₦airaland Forum

31 March 2011 Last updated at 10:07

Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari in profile

Former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari does not seem to know when to quit.

Defeated in the last two elections, first by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 and then by President Umaru Yar'Adua in 2007, he has returned to contest Nigeria's highest office.

Mr Buhari is now facing the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from Nigeria's southern Niger Delta region.

Mr Buhari is hoping that dissatisfied members from the northern hierarchy of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), may shift their loyalty to him.

Many members of the northern hierarchy feel it is "their turn" to hold the presidency, after President Yar'Adua, who is from the same northern state as Mr Buhari, died in office.

Although Mr Buhari is popular among the poor of the north (known as the "talakawa" in the north's Hausa language) mere popularity on the streets may not be enough to win.

It is far from clear whether Mr Buhari has the political power he will need to beat the PDP.

A Muslim from Daura in Katsina State, who has given his support to Sharia law in the north, Mr Buhari has previously had to deny allegations that he has a radical Islamist agenda.

This proved a problem for him in the 2003 polls; he failed to secure much support among Christians in the south, where he was viewed with some suspicion.

Mr Buhari is mounting his assault on the presidency with the newly formed party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

His former party, the All National Nigerian People's Party (ANPP) accepted the result of the 2007 elections, which angered Mr Buhari.

He resigned from the ANPP in 2009, following a lengthy court battle which upheld President Yar'Adua's victory.

The CPC is mounting serious challenges in elections to select governors in many states.

But it is unlikely that the opposition can mobilise enough support to win on a national scale.

Without an alliance with Nigeria's other opposition party, Action Congress, (AC), a serious challenge to the presidency remains doubtful.

Talks to form a "grand alliance" have repeatedly failed, and the media in Nigeria have all but written it off, citing disagreements between Mr Buhari and the AC's leaders.

Mr Buhari has ruled Nigeria once, from January 1984 until August 1985.

He took charge after a military coup in December 1983. It is a period remembered for human rights abuses and a fight against corruption.
Muhamamdu Buhari may struggle to gain many votes in the south

The verdict on Mr Buhari's 20 months as Nigeria's leader is mixed.

About 500 politicians, officials and businessmen were jailed as part of a campaign against waste and corruption.

Some saw this as the heavy-handed repression of military rule.

But others remember it as a praiseworthy attempt to fight the endemic graft that prevented Nigeria's development.

He retains a rare reputation for honesty among Nigeria's politicians, both military and civilian, largely because of this campaign.

As part of his "War Against Indiscipline", he ordered Nigerians to form neat queues at bus stops, under the sharp eyes of whip-wielding soldiers.

Civil servants who were late for work were publicly humiliated by being forced to do "frog jumps".

He also introduced a notorious decree to restrict press freedom, under which two journalists were jailed.

However, his attempts to re-balance public finances by curbing imports led to many job losses and the closure of businesses.

P[b]rices rose while living standards fel[/b]l, leading to a palace coup by Gen Ibrahim Babangida on 27 August 1985. Mr Buhari was imprisoned for 40 months.

Mr Babangida, who still retains an active role in Nigeria's politics wanted to speed up the restoration of civilian rule, which Mr Buhari did not see as a priority.

Mr Buhari has continued to defend his military coup of 31 December 1983.

"It is up to the people. If you choose correct leadership, there won't be any need for the military regime.

"The military came in when it was absolutely necessary and the elected people had failed the country," he said in October 2005.

When former President Olusegun Obasanjo was a military ruler in the 1970s, Mr Buhari held the key post of minister of petroleum affairs, but there is now little love lost between the former colleagues.

His coup ousted Nigeria's last civilian government, led by Alhaji Shehu Shagari, who won elections organised by Mr Obasanjo.

And this has led to continuing questions about Mr Buhari's commitment to democracy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12890807

Apparently, your Ph.D., program did not teach you that our constitution does allow independent aspirants, provided you have the means.

No oh , I wasnt taught. Could you please quote the section for me.Or is it in the constitution of the almajiris which I am sure you subscribe to being one of them

1)Every independent observer northern newspaper and buhari's observers confirmed Buhari's victory including all authentic online votes.

