₦airaland Forum

That boy, today, has become a man. He’s not an ordinary man, but one, who has risen from, perhaps, a nobody to the pinnacle of Nigeria’s leadership. That boy is today the president of Nigeria. That boy is President Goodluck Jonathan.

“Where was this so-called statesman when the APC campaign Director General, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, threatened to form a parallel government if Jonathan wins the 2015 elections?”

It is not exactly clear what the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, was thinking but his comments to Lagosians that his friend and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Jimmy Agbaje, was too old at 57 to rule the state, was a hit below the belt of his own All Progressives Congress (APC), which is fielding a 72-year old retired General, Muhammadu Buhari, to run a country of nearly 170 million persons.


Fashola said: "You know what you must do. Open your eyes clearly. When I took this job, at the age of 44, I was counting the number of white hair on my head. Today, at 52, I am counting the number of black hair on my head. Akinwunmi (Ambode) is younger than me. You need youthfulness to do this job. That man (Mr. Agbaje) is already 60; he cannot cope with this job. If you call him at night he will not take your phone.”


Since Fashola is a lawyer, he can be forgiven for adding more than two years to his friend's age, but he cannot be forgiven for forgetting that his party peopled by gerontocrats has been working the social media with a lot of falsehood and tweaked information to try to win the young generation of persons who largely do not vote on Election Day.


If Agbaje, a 57- year old Pharmacist, businessman and politician with a well- rounded educational background is not able to run a state of about 20 million, how can a former dictator with questionable secondary school leaving certificate, be trusted with the most populous and complex black nation in the world?


While all the 72-year old Buhari has to show for corporate governance is a military career that was based on a command and control structure, and a failed 20-month administration that was all about militarising a civil populace, Agbaje boasts of a rich background that included fighting dictators.


According to Wikipedia, "in a 2013 interview with The Punch Newspaper, Agbaje talked about how he began in politics: ‘It had to do with the Moshood Abiola/Bashir Tofa presidential election’, he said. ‘I saw the annulment as a personal insult and an assault on the Nigerian people. This led to my first entry into what I would call activism, working with other concerned professionals such as Professor Pat Utomi, Dr Ayo Ighodaro, Asue Ighodalo, Billy Lawson, Oby Ezekwesili, Tola Mobolurin and Hassan Odukale. Jimi was in one form of resistance group or the other which ultimately led him to join the socio-political organisation, Afenifere, where he served as national treasurer.


"Based on his affiliation with Afenifere, Jimi Agbaje joined the Action Congress (AC) - his first political party. In 2007, Agbaje who had initially aspired to contest for the Governor of Lagos State on the platform of the Action Congress (AC) left the party to join the Democratic People's Alliance (DPA). He was among the 11 aspirants that turned their back to the Action Congress (AC) when it was alleged that Governor Bola Tinubu had already anointed someone else to succeed him even before the party primaries. Widely believed to have conducted the best campaign in 2007, Agbaje contested in gubernatorial election on the Democratic People's Alliance (DPA) platform, but eventually, alongside other major contenders - Musiliu Obanikoro of PDP, Femi Pedro of Labour Party (Nigeria) - lost to Babatunde Raji Fashola of the Action Congress (AC).

Agbaje left DPA in 2011 and joined the ruling party, the People's Democratic Party (PDP) following the de-registration of DPA by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). On December 8, 2014, he emerged as the candidate of the PDP for the 2015 Lagos State gubernatorial election, having defeated Musiliu Obanikoro in the primary.

It may be unfair to continue to compare Agbaje with Buhari, because both men are vying to run separate entities; so it may be necessary to compare the 72-year old general with questionable credentials with the zoologist, President Goodluck Jonathan, with a Ph.D. In terms of age, the retired general has all it takes to be a traditional ruler before any consideration will be given to President Jonathan, but unfortunately they are not both from the same district either in Fulani land or Ijaw land. While Buhari has lived more than 26,300 days on earth, Jonathan has spent about 20,860 days, giving the general an upper hand.


But that is where it ends. Jonathan has been commander-in-chief for 1,850 days in a country of 170 million persons, but Buhari was there for about 605 days when the country's population was just 84 million. So in terms of experience, Jonathan is better qualified.

Kayode Ojo, Ketu, Lagos

sincerenigerian:
Help yourself with this video.

sincerenigerian:
Below is answer to your question.

According to our source, the APC would not risk anything under the heavens to [size=18pt]expose Buhari in his current state[/size] to any serious debate.

Chylo:
My friend are you naturally foo.lish, or was it sent from your village? Were you not born in 2011 when GMB debated competently in front of all Nigerians with Shekarau and Ribadu? Was the debate done in Hausa language?

Where was your GEJ then? Debating with D'Banj in his bedroom? Please don't expose your illiteracy here.

BREAKING TIMES investigations on Thursday reveal that APC called off Buhari’s participation in the debate considering General Buhari’s poor preparation and his inability to master relevant details on economy, corruption, unemployment, agriculture, power and other key sectors of the economy.

By Yemi Adebowale, Mila Yakubu

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday announced it will not be featuring in the on-going electioneering public debates on national television and radio, being organized by the Broadcast Organization of Nigeria (BON).

According to Garba Shehu, Director Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organization (APCPCO) in a press statement on Thursday in Abuja, “The Nigeria Election Debate Group (NEDG) powered debate was fraught with fundamental errors from the outset, by wearing the toga of government control, especially being composed mainly of agencies and allies of the incumbent People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) administration.”

