₦airaland Forum

CharlesCNG:
Apparently, you are not in the mood for monkeys and bananas, but you are perfectly in the mood for confusion and irrelevance.

First, this is Nairaland, not your sitting room. I can comment on any aspect of a discussion I find interesting. I do not require your permission or approval.

Second, if you truly understood logic, you would know that responding to one point does not preclude commenting on another. That is how discussions work.

Third, spare me the lecture on logic. A man who believes every comment must be confined to the narrow boundaries he approves of is hardly qualified to teach others how to reason.

And since you are so fond of dismissing arguments as stories, perhaps you should first learn that debates are won with counterarguments, not with monkeys, bananas and manufactured outrage.

The irony is that those who constantly invoke "logic" are often the first to abandon it when confronted with inconvenient points.

But by all means, continue. You are providing entertainment if not enlightenment.

I enjoy debates and I am not against you quoting me. You ruined it with your first generalization implying I am an obedient follower that is somewhat delusional. I am not an obedient fan. I didn’t see him as a good governor but people have long forgotten what is good governance. All they just want is security which is the most basic function of government. lol. Yet people like you still praise the government of the day. You bore me with your meagre mind.

Nigeria has lost his statehood. People like you feel government are doing their best. Lol. The government has done nothing. They still budget billions to buy cutleries every year why people cannot travel from point A to B in Nigeria. They are still stealing money every minute while the country is being overrun by bandits. Do you know how government invest in technology and people to ensure their countries are protected?

If you had descended into your plethora of writing without your assumption, I will have no qualms with you. Again, there is an easterner already on presidential ticket that is top contender if election is free and fair

Mayflowa:
I enjoy debates and I am not against you quoting me. You ruined it with your first generalization implying I am an obedient follower that is somewhat delusional. I am not an obedient fan. I didn’t see him as a good governor but people have long forgotten what is good governance. All they just want is security which is the most basic function of government. lol. Yet people like you still praise the government of the day. You bore me with your meagre mind.

Nigeria has lost his statehood. People like you feel government are doing their best. Lol. The government has done nothing. They still budget billions to buy cutleries every year why people cannot travel from point A to B in Nigeria. They are still stealing money every minute while the country is being overrun by bandits. Do you know how government invest in technology and people to ensure their countries are protected?

If you had descended into your plethora of writing without your assumption, I will have no qualms with you. Again, there is an easterner already on presidential ticket that is top contender if election is free and fair

Fair enough. I apologise for mistaking you for an Obidient and grouping you with that crowd. That was my error. If you say you are not one of them, I take that.

But let us also be clear: supporting or defending certain actions of a government does not mean one believes government is perfect, or that the country is not facing serious challenges. I have never said Nigeria’s security situation is acceptable. It is not. I have never said government waste, corruption or reckless budgeting should be excused. They should not. A country where people cannot travel freely from one point to another without fear has a serious state-capacity problem.

Where we differ is that I do not believe anger alone is an alternative. Condemning government is easy. Building a viable alternative is the harder question.

That is my foundational point: Nigeria does not just need opposition; Nigeria needs a credible, organised, realistic and electorally viable alternative. One that understands security, economy, technology, federal coordination, intelligence, policing, border control, and political structure. Not just slogans. Not just moral outrage. Not just “anybody but the incumbent.”

On the issue of an easterner already being on the presidential ticket, I hear you. But being on a ticket is not the same thing as having a viable path to victory. Politics is not only about moral entitlement; it is also about structure, coalition, acceptability, numbers and strategy.

And if the easterner you are referring to is Peter Obi, then I must be honest: he has not impressed me enough to earn my confidence. I do not dislike him because he is Igbo; that would be childish. I question him because his claims, records and political behaviour have not withstood objective scrutiny to my satisfaction.

His supporters often sell him as if he is beyond examination, but no serious presidential candidate should be treated like sacred scripture. If you offer yourself to govern Nigeria, your record as governor, your economic claims, your understanding of security, your coalition-building capacity, your party management, and your ability to withstand pressure must all be interrogated.

For me, Obi has generated emotion, but he has not demonstrated enough political machinery. He has inspired a movement, but not built a durable national structure. He has attracted sympathy, but sympathy is not strategy.


