed without a big struggle. Those who know, and who have the capacity to contribute to the struggle for a new, prosperous Nigeria must stand up now to be counted! Elite indifference to the political process is not an option. Since we have adopted the U.S. style of state primaries for the President, can we also adopt the U.S.-style debates in various states among the aspirants of the same party? When will the debate begin? The world is watching, and Nigerians are waiting for answers.

http://www.soludo.org/speeches/2011_elections_let_the_realdebate_begin.html

Andre Uweh:

You again. Anyway, do not mind those noise makers. Some of this people (including Ikoh) where those who lost out on Ohanaeze crusade of no Eze ndigbo outside Igboland.
Ohanaeze had a worldwide consultation of Ndigbo before reaching out at a conclusion.

Nothing can be further from the truth.

It is time to cut the crap.

Let Atiku and Jonathan defend their records on National TV face-to-face.

Atiku should fire the first salvo and challenge the President and lets how the President responds.

It is time to have this two men challenge each others economics, security, energy and foreign policy.

No more dishing out press statements through Ima Niboro and Garba Shehu. Let all who call themselves credible come out and tell us how they have been running the country.

No more taking newpaper articles to talk policies. Lets see you live on TV.

Anybody who shy away from the debate is not qualified to lead 2011 Nigeria.

jmoore:

Another show of foolish zoning, there is one river Nigeria needs to cross to stand firm in Democracy and that is the river of zoning.

There are positions that needs merit and the presidency is one of them because it is one president at a time

If you want to disagree with me, then hear this out first. what if we decide that we start zoning in sports especially football, so all parts of the country will be equally represented, you know that is disaster,.
Nigerians don't mind if all 11 players in the field are from one zone as far as the goals and 3 points keep coming, therefore Nigerians won't mind if the presidency stays in one region forever as far as we have good roads, education, zero tolerance to corruption, enough and stable electricity e.t.c but history has shown that coming from one region or the other does not make things right rather it has to do with merit . Nigerians want merit to takes its rightful postion come 2011 election.

The harsh reality is that if that vission of Nigeria were to be here, Jonathan Goodluck will not even be a Local Government Chairman in Bayelsa. He has not got it politically and leadershipwise.

"Government of the elite, by the elite and for the elite".

I like that one

A new lingo is about to be added to Nigeria's political dictionary, It will be called "the Jonathan Effect".

This will come to mean going into an election with massive confidence of victory and coming out a sore looser.

The name is inspired by the "Bradley Effect".

If Atiku picks Soludo as his VP before PDP Primaries, South East political establishment will immediately swing massively in his direction.

The PDP Zoning policy is only a selection method.

The Nigerian Constitution gives parties the right to elect, select or nominate any candidate of their choice.

If within the party's selection method they choose to include a power sharing formula or a pruning down mechanism . . .then I dont see how that tramples on anyone's fundamental human rights.

PDP is not saying anybody has lost their right to be voted for. They are only saying to prevent acrymony let have a system of power rotation that encourages fairness to all groups and ensures that at the end of electoral process people do not hit the streets engaging in ethnic fracas because folks of different ethnic groups or regions took part in election.

So the PDP Zoning formula is a selection method which majority of members of the agreed is how candidates should be chosen at different times.

It is a political decision which those who disagree with them can only leave the party.