Dominic:
Let us leave your question of evidence of talent recognition by Atiku alone.....and all this talk about Atiku's corruption. In some sense, Atiku to Nigeria is what Berluscconi is to Italy.
"Nuff said on that one....
If Team Goodluck is jubilating over Atiku's "consensus" choice, they must know something I don't know, but I suspect na shakara. This is because Atiku is a political chess player who plots one step before another, and will blindside GEJ for the primaries before GEJ knows it. This is not "bowler-hat" politics that we are talking about - this is real-politik.
GEJ is no Obasanjo, and see what extent Obasanjo had to go to out-fox Atiku in 2006/7. Atiku will spend every penny to defend himself, go to any court if he smells injustice towards himself, and drive you to foolish desperation if you insist on cheating him. His confidence often rattles the opposition, and he knows where all the bodies are buried in the PDP. Brazil does lose a soccer match, but until the whistle is blown, you better keep playing even if you are two or three goals ahead.
The political fun will begin in Nigeria ONLY after the PDP primaries, then ACN/CPC will take them on....but who will win all of this it is not a matter of divine conjecture, but we humans can have some fun guessing. Let us all just continue to insist on free-and-fair one-man-one-vote elections, even though with so much needless dependence on DDC machines - which may turn out to be our Archilles heels - I don't know any more....
We shall see...and there you have it. There are matters to attend to elsewhere.
Bolaji Aluko
PS: Let me repeat what I wrote before:
> >> Reminder on what I wrote earlier about Atiku:
> >>
> >> QUOTE
> >>
> >>
> >> ATIKU
> >>
> >> In my personal interactions with Atiku leading up to his failed 2007
> >> presidential bid, I found Atiku personally to be a very decent individual;
> >> a victim of the mentality in Nigeria that all stinkingly rich Nigerians are
> >> probably corrupt - aided by the vicious attack on him by a vindictive
> >> Obasanjo, who used the EFCC (under Ribadu) and others go after him. He
> >> survived them all, and showed his mettle as a democrat by using his enormous
> >> wealth to fight for himself in court, which I admired, but I have been
> >> disappointed that he is prepared to use his enormous wealth to fight MORE
> >> for his own democratic rights than those of others that have suffered from
> >> the same 2007 elections, particularly within the AC.
> >>
> >> But unfortunately, it appears that he is now too overly ambitious to be
> >> president of Nigeria that he is making a monumental mistake returning to his
> >> vomit of the PDP. With Obasanjo still as Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
> >> and Nyako as Governor of Adamawa, Atiku has to keep his eyes wide open.
> >> Nigeria is a graveyard for overly ambitious persons who want to be
> >> president. I fear that his time may have come and gone - but I may be
> >> wrong, because I think that he would still make a good president, primarily
> >> because he knows his own limitations (unlike OBJ); knows how to recognize
> >> talent, and knows how to make the best use of them.
> >>
> >> I suspect that he will make a good president.
> >>
> >> Atiku's current spat with US law enforcement - which makes him look like a
> >> fugitive from the law and taints him - does not stop me from considering
> >> him to be a decent man. Not all fugitives from US law are indecent; not
> >> all non-fugitives are decent. The man may simply not want the hassles of an
> >> American trial, when this is not his country of citizenship. He can use his
> >> American lawyers remotely to make his case, and show up on American soil
> >> when all plea bargains have been agreed. That does not mean that he is
> >> guilty now, which he is not until proven so. If perchance he is President
> >> of Nigeria, I am certain that he will be able to come to the US under
> >> sovereign immunity, but he need never come the US again for the rest of his
> >> life if he does not wish to. That will be he and 6 billion other people
> >> minus 300 million.
> >> After all, Obasanjo was accused of having been bribed by Halliburton the
> >> other day; yet as we write he is somewhere in Atlanta, enjoying the
> >> Sullivan meeting or something.
> >>
> >> UNQUOTE
--- In NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com, Dominic Ogbonna <summadom@...> wrote:
>
> Bolaji,
>
> On second reading, I think my last question was unclear. I am refering
> specifically to the claim that Atiku "*knows how to recognize talent".* Do
> you have any evidence that he does? I am asking because Joe Attueyi says
> that this claim is NOT true.
