₦airaland Forum

cdoffx:
i've not taken side between Gbagbo,Quattara and french force

Just a quick point, sir.

There is nothing necessarily wrong in taking sides, as long as you retain your objectivity and intellectual honesty. When there is a clash been good and bad, between an election winner and an a goon who wants to override the people's wishes, between saving lives and bloodletting, it is wrong not to take sides.

Guyman02:
The EU has lifted sanctions and ban on cocoa export.

You have a problem with that?

Guyman02: France will now maintain their record as the worlds largest chocolate producer when they have no single cocoa tree which was threatened by Gbagbo presidency.
Unlike Portugal that collected BAIL-OUT fund, they would now ferry the millions of tonnes of cocoa and coffee lying at the Ivorian port to Europe to recover their expenditure in ousting Gbagbo.

You have inside info there are plans to "ferry" cocoa without paying market price for them, that the Quatarra government plans a special subsidy for French traders?

Guyman02:
Just like Congo today regrets bitterly the assassination of Patrice Lumumba and the Burkinabes mourn the murder of Thomas Sankara by his closest friend Blaise Campaore who unfortunately is the main backer of the Ivorian rebels; the Ivorians will remember the efforts of Gbagbo to pull them out of French stranglehold.

You mind reporting these efforts here?

superboi:
I for one have always critizied people that critizied the UN for not using force in Rwanda, That is not their Job and should never be their Job because it always ends them supporting one side  of the conflict which in my view further complicates things[b] other contries or neighbour can covetly or directl intervene or mediate.[/b]

Right. But what would you then do if "neighbour" refuses to intervene? And do you really think people should be talking or "mediating" when civilians are being slaughtered on the streets?

Sagamite:
The rebels should disarm? Are you joking? So that Gbagbo would completely terrorise them? You did not see the way he was an openly, unashamed tyrant despite rebels with weapons, so what do you think he would do with a helpless opposition?

This is one FACT deliberately ignored by many, including superboi, Thabo Mbeki and several other "African leaders" like Muhammad Mumuni, Ghana's foreign minister.

dapoola:
I saw your post and must say I really am disturbed by the trend of events happening in the Ivory Coast. Straight to the point the report I read went ''Gbagbo arrested by French troops!'' and I wondered how many European,  heads of state have ever been arrested or detained for anything by Africans or by even the Europeans themselves or the UN, ? Not even Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin or Franco! This is a shameful development for Africa, Africans and even the UN! Africans should be allowed to determine for themselves their leaders by whatever means they deem fit but it should be by africans,

I feel you. It is a sad day for all us, seeing foreign boots in the Ivory Coast to arrest its president. But if that is what it takes to halt Gbagbo's recalcitrance and his army and youth brigades' moronic bloodletting which has sent hundreds of thousands feeling into neighbouring countries while others cower and starve inside their houses, so be it. You see, as long as "African leaders" continue to behave like children, the "colonial masters" will continue to treat us as such.

dapoola: what I see here is continued colonialism by the french backed unfortunaly by the UN. A situation where france leads a force to overthrow an african leader in order to protect her interests is unacceptable and must be challenged by all africans. The story behind the Ivory Coast story is that of an old colonial pact - ''It is the Colonial Pact that set up the common currency for the Francophone countries, the CFA fran, which demands that each of the 14 CFA member countries must deposit 65% (plus another 20% for financial liabilities, making the dizzying total of 85%) of their foerign exchange reserves in an "Operations Account" at the French Treasury in Paris.

The African Nations therefore have access to only 15% of their own money for national development in any given year,  If they are in need of any extra money, as they always are, they have to borrow from their own 65% in the French Treasury at commercial rates. ''8th February 2011 Edition of New African Magazine ''

This is what Gbagbo is challenging and it is a threat to Paris.

Gbagbo wasn't challenging nada. Show that I am wrong. Gbagbo has always been close to Paris and the French looked the other way when soldiers from his ethnic group killed Guei to make way for him in 2000. The French created a buffer zone and protected Gbagbo from the New Forces back in 2002 when Soro's boys threatened to overrun Abidjan. And French businesses in the Ivory Coast did rather well under Gbagbo. All the talk of removing Gbagbo and installing Quatarra to protect "French business interest" is knee-jerk conjecture.

cap28: will you close that gaping hole you call a mouth, do you think Ouattara is there to serve the interest of the ivory coast people or the economic interests of france, in your dumb mind do you seriously think france took all this trouble to send troops to remove Gbagbo because they're interested in implementing democracy in ivory coast or merely interested in protecting their vast economic investments . when are you going to wake up and understand that this is all about NEO COLONIAL RESOURCE CONTROL, dURING THE RWANDAN CRISIS (a crisis which they instigated) DID FRANCE SEND TROOPS to protect their former colonial subjects the tutsis who were being slaughtered by the hutus? DID THE UN send troops? What did Clinton say when he was asked to send troops to prevent the loss of lives there?
do yourself a favour and close that gaping hole u call a mouth before flies take up permanent residence in it.

