personally i give it to none other than the garrison commander of Ibadan, the Molete high chief, the landlord of Oyo state, and finally amongst many the FATHER OF AFRICA'S BIGGEST POLITICAL PARTY!
LAMIDO ADEDIBU.

well not much of a choice anyway

POLITICIAN<

I have to say IBB AKA MARRADONA BABANGIDA< TOOTHLESS GENERAL

DICTATOR, Murderer, Pot belly yanga man

I picked him for thinking he can maradona his way back to ASO ROCK.

I will give it to ATIKU.

He stood firm in the face of OBJ onslaught and he showed that Nigeria judicial system can work if people dont coward before evil.

Kudos.

@babasin:

Absolutely accurate.
The man stood for his rights. He was taken to court a million times by OBJ and his junkies, and he won each and every case. He fought like a warrior.
There was a time he left for London for medical reason and folks were busy speculating that he disappeared because he did not want to be arrested.
In few weeks, the man returned back home with his chest up swinging like a bee; and indeed, he was one of the presidential candidates for the 2007 election.

He went through hell dealing with OBJ, but never for once budged.

Absolutely KUDOS!

I give it to DAVID MARK! This guy is goooooddd, he was able to transform himself from a military dictator dat he was to a loving "man of the people" DAVID is the man,


if u ask me to pick a second, i will pick senator Ken Nnamani.

Nigeria: President Umaru Yar'Adua
For being the first president, in recent memory, to publicly declare his assets at the beginning of his presidency; and for bringing back the rule of law and respect for court decisions jettisoned by the much too abrasive and crude ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo.

United States: A tie between Mike Huckabee and Senator Barack Obama
Huckabee: For an astonishing rise in the poll, moving from an obscure contender to a potential candidate.
Obama: For gaining grounds in the polls and, so far, surviving the Clinton machinery.

World stage: A tie between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and President Vladimir Putin of Russia
Ahmadinejad: For standing strong in the face of Western propaganda and lies against his nation, only to be vindicated by intelligence reports from a key Western nation; and for delivering one of the most thought-provoking speeches at the United Nations General Assembly on September 26, 2007 (http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iran/2007/iran-070926-irna01.htm).
Putin: For an excellent job turning Russia's economy around, and attempting to adapt democracy to suit the peculiarities of Russia.

@ richyblack

Putin is time magazine's man of the year.

Is your question restricted to Nigeria or the world over?

governor rotimi amaechi of rivers state: FOR GETTING THE GOVERNORSHIP POST ON A PLATTER OF GOLD

President Umaru Yar'adua for judicially followiing due process and obeying the rule of law during his thus so far period as President of our great nation.
This has been demostrated in the various election tribunal,the Bakassi issue, the Ette saga, and most notably and interesting, the picking up of the erstwhile Gov. James Onanefe "Odidigborigbo" Ibori of Delta state. Yar'adua could have stepped in in Ibori's case and grant him amnesty, but rather chose to let due process follow its course. This is the true attribute of a servant-leader.


              GOD BLESS PRESIDENT UMARU MUSA YAR'ADUA, AND GOD BLESS NIGERIA OUR GREAT NATION

jay bee:

@ richyblack

Putin is time magazine's man of the year.

Thanks jay bee. I already started a thread on that here

PS Ahmadinejad is a puppet of the clerical council of Iran, he holds no real power

My politician of the year? I'd have to say Putin too. . .strong economy, strong internal support. A truly charismatic and focused leader. He does have his faults, not tolerating much dissent and re-centralizing too much (in my view) but with the large support of his people, no one can question his mandate to rule. With his adept use of Russia's energy wealth/power and re-invigorating the armed forces, he is bringing Russia to the forefront again as a world power - not only militarily but economically as well.

debosky:

My politician of the year? I'd have to say Putin too. . .strong economy, strong internal support. A truly charismatic and focused leader. He does have his faults, not tolerating much dissent and re-centralizing too much (in my view) but with the large support of his people, no one can question his mandate to rule. With his adept use of Russia's energy wealth/power and re-invigorating the armed forces, he is bringing Russia to the forefront again as a world power - not only militarily[b] but economically as well.[/b]

How did Putin re-invigorate the Russian economy?