>
> Moving on ...
> Jonathan and his gang are apparently celebrating Atiku's emergence. Are we
> missing something here? Atiku is in my opinion a good consensus builder /
> consummate politician. The fact that he could go from AC to PDP front-runner
> - and in a field populated by the likes of IBB and Gusau - already shows his
> political mettle, methinks, and GEJ would be wise not to underestimate him.
>
> Or does GEJ know something that we don't?
>
>
> Moving on ..
> Can someone please advise IBB to contest from another platform? He can can
> never win a free and fair election, so we will never get the opportunity to
> give him the Abiola treatment. Nor would we get the opportunity to throw
> him in prison for winning an election. Nor would we get the opportunity to
> give his spouse the Kudirat treatment. But he is a General, and I have to
> guess that he swaggers around with a certain amount of ego, so while he
> lives, we can at least humiliate him as much as possible. Someone should ask
> him to contest from another party Ahmed Tinubu as his running mate. Would
> give us an oppourtunity to humiliate him one more time!
>
> Dominic
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 11:00 PM, Dominic Ogbonna summadom@...wrote:
>
> > Bolaji:
> >
> >
> > You wrote:
> >
> > "*I fear that his time may have come and gone - but I may be wrong,
> > because I think that he would still make a good president, primarily because
> > he knows his own limitations (unlike OBJ); knows how to recognize talent,
> > and knows how to make the best use of them*."
> >
> >
> > This has been what I loved most about Atiku, but Joe Attueyi -whose words
> > carry a lot of weight- is now saying that this claim is merely an urban
> > myth. What's your take?
> >
> > Dominic
> >
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 9:57 PM, Mobolaji ALUKO alukome@... wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Dear All:
> >>
> >> The emergence Alhaji Abubakar Atiku as the Ciroma-moderated consensus
> >> Northern candidate in presents a formidable challenge to GEJ's candidacy in
> >> the PDP primary. If in fact IBB, Gusau and Saraki pledge to honor the
> >> outcome, then GEJ will have his hands full as he tries to keep his
> >> supporters lined up behind himself. This is because Atiku knows that this
> >> is his last political hurrah - having been trying to become a presidential
> >> candidate since 1993 - and that if he cannot beat GEJ in PDP's primary, it
> >> will not be worth his bothering to contest in the main election in another
> >> party.
> >> Atiku is walking money-man and a consummate politician on the hustings.
> >> As Obj learnt the hard way in 2006/2007, any attempt to ride-roughshod over
> >> Atiku wil be met - by his *publicity response team* and legal team.
> >>
> >> Interesting times are ahead - and we shall see.....
> >>
> >> Reminder on what I wrote earlier about Atiku:
> >>
> >> QUOTE
> >>
> >>
> >> ATIKU
> >>
> >> In my personal interactions with Atiku leading up to his failed 2007
> >> presidential bid, I found Atiku personally to be a very decent individual;
> >> a victim of the mentality in Nigeria that all stinkingly rich Nigerians are
> >> probably corrupt - aided by the vicious attack on him by a vindictive
> >> Obasanjo, who used the EFCC (under Ribadu) and others go after him. He
> >> survived them all, and showed his mettle as a democrat by using his enormous
> >> wealth to fight for himself in court, which I admired, but I have been
> >> disappointed that he is prepared to use his enormous wealth to fight MORE
> >> for his own democratic rights than those of others that have suffered from
> >> the same 2007 elections, particularly within the AC.
> >>
> >> But unfortunately, it appears that he is now too overly ambitious to be
> >> president of Nigeria that he is making a monumental mistake returning to his
> >> vomit of the PDP. With Obasanjo still as Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
> >> and Nyako as Governor of Adamawa, Atiku has to keep his eyes wide open.
> >> Nigeria is a graveyard for overly ambitious persons who want to be
> >> president. I fear that his time may have come and gone - but I may be
> >> wrong, because I think that he would still make a good president, primarily
> >> because he knows his own limitations (unlike OBJ); knows how to recognize
> >> talent, and knows how to make the best use of them.