Strange how no one ever tells us how Gbagbo failed to protect French "vast economic investments" and how Quatarra will protect them.

Sarahluv:
My Ivorian friend is so glad that Gbagbo is gone.  Now how will Ouattara absolve his troops of the war crimes accusation?

He doesn't have to "absolve" them. When a Nigerian Army soldier commits atrocities does the president have to "absolve" him? President Quatarra and Prime Minister Soro have both said those who carried out atrocities on BOTH sides will be brought to trial after investigations. Besides there is already talk of UN investigations.

superboi:
How can election bring peace to an etnically(religious) divided country that was in a civil war and population split about 50/50 among the two groups??
Not my prayer but we are going to see a lot more conflicts like this in West Africa because countries just exist because their resources are valuable for elite(both local and foreign) and not because people share any nationalistic bond or history,

MyJoe: You see, my superbrother, man thrives in the midst of chaos. South Africa, Mr Mbeki's country, held its first democratic elections amidst violence between supporters of the ANC and IFP. The elections brought relief from the violence.  Mozambique's first post war elections were held amidst tensions as to whether Renamo would accept the results if they lost or return to the trenches. Sudan's referendum, supervised by Mr Mbeki, were held when the borders were yet to be demarcated among other pending issues and sporadic outbreaks of violence at the oil-rich region of Abie.  There are other examples. There is no country coming out of conflict where the guns totally fall silent and everyone is happy before elections are held.

The UN was right to have organised the elections. What are you and Mr Mbeki suggesting? That not holding the elections would have meant peace? Of course, elections were the most sensible option since the world could then tell Quatarra or Gbagbo - whoever loses - that it is time to quit the stage. Things would have worked out if losers had accepted that they lost. And it is not right to pretend that the Ivory Coast is currently burning because some rebels refused to disarm. It is because Gbagbo refused to concede defeat after losing the election, hoping that the AU would send Mbeki or Annan to impose some Zimbabwe- or Kenya-type solution and he would remain president. In any case, there was a disarmament program and arms were actually destroyed; the rebels have simply merely rearmed or dug out their weapons wherever they hid them when they were asked to disarm.

Ibime:
Once again, when you have two parts of the country pitted against each other, election is the worst drug you can give to such a sick nation. Ivory Coast needs a referendum on seperation, not elections. The 45% Southerners who voted Gbagbo will make the country ungovernable for Outtara and vice-versa.

Maybe. But you and I know that (referendum) isn't likely to happen. Africans tend to place these European-made borders at the level of God. Even if a referendum were to take place, don't bet the people will vote for a separation - listen to them talk, they like to pretend they have no issues of ethnicity, "it's the Europeans dividing us!" Still even if that wasn't the problem, the question of who will vote in the referendum would still arise, with Ivoriteans defining would be qualified to vote and who would not be. So I doubt that is a practicable solution. It would be far better if they got a statesman who will preach unity, draft a new constitution on citizenship and encourage the people to adopt it, settling the issue once and for all.

superboi:
Fact is a lot of Northerners are truly Burkinabe or Mixed, and a lot of northerners are closer ethnically to Burkinabe than to the south.
That is why a sensible voice like Thabo Mbeki way back in 2005/6 told the UN to trash out the nationality issue before holding any elections or it might lead to civil war, especially if the Rebels were not disarmed. As we have seen what he said have proved prophetic. Lets remember also that it was Gbagbo that gave Quattara back his CIV citizenship in 2000. Ultimately all these guys are just pawn in a resource war.

I am not aware Mbeki ever put it that way. But if that was the position he took, there was nothing particularly sensible about it, especially if he did not tell them how to "thrash out" the ethnicity or nationality issue or get the rebels to disarm. You see, my superbrother, man thrives in the midst of chaos. South Africa, Mr Mbeki's country, held its first democratic elections amidst violence between supporters of the ANC and IFP. The elections brought relief from the violence.  Mozambique's first post war elections were held amidst tensions as to whether Renamo would accept the results if they lost or return to the trenches. Sudan's referendum, supervised by Mr Mbeki, were held when the borders were yet to be demarcated among other pending issues and sporadic outbreaks of violence at the oil-rich region of Abie.  There are other examples. There is no country coming out of conflict where the guns totally fall silent and everyone is happy before elections are held.

The UN was right to have organised the elections. What are you and Mr Mbeki suggesting? That not holding the elections would have meant peace? Of course, elections were the most sensible option since the world could then tell Quatarra or Gbagbo - whoever loses - that it is time to quit the stage. Things would have worked out if losers had accepted that they lost. And it is not right to pretend that the Ivory Coast is currently burning because some rebels refused to disarm. It is because Gbagbo refused to concede defeat after losing the election, hoping that the AU would send Mbeki or Annan to impose some Zimbabwe- or Kenya-type solution and he would remain president. In any case, there was a disarmament program and arms were actually destroyed; the rebels have simply merely rearmed or dug out their weapons wherever they hid them when they were asked to disarm.