2)Nigerians no longer believe in the judiciary

3)Rigging Buhari's defeat is confirmed across the country with video evidence

4)People in the north take to the streets to demand justice fight thier senseless fights as usual

5)Policemen and Soldiers shoot some innocent civilians the almajiris and boko haram

6)One Most of the PDP candidates [s][color=Black]and his entire household is burnt[/color][/s] are sworn into office

7)Individuals almajiris and boko haram engage Military/Police in gun battle and are crushed

Tanker Drivers block blare thier horns in all the expressways in support of GEJ's  victory

9)Labour goes on strike celebrates GEJ's victory with the new minimum wage increase

10)Oil production grounded goes on as usual because the north does not have one drop of oil

Thats exactly what would happen

The 2011 election is base on individual and not about the political parties. For instance:
Buhari - Many Nigerian supports him for presidency, but may vote candidates from other parties in other categories of the election.
GEJ - Some for his name and personal likeness and not about PDP
Ribadu - For some its about his character and prospect and not necessarily about ACN

In all, when you consider their personalities, prospects, what Nigeria needs, affiliations and what can be achieved - you will naturally like most Nigerian, support Buhari for Presidency with all the vigor in you.

Thanks for letting me know that we know now independent candididates in our constitution. I actually thought our constitution provides that a candidate must be sponsored by a political party. I didnt know this time the elections is base(sic) on individuals.Dreamer!!!

Just thought to raise these poser raised on another thread to Buharis's supporters here.

CPC as a party does NOT own a single ward how much more a state and yet Buhari wants to be made president? How is that possible?

I would be grateful if Buhari's campaign strategists can explain to me how this may be possible because as far as I know, even in established democracies like the UK and US, no party without substantial elective positions has won a presidential elections or produced a prime minister. Thus while Buhari's supporters always infer that if Buhari loses, it would be done to rigging, I think the reverse is the case because the only way a party without a councillor can win a presidential election is by rigging.Thankfully, the elections would be free and fair.

Maybe PDP will rig (since it is their signature - crazy murrasuckers Wink), maybe CPC will rig (Presidency), maybe ANPP or even the ACN will rig too but then again, has any of you really done your homework to know if Buhari stands a chance to Jonathan (The 2 most discussed in this site). CPC as a party does NOT own a single ward how much more a state and yet Buhari wants to be made president? How is that possible? I've listened to people ON GROUND analyze the matter and it is clear cut that Buhari stands no chance and I mean, no chance - Ribadu will get there first before Buhari and that is what is called POLITRICKS. It is also annoying that Goodluck going by his present form (being controlled) is gonna retain that seat.

Right on Point

Buhari and Human Rights

The Buhari government detained political leaders of the Second Republic without trial. Constraints were placed on various groups, including the Nigerian Medical Association, which was outlawed, and the National Association of Nigerian Students. Buhari’s regime promulgated two decrees that restricted freedom of the press and suppressed criticism of the government. Decree Number 4 forbade any journalist from reporting information considered embarrassing to any government official. Two journalists, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor, were convicted under the decree. Decree Number 2 gave the chief of staff at Supreme Headquarters the power to detain for up to six months without trial anyone considered a security risk. Special military tribunals increasingly replaced law courts while the state security agency, the National Security Organisation, was given greater powers.

Buhari and Indiscipline?
Buhari's controls also extended to his efforts to deal with the problems of "indiscipline" in the areas of environmental sanitation, public decorum, corruption, smuggling, and disloyalty to national symbols such as the flag and the anthem. He declared a War Against Indiscipline and specified acceptable forms of public behavior, such as a requirement to form lines at bus stops. The main concern, however, remained the economy. The government introduced a comprehensive package of austerity measures. It closed the country's land borders for a period to identify and expel illegal alien workers and placed severe restrictions on imports and heavy penalties on smuggling and foreign exchange offenses. The austerity measures made it difficult for local industries to procure essential imported raw materials, leading many of them to close or to operate at greatly reduced capacity. Many workers were laid off, and government itself retrenched many workers to increase its "cost effectiveness." All of these actions were accompanied by high inflation. The price of basic food items rose, and life became increasingly difficult, even for the affluent.
(source http://www.country-studies.com/nigeria/the-buhari-regime.html)

His antecedents show that electing buhari would be a case of from frying pan to fire. Perphaps, this time, he may be planning to ban nairaland for airing views that embarrased him. He may also be planning to ban the use of internet because of "indiscipline" in the use of facebook and the likes.Thank God he would not win.