> >>
> >> I suspect that he will make a good president.
> >>
> >> Atiku's current spat with US law enforcement - which makes him look like a
> >> fugitive from the law and taints him - does not stop me from considering
> >> him to be a decent man. Not all fugitives from US law are indecent; not
> >> all non-fugitives are decent. The man may simply not want the hassles of an
> >> American trial, when this is not his country of citizenship. He can use his
> >> American lawyers remotely to make his case, and show up on American soil
> >> when all plea bargains have been agreed. That does not mean that he is
> >> guilty now, which he is not until proven so. If perchance he is President
> >> of Nigeria, I am certain that he will be able to come to the US under
> >> sovereign immunity, but he need never come the US again for the rest of his
> >> life if he does not wish to. That will be he and 6 billion other people
> >> minus 300 million.
> >> After all, Obasanjo was accused of having been bribed by Halliburton the
> >> other day; yet as we write he is somewhere in Atlanta, enjoying the
> >> Sullivan meeting or something.
> >>
> >> UNQUOTE
> >>
> >>
> >> And there you have it.
> >>
> >>
> >> Bolaji Aluko
> >>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> It's Atiku vs JonathanHeadlines<http://www.vanguardngr.com/category/headlines/> Nov
> >>> 23, 2010
> >>> [image: 270]<http://www.vanguardngr.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/atiku-jonathan.jpg>
> >>>
> >>> Atiku Abubakar and President Goodluck Jonathan
> >>>
> >>> IBB, Gusau, Saraki, Nnamani hail
> >>>
> >>> By Emmanuel Aziken Political Editor, Henry Umoru & Gbenga Oke
> >>>
> >>> ABUJA—FORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar was chosen yesterday as the
> >>> choice of the Northern political establishment to challenge President
> >>> Goodluck Jonathan for the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic
> >>> Party, PDP.
> >>>
> >>> The choice followed a close vote among members of the Mallam Adamu
> >>> Ciroma-led Northern Political Leaders Forum, NPLF, which facilitated the
> >>> consensus arrangement.
> >>>
> >>> Sources close to the committee, however, cited the North's quest to
> >>> redress the disadvantage of the North-East in presidential power and Atiku's
> >>> democratic credentials above others as his selling point.
> >>>
> >>> In deciding for Atiku, the Committee, Vanguard learnt, considered the
> >>> predominance of the North-Central and North-West in previous governments
> >>> headed by northerners.
> >>>
> >>> I accept decision—Saraki
> >>>
> >>> Kwara State governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki said yesterday that he has
> >>> accepted the decision of the Mallam Adamu Ciroma's Consensus Candidate
> >>> Committee which came up with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the
> >>> anointed one for the north.
> >>>
> >>> The campaign organisations of the three losers, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida,
> >>> Gen. Aliyu Gusau and Governor Bukola Saraki immediately pledged to respect
> >>> the agreement entered by the four aspirants to support the winning aspirant.
> >>> With the development, Atiku's already vibrant campaign organisation is to be
> >>> subsumed into a super campaign organisation in which all four aspirants
> >>> would play a role.
> >>>
> >>> A draft structure for the campaign organisation, Vanguard learnt, is to
> >>> be approved by the four aspirants in a meeting expected within days.
> >>>
> >>> Atiku's choice was conveyed to newsmen at an emergency press conference
> >>> addressed by the Secretary to the NPLF, Mallam Abdulkadir Sabo Bello, who
> >>> reiterated the north's position on zoning and determination to complete the
> >>> four year tenure of the late President Umaru Yar'Adua.
> >>> Bello read out a statement jointly signed with the NPLF Chairman, Mallam
> >>> Ciroma.
> >>>
> >>> *The statement:*
> >>>
> >>> "We are pleased to announce that we have concluded our assignment of
> >>> arriving at a consensus candidate today and one out of the four aspirants
> >>> who submitted themselves to the process has emerged. He is Atiku Abubakar.