2ndThought:
Archetypal African Strongman - here: starts off well before the slow and irreversible unpacking of megalomaniac tendencies ensues

Yeah. We see this again and again. Sad.

isquar3d3:
guys, lets get our facts right. Gbagbo has been captured, yes bt he is under d custody of d UN. He's been taken 2 a certain golf hotel where Ouatarra's forces surround bt d UN has said that he is under their(UN) protection. It means evn though he might have been captured, no one can touch him, 4 now.

I hope this is the case. I will be quite irresponsible to hand him over to the Republican forces, which is not yet truly a disciplined national army.

superboi:
Guy if you have been following CIV since 2000 you would know that (1) after Gbagbo was sworn in Quattara made a promise to make the country ungovernable for him. (2) In 2002 a rebel movement led by Soro started in the north backed and armed by France and (3) logistically supported by Campore(Burkina Faso). [b](4)[/b]The rebels openly said that their leader was Quattara and they would not be peace in CIV until Quattara rules,
See go search for Quattara policies and Economic decision then you would see why the French will kill for him, Nuff said

Easy on the conjectures, superbrother! I have been following the Ivory Coast since before the time you mentioned and I know differently from the above. Like morpheus24 I will greatly appreciate one reference on your earlier assertion about Quatarra being the originator of Ivorite, something I am currently unaware of.

obowunmi:
Kai, many people suffer from chronic bad breath. My small advice, cut off ALL sugary drinks, soda, minerals,

Good advice - may help many, but not all, sufferers.

obowunmi: --- also, brush your mouth three times a day.

Bad advice. Nobody needs brush more than twice a day. Personally, I brush ONCE. You see, there is something called over-brushing.

Makbo:
The problem in Ivory Coast goes futher than a simple elections standoff. That is what Nigerians should understand for good!  In 2002, Gbagbo was already acting president when France perpetrated a coup d'Etat asking him to step down.  At that moment, IC did not have any electoral problem to debate upon, but French government asked President Gbagbo to step down.  Already in 2002, the motto was "step down". Upon Gbagbo's refusal to do so they converted the coup d'Etat into a rebellion in the northern part of Ivory Coast that became the rebellion shrine.  The rebel northern stronghold (60% of the territory) remained out of government control from 2002 to 2010. Rebels were provided weapons and funding by France for eight years.

The United States, acting in concert with the UK and other Western powers, manipulated Nigeria’s elections chief so that materials did not arrive on time and the election would be postponed so that they can continue to steal Nigeria’s oil! Anybody that refuses to see this FACT is a Western stooge and is blind and is feeding on BBC propaganda. Pure conjecture.

Makbo: In November 2004 Gbagbo launched a military action on the North to liberate the country  from rebel ruling, the same France came to rescue the rebel by destroying all the ivorian Air force. Where were you Africans when all that went on?  The AU cynically condemned Gbagbo for attempting to liberate his country. France since then tried to organise hastilly elections in IC so that it could declare Ouattara winner and oust Gbagbo from power, but the ivorian constitution states clearly that no elections can be handled whenever one significative portion of the territoty is out of government control. France then said Gbagbo is hiding behind the Constitution to postpone election. All african nations stand one France's side to sing tha same song. Go back to the news one year ago to have evidence of what western media said and wrote at that time.

And, pray, WHY does France hate monsieur le professeur Gbagbo so much? Be creative – provide a motive. Oh, I heard someone mention "French business interest". That must be it! Gbagbo refused to protect French businesses in Cote d'Ivoire throughout his time in government and Quatarra has vowed to protect them!

Makbo: Finally Gbagbo accepted to go to election and the UNOCI had to disarm the rebels first. They did not do anything and rebels remained heavily armed. Elections were  handled in the North with massive riggings so that Allassan could be declared winner.  People willing to vote for Gbagbo have been intimidated violated in the poll station. All these frauds have been denounced by AU observers. The Supreme Court took its responsibility to cancel the results where all the fraud has been committed.

Yeah. Just the small percentage of vote required to give Mr Gbagbo victory was rigged and the rigging just happened at some village in the North where people voted for Quatarra. There was no rigging whatsoever in the areas where people voted for Mr Gbagbo, so the Supreme Court had to step in and act on behalf of God by saving Ivory Coast from the great injustice represented by those figures. Great court!

Makbo: Since that decision France declared war to Gbagbo and Ivory Coast. Here are the facts you should be mindful of before diserting uselessly on Gbagbo stepping down. How can the ivorian people can accept this kind of diktat from a bigoted western country who think he is Master in Africa? How long shall they be killing our leaders without any action from our part. Killing Gbagbo will not resolve the ivorian crisis. The thing is Ivorians are fed of French people.

