LAST week, I criticised the many PDP members who objected to Yar’Adua being “foisted” on them as a presidential candidate but maintained a cowardly silence when Obasanjo (aka OBJ) instructed them to vote for Yar’Adua at the party convention in 2006…and are now bitterly blaming OBJ for problems that wouldn’t have arisen if they had stood up to him.

I HAVE never fully understood why so many Nigerian politicians insist on bitterly informing anyone who will listen to their tedious tales of woe that they were forced to comply when Obasanjo (aka OBJ), our former President, “foisted” Yar’Adua on the PDP and the nation.

Some say he was immediately taken to Katsina. Some say he was taken to the Presidential Villa. Then there are those who insist that the Acting President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, was not notified in advance…and those who say that Jonathan was not only notified in advance but was the one who made all the necessary protocol and security arrangements.

IN the past couple of columns, I have dwelled on the President’s continued absence and the courage that was so magnificently displayed by Prof. Dora Akunyili, the Minister of Information. I have also said that even though I regard the President as a basically decent man, I despise those of his loyalists who aggressively resisted moves to make Dr Goodluck Jonathan Acting President and think that a medical team should be sent to Saudi Arabia to find out whether Yar’Adua is likely to recover enough to return to his desk at some point in the near future.

Daddy also expressed the view that it would be OK if the then President (Obasanjo) replaced him with a non-Rivers person who was a decent human being.

IN last week’s column, I adopted an objective attitude towards the Jos crisis and described Christians who have slaughtered innocent Muslims – and Muslims who have slaughtered innocent Christians – as religious renegades who are just as evil as each other. Here are some of the responses I received from readers:

Yet again, Nigeria is being highlighted in international media outlets for negative reasons. While we were struggling to cope with the humiliating global coverage of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s attempted suicide bombing in America and endless embarrassing news items about President Yar’Adua’s prolonged absence in Saudi Arabia, religious riots erupted in Jos and are further damaging the country’s image.

LAST week, I wrote that I’d heard that a significant percentage of Northerners are bitterly opposed to the idea of Dr Goodluck Jonathan becoming Head of State if Yar’Adua cannot continue. I described such elements as shameless tribalists.

EVER since Mr President took off to Saudi Arabia to take care of his health, words like “rudderless” have frequently been used to describe the country he left behind.

This morning, a South African broadcaster (who shall remain nameless) told me that when she heard that our President had signed the supplementary budget in Saudi Arabia, she was extremely skeptical and wondered whether he was really in a fit state to understand the contents or pick up a pen!

MERRY Christmas to all Vanguard readers. I pray that you can take a break from any stresses you are enduring and enjoy the holiday season with your families.

By Donu Kogbara NIGERIANS have always complained bitterly about the countless inadequacies of their country and multiple shortcomings of their leaders. But the complaints have been even more embittered than usual ever since 2009 dawned nearly 12 months ago because this has been a particularly bad year for almost everyone. Every nation contains exceptions to […]

It is very painful to accept it, but everything Lord Lugard said in 1922 is still true today. He was prophetic. Today, Ikedi Ohakim, the Imo State Governor, confirms that “Nigeria has become the black sheep of the world oil producing community for her lack of accountability and unproductive use of the oil revenue.” If you think Lugard was harsh, read Ikedi Ohakim’s “The Courage To Challenge”.

A FRIEND just sent me an excerpt from The Dual Mandate In British Tropical Africa, a book that was written in 1922 by Lord Frederick John Dealtry Lugard, the British colonial administrator who spent 13 years in Nigeria – first as High Commissioner, of the Northern region, then as Governor-General of both the Northern and Southern Protectorates – at the beginning of the twentieth century.

LAST week, I quoted a friend who thinks that seduction is a “coping” or survival strategy within certain contexts and is absolutely convinced that predatory women who set out to seduce influential men deserve sympathy rather than condemnation.