If Nero continues to fiddle while Rome burns, I have said before, the Romans either wake up to take back their nation or watch the nation go down in a heap of ruins. This disgraceful President has really tested the patience of the Nigerian people.

Osc: All those condeming Jonathan who is a better person? Right from the military till now who is a better president? none. So think of how to make changes in ur home 1st b4 Jonathan.

You have no idea how things work in saner climes.
Soon you would telling me the appointment of these cons was ordained by God.

Some things on Godz earth, only happen in NAIJA!

cecegorz: Someone should refute this please.
Is this another Salisu Buhari or the same former Speaker that was impeached for forging a University Certificate?
If this is the same person, then for once i will side with the GEJ bashers in saying that honour has been thrown to the dogs by our President!
This is so shameful, and i want to believe that all Lions and Lionesses should stand up in one voice and reject this aberration, the same way UNILAG rejected MAULAG.

I so hope so.

anonimi:

This is definitely a bad move by Jonathan and his handlers although I imagine that he, personally may not be aware of ALL the names of board members of ALL government parastatals who are normally nominated from their home state.
But it has now become his list.

^^^^The part in bold lettering is true. But you are damn right that the list is now his, regardless of its origins. The difference between capable leaders and mediocre ones is that capable leaders make sure that public officials face the consequences of their actions, especially if those actions bring the government into any kind of disrepute. Good leaders fight to make the system work properly and they leave no one in any doubt about which side of the moral divide they stand on.

Once people know what a man stands for, they adjust their behaviour to reflect their perception. When a man is known to have a moral compass that points true north, those working with him (be they party officials, civil servants or whoever) WILL keep the beastly side of their nature in check. Why will they do this? They will do this because they know there will be serious consequences for any misdemeanour. In a defective system such as ours in which the president wields disproportionately large power, people will take advantage of any moral ambivalence they percieve in the man at the top. It is the way of the world.

I can imagine that the administration's defenders will soon be here to make excuses on its behalf - statements along the lines of "GEJ didn't know the names or history of all the nominees on the list", "the problem is his advisers" etc. The real problem is that the GEJ administration ran out of excuses a long time ago. If the excuse is that GEJ didn't know the history of the nominees, then how useful is that large army of bureaucrats and special assistants he employs? What exactly are they getting paid for? Isn't there a vetting process for appointees that will prevent further erosion of whatever moral capital the GEJ administration has left? How hard can it be to send a one page document with a paragraph or two about the nominees to GEJ to look through? What are the so-called security reports about then? In summary, how are GEJ's staff being held accountable?

Nigerians are tired of the ineptitude. GEJ presided over an embarrassment of a national awards ceremony in which there were not enough medals to go round. The GEJ administration supervised a national awards ceremony in which at least one Nigerian was awarded a national honour lower than one she had received over 10 years earlier. Let's not even start on the clemency/state pardon of last month. We could go on and on.

Of course, the other side of the coin is that GEJ is very much aware (indeed, how could he not be?) of Mr. Salisu Buhari's antecedents but he decided to approve the appointment anyway. Which is another way of saying 'You can all go to hell with your morality and what you think. I really do not give a damn. I've got political debts to pay and alliances to forge'.

Whichever scenario the truth is, I have said and will always say: Nigerians MUST go through all of this in order for them to understand that THEY are the architects of their destiny. Nigerians are finding out the hard way that choices (and the action or inaction that flows from those choices) HAVE CONSEQUENCES. Whatever the choices nigerians choose to make - be it apathy, nonchalance or wilful ignorance (about life and death matters such as the democratic process, elections, voting rights, the rule of law, partisan politics, the social contract etc) - those choices HAVE VERY REAL CONSEQUENCES.

It is an immutable law that cannot be changed or overridden.

Ngwakwe: If I may recall, Pardon was part of the plea bargain agreed on the indictment of Salisu Buhari.

He is an impersonator, that aside, if a person have the courage and capability to handle and coordinate the proceedings of NASS in a flawless Leadership, what then is the value of worthless paper called certificate most traders possess and cannot defend them.

Abeg, free the man.

Nigerians have sold their souls for paper qualification and not intellectual acumen coupled with technical know-how.

In our company in Port Harcourt, no one ever discusses the academic qualification of these Lebanese and Scottish workers that I always call redundant waste.

^^^^

Strange, rambling piece. But then, what should we expect from a man who offers unsolicited advice to public officials (on other threads) on how to game the system?