a 2year old car, bought brand new that already has mileage 96,000? was it being used for long distance haul?

he cant be replaced....true

lol

Bill Clinton may well have been talking to Nigerians as well as Americans when he gave his speech early this morning at the Democratic National Convention in North Carolina.

From my little corner over here, I been watching as the Presidential elections in America heat up and I have found the Democratic National Convention very interesting. While I thought Michelle Obama’s speech yesterday was amazing, Clinton’s earlier this morning simply blew me away.

While Michelle’s flowery rhetoric dwelt more on sentiment and emotion, Clinton’s was issue based, fact centered and a Democratic Party riposte of sorts- tearing down Republican fuelled myth’s and sophist barbs spearheaded by Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan.

I liked the fact Michelle dwelt on the American dream and the indefatigable American spirit, about hardwork, dignity in labor, decent existence and social mobility leading all on the path to a fulfilling existence.

I liked Michelle’s allusion to the sacrifice and struggles of past Americans- how they conquered self doubt and raised beams of steel to the skies, sent men to the moon, and connected the world with the touch of a button.

I loved the part about farmers and blacksmiths winning independence from an empire, immigrants leaving their birthplaces to chase an alien dream- the American dream, I liked her anecdote about a generation defeating a depression and the young preacher (I guess Martin Luther King) lifting everyone to the mountaintop with his righteous dream- she encapsulated the American dream as one of unwavering hope grounded in unyielding struggle.

Clinton didn’t suffer fools gladly when he took centre stage this morning- he had no time for emotion unlike Michelle Obama with her ‘we were so young, so in love, so in debt’ aphorism that had the women shedding a tear.

He told the crowd he was endorsing a President who had a job to do- a man who stopped the slide of America into depression, a man who would build a new American dream economy driven by innovation and creativity, education and cooperation.

Clinton spoke about the Democrats ideal of a strong middle class and empowerment of the poor, about advancing equal opportunity and economic empowerment as discrimination, poverty and ignorance restrict growth while investment in education, infrastructure, scientific and technological research increase it, creating more jobs and generating wealth for all.

He spoke about Obama’s Recovery program that stemmed job losses, created millions of new jobs, cut taxes for 95% of Americans, created 4.5million jobs in the last 29months, restructured the auto industry, cut green house emissions, doubled renewable energy, embarked on student loan reforms etc.

Clinton also broached the contentious issue of healthcare (where spending has grown under 4% for the first time in 50years) and Medicare- where Obama saved money by cutting unwarranted subsidies to providers and insurance companies, adding 8years to the lifespan of the medicare trust fund.

He also spoke about Medicaid, welfare and debt as well as controls on future spending- Romney’s plan of debt reduction that begins with a $5trillion dollar tax cut in 10years being inferior to Obama’s $4trillion in debt reduction over the same period

Clinton said the Republicans want to cut taxes for higher income Americans (against Obama’s plan for lower income families to enjoy that relief), get rid of financial regulations to prevent another crash, prohibit future bailouts, increase defence spending bla bla.

He said Obama wants to lay the foundation for a well balanced economy that will produce millions of jobs, vibrant new businesses, and wealth for innovators.

He ended his speech with two options for Americans- if they want the ‘on your own, survival of the fittest’ type of America, they can vote Romney. If they want an all inclusive America, one of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities, then they must vote Obama.

Relating this to the Nigerian experience while listening to Clinton, I couldn’t see much difference between what the American Democrats want to achieve and what the GEJ government wants to achieve via the Transformation Agenda.

Many Nigerians have not read the Vision 20:20 documents neither have they had a glimpse of the Transformation Agenda blueprint but they are always the loudest critics and naysayers. The implementation of these two may be flawed here, but they capture the essence and spirit of the Nigerian dream too.

Like the Americans, the Transformation Agenda wants to create a more rounded economy, create jobs, create more vibrant businesses, generate wealth and push for economic empowerment and emancipation. The agenda also seeks vasts investments in education, infrastructure, scientific and technological research. It seeks to control inflation, reduce cost of lending, interest rates and unemployment.

Investment climate reforms, ports administration a new and improved tax regime and heavy investments in infrastructure is what this dispensation is championing. Ofcourse, many seem not to be seeing the effects, but as Michelle quoted Obama as saying, ‘we are playing a long game here…and that change is hard, and change is slow, and it never happens all at once.’

Clinton reinforced this ‘slow change’ philosophy yesterday when he said that under his government around 1994 -5, the American economy was roaring, the policies were working, but most people didn’t feel it and were complaining- even now, Americans are complaining about their economy.
This perception changed with time for the Clinton administration.

In America today, as Clinton says, Republican argument is simple- Obama inherited a total mess, and if he hasn’t cleaned it fast enough, kick him out and bring opposition in. In Nigeria, the argument is much the same- If GEJ cannot solve the security problem, provide electricity and infrastructure fast enough, he should resign.

How simplistic but then this is the fodder those who happen to either out of the corridors of power, or those genuinely not feeling the impact of government in the short term feed on.

As Clinton also says, when times are tough, constant conflict may be good politics, but in the real world, cooperation works better- which is what many opponents of government must do right now in distracting goverment less and less and pushing the wheels of governance ahead.

Opposition think government is the enemy and compromise is weakness but asides stringent critiscm that bothers on the absurd and ludicrous, they also have practiccaly done nothing in making sure that the Nigerian dream also becomes as attractive as its American equivalent.

I have never ever dumped any girl..i always make sure they leave me. I stop getting all mushy...i reduce then stop calling, and i start posting you when you say you want to see me. You soon get the message and we drift apart..its always easy for me becuae I have only dated very beautiful women, and even while in the relationship with me, they always had men running after them, so for a woman like that, its always easy for her to move on

El Rufai finally makes sense...on a rare occassion

Buhari wants to kill himself? He better hand over the baton to a younger man and turn kingmaker

Second gold also in the kitty..what our able bodied athletes couldnt do

Nairaland is quite an interesting place.
Well, the I guess the Minister must have meant that figuratively if at all he said it. But no where in the said article was the Minister quoted verbatim as saying South Africa is Nigeria's big brother. The Minister has a facebook page which I stumbled on and he referenced this same meeting on his page four days. He only said Nigeria had been at the forefront of the apartheid struggle and any collaboration that helped South Africa move further and further away from their tortuous past was always welcome by the Nigerian Goverment.

You would do well to read the Minister himself on his own facebook page on:

http://www.facebook.com/SamuelOrtom/posts/519163758109644

Nnaji should have been told to pull out of the Privatization process and concentrate on his minisiterial duties. he should have been given a second chance.his performances merited a second chance

Chelsea all the way....they may have beaten Fulham 3 or four years ago, but beating another London side riding high on enthusiasm and motivation may yet be a bridge too far

The endorsements have begun...more will soon follow

Still smarting from the NOI efrrontery?

LASTMA needs to be more civilized in their operations

when will Nigerians ever learn? so many such incidences in the past yet same attitude