I wish you had bothered to supply any fact instead of conjectures – America incited Tunisians and Egyptians to go into the streets so that those regimes can fall and Russia and China will lose and America can steal Middle Eastern oil and Nigeria is next and . . .

Honestly, I can’t even tell you how tired and nauseated I am at all these shifting of blames for our problems, created by our own hands, on the West.

Now, please answer the following questions:

[b]* When in the 80’s Gbagbo was arrested on the orders of then Prime Minister Quatarra and France mounted pressure for his release and he was released into exile in Franch, who was called a French puppet then?

* Where did Gbagbo go on exile when he was fighting Houphouet-Boigny?

* When the rebels almost overran Abidjan in 2002 was it not the French troops who created a buffer zone that prevented them from doing so?

* During the last elections, why did Gbagbo hire a French company to run his campaign while Quatarra hire an Ivorien company?

* There was a first round election. When you say “Elections were handled in the North with massive riggings” which round are you referring to, since your candidate did not dispute the first round which he won before Bedie directed his supporters who come from the central part of the country to vote for Quattarra. Can you, sir, demonstrate that the second round results did not correlate with the first round results to prove your assertion of “massive riggings” in the second round?

* Did Gbagbo ask for a recount immediately disputes (inspired by him) broke out or did he not rush straight to his ethnically-bigoted friends in the Constitutional council who declared that the election was rigged, invalidated some votes and then declared him winner based on the same election?

* And, pray, why has your candidate been using murder and intimidation as a means to retain power? How many Ivoriens need die just so monsieur le professeur who is himself no kamikaze can continue to rule? What is wrong with most of these "African leaders"?[/b]

aisha2:
Let me explain to you, two threads were created, one for Goodluck, one for Buhari to state the reasons their supporters support them, and in both threads, i delete every post thaat contradicts the threads. Let there be one thread where supporters can express themsleves with fights or attacks, is that a bad thing?

You are right about "fights" and "attacks". But if you are saying that people should not node, shake head, wave hand, clear their throats or RESPOND in any other way to things they read as long as such responses are not entirely to your personal liking, that position,  ma'am, is not tenable.

Sagamite:
So Ogun State is completely fragmented and too undefined to call?

Nope. Most would call it for Ibikunle Amosun of the ACN.

This is very touching. If rikado still visits Nairaland, he should send a mail to editors008 at gmail.com for a possible solution.

aisha2: Mine was PTF , the PTF projects were the only sign of governance I have seen in Nigeria in my life. I had always voted for buhari in previous elections but this year I almost changed. At first I thought Goodluck/ Ribadu, then my friend who I was hanging out with on the 1st of october at eagle square went to his car to pick something only for me to hear that he had died in the blast, this was someone who marched with me side by side during the Save Nigeria Group Rally, He was a northerner and moslem but believed strongly that Nigerians should not be held by any cabal, that the constitution was supreme, together we used our money photocopying fliers and distributing during the YarAdua saga even when many pple had not tyaken a stand. When the blast happened I expected decisive action instead I was sick and sad to see the cheap political point our president turned the blast to. That really hurt me, what was worse was when I got insider information that they were aware of the threat but saw it as an opportunity to hang IBB. Anyway, I thought Ribadu was a younger version of buhari but I realised that if e no be panadol e no fit be like panadol, so I went back to my first love. BB for me please

Jarus:
I don't hate PDP, what I hate is the way it is been run, like a cabal, an assembly of people,99% of whom are bad. After all, Rotimi Amaechi and Danjuma Goje are also PDP politicians but whom I admire. In fact, in my coming article(Rescuing Nigeria: My First 11) I mentioned Rotimi Amaechi, a PDP, as part of the team I believe can deliver Nigeria.

Back to the subject, I like, most Nigerians have always lamented the pitiable state of things in this country. I believe we cannot continue to lament, we must take action. The first option was Goodluck Jonathan. He started very well, appointing someone I trust(Jega) as INEC chair to my surprise. I also admired his humility, but I knew for sure that Nigeria needs more than humility to deliver this country. So against Atiku, IBB and co, I supported GEJ, because GEJ didn't appear to me as someone who will empty our Treasury, and I won't trust Atiku with Treasury.

But while my consideration for GEJ lasted I nursed a number of fears: this guy has got no biceps, you need strong biceps to run Nigeria. Obasanjo was very strong, but he used his strenght negatively. I was afraid the machinery of govt will be easily hijacked from GEJ and we will witness something worse than YRD's era where a cabal ruled or Shagari era where his ministers literally took over and drained the till. These fears were too weighty to ignore. But events that came up later nailed the coffin of my pessimism for GEJ. He later became so desperate that he proved me wrong that he was not a typical PDP politician. How do we explain the bribing of delegates by 7000 dollars on the eve of PDP primary? The delegates were practically quarantined, locked up in a room, their phones collected so that Atiku will not induce them.Yet in the open space, this man wears the face of an innocent man that cannot hurt a fly. I don't trust double-faced personalities. So I ruled out GEJ.