My preferred nominees will be Sarkozy,Lee Myung-bak and Anders Fogh Rasmussen.All were elected this year against great odds are competent,intelligent right-of-centre politicos

Is there any worse than Shinzo Abe? Obviously,there are more clueless politicos around the world,but for one running a major country,he beats the competition.

How did Putin re-invigorate the Russian economy?

if you did basic search, you will have found below in TIMES MAGAZIN

Russia lives in history—and history lives in Russia. Throughout much of the 20th century, the Soviet Union cast an ominous shadow over the world. It was the U.S.'s dark twin. But after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Russia receded from the American consciousness as we became mired in our own polarized politics. And it lost its place in the great game of geopolitics, its significance dwarfed not just by the U.S. but also by the rising giants of China and India. That view was always naive. Russia is central to our world—and the new world that is being born. It is the largest country on earth; it shares a 2,600-mile (4,200 km) border with China; it has a significant and restive Islamic population; it has the world's largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction and a lethal nuclear arsenal; it is the world's second largest oil producer after Saudi Arabia; and it is an indispensable player in whatever happens in the Middle East. For all these reasons, if Russia fails, all bets are off for the 21st century. And if Russia succeeds as a nation-state in the family of nations, it will owe much of that success to one man, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

No one would label Putin a child of destiny. The only surviving son of a Leningrad factory worker, he was born after what the Russians call the Great Patriotic War, in which they lost more than 26 million people. The only evidence that fate played a part in Putin's story comes from his grandfather's job: he cooked for Joseph Stalin, the dictator who inflicted ungodly terrors on his nation.

When this intense and brooding KGB agent took over as President of Russia in 2000, he found a country on the verge of becoming a failed state. With dauntless persistence, a sharp vision of what Russia should become and a sense that he embodied the spirit of Mother Russia, Putin has put his country back on the map. And he intends to redraw it himself. Though he will step down as Russia's President in March, he will continue to lead his country as its Prime Minister and attempt to transform it into a new kind of nation, beholden to neither East nor West.

@babasin

You folks of the "copy and paste brigade" can't articulate your own opinion.How does that Times piece answer the question,what did Putin do to re-invigorate the economy?

What particular Putin policy can you point to as being responsible for Russia's growth? Name one policy.Let me give you time to use Google

How did Putin re-invigorate the Russian economy?

@I-Man

I'll respond to your question with Putin's reply to an interview question on prices of oil being so high:

Time: You must feel lucky that the price of oil is so high.

Putin: Fools are lucky. We work day and night!
"
None of us here is Russian so no one might be able to give you specific answers. I only have an analogy to describe Putin and Russia's oil wealth.
Putin and Obasanjo came into power in the same year 1999. both left or would leave in 2007. Both had a huge revenue due to oil boom. Putin fixed his economy and his people love him despite his autocratic style. The same cannot be said about Obasanjo.

I lift from my earlier post in Nairaland on another thread on Putin:

"Some fools are already claiming Putin's success was as a result of the recent Oil boom, while forgetting that their father of modern Nigeria, Obasanjo, was in power within the same 1999-2007 that Putin was in power, with all the antendant oil boom for Nigeria. Even in Putin's high handedness, the Russians love him. Can that be said about Obasanjo and his new Nigeria? The more i studied about Putin all day, the more i realize that Obasanjo needs to be erased from our lexicon. He is an utter failure."

Zuma of SA

The crazy man had sex (raped) with a lady that is HIV positive, stole money and still able to bounce back to defeat Mbeki. I heard that there is 80% possibility that he might be the next SA president.

Only in Africa!

@EmekaNaija

A better answer would have been,"fools expect politicians to abhor self-promotion".