So yes, quote me anytime. I enjoy debates too. But do not reduce my point to “praising government.” I am saying something more specific: bad government must be challenged by a better alternative, not by emotional noise pretending to be strategy.

CharlesCNG:
Atiku and the Cost of Obidient Arrogance by CharlesCNG

If Atiku Abubakar has truly turned away from a South-East running mate and settled for a South-South option, Obidients should not pretend to be shocked. Politics has consequences.

For months, many Obidient voices treated Atiku not as a potential coalition partner, but as an enemy to be humiliated. They insulted his age, mocked his ambition, dismissed his experience, branded him as desperate, and attacked anyone who suggested negotiation with him. Then, after burning the bridge, they expected him to build a road back to them.

That is not strategy. That is political childishness.

Atiku may have initially considered the South-East for balance, symbolism and coalition value. But why would any serious politician reward a bloc that has spent months abusing him, questioning his legitimacy, and treating him as disposable? Why choose a running mate from a political family whose loudest supporters cannot distinguish between negotiation and insult?

This is the deeper lesson. The South-East did not lose leverage only because of marginalisation. Some of its loudest political actors helped destroy that leverage through arrogance, emotionalism and poor coalition manners.

Kenneth Okonkwo can now complain about South-East exclusion, but the question remains: where was the strategy when Obidients were insulting Atiku? Where was the discipline when they were attacking everyone whose support they might later need?

You cannot abuse Atiku in January, reject him in March, mock his coalition in May, and cry marginalisation in June when he looks elsewhere.

Power is not won by permanent outrage. It is won by negotiation, restraint and leverage.

Obidients wanted respect without diplomacy. Atiku may have simply answered them in the only language politicians understand: exclusion.

A lot of this stuff you are saying seems very basic and easy to understand, I am not sure why these Obidients are opposing it so badly that they are actually making your point.

It's good that you are finding time for them but I suspect you will never get through to Obidients who have zero interest in seeing the woods from the trees.

When they make the same mistake again in 2027, no doubt they will revert back to their stolen mandare refrain.

Once more, thanks for breaking things down so clearly, you are doing a good job even though the ones that should learn are not interested in doing so.

What makes this man think that he matters?

Gradually...
His target is to rejoin APC.
He's very strategic about that.
Smart guy...

Spirit of Merit still chasing Andy Okeke since 1993 🤣🤣🤣🤣 if your head no strong no near ritual for money ... May God delivery Mr okonwko from living in Bondage 🤣


I hope Pa Atiku finally pay his house rent

CharlesCNG:
You have actually made my point for me.

If the South-East has consistently identified the "better candidate" since 1999, why has that superior judgment not translated into political power or national influence?

Politics is not an IQ test. It is the art of building winning coalitions. Being right and being victorious are two different things.

There is also a contradiction in your argument. You insist Peter Obi was the best candidate, yet as things stand today, he cannot become President on the strength of South-East votes or even Obidient votes alone. He can only emerge through a broad coalition with other regions and political interests.

Which is precisely the point. Nigeria does not elect presidents by moral superiority but by arithmetic, alliances and accommodation.

Nobody is denying the right of the South-East to support whoever it considers the better candidate. The question is whether repeatedly taking positions that leave the region isolated ultimately advances or diminishes its influence.

After all, if being right were sufficient, Peter Obi would already be President. The fact that he isn't suggests that politics requires something beyond merely being right.

In politics, virtue without strategy is often indistinguishable from self-consolation.

Your argument is for the South East politicians not necessarily me because Tinubu being President has no benefits to the common Yoruba man on the street but only beneficial to the south west politician
Assuming I am a politician from South East extraction I will pick one or two points from you

Niwdog:
Your argument is for the South East politicians not necessarily me because Tinubu being President has no benefits to the common Yoruba man on the street but only beneficial to the south west politician
Assuming I am a politician from South East extraction I will pick one or two points from you

My friend, with due respect, when did you become the spokesman for the "common Yoruba man"?

Where was the meeting held?

Who elected you to speak on behalf of millions of Yoruba people with different interests and opinions?