When rumours came in that AC wanted to use I was very ecstatic. I changed my NL signature to Ribadu 2011 etc.I wrote articles in papers endorsing it. I changed my FB profile pic to Ribadu etc. I believe Ribadu will go a long way in tackling corruption. I knew Ribadu will not steal. But a couple of questions bothered my mind: how does Ribadu take care of Tinubu, who is almost not different from PDP men? How realistic is Ribadu's chance?

That was how Buhari came to the equation. Buhari, like Ribadu, also came with an inti-corruption credential, but with Buhari, I don't have any godfather to worry about, he has been there before and will not need to learn to Nuhu, he is more feared by the kleptocratic class, he stands a far more realistic chance of beating PDP, I can bet with my life that he will not steal, so why don't I support him as part of walking my talk all these years of lamentation m

So I threw my weight behind Buhari. As for Bakare, I also find it unthinkable that he will steal or allow people around him to.

There are problems with Mr Buhari that these two mini-articles have ignored, but they are beautiful, well thought-out testimonies.

NL folks never cease to amaze! Someone makes an important scientific discovery on the usefulness of a plant hitherto ignored by urbanised Nigerians although consumed by rural folks, a plant that we are told may have preventive properties against some deadly ailments, and someone is talking about children making phones China! Why not listen to BBC, CNN or read scientific journals and see how leading universities spend millions on similar researches and how similar discoveries are celebrated.

For those who don't know the snake tomato, it's a garden plant that actually crawls along the ground, resembling a snake - without the snakehead, of course. I am not aware that it grows commonly in the wild. It starts out developing as green and turns yellow or ripe when ripe. Sorry, can't find a picture of it online.

[quote author=Okija_juju link=topic=628209.msg7956303#msg7956303 date=1300723004]@ Ezeuche

I knw wat u mean with the writing but not fluent iin english, but that case does not apply to dame Jonathan.

I agree that the attacks on her person needs to stop cos she never vied to be first lady of any level.

On anoda note, I think kudos should go to jonathan for sticking with her and not marrying a second wife more beffitting to his office, [/quote]Right. One can think of several reasons why a successful man would have a wife who is not fluent in speech or in English. If he wakes up one day and finds himself president, he should stick with her.

[quote author=Okija_juju]Uniports degrees from 1990 to date should be looked into,  No university grad should be as bad as Mrs jonathan in mastery of the english language,  How did she defend her project ffs?[/quote]You may have a point there.

naijaking1:
Is there any other prerequisite for first lady of Nigeria, apart from supplying good "biology" to the president? I'm disguested at this attempt to attack her when nothing could reasonably stick on her husband.
She's not running for an elective office, and there's no need to put her on the ballot here in N/L.

Precisely. The attack on her, particularly the extent of it, is plain silly.

Ujujoan:
NL pro IBB      

Hmmmn . . .  are we talking about the same NL    

I don't entirely agree that the pro-Buhari movement on NL is purely ethnic.

Most of Buhari supporters are from the SE and SS and this, if you ask me, is impressive in comparison with GEJ's supporters who's reasons are strictly cos of his ethnicity. I'm not a fan of Buhari but I'll pick him anytime any day over GEJ . . .  and I'm from the east!

If not for anything, I think a change is needed right now. The status-quo is certainly not working and we have a chance to change things.

If[b] I didn't think Ribadu was secretly working with GEJ[/b], I'll be voting for him . . . .  In summary, I don't think I will, in good conscience, cast my vote for any of the aspirants!

I, too, have problems as you do with all three aspirants, the only difference being that I would vote for anyone over Buhari. But pray, what makes you think the bolded?

^^^ And Buhari is quality?

**sighs**

noblezone:
Buhari will never rule Nigeria again.
Simple.

Amen!

190:
[color=deeppink]Mine is a touching story between myself and the poster inkerd_nerd how we met


He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chasing after her, while he was so normal, nobody paid attention to him.

At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him, she was surprised but due to being polite, she promised. They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, and she thought to herself, "Please, let me go home, "

Suddenly he asked the waiter, "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee." Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, "Why you have this hobby?" He replied, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my hometown so much, I miss my parents who are still living there." While saying that tears filled his eyes. She was deeply touched. That's his true feeling, from the bottom of his heart. A man who can tell out his homesickness, he must be a man who loves home, cares about home, has responsibility of home, Then she also started to speak, spoke about her faraway hometown, her childhood, her family.


That was a really nice talk, also a beautiful beginning of their story. They continued to date. She found that actually he was a man who meets all her demands; he had tolerance, was kind hearted, warm, careful. He was such a good person but she almost missed him! Thanks to his salty coffee! Then the story was just like every beautiful love story, the princess married to the prince, and then they were living the happy life, And, every time she made coffee for him, she put some salt in the coffee, as she knew that's the way he liked it.[/color]

Best story I have read in years!

