IF BUHARI CANNOT CONTROL THE CROWD THAT FOLLOWS HIS CAMPAIGN TRAIN THEN NIGERIA FUTURE IS SCEPTICAL IF WE VOTE HIM. I NEED NOT TO REMIND US WHAT HAPPEN IN KADUNA AND GOMBE AND ALMOST EVERYWHERE HE'S GONE FOR CAMPAIGN A WHOLE LOT OF OPPONENT CAMPN APPARATUS ARE BEING DESTROYED. THIS IS DEMOCRACY NOT DICTORSHIP. WE SHOULD BEWARE WHO WE GIVE POWER TO OR ELSE WE MAY GO BACK TO THE OLD ERA OF DICTORSHIP. VOTE WISELY.

^^^^
keep trying!You are just wasting your time.Alot of us can see beyond that now except for a few like you that continue to live on such propaganda.A propaganda manged and instigated by the so call crooks,pretending to be politicians.The same politicians that would do anything to keep there ill gotten wealth and even cripple the Nation/people to achieve such.
People who lie and cheat.People who deceive and destroy.people who obviously survive on ill gotten and still have the guts to say trash to your face rather than hide in shame.People with power yet refuse to take responsibility!
Guy forget it.If in 12 years a party can't deliever with so much monies generated,I just dont see any reason i keep my loyalty to them.Especially when i know they are doing well and am/generality are not.
Lets try another party and another new leadership.Not same refurbished leadership on same platform!!!!

LAST UPDATED AT Wed Mar, 09 2011

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The case for General Buhari

• Ozodi Thomas Osuji who teaches and writes on leadership and management matters makes a case for the Buhari candidacy, this is part of our ongoin g assessment of the various contestants for the nation's presidency,





What does the President of Nigeria do? Ideally, he is the leader of Nigeria, the chief executive officer, CEO, of the country’s business. He makes sure that the country’s territorial integrity is maintained, that her economy is performing as well as it could and that all Nigerians safety and security is protected.

What is a leader? A leader is a person who has studied the people he proposes to lead and understands their aspirations, what they want to do and proposes to help them do those things.

A leader has vision for his people, he has dreams of what if done would benefit the people he leads. He has goals and objectives that he seeks office to accomplish.

A leader is the servant of the people; he serves their needs and not them his needs. A leader is not in office to gratify his ego’s sense of prestige but to do what helps the man on the street live the good life.

A leader understands resource management, capital and human resources and can help get the resources with which he accomplishes his goals. He knows how to utilize human resources and material resources (capital) in accomplishing his goals and objectives.

Human beings are egotistical, proud and vain creatures and whoever leads them must understand how to manage their emotional issues. A leader must therefore be a mature adult person who not only can engage in task accomplishment but can take other persons pettiness and gripes and not lose his cool. He must disregard other persons bad mouthing him and keep his eyes on the ball and go for it until the ball is dribbled to the goal post and a goal is scored.

A leader is the type of man men follow in their mutual ventures. Some men do not have that intangible quality that makes other men follow them to their goals. It is said that if Napoleon Bonaparte told his generals to jump into a frozen river and swim that they would gladly do so even if they lose their lives in the process; that is the essence of top notch leadership quality, the ability to elicit followership, and, yes, obedience.

Some people have what Max Weber called charisma and others do not. There is debate in leadership literature as to whether leadership is learned or inherited. I think that it is both. Clearly, some people have leadership qualities right from the get go of their lives than others, yet all persons can be taught aspects of good leadership attributes and become good leaders but probably not outstanding leaders.

I have observed General Buhari from a distance. In my judgment he has the attributes of an excellent leader. He demonstrates knowledge of what Nigerians want and wants to help them accomplish them. He places public service above his personal needs. During his first go around as the President of Nigeria (1983-1985) no one in his right mind would say that he stole a penny from Nigerians. Everyone agrees that he devoted himself to serving the needs of Nigerians.

He and Gen Tunde Ideagbon actually got Nigerian civil servants to come to work on time. During that round we saw how determined Buhari is, how principled he is, how incorruptible he is, how honest he is, how he is a man with the utmost integrity, and moral probity.

He was thereafter swept out of office by a military coup. Being chased out of office probably taught him another crucial aspect of leadership: how to manage defeat. Unless a man has been humiliated and managed to keep his head high we really do not know how he would respond to such circumstances. Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln were men who knew numerous defeats and humiliations and from them learned how to manage precarious situations where men’s vanity is at stake. Buhari was once defeated and managed it admirably. He did not show anger at those who humiliated him. He did not go about bearing grievances and seeking vengeance for the attack on his pride. He took it on the chin like a good soldier should and lived to fight another day. He is not petty at all.

Buhari, in words and action, shows that he understands the need to industrialize Nigeria; I mean all parts of Nigeria. If Nigeria had committed and decisive leaders she would today be at the level of Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and the other Asian tigers. Buhari understands the fact that all parts of Nigeria must be mobilized and channeled to doing what has to be done to drag Nigeria into the industrial age.

As a former soldier, especially an officer and gentleman, Buhari understands the nature of setting tasks and using men in accomplishing them. In officer training schools what do they teach men but leadership skills? Officers are taught to know the tasks set for them by their superiors and go achieve them with those they command. The enemy is on that hill and the company must take that hill, drive the enemy out, and capture them if necessary. Buhari understands this critical aspect of leadership (using men to achieve organizational objectives even if it means losing some of the men in the process).