You can speak for yourself. I can speak for myself. But claiming to know what benefits or does not benefit every Yoruba man on the street is quite a remarkable power.

Democracy is about individual choice, not ethnic conscription.

And by the way, elections—not assumptions—are the proper gauge of public sentiment.

The August 2025 bye-elections are a useful reminder that political popularity is better measured by ballots than by social media declarations.

People can shout online that “Nigerians have rejected APC,” “Yorubas have abandoned Tinubu,” or “Igbos are united behind one candidate,” but elections often tell a more complicated story.

In the August 16, 2025 bye-elections, APC won several important seats across different regions, including Edo, Kaduna, Ogun, Jigawa, Kogi, Niger, Adamawa and Taraba. APGA proved its strength in Anambra. PDP won Ibadan North. NNPP also showed relevance in Kano.

Bye-elections may not be perfect, but they remain better indicators of political strength than emotional commentary from people appointing themselves spokespersons for millions.

I'm

CharlesCNG:
My friend, with due respect, when did you become the spokesman for the "common Yoruba man"?

Where was the meeting held?

Who elected you to speak on behalf of millions of Yoruba people with different interests and opinions?

You can speak for yourself. I can speak for myself. But claiming to know what benefits or does not benefit every Yoruba man on the street is quite a remarkable power.

Democracy is about individual choice, not ethnic conscription.

And by the way, elections—not assumptions—are the proper gauge of public sentiment.

The August 2025 bye-elections are a useful reminder that political popularity is better measured by ballots than by social media declarations.

People can shout online that “Nigerians have rejected APC,” “Yorubas have abandoned Tinubu,” or “Igbos are united behind one candidate,” but elections often tell a more complicated story.

In the August 16, 2025 bye-elections, APC won several important seats across different regions, including Edo, Kaduna, Ogun, Jigawa, Kogi, Niger, Adamawa and Taraba. APGA proved its strength in Anambra. PDP won Ibadan North. NNPP also showed relevance in Kano.

Bye-elections may not be perfect, but they remain better indicators of political strength than emotional commentary from people appointing themselves spokespersons for millions.

Writing long note doesn't translate to being political mature, I countered you based on igbos lagging behind for not being at the helm of affairs and I tried letting you know that only the political class of South East extraction are to blame not the masses, South East politicians are not getting it right now doesn't mean they won't get it right in the future you talk as if you know how the future next politicians will be like, name any current north or west politician that will be active in the next 30 years, none so keep calm Obasanjo as a president wasn't because there was a politics south west played differently, only Tinubu played his political card well to become president not like you have produced hundreds of president
And per me knowing the common Yoruba man cooking Gas is 2k now maybe your people are buying it at 5h

Niwdog:
I'm Writing long note doesn't translate to being political mature, I countered you based on igbos lagging behind for not being at the helm of affairs and I tried letting you know that only the political class of South East extraction are to blame not the masses, South East politicians are not getting it right now doesn't mean they won't get it right in the future you talk as if you know how the future next politicians will be like, name any current north or west politician that will be active in the next 30 years, none so keep calm Obasanjo as a president wasn't because there was a politics south west played differently, only Tinubu played his political card well to become president not like you have produced hundreds of president
And per me knowing the common Yoruba man cooking Gas is 2k now maybe your people are buying it at 5h

My friend, perhaps I misunderstood you earlier. My response was directed at your assertion that "Tinubu being President has no benefits to the common Yoruba man but only to South-West politicians."

I buy cooking gas too, so I feel the pain like every other Nigerian.

But LPG price is not fixed by government like a political slogan. It is affected by international supply shocks, Middle East crisis, shipping costs, exchange rate pressure, domestic supply shortages, logistics and market speculation.

The serious question is: how do we increase local LPG production, storage, distribution and supply stability? Just like diesel , kerosene etc the prices of these items cannot be controlled by govt except a kind of subsidy is introduced.

This is the kind of discussion opposition should be having: better alternatives if they have one.

So yes, I feel the pain too.

As for Tinubu, I agree that he played his cards well. Politics rewards strategy, coalition building and patience.

Chinonye2022:
obi wil get more votes than Atiku in Rivers state

uuu are living in 2022