Buhari and Communications
In 1874, postal services first commenced in Lagos. With time, wireless communication came on stream and Post and Telegraph, better known as P & T, came into existence.
Since then, communication has been growing by leaps and bounds. In 1984, after 110 years together, P&T was split by the Buhari regime into NIPOST and NITEL. Immediately after the split, mail pilfering, slow delivery rate and bureaucracy eroded NIPOST’s efficiency and these vices hacked at its monopoly. Private courier companies which were operating on the fringes cashed in on these lapses and blossomed all over the nation. In 1984, the federal government carved out NITEL, separating it from NIPOST but the change was merely cosmetic as private operators kept chipping away at its customer base. (See Daily Trust 1st October 2010)

Some Other Questions
1. Do you know that during Buhari’s regime, telephone was only for the rich but it was during PDP’s regime that telephone was made accessible.( I can even call from my village now)
2. Do you know that during Buhari’s rule, Nigeria’s external debt went as high as 7.8 Billion dollars and it was the PDP government that successfully negotiated a debt relief and today our external debt is less than 5 billion dollars?
3. Do you know that during Buhari’s regime, our banks were nothing to write home about and people preferred keep their money in the pot or bury it in the ground? Do you also remember that it was the reforms initiated by the PDP appointed Soludo and later Sanusi that has sanitised the banking sector?

MORE REASONS WHY BUHARI IS A DISSAPOINTMENT TO NAIRALANDERS

Buhari and Privatization
The idea of privatization was first mooted by Onosode commission in 1981 and accepted in principle in 1982 by the Shagari administration; no concrete action could be initiated till the demise of the regime in December 1983. When Buhari came, he decided to set up a study group on the issue, the study group recommended among others that ‘Government should adopt the principle of selective privatization as a policy measure which could prompt each parastatals to perform better and save public funds’ The Buhari administration accepted the recommendation in principle in 1984 but did nothing in 1985 until it was overthrown in August 1985. Today, the only hope of improved power supply in Nigeria is privatization. Oh if only Buhari was educated, we would not have been in this mess.

Buhari and Education
When Buhari came into power, the educational sector was facing some problems. However, the Buhari government lacked a rational and systematic solution to the problems. Instead, the government assumed a draconian posture and tried to force every desire it sought on the people. For example, state governors were mandated to clear all salary arrears within three months. But this remained unresolved after the deadline. It remained in fact so till 1985 when the government was again overthrown.
By the way, are we aware that it was Buhari that first introduced fees and levies in our schools despite the strong condemnation by ASUU. Are we also aware that before Buhari came, university students had their meals arranged by the government and given to them at highly subsidized rates? It was Buhari that stopped it.( see, The Nigerian Economy And Economic Policy Responses Since 1980 by Dele Olowu et al .Note that this study was published in the 1990s)

Buhari and Human Rights?

The Buhari government detained political leaders of the Second Republic without trial. Constraints were placed on various groups, including the Nigerian Medical Association, which was outlawed, and the National Association of Nigerian Students. Buhari’s regime promulgated two decrees that restricted freedom of the press and suppressed criticism of the government. Decree Number 4 forbade any journalist from reporting information considered embarrassing to any government official. Two journalists, Tunde Thompson and Nduka Irabor, were convicted under the decree. Decree Number 2 gave the chief of staff at Supreme Headquarters the power to detain for up to six months without trial anyone considered a security risk. Special military tribunals increasingly replaced law courts while the state security agency, the National Security Organisation, was given greater powers.