Buhari does not show any trait of tribalism. I have observed his utterances and behavior and can honestly say that he transcends ethnicity. Sure, he wants to develop his neck of the woods, what is wrong with that; as long as he develops all parts of Nigeria he is doing fine. No one is asking him to be an angel and not acknowledge his ethnicity.

Buhari understands how fragile it is to base the Nigerian economy on one resource, oil. He understands that those who buy Nigeria’s oil are furiously undertaking research trying to find an alternative to oil. Information coming out of Caltech and MIT indicates that it is only a matter of time before Americans find a way to manufacture oil through a method similar to photosynthesis. He understands that when that happens America would love to stop exporting the $700 billion dollars it is currently expending annually on importing oil and redirect that money to its economic development. At that point those who depend solely on oil for their revenue would be left in the lurch, they would be left with nothing to run their economy and thus go broke.

This needs not happen and General Buhari has said that he would seek ways to diversify the Nigerian economy. His main opponent in the election, Goodluck Jonathan appears to not even understand basic macro and micro economics, he appears out to lunch when economic matters are raised; surely we cannot allow a man like Jonathan who does not seem to know much about the Nigerian economy to run it.

Jonathan, as I see him, appear dull and common place; he does not even seem to know what leadership is all about. He presents as a nice fellow, perhaps, a university lecturer but a man lacking strong convictions. He seems shy, fearful, and anxious and lacking in courage; he seems the type of timid chap that strong willed criminals, the type that Nigeria grows like mushroom, could easily exploit.

Jonathan does not seem a doer and only God knows that what Nigeria needs at this point are not idle talkers but doers. Nigeria needs leaders who would mobilize the nation’s economic and human resources, as in a war, and use them to win the war of developing the country and rooting out the corruption that is holding her down.

I do not see Jonathan championing well-articulated goals and objectives for Nigeria. He does not seem to believe in anything with his whole heart and is dedicated to actualizing it. He comes across as a nice man but not a man one should like to entrust the leadership of the nation with.

I believe that Jonathan is an accidental leader but not a committed leader who entered the political fray because he has strong convictions that he wants to realize. He seems easily manipulated by Nigeria’s lords of corruption; in fact, those lords of disaster would like to have him in office so that through him they continue the vast spoils and patronage system they have established.

Jonathan comes across as a figure head under which the lords of stealing raid the Nigerian treasury. He lacks personal power, authority and charisma to get people to do anything that serves social interests. He lacks that oomph that we see in notable leaders. The man has no vision of where he wants to take Nigeria to. See, he has been in office for nearly two years and has actually accomplished very little. He talked about making sure that the power sector works. Well, Nigerians still do not have electricity twenty four-seven. The man may talk all he wants few persons are probably willing to follow him.

Another reason why I want Buhari to win the presidential election is the fact that the PDP has been in office for twelve years. That is sufficient time for a political party to have accomplished something useful for its polity. As we all know the PDP is the party of lootocrats and the most they have done is offer their members the opportunity to loot Nigeria, to rob the country empty.

It is time to give another political party the opportunity to try and see if it could clean the mess that is the Nigerian house and set Nigeria on the right path.

If the PDP continues on the path it is I have no doubt that Nigerians will turn to the Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan example: revolt and chase away the thieves that that have so far pretended to rule them; we probably do not need the chaos that such revolt would engender.

Finally, let me make it crystal clear that there is nothing ethnic about my endorsement of General Buhari. I am Igbo but could care less about the ethnic affiliation of whoever rules Nigeria; all that I ask is for a leader who is committed to developing Nigeria and bundling the kleptocrats that sprout everywhere in Nigeria into jail. I am seeking a disciplined, principled and devoted leader for Nigeria regardless of his ethnic background.

I can honestly say that of the men vying for the presidency of Nigeria at the moment Buhari seems the best of the lot. In an ideal world he would not be my first choice. If the world is an ideal place I would vote for a draconian, revolutionary type who is willing to fight and if needs be die trying to transform Nigeria, indeed, all of Africa, but we live in an imperfect world, not the utopian world where all our wishes are met. There is a difference between fantasy and political realism.

The reality on the Nigerian ground is that Buhari is our best bait to do what serves Nigeria’s best interests. The other candidates seem the same old, same old chop, chop Nigerian politicians out to enrich their pockets and could care less for the average Nigerian.

Buhari is bold and assertive and seems to know where he wants to take Nigeria whereas Jonathan is timid and does not seem to know what he seeks office for (other than his belly, of course). Let us give this decent man, General Buhari, the opportunity to show us what he got.

@Poster you're very correct. No individual can take us to the promised land it has to be a collective effort. You will agree with me that for the past 12 years, the PDP have done alot but when you look at the position of Nigeria in Africa very well, you will know that we have a long way to go. So as for me if Buhari had come under the pdp he would have missed my support. I'm not saying pdp is a total failure I know of pdp governors who deserve a second term.

Buhari has been apologising everywhere for the conduct of his followers. Why can't he simply control them instead?
I guess thats what happens when people use the long suffering almajiri's as political fodder. Those kids should be trained, not used as tools. Shame on Buhari.

^^^
How can he control them when he it was that incited them to violence in the first place.Somebody needs to remind Buhari that nobody has the monopoly of violence,I'm satisfied with the matured way Mr President has carried on with his campaign without being drawn in to the antics of a failed dictator like Buhari.Very surely,in due time,he will be paid back with a resounding defeat at the polls