₦airaland Forum

blackbeau1:
I should be asking you this ?Do votes count in Nigeria?

yes, or why do you think elections hold and politicians campaign if they don't NEED your votes

seguno2:
Emphasis on silent, which is by choice.

precisely. no hope till we... they CHOOSE to VOTE with their feet and their wallets

omohayek:
But how do you reward your lackeys and kinsmen without bloated parastatals in which to give them jobs? How do you pay back your political henchmen without "juicy" public sector appointments where they can gorge on theft?

The problem isn't simply one of a lack of vision, but of a corrupt political elite which has no personal stake in wanting real reform. There's a reason why Buhari - aka "Mr Honest" - has done absolutely nothing to privatize or deregulate anything: because a lot of his fellow elite northerners personally stand to lose out tremendously in a more efficient and profit-driven system, under which simply being "Alhaji XYZ, cousin of ABC from Kano" will no longer suffice as credentials for running big corporations.


They don't care because they know it won't matter. As cynical as it may come across, the truth is that most Nigerians interpret everything they read or hear through the lenses of ethnic and religious sectarianism. All that matters in weighing the arguments a politician makes is where he comes from and how he worships: just look at the relentless abuse Fashola receives from ignorant people who insist Barth Nnaji was so much better, even though Nnaji recommends exactly the same energy policies as the ones Fashola is attempting to implement. No points for guessing what is really going on there ...

The recent Ondo state elections were another case of how the absurd obsession with origin can trump everything. Although a few candidates actually presented political manifestos with concrete plans, nobody paid them the slightest attention, while the eventual winner of the election never even bothered to show up for the pre-election debates, counting (rightly) on his place of origin to carry him through with the "our son" crowd of voters (which is the vast majority in most places outside Lagos).

Nigerian politicians will only start to care about putting together proposals and going on the road to sell them when the Nigerian electorate itself starts to care about such matters.

Bros what do you do for a living. you school here or abroad. wish I could write like you. thumbs up

clarocuzioo:
It will be a democratic blunder to give more powers to our present day habitual and perpetual kletomaniacs in the name of governors, they are bunch of selfish, greedy, wicked and heartless set of people irrespective of their political affiliation, none of them has the interest of the masses at heart, so why giving them more powers when they have not justified the one given to them

so we should concentrate the mumu with one president instead of spreading among 36

sayentease:
As part of its five-day practical health training workshop, The head pastor of The Shepherds flock ministries, Ikeja, Pastor Tony Akinyemi set up a training programme on food consumption and health on day 3. the programme which kicked off on monday, 24th of July had a massive turn out of about 100 people in attendance.
The programme featured health workshops, weight management, food, aerobics among others.
today, we were served a saladious combination of fruits and drinks.
drinks- pineaple, apple, banana and lemon grinded with ginger
fruit sald- cucumber, carrot, olive oil, fresh tomatoes, vegetables among others.

I ate and i belleful and my body is thanking me for it

Nigerians will live longer if we begin to eat healthy foods, rest and work out effectively.


Please move to fp to enlighten our people

pesin wen de do manual labour go just kpeme with dis kin zero calorie food

ConcNiggress56:
lol.. oga you can prepare all this with #500.

na your type go buy beer one crate and 20 packs of cigar..

shioor

food without calories. Hian hunger go gbab you Ehn

omohayek:
And how exactly will this magical figure get to participate at the presidential level, let alone win, given the serious financial hurdles currently in place (which suits both sides of the APC/PDP duopoly), as well as the near-total disinterest in ideas or policies displayed by the Nigerian populace?