Buhari and Indiscipline?
Buhari's controls also extended to his efforts to deal with the problems of "indiscipline" in the areas of environmental sanitation, public decorum, corruption, smuggling, and disloyalty to national symbols such as the flag and the anthem. He declared a War Against Indiscipline and specified acceptable forms of public behavior, such as a requirement to form lines at bus stops. The main concern, however, remained the economy. The government introduced a comprehensive package of austerity measures. It closed the country's land borders for a period to identify and expel illegal alien workers and placed severe restrictions on imports and heavy penalties on smuggling and foreign exchange offenses. The austerity measures made it difficult for local industries to procure essential imported raw materials, leading many of them to close or to operate at greatly reduced capacity. Many workers were laid off, and government itself retrenched many workers to increase its "cost effectiveness." All of these actions were accompanied by high inflation. The price of basic food items rose, and life became increasingly difficult, even for the affluent.
(source http://www.country-studies.com/nigeria/the-buhari-regime.html)

His antecedents show that electing buhari would be a case of from frying pan to fire. Perphaps, this time, he may be planniing to ban nairaland for airing views that embarrased him. He may also be planning to ban the use of internet because of "indiscipline" in the use of facebook and the likes.Thank God he would not win.

THE BUHARI’S REGIME AND SOME QUESTIONS

Buhari and Privatization
The idea of privatization was first mooted by Onosode commission in 1981 and accepted in principle in 1982 by the Shagari administration; no concrete action could be initiated till the demise of the regime in December 1983. When Buhari came, he decided to set up a study group on the issue, the study group recommended among others that ‘Government should adopt the principle of selective privatization as a policy measure which could prompt each parastatals to perform better and save public funds’ The Buhari administration accepted the recommendation in principle in 1984 but did nothing in 1985 until it was overthrown in August 1985. Today, the only hope of improved power supply in Nigeria is privatization. Oh if only Buhari was educated, we would not have been in this mess.

Buhari and Education
When Buhari came into power, the educational sector was facing some problems. However, the Buhari government lacked a rational and systematic solution to the problems. Instead, the government assumed a draconian posture and tried to force every desire it sought on the people. For example, state governors were mandated to clear all salary arrears within three months. But this remained unresolved after the deadline. It remained in fact so till 1985 when the government was again overthrown.
By the way, are we aware that it was Buhari that first introduced fees and levies in our schools despite the strong condemnation by ASUU. Are we also aware that before Buhari came, university students had their meals arranged by the government and given to them at highly subsidized rates? It was Buhari that stopped it.( see, The Nigerian Economy And Economic Policy Responses Since 1980 by Dele Olowu et al .Note that this study was published in the 1990s)

Buhari and Communications
In 1874, postal services first commenced in Lagos. With time, wireless communication came on stream and Post and Telegraph, better known as P & T, came into existence.
Since then, communication has been growing by leaps and bounds. In 1984, after 110 years together, P&T was split by the Buhari regime into NIPOST and NITEL. Immediately after the split, mail pilfering, slow delivery rate and bureaucracy eroded NIPOST’s efficiency and these vices hacked at its monopoly. Private courier companies which were operating on the fringes cashed in on these lapses and blossomed all over the nation. In 1984, the federal government carved out NITEL, separating it from NIPOST but the change was merely cosmetic as private operators kept chipping away at its customer base. (See Daily Trust 1st October 2010)

Some Other Questions
1. Do you know that during Buhari’s regime, telephone was only for the rich but it was during PDP’s regime that telephone was made accessible.( I can even call from my village now)
2. Do you know that during Buhari’s rule, Nigeria’s external debt went as high as 7.8 Billion dollars and it was the PDP government that successfully negotiated a debt relief and today our external debt is less than 5 billion dollars?
3. Do you know that during Buhari’s regime, our banks were nothing to write home about and people preferred keep their money in the pot or bury it in the ground? Do you also remember that it was the reforms initiated by the PDP appointed Soludo and later Sanusi that has sanitised the banking sector?

AND WE SAY WE STILL WANT TO ELECT THIS ILLITERATE AS PRESIDENT OF A COMPLEX NATION LIKE NIGERIA IN THIS 21ST CENTURY?

