“I pity Nigeria” were the three words of frustration and resignation that were recently expressed by Nigeria’s public enemy number one. Crocodile tears or authentic exasperation in the face of perceived betrayal? We may never know. But one thing is sure. Since the sudden clean bill of health unwittingly issued by Muhammadu Buhari and Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida to their northern successor of sinister fame Sani Abacha however, Olusegun Obasanjo is no longer alone in shaking his (publicly hated) head in pity for Nigeria.

If public lessons in regional and tribal solidarity taught by the northern elites have thus far manifested in subtle feelers and careful actions in public view, this most recent and well-orchestrated teamwork of northern conspiracy has been the most conspicuous till date, of how northern politicians intelligently and cautiously avoid slaughtering their political sons and daughters in the public theater of Absurdistan.

So far, a lot has been said in reaction to this obnoxious oral farting of some prominent stench by our emperor during Nigeria’s global reign of “419” specialty. His title as a military head of state was ‘President’ Ibrahim Babangida alias Political Maradona. Most embarrassing is indeed, not the fact of this verbal derailment and the underlying systematic regional conspiracy but the conspicuous silence over the issue, on the part of prominent Southerners, who have till date, wasted no time in making their voices heard in slaughtering their public enemy number one. There was a voice that unwittingly made no secret of his desire to shoot public enemy number one dead. There are many, who have severally characterized the last eight years of democratic experience, in which they had all the freedom to express their criticisms, as the worst in the history of Nigeria. But first, to other details!

When a civilian government was machined into power in 1999 by a team of northern political elites, no doubt the uppermost thought in mind was to appease the South and calm tensions following the daylight robbery of political power from an election victor of western origin. Moshood Abiola dined with the north counting on the common bond of religious identity. He sacrificed Obafemi Awolowo for his ambition to secure a power base in the north. Then the northern version of karmic justice took its turn. They stabbed him in the back and claimed he wasn’t looking! Yet Nigerians in the South did not learn their lessons.

If anyone learnt that lesson though, it was another Yoruba man, who even though, not a friend of Moshood Abiola, understood from experience that the northerners are cold strategists that will pick on any instrument possible to protect their regional interest in the colonial gift of political power. Olusegun Obasanjo was picked as a tried and tested northern instrument to advance their northern interest as a marionette. He played to the tune for as long as he could and turned around in a frantic attempt to wrest the destiny of Nigeria from the fate of regionalism. The northerners saw this and were aggrieved. They set their traps in a wave of Sharia declarations that would have ended up in fatality. They were carefully outmaneuvered and failed in their ploy.

Unfortunately though, it is the South that failed to appreciate and stand behind its man in fighting to make changes irreversible that were introduced in the last eight years to reflect a federal Nigerian character. The southerners replaced the battle for Sharia with some Niger Delta gangsterism. The north was gratified.

True to it, there were failings in the actions of the past regime that were enough to infuriate southerners. The conspiracy surrounding the killing of a fellow westerner (Bola Ige) in which the entire leadership of the PDP including Olusegun Obasanjo and several other northern actors, are rumored to be involved is one of such horrendous crimes. Several political opponents were said to have been murdered and attempts were made on the lives of several others, most notably, an opponent, who ran against the daughter of President Obasanjo for a senatorial seat.

Cases of corruption were vocally reported against the past regime with no proof to link the President. An anti-graft commission was used as an instrument to wield out corrupt Nigerians from the society. But they were largely vocal critics of the President even though not innocent. The President misused the system to impeach uncomfortable governors against whom there were always authentic cases of corruption to be used as excuses. Voices say that many rich entrepreneurs and politicians were coerced into contributing to the President’s fund-raising gathering for a personal library project. Above all else though, President Obasanjo handed over Oyo state to a renowned thug and daylight criminal named Adedibu for the sole purpose of securing a political home base. For all these acts that were in several cases, criminal, the President earned enemies of several colors, even though they do not in any sense, match the reign of terror perpetrated by Sani Abachi halfway.