Neither JFK nor Obama would have stood the slightest chance of winning if they'd had to rely entirely on ethnic loyalties on election day, but in both cases they got sufficient numbers of people outside their core supporters to buy into the vision they were selling (which is where Hillary fell short). The problem in Nigeria is that (with the possible exception of MKO Abiola) I have not once seen political candidates successfully transcend the usual tribal and religious voting patterns to win new voters through actual policy proposals, and nothing I see happening in Nigerian life suggests that this is about to change any time soon. The 2019 elections will be decided by the same old factors of ethnicity as before, with Buhari likely to win a second term even if he returns in a vegetative coma, simply because he represents "The North", never mind that they will have nothing concrete to show for the 4 years he's been in office. If Buhari does bow out, then it will be another Northerner taking his place, not because he's the best candidate or most logical choice of successor (in saner climes that would be Osinbajo) but because the northerners believe it's still "their turn". Where in all this insanity do you see reasons for optimism about the emergence of a transformational, visionary leader?

plan a, loot and empower voters (share tractors instead of okada or bags of rice instead of Kongos)

plan b, provide free legal health education services (worth money) to win votes

plan c, kill them all

omohayek:
It should be in theory, but is it in practice? Isn't this the same INEC that just coincidentally suspended Melaye's recall right when Saraki decided to open a probe into the Tertiary Education Trust Fund which INEC's chairman just happened to have run between 2007 and 2012? I've seen INEC's denials of a connection on Twitter, but I don't believe it for a second, any more than I believe Saraki's recent acquittal by the CCT was a mere matter of the rule of law playing out.

I guess what it comes down to is that you retain a certain level of faith in Nigerian institutions that I simply don't possess. I see a system that is rotten all the way down, with the fault for that rot lying directly at the feet of the self-same masses who complain most about its effects. A mass change in mentality is required for things to improve, but I don't think a change of such magnitude occurring in the space of a few years, or simply because a single honest and visionary politician shows up on the scene. I think what we are talking about is a generational struggle on the order of the European Enlightenment, a sustained campaign of education that will require decades of effort, sufficient time for the natural passing of older generations incapable of change.

please revert to my looting plan

omohayek:
If Fayose promoted 9,583 workers, just how many can there be on the state government's payroll? Why does a small, poor state like Ekiti need even 9,583 workers in total, let alone 2 or 3 times that number?

With all these employees soaking up government revenues, and the inevitable theft that accompanies all Nigerian politics, it's no wonder Fayose has no development to show, and prefers stopping at bukas, handing out rice, and running his mouth off at Buhari: there's no money left over for him to do anything meaningful in his own backyard.

we've got our work cut out for us

blackbeau1:
vote them out ? Seriously, are you in Nigeria?

yep, do you attend political party meetings or just a keyboard warrior?

omohayek:
See, this is exactly what I'm talking about when I say that Nigeria's political elite is too self-seeking and parasitical to expect meaningful reform to come from within their ranks. It is simply a waste of time to expect anything good from people who were drawn to politics in the first place by the prospect of getting rich through stealing from the "national cake" - and with a few exceptions, that is really what Nigerian "politicians" are really all about.

Things will only begin to change for the better in Nigeria when politicians have the fear of provoking mass anger to keep them in line, but unfortunately this is unlikely to happen as long as so many Nigerians willingly swallow the tribalistic distractions dangled before them by the crooks keeping them mired in poverty; no matter how brazen a thief a politician is shown to be s/he has only to dig up the tribal angle and in a flash a wall of would-be protectors come out of the woodwork to offer their services for free, all shouting "Leave our son/daughter alone!!!" or "This is a witch hunt!!!", even as the thief they are protecting is enjoying a lavish lifestyle in America or Europe that these tribal champions will never catch sight of in their entire lives.

To illustrate what is wrong with the mentality of so many Nigerians, while I support the right of every group to self-determination, including allowing IPOB the freedom to advocate for secession, and I think they have every right to ask for a free and fair referendum on the matter, I can't help but find it strange that none of them take outrage at their senators and representatives sitting by and allowing the budget for the 2nd Niger Bridge to be slashed, preferring to spend all their energy online insulting "afonjas" and "ab.okis", as if that would ever make any difference in their lives. How can representatives who don't care enough to demand funding for such a vital piece of infrastructure be expected to take the slightest step to push for secession, and what is to stop this same class of selfish "efulefus" from ruling the roost after Biafran independence?

