I am expressing what I think will suit the Democratic Setting of Nigeria as it is. Any runner-up in an election will automatically become the Prime Minister and the head of the Government, while the winner become the President, Commander in Chief, and Head of State. Nigeria is such a diverse country, and each region should be involved in governing the country. An amendment of the country's constitution is necessary to achieve this. This is the best and easiest solution to the diversification and complications of this country's young democracy, in order to empower it, we have to get everyone involved. We learn from mistakes and move forward, I said this not because of Buhari or Ribadu or Shekarau, I said this because it is a step-forward in our democracy.



Opinions please, this is what a forum stands for, share your ideas, discuss them, and work towards them.

I am quite weary about increasing the size of an already overbloated and expensive government structure. Apart from that, why must the loser of an election be automatically given the post of Prime Minister? How is that democratic and what mandate is there? Countries that have a president and primeminister usually have the president picking the prime minister by the way. This your idea seems a knee jerk response to the Nigerian situation as opposed to a more elaborately thought out plan, and unfortunately continues to carry that WAZOBIA like mentality that has bred animosity in the country and kept competency as a factor at the backburner. Would you be ok if the president and prime minister come from one place? Just curious.

Sky Blue:

I am quite weary about increasing the size of an already overbloated and expensive government structure. Apart from that, why most the loser of an election be automatically given the post of Prime Minister? How is that democratic and what mandate is there? Countries that have a president and primeminister usually have the president picking the prime minister by the way. This your idea seems a knee jerk response to the Nigerian situation as opposed to a more elaborately thought out plan, and unfortunately continues to carry that WAZOBIA like mentality that has bred animosity in the country and kept competency as a factor at the backburner. Would you be ok if the president and prime minister come from one place? Just curious.

Having 10 million voters isn't just a picking game, it is a system of sub-doing what has been undone. It will be very difficult to have both the Winner and Runner-up from one place, in most of the elections, it is between one powerful politician from the south and one powerful politician from the north, it has been like this for the past decades, and it will always remain so.

auwal87:

Having 10 million voters isn't just a picking game, it is a system of sub-doing what has been undone. It will be very difficult to have both the Winner and Runner-up from one place, in most of the elections, it is between one powerful politician from the south and one powerful politician from the north, it has been like this for the past decades, and it will always remain so.

I disagree with your last sentence. Election is not about one powerful politician from the north and one powerful politician from the south. I am sorry but that sentence exposes so much which you might fail to realise. That WAZOBIA like mentality is what some people went out during these elections to vote against and if you really believe that your last sentence then this conversation is pretty much futile. Just out of interest, what if both president and prime minister were say, indigenes of Plateau state or some small group from that area. Would you be ok with that?

Just to iterate, having the rejected candidate of an election automatically getting the prime ministerial post is undemocratic. What if the runner up has only 20% votes, what mandate would he use to take up such an important role (that is normally appointed by the president)? 20% mandate? Are you serious?

Get over it OP. The born to rule mentality needs to stop.

@poster,
is it by force that your candidate must lead?

Dude accept it, GEJ will be ruling for the next 8 years possibly.

2. Buhari will be too old to run for president at 78 years of age- if he's still alive that is

I'd instead like to see the powers of the FG weakened so much that getting the presidency doesn't become a do-or-die affair.

There is no born to rule mentality, thats just what you southerners cooked up to rally yourselves against northern political forces. Lame! the riots happened because the election was rigged, goodluck did not get and could not get 40% of sokoto votes as the results showed!

Dont rig elections and there will be no violence! under ordinary circumstances, with no cheating, the election would go into a run off!!! not gej winning by over 10 million votes!! big lie!! rigging!!! you know it, the whole country knows the elections were rigged, northerners, if you heard what they were chanting, were aggrieved by the margin of loss not necessarily because gej "won" All the PDP knows is rigging! they're criminals and have no true legitimacy! if you recall in 1993, Kano people voted en mass for a southerner (MKO ABIOLA) over a son of the soil (Bashir Tofa)

in 1999, there was an agreement, saying power will rotate between north and south, it went to the north for 8 years and reciprocity and adherence to the agreement was naturally expected. It came back to the north, pres died in no time, then it was ok for the vp to continue, but naturally, the agreement should have stayed and gej step down for a northerner in 2011. But southerners said theres no agreement, which agreement, so this is now wayo!!! good and fine, lets have an honest election then, but no, they had to rig!

Most northerners want the country split in two, there's unity in the north and understanding! the only thing keeping southerners united in your hate for the north, if we break up, you'll swallow each other!! The northern elite who have hoarded all the money along with the southern elite are the only people "NIGERIA" is serving so they'll fight to keep the status quo, what average northerner smells oil money? pls tell me! when they're hungry so oil means jack, they couldn't be bothered since a split doesn't mean they lose anything, the only people that will lose are the less than 1000 individuals that make up the core of the northern elite, they all know each other and inter marry!!! get it straight people! I'm a northerner and I'd rather see the country broken up since it doesn't look like we can coexist as a united nation! many countries that have no oil are doing better than Nigeria anyway so oil is not a requisite for livelihood or even prosperity i dare to say, the north was doing fine pre oil before being inflicted with the dastardly dutch disease by the south!!