On the other hand, General Sani Abacha ruled with neither a constitution nor a legislative organ. Killing was a routine affair if anyone dared to get in his way. Kudirat and Ken Saro-Wiwa were memorable names and there are many more that are less prominent. Several failed attempts included Ibru. Wole Soyinka had to flee the country in disguise for leading a movement for democracy and daring to challenge the government. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua was killed in prison. Olusegun Obasanjo was thrown in jail. So was Moshood Abiola. There were many more who are less prominent. Ibrahim Babaginda, who was forced out of office in a foul arrangement that also involved Abacha who was eager to take over power, was intimidated into absolute silence. The examples of Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and Olusegun Obasanjo in prison were reasons enough for IBB to chicken out of any courageous stance.

I remember visiting Nigeria a few times during the reign of terror of Sani Abacha. In the habit of carrying no wallet, I had a leather bag that was tied to the belt of my trousers as an improvised wallet for the Nigerian currency that was carried only in huge volumes in the aftermath of massive devaluation. At first glance, anyone watching would mistake this wallet for the holster of a gun. In a nation that was dead scared of killer government agents, the sight of anything in the semblance of a holster was warning enough for caution. In several circumstances with a huge conflict potential that I was involved in, the sight of the wallet always drove a salient scare into my opponents. From the long queue at the gas station to irrelevant debates with my hired laborers, the sight of the wallet was enough to cut discomfort short. Such was the state of a nation that was scared to death. You never knew who was who. The phrase SSS bore a connotation of life and death.

Needless to mention the billions of loot that were and are still recovered from foreign banks maintained by Sani Abacha. Salaries were not paid to government staffs for months unending. Nigeria suffered a brain drain as many lecturers fled the country to take up Professorship In Botswana, Jamaica, Lesotho and other countries where their lives were secured.

The like of Wole Soyinka returned from exile after the death of Sani Abacha, which was greeted all over Nigeria and the world at large, with a huge sigh of relief. Today, Ibrahim Babangida is able to talk again and Wole Soyinka is able to criticize the Presidents again.

But when Wole Soyinka comes out to make the unfortunate public statement that Olusegun Obasanjo is the worst President that has ever ruled Nigeria and even stressing “worse than Abacha”, I have my doubts that some pinch of conscience does not tell him quietly that he has shot far beyond the mark of reason. Soyinka fled for his life under the reign of terror. Worse still, for one disgruntlement or the other, talented and prominent voices like that of Reuben Abati added their spices to this foolish poison of exacerbated emotions. Now they are dumbfounded that the groundwork laid by their excessively exaggerated criticisms is now becoming the head cornerstone of Abacha’s clean bill of health. Reuben Abati saw it coming soon after the subject was heralded by Miryam Abacha. He responded to the lady politely with a mild and subtle dose of obstinacy until he was overpowered by the combined force of IBB, Buhari and the maverick Adulsalami.

The strategy is simple. Political leadership of Nigeria shall not only be northernized to the point of irreversibility, the clad of moral purity shall be worn by northerners alone. Given the presence of a ready-made public enemy in Public Square in the person of Olusegun Obasanjo, the task is simple.

Some commentators have opined that moral teachings forbid evil talk about the deceased. But no moral teaching of sort has so drastically robbed world history of routine reality to tag Adolf Hitler the Mother Theresa of Jewish sympathy. While Olusegun Obasanjo sought tenure elongation to extend his Presidency from eight to twelve years, the feelers have been spread out lately in a preliminary attempt to test political temperatures for constitutional amendment allowing the present northern President a double seven-year term of fourteen years. Yet no hell is let loose to crucify the proponent like they sought to do Obasanjo.

The Ohanezes, the Ken Nnamanis and all those who can never have enough in telling their vengeance-driven (often economic) truth while attacking Olusegun Obasanjo are all playing spectators to this daylight perversion of the naked truth. The Wole Soyinkas, the Bola Tinubus and all the Apostles of Gospel Truth have abandoned the level playing field for an ailing Gani Fawehinmi to fight a battle of good against evil all on his own.

A clean bill of health for Abacha coming from the mouth of a leader under whose reign the game of 419 took hold of Nigeria and a Muhammadu Buhari who served as a figure head of selective terror persecuting southerners in an open bid to tilt the scale of politics in favor of the north is the joke of the century. Indeed the achiever as de facto Prime Minister was Tunde Idiagbon not Buhari. His regime brought a dose of sanity to Nigeria. IBB came over and eroded all traces of civility and passed it over to Abacha for perfection.