Sir, it appears you do not know the meaning, or better, the connotation of the word "statesman." For if you did, there is no way you would apply it to that antediluvian recidivist.

Moreso, you shock the electorate with your lack of political savoir-faire. Referring to that maggot as your "father," especially when you hold the trust of the public as president is simply low. Nothing else but low. Especially since you also referred to him as your "mentor." Pray tell, what has he been mentoring you on?

This is why I hate debates, interviews, town hall meetings, and the like. People are always misquoting you. I never referred to General Babangida as my mentor.

You are desperate to curry the favour of anybody and everybody in order to win an election, and in that desperation you cuddle up with demons such as IBB whereas if you were discerning enough, you would realize that he is politically irrelevant in the current dispensation.

You stir up revulsion with the pathethic nature of your lack of ethics. You have no courage, and you stand for anything and fall for everything. YOU sir, are a pathetic excuse for a leader.

You are getting it wrong. I am the president of all Nigerians. It is my duty to consult with everyone and get the views of stakeholders in order move the country forward. But watch your tongue. You are talking to the president and commander in chief of the armed forces of the federal republic of Nigeria. Don’t take democracy as a licence to insult the president. If it was during the military regime you would be jailed by now.


We can start with ya wife for one. Not to speak about the hellish lot that you hang about with.

What? My wife? Has she ever been charged with, much less, convicted of any crimes? Look, there is a law on libel! Be careful.

Yeah, yeah, you want BON so you can censor the questions asked abi? Don't make us laugh, Mr. President, avoiding an INDEPENDENT debate.

Are you saying the BON is not an independent body? Is BON now owned by the government? If you want to attend debates organized by every Mfon, D[i]i[/i]ck and Boma, that is your business, but the presidency of Nigeria is an exulted office.

Obviously sir you missed the intendment of my averment. The intendment was to point out the propriety of selecting just such a man as you South West Campaign Co-ORDINATOR?

I, too, have heard rumours about Otunba Gbenga Daniel. But has he been impeached, or charged with, or convicted of any crime? Why do you want the president of Nigeria to work by rumours such as can be heard at the Onitsha Market at Onitsha, Dugbe Market at Ibadan or Oba Market at Benin City?

The SWF is kicking off with a mere $ 1 billion. As at the time you came to power the Foreign Reserve was over $44 billion.

Secondly you seem to be mixing things up. I referred to the Reserve. That is not the Excess Crude Account.

It is disgraceful for a president not to know the distinction.

You don’t know what you are talking about. You are not in government, so you sit at some office in Victoria Island (my SSS director just gave me your office address) typing away and thinking you know something, whereas you know nothing of the relationship between the foreign reserve, the ECA and the SWF. And by the way, the foreign reserve is not totally depleted as reported by some newspapers. Yes, we have spent some of it on developmental projects. We now generate 4,000 MW of electricity and I am sure you have noticed the improvement where you are. And due to the massive investments we have made into the sector I can tell you that within the first 6 months into our new dispensation, by the grace of God, there will be 5,000 MW! Nigeria is cruising forward at great speed, and those of you who live outside the country don’t know what is happening in Nigeria. God has been blessing Nigeria and will continue to do so.

If you do not know the political significance of having an ex-con jailed for corruption sit right beside you at your rally, then there is nothing anyone can do to help or educate you.

I see you don’t realize I am the president of all Nigerians and the TBS is a public place. It was an open rally held at a stadium, not a private party held in a hotel room. You need some schooling in elementary political science and fundamental human rights.

Lol. Nice one. So i take it that as civilian president you will welcome the idea of a military coup against you if your administration is found to be 'drifting.'

What are you talking about? There are no coups anymore. The kuontry is back to full cfillian guovment. When I become fresident and Pastor Bakare become bice fresident there will be no room for laziness and corruption and indiscpline. Corruption will vanish. We will restore discpline.

Do you know what treason is? Are you aware that that is what you committed? Do you know that it is a capital offence?

We did not kuommit treason. The kuonstitution was susfended, so no treason. We saved the kuontry from a bad guovment.

So will you bring back flogging as a tool of civil correction of elected civilian president.

The frophet used to flog bad people. I will not be brining it back, it has always been there. In Zamfara State, we flog those who drink alcohol.

If you have any integrity like you claim to have, you would not gallivant about under the sponsorship of a champion of the corruption you claim to fight. Especially when you yourself stated that that champion of yours deserves to by in jail. I cannot conceive of a better definition of hypocrisy.

We fought corruption in this country. We jailed an inspector-general of police. That has never happened before. We indicted governors and other powerful people. When elected we will do more. It is because of corruption that you don’t have electricity, good roads and water. We are not being sponsored by a champion of corruption. We are being sponsored by the ACN and we have been receiving donations from Nigerians who believe in us.