> >>>
> >>> `'We are glad and proud that we have finally arrived at this outcome
> >>> after several weeks of hard work and wide consultations. We are proud
> >>> because of the unusual honour and extraordinary privilege given us by the
> >>> four gentlemen who placed their political destinies in our hands.
> >>>
> >>> "We are humbled by the strength of their faith. We appreciate their
> >>> humility and cooperation. We have been reassured by all of them that they
> >>> will work together to enable Atiku Abubakar clinch their party's ticket in
> >>> the presidential primaries.
> >>>
> >>> `'We thank all Nigerians, supporters and critics alike for their views
> >>> over these past several weeks. While we note these views and respect each
> >>> one of them, we insist that no individual, organisation or society dreaming
> >>> of success and greatness can achieve these dreams without respect for others
> >>> and honouring agreements voluntarily entered into.
> >>>
> >>> "This is especially so where these agreements have been transformed into
> >>> a binding document, a constitution, which governs the conduct of those who
> >>> subscribe to it.
> >>>
> >>> `'We call on all Nigerians to reflect on this. We also call on all
> >>> delegates to the forthcoming party conventions to take these into account
> >>> while casting votes. God bless the Federal Government of Nigeria."
> >>>
> >>> *How Atiku emerged*
> >>>
> >>> Atiku's choice, it was learnt, was based on his credentials in fighting
> >>> for democracy values in the past especially his trenchant opposition to the
> >>> third term constitutional proposal in the second term of the Obasanjo
> >>> presidency.
> >>>
> >>> Besides, Atiku who is from Adamawa State in the North-East geopolitical
> >>> zone was also helped by the fact that his geopolitical zone has held power
> >>> least of the three geopolitical zones in the North. Of the 35 years that
> >>> power has been in the North, the North-East benefitted only for six years
> >>> between 1960 and 1966 when Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa was head of
> >>> Nigeria's first government.
> >>>
> >>> Besides, the committee members were believed to have equally cited the
> >>> fact that the North-East produced only one of the eight former Northern
> >>> Nigerians to have governed Nigeria in either civilian or military
> >>> capacities.
> >>>
> >>> Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa from Bauchi State is the only person from
> >>> the North-East to have ruled Nigeria. Gen. Murtala Muhammed, President Shehu
> >>> Shagari, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and Gen. Sanni Abacha came from the
> >>> North-West. Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Gen. Abdulsalami
> >>> Abubakar are from the North-Central.
> >>>
> >>> *Nnamani reacts*
> >>>
> >>> In his reaction, former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani said: "I am
> >>> pleased that the Northern Elders Forum is able to come up with a consensus
> >>> Northern aspirant for the PDP presidential primaries. This is a good
> >>> development as the contest will be quite competitive. I congratulate the
> >>> consensus aspirant, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and I wish him success at the
> >>> primaries."
> >>>
> >>> *We have no hand in it – PDP*
> >>>
> >>> THE national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, said
> >>> yesterday that it has no hand in the consensus arrangement of the Mallam
> >>> Adamu Ciroma's consensus candidate committee which produced former Vice
> >>> President Atiku Abubakar as the chosen one for the north.
> >>>
> >>> Reacting to yesterday's development, National Publicity Secretary of the
> >>> PDP, Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali described the exercise as an arrangement
> >>> purely amongst individual aspirants within the party.
> >>>
> >>> In a text message to Vanguard, Alkali said: "As elections approach,
> >>> politicians are bound to adopt variety of strategies to achieve their
> >>> objectives. The consensus approach is, therefore, an arrangement purely
> >>> amongst individual aspirants within the party.
> >>>
> >>> The leadership of the party has no input in this, as it is a cardinal
> >>> policy of the NWC to remain neutral.
> >>>
> >>> "Our primary concern has been and still is to provide a level playing
> >>> field to all contestants at all levels. It is our commitment and
> >>> determination to remain neutral and fair to all those who put themselves
> >>> forward to contest for primaries on the platform of our great party, the
> >>> PDP."
> >>>
> >>> http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/11/its-atiku-vs-jonathan/
> >>>
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