₦airaland Forum

sarcasticdude:
It seems to me like some section of the country aint happy with atike's vice being an easterner,Bros why una hate igbos like this na??

Minjim:
When its all said and done . Buhari will still win come 2019.
Because we refused to see other options asides the two major parties.
So if Buhari had failed its Pdp I will now vote among about 90 political parties?
Our choice is not restricted to Apc or Pdp. We have better patriotic ppl in other political parties.
Despite Buhari's failures many ppl will still prefer to vote him than give power back to Pdp who are only pretending to be repentant because they dont have accesses to loot again. They claimed regrected their errors but most of them are still in court claiming innocent. None returned their loots. I for one , I'm not fooled by Pdp and I know many who arent too. Those. from the East may be for abvious reasons.
16 years is quite a long time for me to get over the pains that Pdp caused of which the ripple effects are still apparent

Ugosample:
just say you are a Buhari supporter

the way it is, Buhari cannot win a free and fair election in Nigeria

the useless failure will be kicked out in 2019

truthfulparrot:
I supported Buhari in 2015, but like I always say I am not a Zombie. Buhari woefully failed to live up to expectations. Infact it is very glaring that he is fast losing support as people with common sense are seeing his hypocrisy and incompetent.
PMB went off the mark when he delayed for six months before choosing his cabinet. The most annoying thing is that he sorrounded himself with people of shady characters and failed to act desisively when his aides were accused of corruption.
His fight against corruption is now a laughing stock. He committed a great blunder by treating corrupt members of APC with kids gloves and using sledge hammer against the opposition.
Efcc as an institution has been grossly compromised. How do you explain the fact that Efcc alledged that Obanikoro took N4.7b from former NSA and gave N1.3b to Fayose and N1.3b to Omisore. Is it not ridiculous that Obanikoro and Omisore are not being harrashed because they are now friends of APC?
PMB performance on the economy is very poor and callous.
If the truth must be told, PMB will not win again in a free and fair election. I listened to a radio call in program this morning and I was supprised that most of the people from the north that called in are very dissatisfied with PMB performance.

Dee60:
I do not think it is about hatred. It is more about trust. Igbos are very nationalistic, which is not a bad thing. But within the framework of a multi-ethnic Nigeria, I think acceptability will increase as the people open up.

Minjim:
When its all said and done . Buhari will still win come 2019.
Because we refused to see other options asides the two major parties.
So if Buhari had failed its Pdp I will now vote among about 90 political parties?
Our choice is not restricted to Apc or Pdp. We have better patriotic ppl in other political parties.
Despite Buhari's failures many ppl will still prefer to vote him than give power back to Pdp who are only pretending to be repentant because they dont have accesses to loot again. They claimed regrected their errors but most of them are still in court claiming innocent. None returned their loots. I for one , I'm not fooled by Pdp and I know many who arent too. Those. from the East may be for abvious reasons.
16 years is quite a long time for me to get over the pains that Pdp caused of which the ripple effects are still apparent

PHILipu1:
Lol.
You don't even know that in Daura,you will still get PDP supporters or didn't Buhari get votes in Jonathan Otueke in 2015?

How many Buhari foot soldiers,the common men in the streets of the north have the time to call in to radio programs?

Write it down that Buhari will win in 2019 with a higher figure than 2015.

You guys fail to understand that Buhari is not Jonathan and even if Buhari is party less, he still have that standby millions of follows which Jonathan didn't have in 2015.

zik4ever:
About this period, four years ago to be precise, I had gone to visit a notable politician and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party. Politics was very much in the air then as is the case now, and my host was neck-deep in it all. He was a major grassroots politician and a man of experience, who brought into party politics so much enthusiasm and elan. I observed him at very close quarters and it was right to conclude that he was one of President Goodluck Jonathan’s unwavering supporters. Publicly, he gave the impression that he had held down his state, and even a substantial part of his region, for both the party and the president.

He reportedly ran a strong grassroots political structure which included traditional rulers, students, market women, religious leaders and the ordinary people, who on election day were expected to vote en masse for the ruling party and put the then emergent and assertive All Progressives Congress and its leaders to shame.

During elections season, there are persons like that in every political party. They are the people on the field. They take reports to Abuja, give feedback to the party at the national level and shuttle between their states and Abuja. They attend every major campaign. They say the right things. They pump up party leaders with adrenaline. When they do a calculation of the party’s chances and how happy the electorate is with the leadership, you would feel like celebrating even before the polls. The really talented ones among them are, for the want of a better term, charmers or perhaps illusionists. This particular politician, who shall remain nameless, is experienced and talented.

