INTERIM....what?

Let all those who are behind the baseless JOKE please stop it o! As President Obasanjo would say, this nonsense is going too far!! But, knowing our politicians, you can hardly put anything past them!!! Many are simply spineless....as the Third Term misadventure fully advertised.

What is the basis or rationale for anyone contemplating an inconclusive and/or botched 2007 Elections? Who says? Shouldn't our energies and prayers be positively primed for its success?

Anyone proposing an "interim national government" (INC) must be a dreamer. May they wake up, or be woken up. No such dream will come to pass. Never!

Those who are interested in NIGERIA and her glory should kindly help cure these "creeping cynics" (or are they candidates for sedition trial?!) of their anti-elections malaria. They need to be purged of all neo-third-term viruses, and promptly innoculated with potent pro-democracy vaccines. Let their village people "talk" to them o!

Whatever happens, the PDP (especially the Ali faction) must pronounce now that it is not in the thick of this treasonable voyage. Let Chairman Ali whip them with his legendary BBC-interview kind of "description"! We wait.

Failing which the president should take charge and quell the quissling thought right away.

All 40 (so far!) registered political parties should issue joint and separate condemnation of the idea, and declare full support for/embrace of sustainable democracy through regular, timely and on-time elections. They should specifically uphold/protect the non-negotiable status of the 2007 Elections. No going back. Whosoever cannot bear the democratic heat should get out of the political kitchen!

And, oh yes, we do wait.

Day-Dreamers!

There are still some politicians and die-hard hangers-on who can't strike out on their own. They revel in rent-seeking and name-dropping. This has of course buttered their proverbial, metaphorical and physical bread before now. Not anymore!

Latest gist? They angle to be "anointed" by President Obasanjo! As tricky and tacky as that is, there is even more odium: They ignore the other political parties, the other factions (what a story!) of the ruling PDP, and.......WE - The People! Some dreamers!!

Hello o, with our VOTES, we'll pay them their dues by 2007.

Let The Media Damn Them

It's time we stopped the charade and class deceit going on in the political domain right away. The political class, especially the older hands, is perpetuating crass contempt for the electorate and all that our country demands. How on earth can the present pre-occupation with zoning benefit the electoral and electioneering process/endeavour? Is our problem ZONING? Whether north or south, east or west, where are the candidates? Let's have the menu, then leave us to choose!

The case is so bad it now permeates all levels of the bid for office. Instead of telling us about both themselves and their offerings, so we can compare and contrast, they are busy wasting our time with zoning inanities. Let it be known that we are fully sensitive to the sentiments and sensibilities of that matter, just that it should come in after the question of competence. It must not and need not be used to obfuscate the crucial debates about good governance, which should be raging right now.

A nauseating aspect of the present miasma is that even those who are not contesting, or clearly ineligible to contest, are the cheerleaders of the distractive chorus. They clog up the public space and pollute our ear-drums, why? Many of those who got us where we are today are mounting the soap-box, heating up the polity, with provocative and primitive posturing - fanning embers of primordial hate and stoking fires of religious bigotry. Why? Enough of these circus shows.

Now to my quarrel and plea: Why is the media succumbing to the blackmail? Can't we fill pages or airtime without these voices? Is there a grand design to not x-ray our state of affairs, to not scrutinize the contenders, to muddy the waters so any "catch" will do? And thus lead us to the worst choices? We must dread. The Nigerian Press has never failed us, they should now NOT do so. Let the MEDIA stop them, NOW!

My suggestion: No headlines for the zonal debates, anymore. Put a cap on them, even for total coverage - 10% of all news. Take a lead on the real issues - subject by subject, sector by sector, area by area, party by party. We must analyze the state of the nation, the state of the states, the state of the local government areas. Set them side by side the annual and cummulative budgets, and ask the QUESTIONS. Then assess the contestants based on their own road-map for either CHANGE or IMPROVEMENT.

All Nigerians must ignore these cheap gimmicks and time-wasters. Enough of the charade!

Where Are The Women?

While the political terrain is hazy and unfolding, it bears some historical traits. Many people are loafing around, looking for some Iroko to latch on to or hide under. Many more are idling away, hoping that they would or may or can find a berthing in whatever political party shows/has the proverbial bandwagon trawl. How they misread our new horizon!

As for the women, they are yet to learn. In the past, they were contented with being hustlersin the "Women's Wing" of political parties. And they lost out. Now, as before, they seem to be relying on government - through the women's ministries - to organize and strategize. It didn't serve well before, it won't work today. They must get out there, join the fray, and work the field.
No short-cuts, no free ride, no leeching! All must pay the cost of business to reap in this steely business.... or beg for appointment, when all posts be won!

In this tough and rough terrain, only the determined will arrive the Podium of Victory. The real ones, quality and qualitative, period. So sisters, where are the gazelles...and the amazons?

Candidates and Self-Censorship

Strong Message: If you are not truly qualified for elective office, don't run in 2007. If you are nominated, decline. If you are sponsored, withdraw. If you be stampeded, withstand. It should not matter if others like it, agree or not. It should sure matter that you be true to conscience and country.

Strong Advice: Unless you are scrupulously qualified for quality performance, don't lobby, seek or gun for appointive office. No matter what, accept not to serve. Be true to man and mission.

Tough? You bet! Will be more than hell if you be weak enough to trounce this code. Pure hell.

These Politicians!

They have refused to address us on ISSUES! They are busy scheming "factionalisations" and a million plots! They are more interested in "owning" or "controlling" their political party and its coercive purports! Getting quite corrosive. These politicians, when will they learn?

Let them know that it shall be not business-as-usual, again. It shall be merit-before-message, and proof-before-passage. Let them tow the line of honour and succour....and bring both to the long, very long-suffering voters of Nigeria. We, the people....who must be served.

While we love our humour and rib-cracking jokes, it is stretching things for them to serve us the ridiculous macabre dance of political clowning straining our national robe. And at the horrendous cost of 2007? May our Mighty God promptly, please, FORBID!

Governors Should Start Winding Down

It is time for Nigerian governors to start winding down their activities. They should take a cue from the president. Drop all droppables. Right now, nothing grandiose need be embarked upon. They need to start load-shedding, even as they personally intensify projects-implementation and value-maximisation.

It is unacceptable to pile on any unnecessary liabilities, or try to mop up by raiding the treasury. Walls have ears!