[size=15pt]However, BREAKING TIMES investigations on Thursday reveal that APC called off Buhari’s participation in the debate considering General Buhari’s poor preparation and his inability to master relevant details on economy, corruption, unemployment, agriculture, power and other key sectors of the economy. A frustrated communications team had spent the last one week trying to prepare the APC presidential candidate for the debate to no avail.[/size]

A source in the Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation who spoke to BREAKING TIMES on Thursday night on condition of anonymity disclosed that the communications team gave up on Buhari when a foreign consultant flown in from the United States to prep the 72 year old former military Head of State concluded his session hurriedly and angrily as General Buhari showed no improvements in catching up with his mastery of key issues.

According to our source, the APC would not risk anything under the heavens to expose Buhari in his current state to any serious debate.

“It was so bad that even the right pronunciation of certain words was quite difficult. Buhari’s accent was a major issue of concern but the communications team had hoped to get this sorted before the debate but it wasn’t working out. You will notice that even his grasp of the issues during his rallies has been quite incoherent. The team was left with no choice but to call off his participation. Of course they won’t give the public details but this is what happened. The only choice left for the team now is to push Prof. Osinbajo who is more articulate to speak more for the campaign”, the source said.

It will be recalled that in 2011, General Muhammadu Buhari as CPC presidential candidate shunned the same BON debate on the pretext that President Jonathan refused to attend another debate organized by NN 24 TV channel.

The refusal by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to participate in the proposed presidential debate organised by the Nigeria Electoral Debate Group (NEDG), has been described as not only an act of cowardice to his supporters across the country but an indication of his shallow mindedness about the ideals of statecraft.

According to Comrade Oluwasanmi Solomon of the Arise Africa Youth Coalition, Buhari’s non participation in the debate showed that he was scared to expose his ineptitude and a huge disappointment to his teeming supporters which will lower their morale particularly on the numerous controversies surrounding his academic qualification. He said, it was only proper that the former Head of State gave the electorates an opportunity to dig into his intellectual capacity which is more important than the face saving public relations being carried out by his image laundering team.

He alleged that it was rather unfortunate that the APC Presidential candidate who has been accused of not possessing the required academic qualification to contest the elections will shy away from the only opportunity to prove his detractors wrong.

Speaking to newsmen in Abuja, Comr. Oluwasanmi who stated that the people were the most important ingredient in a democracy, advised Buhari to go back to his handlers to understudy the tenets of democracy.

“Democracy the world over is anchored on openness and accountability, which is totally different from military government, as such an aspiring leader who cannot confront the masses to outline his blueprint on developing the nation’s economy; respond to questions that will better the lot of the people cannot not be given the mandate to preside over the commonwealth of the nation.”

“It is rather unfortunate that the General is yet to understand how democracy works. This system is about the people, and the peoples’ decision should be paramount. The people have asked for a debate, Buhari should oblige them to show how people-oriented he will be as president”. He said.

The civil rights activist further berated the APC for supporting their candidate in his refusal to participate in the debate. He noted that the change longed for, was one that will carry the people along and not a change that will be anchored on a cabal or person.

While challenging the party, Oluwasanmi called on the APC to prove their popular claim of being a body of intellectuals by coming out to face Jonathan during the debate, saying the debate will not only put paid to Buhari’s certificate saga but also expose his intellectual capability.

Zoharariel:
@Asari - Talk is cheap, gra-gra is easy once your brain is floating on cheap ogogoro...Sapele Water!

It is you against the majority of Nigerians - Baboon!

The Ajasin’ family also said they had forgiven Buhari over the arrest of the former governor in 1984.
The family spokesman, [size=15pt]Chief Tokunbo Ajasin, who spoke to journalists in Akure on Thursday, maintained that his father had forgiven the former head of state long before his death.[/size]

diluminati:
You are so late, it has already been debunked as a forged document.

reborn1:
Waec Ghana

The Chief Executive is the Registrar whose office is at the Headquarters Office in Accra, Ghana. Each member country has a National Office which is headed by

After what had appeared as a group's indecision, Afenifere, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural body, on Tuesday endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for the February 14 election.

The endorsement was the outcome of the meeting the president had with the leaders of the group in Akure, Ondo State.
[size=15pt]
The meeting was held at the residence of the Leader of the group, Chief Reuben Fasoranti and attended by leaders from the South West geoplitical zone of the country.[/size]

At the end of the meeting which lasted about one hour, the publicity secretary of Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odumakin said the decision of the group was due to the commitment of the president to the National Conference.

He said Afenifere believed that the confab is the only thing that can liberate the nation.

He said the president had expressed his commitment to implement the report of the confab report.

Odumakin said the president informed them at the meeting that Yoruba were the ones that were in the forefront of the clamour for the confab.

Also speaking, Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko said what Afenifere did was an unequivocal endorsement of the president.

Mimiko said Afenifere expressed belief in the transformation agenda of the president describing it as systematic and strategic for the development of the nation.

The group, which had fraternised with the Jonathan administration, had before now prevaricated on a full support scale to the Jonathan re-election bid.

But in his response, a former governor of Anambra State and Deputy Director General of South in the PDP campaign organisation, Mr Peter Obi said he was not surprised at the Afenifere endorsement, stressing that, "Afenifere has always committed itself to the best interest and unity of Nigeria", adding that the endorsement meant that, "Nigeria will endorse Jonathan".

Meanwhile in an apparent nod to a younger generation of leaders, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday effectively eliminated Vice-President Namadi Sambo as his successor should he win next month’s presidential election, saying the next Nigerian president must be below the age of 60. Sambo is already 60 years old and will be over 64 by 2019.

Jonathan, who spoke to the crowd at the Lafia Township Stadium during his presidential campaign rally in Nasarawa State, said his administration believes in the youths and would do everything possible to support the younger generation.
“Obasanjo was president at 70, Yar’Adua at almost 60 and me close to 60, so the next president must be younger than me,” Jonathan stated.