We got talking. He asked me: “Reuben, what do you think of the PDP’s chances in the 2015 elections?” I told him everything looked good and that the party would retain its majority status in power. I reeled off the achievements of the Jonathan administration. The APC challenge? I dismissed the APC as a party of propagandists. “Those people? They will win in a few states, no doubt, but they can’t take the Presidency…” When you are around politicians and you listen to them everyday, you are very likely to believe them and even begin to sound like them. Loyalty is also important, but this was not just about loyalty. I felt the president’s good performance deserved to be rewarded by the Nigerian people.

“I don’t see us winning”, my host responded. I was shocked. I almost fell off my seat. I wasn’t too sure that I heard him well. I asked what he meant by that. The party primaries had been concluded. Turn-out at campaigns was beginning to build up. The state governors were all upbeat, or so it seemed. The traffic of politicians to-ing and fro-ing the Villa was so much there were hold-ups at the gate.

“We are going to lose”, my host repeated.

“How?”

“I will tell you”, he said. “I have been in politics for years, and I have learnt to study the art very well. I can tell you that five months before any election, you can easily tell if your party is going to win or not. It is not even a matter of analysis. As a politician, you will know – from what the people say, from listening carefully to your followers, from watching the body language of the international community, and by just generally looking beyond the façade. I don’t see us winning.”


“Yes, spirit of error. I have been around long enough to know when a political party begins to fail and when it begins to lose the people, and even its own members. That is where we are, everybody is just making mistakes.”


“But the ruling party looks good to me or am I missing something?”

“Yes, you are,” he affirmed.

He then proceeded to offer a state by state analysis of the party, painting a picture of grievances over party primaries, the imposition of candidates by the party’s National Working Committee, a growing pattern of deceit, the ethnic and religious division between the North and the South, and how the PDP had lost many of its faithful members. He went on:

“I don’t deceive myself. Many of those governors you see who are promising heaven and earth, you will see that when the time comes, they will not deliver. There are many aggrieved persons staying back in the party who will not lift a finger to help the party. The people who have been badly treated during the primaries, and they have been ignored, nobody is listening to them, they will claim to be working for the party, they may even collect money but from what I see, it is only if a miracle happens.”

“This is serious”, I said. “But sir, why don’t you take this up at the highest levels, since you are convinced that the enemies are within”.

“I won’t call them enemies. I think it is something even more serious. When people join political parties in Nigeria, they expect to gain something in return. They want to be rewarded. They may follow a leader but you have to settle them. I think the party and the government have been overtaken by the spirit of error.”

“Spirit of error?”

“Yes, spirit of error. I have been around long enough to know when a political party begins to fail and when it begins to lose the people, and even its own members. That is where we are, everybody is just making mistakes.”

A few weeks later, I saw the same man, back-slapping at party campaigns, hailing the president and other party leaders. I was confused. Obviously, I thought the spirit of error had disappeared and there was renewed hope for the party. I called the man aside out of curiousity: “Sir, what happened? Is there hope now?”

“I am a politician,” he said. “Every politician is an optimist. It is not over until it is over.” I didn’t get a chance to ask him again about the spirit of error. But his prediction turned out to be prophetic.


I may see the need to visit that senior politician again to give me the benefit of what old men see sitting down, which younger men may not see even when they are standing.


I believe that history is about to repeat itself in Nigerian politics. The ruling party, the All Progressives Congress is exactly where the Peoples Democratic Party was in 2014/2015. APC leaders are making exactly the same mistakes. The PDP, which appears to have learnt some lessons, is suddenly a re-energised party and with the emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as its standard bearer and Peter Obi as running mate, the same Nigerian people who thought the PDP was bad are now turning around to say the PDP should be forgiven. All sleeping cells of the PDP across the country are suddenly awake. The umbrella is up again, the rope that tied the broom together is loosened.

The success of the PDP in the last few months does not necessarily owe itself to any ingenuous strategy on the part of the leaders of the party, however, but more to the many unforced errors, and own goals, by the ruling party and its government. The government at the centre has lost the plot. When these days, its foot-soldiers and spokespersons argue that members of the PDP are corrupt, the quick response by even the worst critics of the opposition party, PDP, is that they can’t see any difference between the APC and the PDP. Some even insist that the PDP is better. In three years, the APC has frittered away its goodwill. The same international agencies and platforms that used to promote the administration have turned their back on it. Internally, the party has been overtaken by all kinds of little Hitlers who have no qualms imposing their will on others and trampling upon the letters of democracy. This much was put on embarrassing display during the recent gubernatorial election in Osun, and the party’s primaries across the country, but notably in Lagos, Osun, Rivers, Delta, Imo, Zamfara, Ogun, Oyo and so on. In 2014, five governors walked away from the PDP. In 2018, many leaders of the APC have also taken a walk. The PDP told its disaffected members – “good riddance.” The APC is also singing the same song in 2018.