I used Biafra as an example here, but similar things could be said for most of the rest of the country, e.g. Osun's recent election of the "dancing senator" whose only qualification was being the brother of the previous one who died, or Ekiti's election of an ignorant, loudmouthed buffoon like Fayose, or Kogi's choice of the useless "son" called Yahya Bello, or the hero's welcome accorded a thief like Ibori, or the northerners who demand 4 more years from a Buhari who spent 6 months doing nothing, 1 year flying hither and thither, and the next 6 months wrestling with a mystery illness he refuses to disclose ... The Nigerian masses can complain about the terrible quality of the country's governance, but they are really only getting what they deserve for allowing tribal and religious considerations to almost always overrule objective thinking.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on looting and truly empowering 'your ' people to increase productivity (tractors and industrial parks)

omohayek:
I don't see how localized policing can be considered less than "extremely important", as without a sense of security you are never going to have the kind of prosperity that requires law and order, e.g. people pouring billions of dollars into semiconductor investments, millions of foreign tourists, etc. Yes, there are other important things, but no amount of free electricity will turn Mogadishu or Mosul into Singapore.

not if Mogadishu offered employment to large numbers of militants who could secure themselves

omohayek:
I'm sorry, but I don't see anything at all inspirational or visionary in this speech. It's all just the same rubbish about "buy Nigerian" and import substitution, when what the economy really needs is a massive increase in foreign direct investment - to lower the cost of capital and to fund new infrastructure - and export-friendly policies such a single fully-convertible exchange rate.

I really don't understand why Nigerian politicians expect the same old failed ideas to turn out any better in the future, when there are so many off-the-shelf examples of how to industrialize to choose from: Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, China ... If simply banning imports and relying solely on homemade-goods was the key to prosperity, North Korea would be the richest country in the world, instead of one of the poorest. What makes countries richer is increasing the productivity of the citizens, not protectionism, and that requires either increasing the domestic savings rate, or drawing in lots of foreign investment (ideally both). None of the policies this administration has implemented have done anything to bolster either domestic saving or FDI.

MUST we get FDI ?really emotional to owe banksters

omohayek:
Anyone choosing either of Buhari or GEJ needs serious mental counseling, as neither of the two men has been anywhere close to being up to the job. It says something about the limited imagination and low expectations of Nigerians, that so many can only envision a choice between an incompetent thief and an incompetent sickly old man, as if expecting a president to be competent, honest and physically sound were an outrageous demand.

do you have another candidate (who can win) that we don't know about

omohayek:
Yet another faceless, obscure group of "Yoruba Youths" steps forward to make some provocative statement or other, and automatically so many tribalistic idiots on here take this "youth" group nobody has ever heard of, with no membership count worth noticing, as representative of the opinion of every single one of more than 40 million Yorubas!

How do we even know that this group exists, or that its supposed spokesman is even Yoruba? How hard is it for anybody to step forward and call himself some made up name (e.g. "Chike Adebayo DanFulani" ), claim to be the spokesman for "ABC Youths", and then make some nonsensical claim or other calculated to grab attention for the lazy "journalists" who uncritically circulate it? All the vitriolic insults that have been poured out on here in response to this probably imaginary "Yoruba Youth Group" only go to show how many IPOB supporters are so full of tribalistic hate that they will gladly seize on the silliest excuse to pour out their venom without restraint.

The reality is that I, speaking as a Yoruba person, don't know any real, breathing Yoruba people who would deny Igbos or anyone else their right to self-determination, and the only time I ever hear of such groups is online, as none of them have ever contacted me or anyone I know to ask our opinion. If Nnamdi Kanu can repeatedly draw crowds of hundreds of thousands, and yet can't presume to speak for every Igbo person without seeing the outcome of a referendum, by what right does some unknown "group" no one has never heard of before get to speak for all Yoruba people? If all of you dishing out insults to Yorubas on here are honest with yourselves, you'll admit that you're operating a blatant double standard, which just happens to suit you because it provides an excuse for you to express yourselves like vicious savages.

silent majority doesn't count unfortunately. battle stations

omohayek:
I expect extreme resistance to any such measure from the most unsustainable states, particularly those in the north. For resource-control to pass, I think the middle-belt states will have to be offered substantial backing for something they particularly want more than other regions, to tempt them to forgo all that federal allocation money.