Should this however, turn out to be the genesis of a process in an ill-advised northern agenda of further anchoring their grip on power, then public relations experts and competent political analysts (in case there are some in the north) should come out now and fast too. They should sound it loud and clear to the ears of Ibrahim Badamosi Babaginda, if they are still capable of hearing, that they may end up playing into the hands of the grassroots. It was the grassroots that bore the brunt of scare and collective intimidation and poverty to match under the reign of Abacha. Taking them for a ride by playing on their intelligence bears a strong potential for a backlash of unforeseeable dimensions. If these power-hungry northerners want a complete Nigeria to rule over in peace, they’re best advised to revise their strategy now and fast.

The stage has now been reached, in which the numerical strength of “pity for Nigeria” is growing by the day all in the wake of foolish revisionism. Let’s keep our fingers crossed! 

Robot  Villager

# 1 If public lessons in regional and tribal solidarity taught by the northern elites have thus far m...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 14.06.2008 16:13

Agidimolaja  Villager

# 2 That Obj's administration was the worst,far worst than that of Sanni Abacha is a tale told by an.......{fill in the blanks},full of sound and fury,signifying nothing. Unfortunately I heard such tale from some shallow thinking Nigerians. I'm greatly disappointed at hearing such loosed statement from notables like Wole Soyinka,Rueben Abati and David Tam West. I have questions for these strayed away intellectuals. During the administration of Obj,did you,Wole Soyinka, fear for your life and run off into exile? Tam David West,Sir; were you ever locked up by Obj as IBB did to you after falsely accusing you of taking bribes and kickbacks? And you loud mouthed Rueben Abati Abati;were you ever arrested and detained during Obj's administration for what you were saying or the way you were saying it? Poor miserable intellectuals.What a shame!. Posted by Agidimolaja| 15.06.2008 01:11

docokwy  Villager

# 3 PDP set to explode: Over composition of board appointments - Aggrieved zones to confront Ogbulafor, Yar’Adua - We are marginalised under Yar’Adua, says Middle Belt Xtians Idowu Samuel, Abuja - 15.06.2008 The seeming peace within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is about to rupture and give way to bitter acrimony among members against the backdrop of the alleged lopsided distribution of appointments into boards of government parastatals by the Yar’Adua administration. A proposal for the distribution of the board appointments currently being considered by the PDP, Sunday Tribune can report has started tearing the party apart following vehement complaints by four geo-political zones that the North had been heavily favoured in the sharing of the appointments. Some aggrieved members of the party had leaked the proposed composition of appointments into boards of government parastatals to the media with indication that out of about 758 available appointments, the North-west zone where Yar’Adua comes from had been favoured with 145 slots as against South-south which got only 122. The proposal also indicate that while the Middle Belt zone got 140 appointments, the South-east zone, which considers itself the most marginalized in power distribution in Nigeria ,was allotted only 104 slots. However, the South-west zone was offered 123 appointments into boards of government parastatals while North-east got 124, according to the proposal. Against this background, the South-east, South-west and the South-south members of the party are already rearing for a show down with the leadership of the PDP and indeed President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on the basis of their perceived complacence with the increasing dominance of the North in the balance of power under the present civilian government. Some top members of causes of each of the aggrieved zones in the ruling party, who spoke with the Sunday Tribune in separate interviews dropped the hint that they would reject the board appointments allocated to their respective zones if no alteration was be made to balance the equation among the six geo-political zones. It was learnt that while the South-east and the South-south zones had met on the issue and resolved to meet President Yar’Adua next week with a view to formally laying their complaints to him, the south-west caucus in the ruling party are said to be contemplating holding its meeting mid next week to take a decision. It would be the first time since the government of President Yar’Adua took off that caucuses of the PDP on zonal basis would be coming together to lay bitter complaints against the lopsided distribution of power. A South-south leader, who spoke with SundayTribune said the only explanation offered by the presidency on the lopsided distribution of the board appointments was that the compilation was done on the basis of number of states per zone, stressing that no member of the party agreed with such explanation since the situation was not so during the past government of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Although the Middle belt zone appeared to have been favoured in the proposal for the distribution of board appointments, the composition was said to have kindled the anger of the Christians from the zone who are said to have complained about being maliciously marginalized under the Yar’Adua administration. Investigations however, revealed that the turn of events has started encouraging the regrouping of different fora such as Middle Belt Forum and Christian Organisations with the intention to fight the Yar’Adua government on the perceived marginalisation of Christians in his administration. A cleric and member of one of the Christian organizations in Plateau State, Mr. Kenneth Abba expressed dismay at the sudden twist in the distribution of power under the present civilian administration, stressing that government has more to learn from its predecessor which he said distanced itself from acts of tribalism and nepotism. He said “From indications, we have returned to the old order which we felt we have put behind us in Nigeria. if there is anything this government is doing and doing well, it is to remind us about our differences; that you are a Muslim and I am a Christian and that you come from the south while I come from the north. This is dangerous for all of us. It was not like this with Obasanjo” Posted by docokwy| 15.06.2008 08:07