In 2014/15, the APC’s selling point was President Muhammadu Buhari. He was promoted as a nationalist, a man of integrity and a reformed democrat. He promised to fight corruption and the people hailed him. They were tired of the PDP. They wanted change. Many believed in him as the messiah who will turn Nigeria around. Close to four years later, President Buhari is now at that point where most Nigerian leaders find themselves, covered by that standard, unscientific excuse: “the good man who is surrounded by bad people, bad advisers and bad politicians.” The economy under his watch is slow and unproductive. In three months, the country’s debt profile has jumped from N22.4 trillion to $73.21 billion and the country wants to borrow more. His administration usually blames the previous administration. Many Nigerians no longer consider that a good strategy. They are similarly skeptical about the war against corruption.

This last point is well illustrated by the recent announcement of a plan to effectuate Executive Order No 6, under which the government proposes to place a travel ban on some yet unnamed and undisclosed Nigerians. Under the Order, the government seeks to stop persons indicted for corruption from travelling abroad, and to attach their properties. The argument by government spokespersons that they are relying on a judgement by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Abuja Federal High Court has been exposed for what it is: a lie, a ruse, an attempt to misinterpret the court, knowing that the judge is not likely to engage in a market-place explanation of its own ruling. That was the same thing they did at the 2018 NBA Conference, when they said the rule of law could be violated and that the Supreme Court had given them the right to do so in the Asari Dokubo case. This is not good for the state of our law.

The Court was clear: the attorney general of the federation can apply Executive Order No 6, only through the instrumentality of a Court Order. By by-passing the Court, the executive arm seeks to be the judge, the jury and the executioner in its own case. It usurps the roles of the judiciary and the legislature, and serves notice of a return to dictatorship. The Order, as proposed, has been correctly described as a reincarnation of the notorious Decree 2 of 1984 and a violation of Section 41 of the 1999 Constitution.

The newspapers published a list of 50 names but the executive has since announced that it has not published any list, but the people concerned know themselves. How? The combined effect of this opaqueness is that the government has imposed a regime of fear on the people. A secret watch-list which can be applied at will is an act of intimidation against the Nigerian people. It is reckless and unwise, because political intimidation is the worst, most brazen form of rigging! In an election season, it is scary. As a strategy, it makes no sense. At a time when the president and his party need the people’s votes, an open subversion of the rule of law is not a good method of votes solicitation. Whoever chose this time to take Nigeria back to 1984, has only strengthened the resolve of those who are already whispering that a second term for President Buhari would translate into misery for Nigerians. Executive Order No. 6, rather than further advance the anti-corruption war, has merely promoted fear and intimidation as instruments of governance. This is one more major error by the Buhari government. I may see the need to visit that senior politician again to give me the benefit of what old men see sitting down, which younger men may not see even when they are standing.

The Persecution of Ike Ekweremadu

While writing the piece above, I kept receiving on my phone what’s app messages attacking Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu. I am sure other Nigerians would have received the same hate-message either on whatsapp or through other media. Ekweremadu is pointedly accused of being the brain behind the Igbo drama over whether or not Peter Obi is the fit and proper person for the position of running mate to Atiku Abubakar, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). While other Nigerians have settled that matter and concluded that Peter Obi is in order, and that Igbos deserve to be Vice President of Nigeria and even President in due course, the Igbo elite, playing well-known stereotypical politics, are trying to create a little self-serving show of their own. They don’t need it. They should look at the bigger picture, and stop behaving like a child that lost a promised candy.

The persecution of Ekweremadu is unfair and undeserved. Ekweremadu, yes, has been council chairman, Secretary to the Government of Enugu State, a Senator since 2003 former Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, and two-term Deputy Senate president, and one of the persons on the Atiku shortlist. He deserves to be celebrated and not be used as a scapegoat for the discomfort of other persons who lost out in the race. Ekweremadu himself has said that he is in support of Peter Obi. So, who are the agent-provocateurs out there in the East? Ekweremadu was for a while the last man standing for the PDP and Ndigbo. He is paying a heavy price for this. He has been brutalized.

The ruling party attacked him with the police and the EFCC. He was accused of having properties. They are charging him from one court to another. His emergence as Deputy Senate President and his loyalty to Senate President Bukola Saraki made them unhappy. When the PDP seemed to have completely lost its bearing, Ike Ekweremadu stood firm. He deserves recognition for this. The political jobbers who are trying to set him and Peter Obi on a collision course even before the 2019 elections are enemies of Ndigbo. The urgent task before the Igbo elite is to seek those who are trying to divide them, the mercenaries among them, and the need to protect the larger Igbo interest. Both Ike Ekweremadu and Peter Obi deserve the support of the Igbo elite, not a squabble of the villagers.