You can't keep to agreements and the cheat in elections!! so we might as well split! The condition being, for the sake of the history and the many positive effects we've had on each other (it hasn't all been negative hate) you allow us a port through dredging the Niger river and we'll be out of your skin in no time!! There's oil on the Nigerian side of lake Chad anyway since it exists on the Chadian side and the soil and geology is the same, it therefore must exist on the Nigerian side! politics won't let us be serious about exploration!!! But I'd love to split the country!!

Devolve powers to the states and local administration, reduce the FG and take police powers away from the center. Do all these plus ensure fiscal federalism so states only pay taxes to the center.

Do those things plus more and only the brave will run for president. Only few will be able steal local funds and continue to get away with it. All these looters will rather open businesses.

auwal87:

I am expressing what I think will suit the Democratic Setting of Nigeria as it is. Any runner-up in an election will automatically become the Prime Minister and the head of the Government, while the winner become the President, Commander in Chief, and Head of State. Nigeria is such a diverse country, and each region should be involved in governing the country. An amendment of the country's constitution is necessary to achieve this. This is the best and easiest solution to the diversification and complications of this country's young democracy, in order to empower it, we have to get everyone involved. We learn from mistakes and move forward, I said this not because of Buhari or Ribadu or Shekarau, I said this because it is a step-forward in our democracy.



Opinions please, this is what a forum stands for, share your ideas, discuss them, and work towards them.

Bizarre idea. Too silly to even bother addressing in detail. It's not like CPC and PDP or any other two (or more) opposing parties would needlessly form a coalition when one of the parties already has the upper hand by a large margin. . .

Anyways people would just run for prime minister and leave the presidency to the runner up if such a power sharing agreement were implemented.

in the absence of a southern candidate, buhari cant still win an election in this country, not even if all the political parties field candidates from the north. he should get that in his dead brain.

Losers should get nothing, why would you be given any power when the people don't want you?

No wuru wuru to the answer.

ACN is the way out.

Your vote is important in next election. Go out and vote.

Madam Patience na unofficial Prime Minister for naija.

No room in politics for Buhari any more.

I am expressing what I think will suit the Democratic Setting of Nigeria as it is. Any runner-up in an election will automatically become the Prime Minister and the head of the Government, while the winner become the President, Commander in Chief, and Head of State. Nigeria is such a diverse country, and each region should be involved in governing the country. An amendment of the country's constitution is necessary to achieve this. This is the best and easiest solution to the diversification and complications of this country's young democracy, in order to empower it, we have to get everyone involved. We learn from mistakes and move forward, I said this not because of Buhari or Ribadu or Shekarau, I said this because it is a step-forward in our democracy.

This must be an aboki to have come up with this at this time, A good leader must learn to be a servant. Let Buhari be a servant to Jonathan now. He lost an we all see it as a lost. Ga si kia

If we consider resource Control as the option for our democracy, Abokis will sit tight and stop been gold digger!

Op, that is a brilliant idea, but like PhysicsMHD rightly said, the prime ministerial position would then be more desirable than the presidency. nevertheless it sounds good.

Good idea but GEJ must finish his tenure first. The crises we are having today is as a result of the collapsed PDP zoning system. Nigeria is not about d North. Every region should d right to rule this country as long as he certifies d constitutional requirements.

hehehe

crybaby much?

the South rules now

Most respondents except some few doesn't understand my point, they think it is because Buhari lost the election.

Runner ups doesn't lose an election, but just doesn't get the required number of votes to win an election, you can't compare the number of supporters of Buhari with that of Goodluck in the North, and that of Goodluck with Buhari in the South. Someday, it will be a southerner that will become the runner-up, and then he will take up the right position of the Prime Minister. Even in sports, the runner-up take the silver while the winner take the Gold, so better understand that runner-up is not equal to a loser.

Prime Ministerial Positions will serve as an avenue to provide peace of mind and a sense of belonging between the North and the South, all sides will feel they are rightly positioned to govern the nation. No side will feel disfigured. If this will continue then very soon the country will be divided, I bet it won't be peaceful, because the North must get rid of all non-Muslims in the region, while the East must get rid of all Muslims in the region, it will lead to massacre, bloodshed, and only God knows when it will end.

As simple as A,B,C

auwal87:

Most respondents except some few doesn't understand my point, they think it is because Buhari lost the election.

Runner ups doesn't lose an election, but just doesn't get the required number of votes to win an election, you can't compare the number of supporters of Buhari with that of Goodluck in the North, and that of Goodluck with Buhari in the South. Someday, it will be a southerner that will become the runner-up, and then he will take up the right position of the Prime Minister. Even in sports, the runner-up take the silver while the winner take the Gold, so better understand that runner-up is not equal to a loser.