ozoodoo  Villager

# 4 FL, You are beginning to sound so booooooring . Posted by ozoodoo| 15.06.2008 13:31

ozoodoo  Villager

# 5 Obasanjo, the chimpazee, is the most disgusting con man, sorry con animal, we have had as a ruler. $8.3bn railway contract inflated by $5.8bn –Report By Chiawo Nwankwo and Oscarline Onwuemenyi Published: Sunday, 15 Jun 2008 The Punch Newspapers INVESTIGATIONS have revealed that the railway modernisation project initiated by the preceding administration was inflated to the tune of $5.8bn. The discovery may have accounted for the present administration suspending the project, pending further arrangements. The contract was awarded to a Chinese firm called, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, at the cost of $8.3bn. According to experts consulted by government, and going by international rates per kilometre on railway mordernisations, the contract “should have been about $2.5bn and not $8.3bn as was awarded to the Chinese.” Also, the deal involved awarding four oil blocks to a Chinese firm, just as a Chinese company was to finance the project and the balance was to to be paid from cash from excess crude oil proceeds. Other reasons cited were lack of feasibility study and absence of “Front End Design done before the modernisation contract was awarded.” Besides, a special project team (Railway Development Office) working outside the Secretary to the Government of the Federation’s office in the State House, negotiated the contract, and then brought it to the Ministry of Transport for signature. Further, the former administration began the negotiation disregarding the Bureau for Public Enterprises which had received 21 Expression of Interest on the Railway Concessions from its advertisement, contrary to due process. It is also alleged that the CCECC breached Section 54 of Company Law, which forbids foreign companies from doing business in the country unless they are registered with Corporate Affairs Commission. These details are contained in a document obtained from the Presidency in Abuja, which a source said were part of the report of a special committee set up by President Umaru Yar’Adua to review the funding options, shorftly after he assumed office. On the panel were the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Transportation and a Director-General from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. Feelers from the Presidency suggest that Yar’Adua is not comfortable with using excess crude funds to finance the project unlike his predecessor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Findings by the committee had led to government’s decision to either rehabilitate old rail lines or “to throw all the lines out for concessionaires.” The document entitled, “Hard Facts About the Railway Modernisation Project,” stated that it was unconstitutional “to collaterise the monies for the railway modernisation with crude oil accounts which belonged to the nation(not only the Federal Government).” “A Chinese loan to part finance a Chinese company, and the balance on the project to be paid by cash from crude oil proceeds,” it stated. To ensure the contract worked, Obasanjo’s government requested from the President of China, a waiver on insurance, which the Chinese leader rebuffed. Despite the legal and constitutional impediments to the contract, the Chinese firm was paid a mobilisation fee of $250m. Die-hard civil servants with vested interests in the contract, pitted themselves against the presidential committee. The document said, “The civil servants wanted to work out how the CCECC contract of $8.3bn will be financed over five to 10 years and the Ministers of Finance insisted that the contract was fraught with too many irregularities, and there was no budget for the railway in 2008 budget. “The only option according to the Ministry for Transportaion is to terminate the contract to throw all the lines out for concessionaires.” Further, it stated, “After much horse-trading and intrigues, it took the intervention of both the Ministers of Transport and Finance to force the hands of the committee and bring a report in favour of termination before Mr. President, who promptly agreed that the contract be terminated and the Ministry of Justice should advise. “The Chinese government got wind of this and quickly organised a state visit to China with President Yar’Adua, Minister for Transportation and top government functionaries in attendance. At the meeting, the railway contract was top on the agenda. However, the “Minister of Transportantion is currently in the process of terminating the contract with the CCECC so (that) railway lines can be revived under Concession aggreement by open tender.” But top civil servants with vested interests in the CCECC $8.3bn contract are fighting hard to convince the minister to sway the president to the contrary. However, some civil servants within the Ministry of Transportation led by top ranking officers are fighting tooth and nail to convince the Minister to reconsider and try to convince the President otherwise. In April,Yar’Adua had ordered the transfer of the project from the Special Projects Office under the Presidency to the Ministry of Transportation in order to ensure proper supervision. When our correspondent contact the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister, Mr. Lawrence Ojabor, on Saturday for official reaction to the report, he said he was not in a position to speak on it as it had not been made public. Meanwhile, there are strong indications that President Umaru Yar‘Adua’s on-going state visit to France could not be far from the railway modernisation issue. The President had said in May that he would invite the French to help with the rail rehabilitation. He was said to have travelled with the Minister of Transportation, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who would be engaging the French experts in discussions on the project. The Chief Coordinator of the project in CCECC, Mr. Shi Honghing, who spoke in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja, said the Chinese government was still ”very interested in the project and has shown great interest and attention in the completion of the project.” He added that the company had concluded aerial survey and the alignment design on the project, while communication and signal designs were 70 per cent completed. Posted by ozoodoo| 15.06.2008 14:29