Reuben Abati, a former presidential spokesperson, writes from Lagos.

https://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2018/10/16/the-spirit-of-error-in-nigerian-politics-by-reuben-abati/

sarcasticdude:
He still has followers even with all the hardships and codeine addicts in the north? Are u trying to tell me that these people are maschocists or what?

Ugosample:
just say you are a Buhari supporter
the way it is, Buhari cannot win a free and fair election in Nigeria
the useless failure will be kicked out in 2019

truthfulparrot:
I supported Buhari in 2015, but like I always say I am not a Zombie. Buhari woefully failed to live up to expectations. Infact it is very glaring that he is fast losing support as people with common sense are seeing his hypocrisy and incompetent.
PMB went off the mark when he delayed for six months before choosing his cabinet. The most annoying thing is that he sorrounded himself with people of shady characters and failed to act desisively when his aides were accused of corruption.
His fight against corruption is now a laughing stock. He committed a great blunder by treating corrupt members of APC with kids gloves and using sledge hammer against the opposition.
Efcc as an institution has been grossly compromised. How do you explain the fact that Efcc alledged that Obanikoro took N4.7b from former NSA and gave N1.3b to Fayose and N1.3b to Omisore. Is it not ridiculous that Obanikoro and Omisore are not being harrashed because they are now friends of APC?
PMB performance on the economy is very poor and callous.
If the truth must be told, PMB will not win again in a free and fair election. I listened to a radio call in program this morning and I was supprised that most of the people from the north that called in are very dissatisfied with PMB performance.

Ugosample:
just say you are a Buhari supporter

the way it is, Buhari cannot win a free and fair election in Nigeria

the useless failure will be kicked out in 2019

buhariguy:
those that called in are Pdp, they can be 5% in the North.
The truth must be told, how has buhari failed economically,?
A man that received $94b according to OPEC report, and he was able to manage the economy more than the man that received $400b in 4yrs without a single project and in 16yrs according to OPEC report, Pdp received $1.1tr without a single project.
So how did buhari failed economically?
Is it his fault that oil price went down to $30/barrel from $120 during Pdp government.
So what did you expect him to do? Except to be stealing like the past in order for cash to flow round to people like you and those who have not see 2,000naira before that are receiving 5,000naira monthly payment would have be crying till they die without hope.

buhariguy:
those that called in are Pdp, they can be 5% in the North.
The truth must be told, how has buhari failed economically,?
A man that received $94b according to OPEC report, and he was able to manage the economy more than the man that received $400b in 4yrs without a single project and in 16yrs according to OPEC report, Pdp received $1.1tr without a single project.
So how did buhari failed economically?
Is it his fault that oil price went down to $30/barrel from $120 during Pdp government.
So what did you expect him to do? Except to be stealing like the past in order for cash to flow round to people like you and those who have not see 2,000naira before that are receiving 5,000naira monthly payment would have be crying till they die without hope.

truthfulparrot:
I supported Buhari in 2015, but like I always say I am not a Zombie. Buhari woefully failed to live up to expectations. Infact it is very glaring that he is fast losing support as people with common sense are seeing his hypocrisy and incompetent.
PMB went off the mark when he delayed for six months before choosing his cabinet. The most annoying thing is that he sorrounded himself with people of shady characters and failed to act desisively when his aides were accused of corruption.
His fight against corruption is now a laughing stock. He committed a great blunder by treating corrupt members of APC with kids gloves and using sledge hammer against the opposition.
Efcc as an institution has been grossly compromised. How do you explain the fact that Efcc alledged that Obanikoro took N4.7b from former NSA and gave N1.3b to Fayose and N1.3b to Omisore. Is it not ridiculous that Obanikoro and Omisore are not being harrashed because they are now friends of APC?
PMB performance on the economy is very poor and callous.
If the truth must be told, PMB will not win again in a free and fair election. I listened to a radio call in program this morning and I was supprised that most of the people from the north that called in are very dissatisfied with PMB performance.