Prime Ministerial Positions will serve as an avenue to provide peace of mind and a sense of belonging between the North and the South, all sides will feel they are rightly positioned to govern the nation. No side will feel disfigured. If this will continue then very soon the country will be divided, I bet it won't be peaceful, because the North must get rid of all non-Muslims in the region, while the East must get rid of all Muslims in the region, it will lead to massacre, bloodshed, and only God knows when it will end.

As simple as A,B,C

We need to move towards the direction that everybody feels as Nigerians.

By the way the intention of our leaders across the nation to support President Jonathan was to avoid unnecessary friction in the country. Let have our mind on that way.

auwal87:

Most respondents except some few doesn't understand my point, they think it is because Buhari lost the election.

Runner ups doesn't lose an election, but just doesn't get the required number of votes to win an election, you can't compare the number of supporters of Buhari with that of Goodluck in the North, and that of Goodluck with Buhari in the South. Someday, it will be a southerner that will become the runner-up, and then he will take up the right position of the Prime Minister. Even in sports, the runner-up take the silver while the winner take the Gold, so better understand that runner-up is not equal to a loser.

Prime Ministerial Positions will serve as an avenue to provide peace of mind and a sense of belonging between the North and the South, all sides will feel they are rightly positioned to govern the nation. No side will feel disfigured. If this will continue then very soon the country will be divided, I bet it won't be peaceful, because the North must get rid of all non-Muslims in the region, while the East must get rid of all Muslims in the region, it will lead to massacre, bloodshed, and only God knows when it will end.

As simple as A,B,C

No need to elaborate, I got your postulation perfectly fine the first time, and it remains as undemocratic and poorly thought out as when you first conceived it. What you are basically asking is for the country to be thrown into perpetual coalitions. Each party has its manifesto and although Nigerian politics at present seems to be less about party and more about people, it does not take away from the fact that different aspirants might see different way of doing things. What might attract people to a particular aspirant is their idealogy or way of doing things (even if this might not have been the case of recent). What your proposal could create would be indecisive coalitions that foot drag on issues due to clash of ideas, when a more decisive and clear path would probably be more welcome by the people. Stop using sports analogy because they do not apply here, this is governing a country, not doing pole vault in the olympics. I repeat, if the runner up has twenty percent of the votes then on what mandate would he stand as prime minister? twenty percent? The idea is undemocratic, idealogically stunted, and continues to exploit the divide that exists in the country, not heal it. It belongs to the litany of other such ideas like federal character and zoning that continue to sacrifice competency and good governance on the alter of "carrying everybody along". I don't want my president to "carry everybody along", I just want him to get to work.

Just out of curiosity,

1. Where were these rioters when the saintly Buhari was rigged out by Yar'adua?

2. Why isn't Buhari calling for an investigation into how minors acquired voter's card?

Enough! We don't need a prime minister. We need to reduce government expenditure and stop duplicating offices like this rubbish (minister and minster of state nonsense )

Buhari lost! Deal with it! Build a proper opposition party with ideologies to point out the flaws of this government and offer solutions. Win the support of ALL the masses (NOT NW/NE) and 2015 will be yours. Stop this do-or-die matter!

Well said Sky Blue.

Sky Blue:

No need to elaborate, I got your postulation perfectly fine the first time, and it remains as undemocratic and poorly thought out as when you first conceived it. What you are basically asking is for the country to be thrown into perpetual coalitions. Each party has its manifesto and although Nigerian politics at present seems to be less about party and more about people, it does not take away from the fact that different aspirants might see different way of doing things. What might attract people to a particular aspirant is their idealogy or way of doing things (even if this might not have been the case of recent). What your proposal could create would be indecisive coalitions that foot drag on issues due to clash of ideas, when a more decisive and clear path would probably be more welcome by the people. Stop using sports analogy because they do not apply here, this is governing a country, not doing pole vault in the olympics. I repeat, if the runner up has twenty percent of the votes then on what mandate would he stand as prime minister? twenty percent? The idea is undemocratic, idealogically stunted, and continues to exploit the divide that exists in the country, not heal it. It belongs to the litany of other such ideas like federal character and zoning that continue to sacrifice competency and good governance on the alter of "carrying everybody along". I don't want my president to "carry everybody along", I just want him to get to work.

You will understand my point well when one day, the one you like to be President isn't elected, and termed a loser of the election, even though he got overwhelming number of votes. If ever it will happen.

The President's speech today is erotically mad, no one will go out to vote with this utterances. For God's sake, what's the reason for comparing Civil war with what is happening? I am lost in this.

auwal87:

You will understand my point well when one day, the one you like to be President isn't elected, and termed a loser of the election, even though he got overwhelming number of votes. If ever it will happen.

The President's speech today is erotically mad, no one will go out to vote with this utterances. For God's sake, what's the reason for comparing Civil war with what is happening? I am lost in this.

This is not about understanding your point considering you don't even know who I would have preffered in the presidency before the elections and the ensuing violence erupted. Point is understood (you don't like Buhari being called a looser), but your proposal remains weak, very poorly thought out and undemocratic. If the person I want to be president fails to secure the mandate of the people I will get over it, because the people made their choice.