ROSMAY  Villager

# 6 =Agidimolaja;4295055668>That Obj's administration was the worst,far worst than that of Sanni Abacha is a tale told by an.......{fill in the blanks},full of sound and fury,signifying nothing. Unfortunately I heard such tale from some shallow thinking Nigerians. I'm greatly disappointed at hearing such loosed statement from notables like Wole Soyinka,Rueben Abati and David Tam West. I have questions for these strayed away intellectuals. During the administration of Obj,did you,Wole Soyinka, fear for your life and run off into exile? Tam David West,Sir; were you ever locked up by Obj as IBB did to you after falsely accusing you of taking bribes and kickbacks? And you loud mouthed Rueben Abati Abati;were you ever arrested and detained during Obj's administration for what you were saying or the way you were saying it? Poor miserable intellectuals.What a shame!. There is a sharp contrast between the government of OBJ and that of IBB.Tribal sentiments apart,OBJ as a democratically elected president did woefully poorer than the military dictators.The author of this piece is an OBJ's man.I have not read anything to the contrary from any of his write-ups Posted by ROSMAY| 15.06.2008 20:15

Agidimolaja  Villager

# 7 Rosmay, Pls allow me to disagree with you on your perception that the author{Frisk Larr} is an Obj man. And what is wrong with it if he is Obj's man?Has he right to be whom he wish to be and to freely associate with anyone of his choice? Whether he is an Obj's man or not is not as important to me as the efforts he has been making in unearthing truths and giving corrections whenever facts were being misplaced. If anyone is sincere and has good knowledge of Nigeria's politucal history,such person would give credit to Frisk Larr for presenting indisputable facts about Northern deceptions,traps,destructions,manipulations etc. Secondly,Obj is not corrupt as you alleged.It is true that his administration wasted and looted money but ask yourself this question;who were those that looted the money?Not Obj though. The second Republic NPN led Federal Government was a very corrupt one but the President,Alhaji Sheu Shagari did not take a single kobo to himself.After four years when his government was toppled,Shagari had not a single modern house to live in.His living condition was so poor as such that Abacha wanted to build a house for him. Looters who are so professional and who have been around in all types of governments{including PDP} may have looted the treasury during Obj's era.Obj was however not among of them. Remember that one of your cherished rights is "freedom". Freedom of speech,fredom of association,freedom of movement etc. Obj's administration did not take those freedoms from anyone.Those that EFCC arrested and detained/prosecuted were all guilty as charged. Did you remember how many lives were lost to military dictors?Countless! Today we are saddled with the burden of assasins.Do you remember it was the military dictators that introduced assasinations? Are you aware of how super-rich IBB is and how he institutionalised corruption in Nigeria? How about Abacha? Do you have any knowledge of how he destroyed all the infrastructures that Obj was expected to fix at a flash? With magic wand? Is fixing as easy as destroying?Of course no. Is it in your knowledge how much of Nigeria's money was Abacha sitting upon before death suddenly removed him away? Billions! International communities have confirmed it and have returned part of the booty to Nigeria. Within few months,is it in your knowledge how many billions Abdulsalam looted from the nation's treasury in the name of transitional program? Experts confirmed it that had Abdulsalam stayed in the office for two years,Nigeria's foreign reserve would have vanished. All of the above were military dictators.Do you still want to tell your readers that they did better jobs than Obj? Military dictators did not make any single attempt to pay off our foreign debt.Instead,they saw to it that the debt was increasing day in day out from less than five billion up to over thirty billion before Obj with spirited effort paid it off.One of the reasons he has so much enemies today because paying off the debt was like taking cheap food away from the tables of certain crooked rogues where they have been feeding fat all along. Instead of painting Obj with horror paintbrush,Nigerians should be thankful for his efforts even in the face of so many odds. Lastly,I would like to say it again that spectators are always the best players.Which among of you,Obj's bashers,could perform any better than Obj performed if placed in the same position and with so much odds against you? NONE! Posted by Agidimolaja| 16.06.2008 00:51

docokwy  Villager