let us analyze this man Buhari. 1. He was so weak while he was a president, his second in command overshadowed him till today. He was so weak, the coup that ousted him was one of the simplest in the history of Nigeria. Not one gun was shot, His leadership ineptitude was so blatant, that he didnt even have loyalists in the army who stood up for him. Every coup is normally bloody because the ruling person normally has his own boyz who would die for him. Buhari had no support in the army and was removed like a toothless bulldog. All that was required to remove him was to wait for his deputy to travel. 2. This same Buhari was made the head of PTF and he took over 70% of PTF projects to the north. How can anyone from the Niger Delta talk of voting for this man? I am amazed. He is a typical example of those who believe the north was born to rule and that is why he is still trying to come back at an old age. Anybody who says we should forget about tribal sentiments, with all due respect, does not know what he is talking about. The north is talking about voting north, whatever the case, you are talking about voting anyone. when shall we stop shooting ourselves in the foot. cant you open your eyes and see these guys dont believe we are one? They see you as second citizens and you have a chance to correct that and you are planning to throw it away. God forbid! people talk about corruption and power and infrastructure. the biggest problem in Nigeria are not all those. those are secondary. the first and biggest problem in Nigeria is that we are not one and we do not see ourselves as equal citizens. The day we settle that, everything else will fall into place. that is why many have been calling for a sovereign conference to address that fundamental anomaly. Imagine what GEJ went thru when for 4 months, he was told to his face that he could not rule Nigeria because he was from the south south. Instead, these same northerners forced us to accept a terminally sick president ruling us thru proxies. even Imams defended it in their mosques. This is so sad. now we are talking about competence. since when has a mallam become competent enough to rule a nation. see what their rule has cost us for about 39years of Nigerian existence. for years, they have been killing our people in their cities. please please please dont make me cry. i dont know what is wrong with us. "I TOO KNOW" can not even describe it. it is worse than that.

This is indeed a BITTER TRUTH. Unfortunately, it wont make sense to many of buhari's supporters because they have admitted that like buhari, they cant comprehend issues. All they care to know is that he would fight corruption. Ask them how? and they tell you "he doent need a plan" and "we dont want to know cos we cant even understand the plan, if he has one".Thank God majority of Nigerians are smarter.

Another Survey Predicts Victory for Jonathan

29 Mar 2011

TNS-RMS, the biggest research company in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa, Monday released the results of its opinion poll ahead of the general election which predicted victory for President Goodluck Jonathan.

Briefing newsmen in Lagos Monday, CEO-West, East and Central Africa of RNS-RMS, Mr. Adeola Tejumola, said the presidential race is tilted in favour of Jonathan with a score of 66 per cent.

Buhari scored 18 per cent, Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), 6 per cent and Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), 3 per cent.

These figures compare strikingly with the results of the poll recently conducted for THISDAY by Ipsos, world’s leading polling firm, which gave Jonathan 60.3 per cent, Buhari 22.4 per cent, Shekarau 5.9 per cent and Ribadu 4.7 per cent.

Tejumola said 15,124 respondents aged 18 years and above were interviewed nationally across all the states of the federation through a face-to-face quantitative approach.

He said multi-stage stratified random probability sampling approach was employed in respondent selection in order to avoid bias, adding that local government area in each state was given an equal chance of either being included or excluded in the sample.


Curiously, among the seven states they are chasing 25 per cent in the South is President Jonathan’s home state of Bayelsa where they are hoping to take maximum advantage of the crisis in the state to woo the angry and frustrated politicians some of whom have been making approaches on their own to the party.

President Jonathan and the PDP are hoping to make 25 per cent in all the 36 states in addition to winning the majority of votes.

GEJ also currently leading in Guardian polls. GEJ all the way!

Do they teach you how to talk to God in your PHD program?

Actually, they do. They teach us that God is more willing to answer selfless prayers than the selfish ones.They teach us that God is more likely to answer the prayers for the good of those who share opposing views with them than prayers that wish those with opposing positions evil.Since you didnt know this, it is obvious I  serve a different God from the one you serve.

Quote from Niklee

@ All: Majority of BB's supporters are doing this out of patriotism. They want a better Nigeria and are going for it. On the other hand, GEJ's supporters are mainly tribalists, ethnic bigots, superstitious broods.  Clueless to say the least. They can't defend a man who has been in power for 12 years on his records. They want to defend him on the things he 'will' do in the future.