truthfulparrot:
It is either you are grossly misinformed or you are so blinded by your misguided trust in Buhari as I found it nauseating that you rolled out dubious statistics to support the woeful economic performance of PMB. For your information I am one of those that voted out Jonathan because I know he did not do enough to curb the corruption that was going on under him. But to my dismay, worst corruption is going on under PMB.
Please find below link that shows average oil prices between 1976 to 2018.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/262860/uk-brent-crude-oil-price-changes-since-1976/#0
One stupid excuse that ignorant people had been given is that PMB could not perform because of low price of crude oil. For your information the average price of crude oil between 1999 and 2003 is less than 28usd. But Obasanjo did not gave the excuse that Abacha has looted all our treasurery. He quickly assembled a formidable economic team that steered Nigeria to economic recovery that was applauded world wide. He even rescheduled and paid off our debt. The average oil price between 2005 and 2009 is less than 60usd, but OBJ and Yaradua were able to manage our economy to the extent that Nigeria was able to survive the impact of the global economic meltdown of 2008. Though I am not a fan of Jonathan, but we need to appreciate the fact that despite the corruption that was going on under him, he did well in managing our economy to become the biggest in Africa. As at 2018 the average price of oil in the three years of PMB is more than 50usd and yet PMB had borrowed mire money in 3 years than the total money that PDP borrowed in 16 years. I am talking from a position of knowledge without any bias our economy is going down the drain under PMB. Very soon, I will do a comprehensive write up on our economy to enlighten people like you. But the simple way to know that something is not right is the unprecedented hunger and suffering in the land since 2015. Let us not pretend that things are okay because of politics. I still believe that PMB has integrity but he is a weak leader and the people he sorrounded himself with are sabotaging him.

akaahs:
U just spoke my mind. I was a member of APC because of PMB but realising that he have nothing to offer to Nigeria nd Nigerians I abounded d entire so called change. We hope not to make the same mistake again

buhariguy:
you must be a newbie or just coming from Cotonou,
According to OPEC report it is not only about the price of oil but the money that was received from the sales of the oil, you do remember that production was reduced to 700,000 per day during the period of the avengers from 2m barrel per day since 1999.
That was why OPEC report shows that thief ibb received $114b from sales not actually the price, thief abacha received $190b, thief obj received $430b in 8yrs, yardua received $280b in 4yrs, gej received $385b In 4yrs, in total of Pdp of 16yrs was $1.1tr without a single project, or maybe the money was flying round whereby each MDAs open 20 bank account just to defraud you and I, but today all money is kept in TSA,
Buhari received $94b from oil sales or proceed, not price because the price and production was low and he was able to touch almost all sector of the economy like housing sector that has never be touched before since 1980.
850km of roads constructed,1550 rehabilitated, 2 airport upgrade to international standard.
17 moribund fertilizer plant revived, irrigation for on/off season for farming,
This agricultural revolution is to reduce the rate of importation,
2 seaport and dry port completed, 2 railway completed, and so many achievement with little resources within 3yrs, that is what Pdp could not achieve in 16yrs with $1.1tr that is enough to build a country like Canada.
So tell which area buhari has failed, except in the area of not sharing the money.
I hope you get the gist.

buhariguy:
you must be a newbie or just coming from Cotonou,
According to OPEC report it is not only about the price of oil but the money that was received from the sales of the oil, you do remember that production was reduced to 700,000 per day during the period of the avengers from 2m barrel per day since 1999.
That was why OPEC report shows that thief ibb received $114b from sales not actually the price, thief abacha received $190b, thief obj received $430b in 8yrs, yardua received $280b in 4yrs, gej received $385b In 4yrs, in total of Pdp of 16yrs was $1.1tr without a single project, or maybe the money was flying round whereby each MDAs open 20 bank account just to defraud you and I, but today all money is kept in TSA,
Buhari received $94b from oil sales or proceed, not price because the price and production was low and he was able to touch almost all sector of the economy like housing sector that has never be touched before since 1980.
850km of roads constructed,1550 rehabilitated, 2 airport upgrade to international standard.
17 moribund fertilizer plant revived, irrigation for on/off season for farming,
This agricultural revolution is to reduce the rate of importation,
2 seaport and dry port completed, 2 railway completed, and so many achievement with little resources within 3yrs, that is what Pdp could not achieve in 16yrs with $1.1tr that is enough to build a country like Canada.
So tell which area buhari has failed, except in the area of not sharing the money.
I hope you get the gist.

truthfulparrot:
Are you being paid to defend the indefensible with lies? Watch out for my write up on the performance of the economy between 1999 and 2017. I will soon give out some abstract from my thesis. If only people know that we are on the way to Zimbabwe. At least I am impressed that you did not retort to your usage of vulgar language that is very repulsive. The OPEC figures you gave is very misleading and incorrect. There are acceptable parameters for measuring economy growth in relation to human and social index.Everything is not about politics. The major mistake people like you are making is that you attack the messager of any criticism against PMB without looking at the merit of the message.