# 8 =Agidimolaja;4295055894>Rosmay, Pls allow me to disagree with you on your perception that the author{Frisk Larr} is an Obj man. And what is wrong with it if he is Obj's man?Has he right to be whom he wish to be and to freely associate with anyone of his choice? Whether he is an Obj's man or not is not as important to me as the efforts he has been making in unearthing truths and giving corrections whenever facts were being misplaced. If anyone is sincere and has good knowledge of Nigeria's politucal history,such person would give credit to Frisk Larr for presenting indisputable facts about Northern deceptions,traps,destructions,manipulations etc. Secondly,Obj is not corrupt as you alleged.It is true that his administration wasted and looted money but ask yourself this question;who were those that looted the money?Not Obj though. The second Republic NPN led Federal Government was a very corrupt one but the President,Alhaji Sheu Shagari did not take a single kobo to himself.After four years when his government was toppled,Shagari had not a single modern house to live in.His living condition was so poor as such that Abacha wanted to build a house for him. Looters who are so professional and who have been around in all types of governments{including PDP} may have looted the treasury during Obj's era.Obj was however not among of them. Remember that one of your cherished rights is "freedom". Freedom of speech,fredom of association,freedom of movement etc. Obj's administration did not take those freedoms from anyone.Those that EFCC arrested and detained/prosecuted were all guilty as charged. Did you remember how many lives were lost to military dictors?Countless! Today we are saddled with the burden of assasins.Do you remember it was the military dictators that introduced assasinations? Are you aware of how super-rich IBB is and how he institutionalised corruption in Nigeria? How about Abacha? Do you have any knowledge of how he destroyed all the infrastructures that Obj was expected to fix at a flash? With magic wand? Is fixing as easy as destroying?Of course no. Is it in your knowledge how much of Nigeria's money was Abacha sitting upon before death suddenly removed him away? Billions! International communities have confirmed it and have returned part of the booty to Nigeria. Within few months,is it in your knowledge how many billions Abdulsalam looted from the nation's treasury in the name of transitional program? Experts confirmed it that had Abdulsalam stayed in the office for two years,Nigeria's foreign reserve would have vanished. All of the above were military dictators.Do you still want to tell your readers that they did better jobs than Obj? Military dictators did not make any single attempt to pay off our foreign debt.Instead,they saw to it that the debt was increasing day in day out from less than five billion up to over thirty billion before Obj with spirited effort paid it off.One of the reasons he has so much enemies today because paying off the debt was like taking cheap food away from the tables of certain crooked rogues where they have been feeding fat all along. Instead of painting Obj with horror paintbrush,Nigerians should be thankful for his efforts even in the face of so many odds. Lastly,I would like to say it again that spectators are always the best players.Which among of you,Obj's bashers,could perform any better than Obj performed if placed in the same position and with so much odds against you? NONE! Will you shut up for once and ruminate deep on the obvious failures of OBJ, given the fact that his was a democratic regime, coupled with the brazen hypocrisy of his anti-corruption ''war''. Abi you wan die with the man? Posted by docokwy| 16.06.2008 02:35