Did you just fall from the moon? How can a right thinking person say that majority of buhari supporters are doing it out of patriotism while GEJ supporters are tribalist and ethnic bigots. Well, someone said it that most BB supporters do not understand issues and that all they want is somebody who would tell them what they want to hear. Obviusly, that is true. Who has most followers among his tribe and religion even if they dont even know what his plans are? Whi has no or very littel support outside his tribe or religion? Who is discussing with contestants from his tribe to form a consensus so that power can be with them? Certainly not GEJ. In case you dont know, most northerners who support buhari do so because they see him as as a revivalist who can would enforce thier religion on the whole country. I know because I asked. I suggest you take a sample of opinion from the almajiris who gather at  buhari's campaign and you would hear it for yourself. And for you information most of us who support GEJ do so because we have an idea about the complexities of governance in the 21st century and we beileve buhari is too outdated and uneducated to understand it.

My prayer for every Nigerian; whether PDP, ACN, ANPP, CPC, etc is simple: May God grant all of us a good and forward thinking government. May he protect us from the greed of wicked and unreasonable politicians. May we be spared from violence in the election period. May Nigeria come out stronger and better after the elections. May we rise to become a wonder. May our children look back and thank God for 2011. This I believe is the prayer of everyone who means well for Nigeria (North, South, East and West). If you believe in our future say Amen!

I say a big Amen to that. This is the kind of prayer that the Almighty God answers!

And the ones your GEJ is taking orders from are. . . . . ?

I would rather have a youth like GEJ "taking orders" from grand fathers than to have a worn out and outdated grand father like buhari in office himself.

Exceprts From report in the Vanguard

onathan can win without North West – Yakassai
Meanwhile, the President’s campaign efforts were being boosted by the seeming support for stability in the polity from Kano elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassi, who until recently was a known opponent of President Jonathan’s election bid.
Yakassi, weekend, affirmed that the President could win the contest without the Northwest. In an interview with a local radio station in Kano, Pyramid Radio, Yakassi, noted that the reality on ground favoured the PDP flag bearer.
He said: “It will be easy for him to win without the North West. As it stands now, if Jonathan goes ahead to win 25 per cent of the total votes cast in the 17 Southern states, what is left for him is to get similar percentage in just seven states of the North, and he wins.”

The reality of being three times unlucky should be hitting buhari now. now wonder he has desperately gone back to discuss forming a consensus with ribadu and shekarau after boasting that he would win alone

[quote bk.babe97y]^^^And, those Grand-Fathers of yours that want an "explanation" from Buhari on his agenda. . . . what agenda, apart from "Are you gonna return power to us in 2015 so that we can go on with our thievery and looting the National Treasury dry" do u think theyre asking?! Eh? Tell me, O blind follower of illiterate GEJ?[quote][/quote]Actually, buhari is one of the grand-fathers thats why I dont support him. We need fresh blood

Excerpts from a report in Tribune

Meanwhile, reports emanating from the recent campaign tours of northern states by some leaders of the zone, who have been meeting traditional and religious leaders on behalf of President Jonathan, indicated that traditional rulers from the three geopolitical zones of the North have rejected the choice of the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari.

A team led by eminent northern leaders, including Dr Shettima Mustapha, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai and Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, among others, had been going round the states of the North in the last one week, with a message of cooperation and collaboration between the North and the South-South in the next election.

Sources told the Nigerian Tribune that reports emanating from the tours indicated that the northern political establishment was not in support of Buhari.

The zone was also being persuaded, according to sources, by the declaration of President Jonathan that he would not seek re-election in 2015.

Sources said Buhari’s alleged refusal to explain his agenda to any of the top political and religious leaders in the North had also hampered his perception among them.

He cannot explain his agenda because he has none. Thank God the North is becoming wiser.Sai GEJ

Studying for a Ph.D., is not the same as running a successful campaign. Running a successful campaign is more complex, more rigorous, and more challenging than sitting at your desk doing the same thing over and over hoping that somehow the God of the lab smiles on you and lets you graduate on time. Running a Campaign and running a country requires you to know a liorry ttle about everything and anything that comes your way. Studying for a PH.D., on the other hand requires you to know something, NOT EVERYTHING, about what you are studying for.
Your analogy just doesnt make sense IMO.