I would like to ask the President -

- Why he would refer to an antediluvian recidivist such as IBB as his "Father" "Mentor" and a "great son of Africa"

You are referring to my statements at Minna. Actually the portion about a worthy son of Minna "making history in Africa" was a reference to General Abubakar, not IBB. Yes, I referred to Babangida as my father. He is an elder statesman. I am sure they have elders where you come from. In Africa we respect our elders.    

- Why he would surround himself with the most corrupt elements in Nigerian Society

Who? Can you name them? This government is fighting corruption. We have jailed party leaders. A former governor escaped but we are having him tried in Dubai and London. The EFCC and ICPC is prosecuting hundreds of cases in court and these are public records. Go to EFCC and get the particulars of the cases. So, my friend, we are fighting corruption.

- Why he would seek to avoid a free and fair debate with other contestants (his PHD notwithstanding)

I don't know where you get your facts, or should I say rumours, from. We have never avoided any debate. We were not properly invited, or we were invited by people unknown to us. Election debates are organised by the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, not some unknown bodies. Do you want your federal government to be dealing with faceless individuals? Do you know that before a president agrees to do anything with anyone it must be cleared by the police, the SSS, and the Army? We have always made this clear and we have always stated our readiness to attend debates. If you know who I am you would not have said what you did. My father was a debater. My mother was a debater. Even my grandfather, he was a debater. I won prizes at debate in secondary school. When I ran for deputy governor in Bayelsa State, I participated in debates.

- Why the grossly illegal acts of the Governor of Ogun State have escaped his attention.

They told me you are a lawyer. So you know the position of the Constitution on federalism. We operate a federal system in Nigeria, so the president cannot dabble in Ogun State politics. The House of Assembly and the courts are there to call the governor to order.

- Why Nigeria is witnessing decreasing reserves at a time of increasing International Oil Prices.

Where did you hear we are witnessing decreasing reserves? We are not witnessing decreasing reserves. Don't believe everything you read in the newspapers. Get your facts from the CBN governor or from my office. What is have done is to close the unconstitutional Excess Crude Account to transfer the money to the more constitutional Sovereign Wealth Fund. Get your facts right.

- Why he exculpated MEND from the October 1 Bomb Blast and is now prosecuting its leaders for that same offence

I did not exculpate MEND. I was misquoted. I have already clarified this. I only said we should look beyond MEND to find the real perpertrators of the dastardly act.

- Why as the symbol of law and order in Nigeria, he would yet celebrate and frolick with Bode George

Don't be ridiculous! Of course I have had nothing to do with Bode George. I was embarrassed by his presence at my campaign rally at the TBS. But what would you have done in my place? Drive him away? He was free to attend the rally like any Nigerian citizen and he did not make any speeches.

[s] - Why he has an illiterate wife, whilst he yet advanced his own education up to the level of a doctorate degree[/s]

I would like to ask Buhari -

- Why he thinks he should benefit from a democratic dispensation after commiting treason by truncating a democratic dispensation in the eighties

The kuontry was drifting. Foliticians were not flaying the game by the rules. Fifo were corrupt - not staying on queues in Lagos, smoking Indian hemp at Fela's Shrine, littering the public space, and more.  We had to do something. We had to bring out the kobokos to whip Nigerians into shape. There is a Fulani froverb that human beings are like donkeys - they don't behave if you don't beat them. It was a collective decision of the Army. The Army called upon me to serve my kuontry and I had to obey.

- Why he has resiled from his previously religiously-bigoted statements: notably his statements in the past that Sharia law should be applied in all states of Nigeria and that no Muslim should ever vote for a Christian (he was not a child when he made these statements)

I never said Muslims should not vote for Christians. And I never threatened to affly Shariah to Christians. I only said if Muslims want their hands cuot, it is their business.

- Why he had no respect for human rights as Military Head of State

There was no human rights violation during our time. Only criminals and drug addicts were shot to serve a lesson to others. We flogged those who refused to stay on queue and threw pure water sachets on the road. We brought down crime. We eliminated corruption. Can you kuompare the crime we have today with the crime in our time? There was no corruption in our guovement. There was electricity.

I would like to ask Ribadu -

- Why he is frolicking with a man (Tinubu) who (whilst EFCC boss) he specifically and publicly stated deserves to be in Jail for Corruption

I am member of the ACN. I do not have the power to determine who becomes a member of the party. I am the one running for president, not Tinubu. When we get into government, we will invite technocrats from all over the country and abroad, across political parties. We will build a team that will mould Nigeria and make it the envy of the world. A vote for Ribadu is a vote for that team. A vote for your future.