Paradisevog  Villager

# 9 =ROSMAY;4295055859>There is a sharp contrast between the government of OBJ and that of IBB.Tribal sentiments apart,OBJ as a democratically elected president did woefully poorer than the military dictators.The author of this piece is an OBJ's man.I have not read anything to the contrary from any of his write-ups Rosmay and Dacokwy, You people have a problem with truth because you are biased beyond the point of redemption! Read this one in Frisky Larr's article and tell me if that is how an Obasanjo-man sounds: "The conspiracy surrounding the killing of a fellow westerner (Bola Ige) in which the entire leadership of the PDP including Olusegun Obasanjo and several other northern actors, are rumored to be involved is one of such horrendous crimes. Several political opponents were said to have been murdered and attempts were made on the lives of several others, most notably, an opponent, who ran against the daughter of President Obasanjo for a senatorial seat. Cases of corruption were vocally reported against the past regime with no proof to link the President. An anti-graft commission was used as an instrument to wield out corrupt Nigerians from the society. But they were largely vocal critics of the President even though not innocent. The President misused the system to impeach uncomfortable governors against whom there were always authentic cases of corruption to be used as excuses. Voices say that many rich entrepreneurs and politicians were coerced into contributing to the President’s fund-raising gathering for a personal library project. Above all else though, President Obasanjo handed over Oyo state to a renowned thug and daylight criminal named Adedibu for the sole purpose of securing a political home base." As far as una dey concerned only he who bashes Obasanjo all the way is credible. No one suppose to mention anything positive shebi? Rosmay, if you have not seen anything to the contrary for any of him write-up then go and read them over and over again. You people are simply being unfair and Agidimolaja is spot on. I disagree with Agidimolaja on the point that Obasanjo is not corrupt. There is yet no proof that he was corrupt. But no proof too that he was not corrupt. Make we no whitewash anyone yet. Posted by Paradisevog| 16.06.2008 04:11

Metro-Man  Villager

# 10 =Paradisevog;4295055928>Rosmay and Dacokwy, You people have a problem with truth because you are biased beyond the point of redemption! Read this one in Frisky Larr's article and tell me if that is how an Obasanjo-man sounds: "The conspiracy surrounding the killing of a fellow westerner (Bola Ige) in which the entire leadership of the PDP including Olusegun Obasanjo and several other northern actors, are rumored to be involved is one of such horrendous crimes. Several political opponents were said to have been murdered and attempts were made on the lives of several others, most notably, an opponent, who ran against the daughter of President Obasanjo for a senatorial seat. Cases of corruption were vocally reported against the past regime with no proof to link the President. An anti-graft commission was used as an instrument to wield out corrupt Nigerians from the society. But they were largely vocal critics of the President even though not innocent. The President misused the system to impeach uncomfortable governors against whom there were always authentic cases of corruption to be used as excuses. Voices say that many rich entrepreneurs and politicians were coerced into contributing to the President’s fund-raising gathering for a personal library project. Above all else though, President Obasanjo handed over Oyo state to a renowned thug and daylight criminal named Adedibu for the sole purpose of securing a political home base." As far as una dey concerned only he who bashes Obasanjo all the way is credible. No one suppose to mention anything positive shebi? Rosmay, if you have not seen anything to the contrary for any of him write-up then go and read them over and over again. You people are simply being unfair and Agidimolaja is spot on. I disagree with Agidimolaja on the point that Obasanjo is not corrupt. There is yet no proof that he was corrupt. But no proof too that he was not corrupt. Make we no whitewash anyone yet. Absolutely right paradisevog! Shameful way of reasoning with our people here. Posted by Metro-Man| 16.06.2008 04:44

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