Nigerians’ Short Bites From The Vice Presidential Debate (Part 1) ; By Mike Ozekhome SAN

INTRODUCTION

The Vice Presidential debate has come and gone. I watched it
very keenly. VP Yemi Osibanjo spoke to Nigerians.
Peter Obi spoke with Nigerians. That was the clear
difference. Osibanjo was tentative and cautious. Obi was
categorical and definitive.

Osibanjo reached Nigerians’ brains. Obi touched their hearts.
Osibanjo was theoretical. Obi was practical. Osibanjo struggled
with figures.  Obi gave them out effortlessly. Osibanjo is no
doubt a brilliant lawyer and Academician, doing better than PMB
whenever PMB travelled abroad. But, Obi came out more like a
seasoned Administrator, trusted Economist and Financial manager.
Let us see more.

PETER OBI:

“Our country today has the highest number of out of school
children in the world “Our inequality has worsened, our misery
index has worsened.

Currently, it is more expensive to bring out goods from Apapa
port than it is to bring in goods from Europe.

We have lots of security issues today because we are currently
unable to create jobs which other countries have created
effortlessly.

Today we are virtually at a lever where our debt is
unsustainable.

In 2015 we generated $41bn in Foreign Direct Investment, but
now, we attracted only $12bn last year. Even our stock market has
lost over N2trillion in one year. You can’t shut down your shop and
be chasing criminals.

Currently, we have a government that is doing what it is not
supposed to do. The job of Government is supervision and to create
an enabling environment for investment to thrive.The more you
invest in education, the better your economy. I have known this
even as Governor of a State where I took the state from number 28
to number 1 in education….”

NIGERIANS REACT TO THE DEBATE

You own a Superman where goods always get missing from the
shelves daily

Solution:

PDP: Peter Obi:

*install modern security gadgets

*Retrain staff,

*Tag each product with microchips

*Increase sales

APC: Prof Osinbajo:

*Lock your shop,

*Sit outside with machete,

*Chase away any suspicious looking person

*Die of Hunger

By Jimmy Abia

1. “You can’t close your shop and be chasing criminals”. By Peter
   Obi

Will they ask Buharithese question during the presidential
debate” it will be interesting to hear his responses. By Joe
Attueyi

1. If you allow the criminals to loot your entire inventory, soon
   you will find you have no shop to close in the first place – By
   Osinbajo

Nigeria, do you want more of the 4 years … freedom from the 2
man cabal- By Kadijat ANN.

So Osinbajo is actually in charge of debt management in Nigeria
and we are now at 22trillion.

He has been sharing the money. By Promise.

Are you watching this…Debate.Facts, facts and statistics from
Peter Obi. Leave sentiments Peter Obi is way sound. By Promise

1. I smell foul play. I learnt Obi had the question leaked to him
   before hand. Or how do you explain him having correlating
   statistics and facts to back answers to each and every question and
   he finishes before time?

Sound

Sound

Sound. By Revo Baba

1. Okay based on the Perceived questions leak, this may be why
   Buhari is refusing to debate with Atiku. The questions have been
   leaked to Atiku. Paddling to my Creeks, where questions are not
   leaked. By Ankio Briggs.
2. This is Peter Obi’s turf. If you have it, you have it. You
   can’t give what you don’t have even if they give you the expo. We
   have to seek constitutional amendment to change the nomenclature of
   the office from Vice President to “Vice Peter”. By Paul Ibe.

Much ado about nothing.

It’s not easy beating a SAN at this game, o cos he argues a tall
order defending an indefensible … you just end up playing with
words. By Promise

Worse still, the thief they said stole in the last shop… and
leave the one who steals your shop in your presence. By Steve
Oluyide.

Osinabnjo !!! Proud of my man!! Any day, any time. Eze goes to
school. By Tonye T. J. T Princewill.

Hope they repeat it. I forgot to record it. By Tonye T. J. T
Princewill.

This is one for the archives. By Tonye T. J. TPrincewill.

NOW THIS 2019 DEBATE: PETER OBI ON
OIL SUBSIDY ISSUES

We are subsidizing inefficiencies. If you do the right things
prices of petroleum will come down.

How can you budget N340billion for health which amounts to N5
for every Nigerian yearly, and you are paying over N8trillion on
subsidy? What are you actually subsidizing? – Peter Obi (2018)

Me: God bless you Peter Obi. Osinbajo is defending SCANDALOUS
subsidy payment that his principal, Muhammadu Buhari once called
SCAM?

Gentlemen, in 2012, the man who saw tomorrow, former President
Goodluck Jonathan removed oil subsidy. Osinbajo and his party men
led protests that Shut down the economy for over 2weeks. Today, we
are back to square one paying trillions of naira on subsidies, yet
petrol pump price is on the high side of N145/litre unlike the
N87/litre in 2015.

Gentlemen, SUBSIDY must go. Let the market forces compete
fiercely like the telecommunications sector in 1999 till date. If
Nigerians do not buy petrol less than N40/litre, call me BASKAD. By
Promise.

“You can’t lock up your shop to chases criminals” – Peter
Obi.

“Once you are not a foolish person and a possible collaborator
in the criminality, you don’t even need to chase the criminals by
yourself, whether with your shop closed or opened.

What you do, is empower the police, EFCC, ICPC and Co. and allow
or leave them to man the shop and chase the criminals away, while
you continue to do your legitimate business. That is if it is
legitimate, anyway…

But, to leave your shop opened, while chasing the criminals, you
might get backs after the exercise and discover your entire shop
and its content are gone!

If you continue to allow the criminals in your chop to loot or
steal all the inventories, then you lose shop – Prof Yemi
Osinbajo.

What Peter Obi is impliedly telling Nigerians, therefore is
that, if PDP eventually comes back to power, the party still does
not have the plans and intention to chase the criminals and won’t
bother, as usual, to empower the security to man the shop, so that
the business of corruption and criminality they perpetrated in
power can continue to open.

# BuhariOsinbajoMyNextVote

OlukayodeSalako, Buhari/Osinbajo Mandate Group Campaign
Organisation

Always proud of PYO. By Lateef Ibirogba

 AND THIS

#FACTCHECKED.

NIGERIA HAS OVER 11M VEHICLES AND NOT 2M By. Toney T.J.T
Princewill

That’s the total population. They can’t all be on d roads
always, everyday By Promise.

And you are paying 1Trillion NAIRA subsidsing petrol every year
for 11 million vehicles?

Authority stealing.

Who is subsidizing whom (in Buhari’s voice). By Joe Attueyi

Truth is that the so called Buhari subsidy is a scam tailored to
subside inefficiency and cabalism. By Paul Ibe.

Someone who is in business is different from a pastor coming
from the classroom. By PKA

I wish the VP debate is strictly between Prof and Peter Obi, the
rest should have sat at home to watch Zee world or Telemundo.
(To be concluded next week).

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“In all intellectual debates, both sides tend to be correct in
what they affirm, and wrong in what they deny.” (John
Stuart Mill).

LAST LINE

Nigerians, please continue to engage me in the national
conversation, whilst awaiting explosive topics of Sunday Sermon on
the Mount of the Nigerian Project by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR,
FCIArb., Ph.D, LL.D.