hope you have political ambition. we need you

omohayek:
A few people have made insightful remarks about the dangers of devolving more powers to the states while their governors rule like dictators, and here I agree there's a serious problem. Devolution of powers is clearly badly needed in Nigeria, but an even higher priority than that is giving both state legislatures and LGAs genuine independence from governors: joint accounts need to be abolished, LGA elections must be mandatory (with federal allocations automatically blocked until overdue LGA elections are held), and INEC's mandate must be extended to overseeing the elections for state houses of assembly. The current setup where state legislators just rubber-stamp governors' proposals is simply unacceptable.

it will come. just as governors have freed themselves from presidential and godfather shackles, soon local govt chairmen will revolt against governors. sorry, democracy is slow, why oyinbo prescribed it for us

Jaycee1989:
why won't they say yes for Immunity for their selfish interest, becos it wil favour them. but the most challenging devolution of power to the state they refused...wicked set of people

what did you do to change the wickedness

blackbeau1:
Making them above the law. How the hell will the so called 'anti-corruption' agenda be carried out?

vote them out and prosecute.
prosecute their cronies (family, friends, bankers, contractors, civil servants) they cannot steal without help

emmymdk nobody untouchable
UnknownT

intruxive:
the only reason why black man wont move forward is because blackman wont let him.
These men are dedicated to wreck any effort to bring sanity to the country

nobody LET'S you MOVE FORWARD, you just DO OR DON'T. NO EXCUSES. does the lion let the gazelle live or does the gazelle let the lion eat it. struggle continues

wristbangle:
It's crazy how some drivers risk their life yet they will put the blame on village witches when unforeseen circumstance happen.

Check out pictures of a crazy driver on highway driving at high speed despite a missing tyre fixed at the rear of the car.

crazy driver ko kolo passenger ni. tire came off and he didn't know, that's why the car was still balanced. once he slows down for checkpoint or whatever the rear will come down then he will realise hes missing a tire

centoke30:
what a weak response from a farmer.

stupid stupid statement.almost wish PDP comeback to power. you people deserve the suffering you get

Pavore9:
Indepent candidacy is about an individual not a party if there is provision for independent candidate in the electoral system and I want to run for local government chairmanship, it is the people's perception of my personality and my past records that would earn me vote. So independent candidacy is not odd in an electoral system.

I understand but since they've refused to give it to me, I'm taking it

HottestFire:

The system in Nigeria does not allow people with right thinking to lead this nation.

We missed an opportunity in Prof. Pat Utomi.

who right thinking epp. we need right doers not right thinkers

mrvitalis:
This mentality is what's killing Nigeria ,you don't vote someone cos you think he won't win

has he won anything.

Pavore9:
I would advocate for índependent candidacy being allowed in our electoral process.

form independent party. if you cannot win primary is it general election you will win

Seun:
That does not look like a bomb to me. Can any experts enlighten us more on this?

what does bomb look like

omenkaLives:
...and out the window goes competence, popularity and merit. Just have more money and even if you are the devil himself, the ticket is yours!

That party is as useless as its supporters.

how does incompetent have money

Dollyak:
You keep repeating the same b.s on every thread. Apc is another repackaged pdp. Both are intellectually and morally bankrupt. There is literally no strategy.

sharing rice is a strategy

centoke30:
if you are angry with PDP for those wailers here, answer this two questions : when PDP was in power wasn't money circulating very well(sharing the money) now APC is in power, is money circulating?? don't we have more jobless graduates?? the Devil I know is better than the angel I don't know... PDP is more preferable than any other... I miss Oga jona well well

such a stupid stupid statement

PHfinest:
PDP = APC
I pity those who bought their stories about PDP years of waste and fighting corruption.
Even Rotimi Amechi, Kwankwaso and El Rufai were suddenly no longer part of the PDP years of waste

Just dey SMH for Nigerian youth.

abeg Mowu hia word jo. they returned their own loot for camping. while PDP refused to share their own,buying yacht and house in Dubai,chop alone die alone

PHfinest:
PDP = APC
I pity those who bought their stories about PDP years of waste and fighting corruption.
Even Rotimi Amechi, Kwankwaso and El Rufai were suddenly no longer part of the PDP years of waste

Just dey SMH for Nigerian youth.

abeg Mowu hia word jo. they returned their own loot for camping. while PDP refused to share their own,buying yacht and house in Dubai