[quote author=m_nwankwo link=topic=620336.msg7891631#msg7891631 date=1299853469]Hi MyJoe. Thanks for your comment. I used the sentence you bolded to make a distinction between what individuals actually experienced from what they fabricated consciously or unconsciously. Many of the stories that a lot of these visionaries band about were never experienced by them, rather they are deliberate lies or unconscious projection of what slumbers in their mind. It may also happen that the stories have grains of actual experience but were embellished so that it will have a profound effect on listeners or believers. Thus with such people, they will describe the most fascinating stories and contacts with "higher beings", and yet they did not have such experiences. They either lied, embellished or projecting what unconsciously slumbers in their mind. In reality, people who talk much of their spiritual experiences or testimonies of their supernatural encounters are either lying or projecting there hidden wishes.[/quote]Reminds me of a story from my primary four reader, I think. Someone had this room in his pad where, all you had to do was enter and lock the doors, and you would meet an angel and converse with him. The only condition was that you had to be holy. His first friend entered, came out and reported that, yes, he actually saw the angel. Not to be outdone, the next friend to enter also disclosed, on coming out, that he, too, saw the angel and related with him. I can't recall the story very well, but it went on along those lines, with friend after friend lying that he saw the angel and the landlord noting what a bunch of liars they were.

[quote author=m_nwankwo]By perception, I mean experiencing in its totality. It does not just mean what we see in dreams or visions. Indeed dreams and visions are very minor part of experiencing.[/quote]This clears up the matter a great deal.

[quote author=m_nwankwo]Thus honest and pure people do perceive a lot but there perception may not be in the direction of visions and dreams. Perception of such honest and pure human being lies in their ability to sense with clinical precision what is the will of God and what is not. I may expand on this if need be. As always stay blessed.[/quote]I believe the highlighted, have never doubted it, but can there really be absolutes here? I mean, two people, no matter how right-minded and illumined, are bound to see things differently if they come from different backgrounds. They may hold divergent views on issues. Which might lead us to conclude that clinical precision may, indeed, be quite far from mortals. But, of course, to rephrase the words of Jesus Christ in Luke 10:42, only a few things do really matter.

Greetings, m_nwakwo.

Perhaps you need to expound on or explain this part.

[quote author=m_nwankwo link=topic=620336.msg7890826#msg7890826 date=1299845914]What I have to say here is that each individual perceives or see things according to his own nature, that is, according to how his spirit is with respect to the laws of God. Where individuals are honest, what they see or perceive is directly proportional to the purity of their spirit.[/quote]It's not far-fetched to know there are honest and pure individuals who don't see or perceive much, that is, who see nothing or see far less than others who are not as selfless or pure.

@poster
Here's the thread referenced by m_nwankwo:
The Problem with Dreams, Visions and Clairvoyance

[quote author=U de vex? link=topic=613712.msg7881187#msg7881187 date=1299712294]Between Buhari and Ribadu, I'll choose Ribadu everytime.
Between Jonathan and Buhari , I'll choose Jonathan everytime.[/quote]Excellent permutation! Reasons already stated.

alexleo:
@vescucci ,
may God uplift you to a height where you will experience the joy of serving him in spirit and in truth all the days of your life. Amen.

In other words, may God make him a Christian. Now, that will be a refreshing about turn for the agnostic-deistic-theistic-inquisitive philosopher! I mean, it will be interesting to see him come to Nairaland and use his analytical skills to expound on the Rapture.

alexleo:
@ yommyuk -  God is your strength ,may he continue to lift you higher. Amen.

Don't know the guy much, but good prayer.

alexleo: @ uchkochi - God  bless your ministry and keep you ever ablaze for him. Amen .

Ablaze? This prayer is incendiary!

alexleo: @ yefet - may God keep your feet steadfast in him and may the message of his coming never depart from u. Amen.

Ehm, this guy actually needs to seek to frighten people less by toning down a bit on all that the "rapture" and "left behind" stuff. There's a lot of good stuff in the gospels beside that. Pray that he sees them.

alexleo: @ image123 - may God increase your wisdom and may his grace abound for you.

More wisdom for Sir Image (AS)? Good prayer!

alexleo: @ joagbaje - may God bless you with more wisdom and understanding of his word , keep you ever shining for him. Amen.

Guy hardly needs your prayer. I mean, whether you pray or not he always shines

alexleo: @jesoul - more wisdom and divine guidance from above be added unto you. May his glory shield you always. Amen.

Good prayer.

alexleo: @ileke-idi - may God strengthen your faith in him , establish u in holiness and make u a pillar in his ministry. May he cover you with his loving kindness. Amen.

This good lady won't appreciate the above prayer much. Pray for the Ekiti homeland - that would be more like it! Won't it, Ileke-Idi? 

alexleo: @nuclearboy - may the Lord continue to perfect your knowledge in him and may his glory shine forth in you. Amen.

Glory is good. Good prayer.

alexleo: @pastorAIO - may God continually establish you in his righteousness and truth  and bless your ministry. Amen.

His ministry? Yeah, may God bless it.

OLAADEGBU once had a wonderful sense of humour! Great thread.