Sorry to say but it is your argument that really lacks any sense. First, you treated campaign as if it is an end in itself rather than a means to an end. In the real world campaigns are run as a means to an end which is winning elections and then implementing policies and plans to improve the welfare of people. While I agree with you that people in Nigeria may not have or care so much about plans, it does not mean a candidate would have no plans or policies he intends to implement when he wins.Furthermore the fact that a campaign requires you to know a little about everything and anything is the more reason why you should have a plan. Again using obama as an example to show that debates dont win elections shows how shallow your argument is.If there is any one leader that can easily win election through debates, it is obama cos I dont think there is any leader that can match his oratory powers. By the way, from you talk about deception being a good campaign strategy, I see the extent of your love for Nigeria. Thankfully, Buhari would fail as he has always done because Nigerians are smarer than you think.

That's not a broblem. Just make sure all your documents are genuine

Really wrong advice. Better take it to the issuing authority to rectify it otherwise you would get a definite refusal.

perphaps this excerpts from Nduka Obiagbena response to Buhari campaign team gives an idea on how buhari intends to fight corruption

"one of the low points of the Buhari Military Regime between 1983 to 1985 was the draconian Decree 4 which jailed respected journalists, Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thomson for publishing the truth, deemed embarrassing to the then Buhari regime. And now in Year 2011, THISDAY publishes an opinion poll conducted on its behalf by the world renowned, IPSOS. What is the response of the Buhari Presidential Candidacy? Get ICPC to investigate the Publisher; to investigate the perceived wealth of a private citizen for daring to "embarrass" candidate Buhari and the CPC with an opinion poll! Seems familiar? What does this mean for the free press and freedom of expression should Buhari become President?"

Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

Absolutely correct!

You win elections by finding out what will make majorities of voters vote for you.

Is'nt it deception and coruption to just find out what majority of voters want and tell them you would do it simply because you want them to vote for you, when you dont even have a plan or a clue on how to do it?  

Most Nigerians that will vote can barely read or understand issues (they are not British), how are the going to understand some flash in the pan plan. More so, they have heard it all before, promises after promises, after promises.

Really? then why did Buhari attend a debate and attacked GEJ for not coming when he knows that the debates does not matter since most of the voters "can barely read or understand issues". Well, you may be right about this in the North ( which is perphaps why Buhari is supported there) but MOST voters in the south can read and understand issues so they do know what they want.

I am at the moment, more interested in the track record, morals, capability and likely good intents of the potential leader. Plans are secondary to me. Those four things, if the individual has them will ensure they can formulate a good plan.

How do you know if someone is capable of doing something without a plan that is ccoherent  and achievable. I am currently studying for a PhD and it was my research proposal and plan that got me a scholarship.Also, good intent and morals is not enough to change anything anywhere not to talk about Nigeria where corruption is perennial. For example, the Lib Dems in the last UK elections felt increasing fees was morally wrong and they signified thier intention to vote against it if they form government by entering into a documented plan with students. However, they had no plan on how to deal with the funding of universities. At the end, they went against thier good intention and apologised that the increase was the only way to deal with it.

What a great thread!!

I am English, from London but living in Lagos. BB has my full and unconditional support.

The PDP is an evil party. Anyone who has spent time abroad would understand this.

This country is being kept behind for run reason, and one reason alone: bad leadership.

Anyone who has spent time abroad should also understand that when people campaign for elections, they lay out a broad plan of what they would do when elected and how they intend to do it. In the last general elections in UK, despite the hate people had for Brown and the Labour party, the conservatives did not start and end thier campaign by condemning labour. Rather, they laid out a broad plan of what they would do if implmented and how they intend to do it. It is this plan that they are implmenting now especially with regards to cuts and immigration. I have said it before and I would say it again, what is Buhari's plan for Nigeria? Even in the area of corruption that we believe he would do well, what is his plan? What exactly is he going to do differently? Dont forget that we have ICPC, EFCC, due process law etc designed to fight corruption and it has not worked. Is there evidence that it is simply because its PDP or the president that it has not worked? Are most members of the other political parties not orignally members of PDP? Truth is, the hate of corruption is not enough to fight it. There must be a plan on how to fight it. Without that plan, dont be surprised that in the very unlikely event that buhari wins, he would end up given excuses on why it is now difficult to fight corruption

The FOI bill was frustrated by our lawmakers but after 12yrs, when it became clear to a great majority of them that they wouldn't be returning to the house, they decided to pass the bill just to look good in the eyes of Nigerians. They knew the bill wouldnt be affecting them much.

Passage of that bill had nothing to do with GEJ.

Really? I thought Nigerian politicians only try to "look good" when they want our votes. Im a bit surprised that they are now tryiing to look good in our eyes when they are leaving office. And as Kobojunkie has already reminded us, the bill was actually passed TWICE by the lawmakers during OBJ's time so your point about lawmakers frustrating it goes to no issue. I do agree with you though that GEJ has nothing to do with the passage of the Bill.However, the fact that it was passed shows further that PDP does not tie people's hands.

I also do not believe this claim is based on fact. What evidence do you have that Obasanjo’s hands were in anyway tied when it came to resolving the problem of fuel scarcity in the country?

I disagree!!! There is no evidence to support this claim that PDP tied Obasanjo’s hands TWICE when it came to his refusal to sign that bill each time. We are talking of the same man who lobbied for a third term for himself here.

We are actually making a similar point here.Just that you didnt get the pun intended. I was responding to the poster who said that "the PDP has a way of tying the hands of our leaders and it takes only a strong and stubborn man like Obj to still achieve something even with all the constraints". If you read my post in the context, you would see the pun intended by refering to OBJ's hands being tied.

You are right. Everything i can possibly think of as an example was an achievement of the heavily vilified Obj and not PDP. I couldn't think of any single achievement of Yaradua and GEJ. T[b]he PDP has a way of tying the hands of our leaders and it takes only a strong and stubborn man like Obj to still achieve something even with all the constraints. That explains why GEJ and Yaradua even with all their great plans couldnt achieve a thing.[/b] Why would I then vote for this same PDP?

Maybe you didnt think hard enough so I would help with some examples.
As strong as the PDP was, they could not tie Yaradua/GEJ hands from implementing the amnesty PLAN that has led to a huge increase in oil production today and recieved kudos both within and outside the country
Also, even though the PDP was strong enough to tie the hands of OBJ from dealing with the perennial fuel scarcity in the country, it was not able to tie Jonathan's hand to deal with it once and for all. I actually went to Nigeria over the Xmas and for the first time in so many years, I bought fuel througout the holidays without hassles!
Also, although the PDP 'tied' OBJ's hands on the FOI Act, it was not able to tie Jonathan's hands.
By the way, are you aware that a new minimum wage bill has been signed into law by Jonathan even in the face of opposition from governors?

Well, I am not other people – I simply stated that if you want to make your point, just make it without telling others they are not as good as you, if they choose to cast their vote against corruption and PDP non-performance, simple!

Thats the point I am making. 'Other people' condemned and were not advised not to do so but I was reprimanded for condemning. So I was just thinking that maybe, It was more about the side of the divide that I stood on. Anyways, I sort of sense that I have already over flogged the issue so permit me to rest my case!

Your initial post was to condemn people for voting strictly  on  hate for corruption and underperformance.

If my initial post could be treated as a condemnation by any stretch of imagination, then I wonder what words could be used to describe most of the posts in favour of Buhari on this thread. On this thread, people have used words to the effect that “only a mad man” would support PDP, “only corrupt people would support PDP” , “only ethno religious sentimental people would not support Buhari ” and nobody talked about condemnation. Well, in a sense, it reflects the campaign style of Buhari, i. e always condemning and attacking PDP and his members but also the first to cry wolf when criticised

I advice that you look at the global corruption index and compare it with the[b] global[/b] GDP and GDI index and you would see that that the evidence does not support this claim
I don’t get your point at all. Corruption wise, we have witnessed a rise in corruption levels in the last 12 years  – very high on the list --- but our GDP has increased in that same period, even as the poverty rate has equally increased in the same. That does support the claim made that corruption is likely the main issue.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

2010                   2010   2009   2008   2007      2006   2005   2004   2003   2002
134    Nigeria            2.4            2.7              2.2   2.2              1.9      1.6      1.4   1.6

Of course you did not get it because you looked at NIGERIA index instead of the GLOBAL index like I mentioned in my post. What I meant was that if you undertake a comparative look at the global indices of corruption and GDP and poverty rate etc, you would realise that it does not follow that more corruption, less growth and more poverty of that the less corruption, the less poverty of the more economic growth.