I guess you expected a politician to avoid taking credit ,maybe you expected something like this:

Time: You must feel lucky that the price of oil is so high.

Putin: I can't deny that I was fortunate to be President at a time of tremendous energy bonanza

Even his fatuous response revealed that he has no answer to the simple question,what did you do to revive the economy?

@I-man

You need to read more about Putin to understand what he has or has not done.

@Big B1

Only in Africa

If you truly believe in the ideals of Democracy and the rule of law, then you wouldnt have made that statement. Zuma remains innocent until proven guilty. Why would the prosecutor wait till he won the election to decide whether to prosecute him or not.
On the contrary, i think Nigeria, and PDP in particular, should learn a lesson from South Africa and the ANC. Obasanjo needs another class at national open university on Mbeki and South African democracy. This is because babacracy as practised by Obasanjo is no where near the ideals of democracy or any form of government known to man, for that matter.

EmekaNaija:

@I-man

You need to read more about Putin to understand what he has or has not done.

A euphemistic way of saying,I don't know. Simple assignment-what policies of Putin brought about growth?

For many leaders-Lee Kuan Yew,Mahathir Mohammed,Deng Xiaoping,Chiang Kai-shek,e.t.c-one can easily point to major policy decisions that caused their economic development.The Putin praise singers are lost for words.The answer lies in the old cliche-correlation is not the same as causation

I believe that ZUMA was prosecuted; in fact, he admitted that he was wrong. I guess, we are now experiencing a rebirth of Dr. Zuma.

Again, only in Africa.

I do not think Zuma represents a true leader anyone should look up to.

The difference between Abacha and Putin is not that much.

Yea,you are right Big B1. Just the way Abacha differed so much from Obasanjo yet the devil Abacha turned out better than Angel Oby.

@I-man

I told you i'm not Russian and do not have much interest in Russia since i have no business dealings with it. But as the American thinking goes: the leader is responsible for the failures and successes of his organization or government. That is why a successful CEO can be sacked with just a quarter of poor performance.

Putin has brought growth in some ways, though I wouldn't go as far as saying he 're-invigorated' the economy - the deals to strengthen and expand the reach of firms like Gazprom, Sibneft, and a few others by allowing them to go it alone on a number of large oil and gas projects instead of JV's have ensured that those profits remain in-country and don't go into the coffers of Shell, BP and Exxon.

His recent signing of an agreement to conduit Turkmenistan gas through Russia to Europe defeated the Western plans for an alternative route, and this will definitely result in stronger economic strength as well as an improved bargaining position with the EU as regards Gas supply in general.

Expanded military spending will also create jobs and increase profits in the military-industrial complex of Russia. . .in addition to the renewed infrastructure development as a result of higher resource earnings.

Those are a few I can think of, like I said not too many 'policies' as such but more a sense of belief and resurgence of the Russian Federation has been fostered by his personal charisma and the higher energy prices.

Big B1:

The difference between Abacha and Putin is not that much.

Though we don't agree most of the times I do believe you are intelligent, but the above post is far from being intelligent

Do not define Putin from an American or CNN point of view

You know what? you're right, I truly do not know much about the man, my point of view is purely straight from CNN. I hate getting involved in stuff I do not know; but something tells me that this man (Putin) can not be trusted.

I will chill and allow you guys to continue with the discussion, while I learn one or two things from my Nigerian family.

I love u so much Bigb1

Putin has brought growth in some ways, though I wouldn't go as far as saying he 're-invigorated' the economy - the deals to strengthen and expand the reach of firms like Gazprom, Sibneft, and a few others by allowing them to go it alone on a number of large oil and gas projects instead of JV's have ensured that those profits remain in-country and don't go into the coffers of Shell, BP and Exxon.

These are all ex post facto.Russia's economy picked up in 99/00,same time as energy prices started edging up.So how things done fairly recently could be responsible for economic growth commencing late 99 defies logic.

Even then,the effect on of those particular policies on Russia's economy is highly debatable.I haven't seen one single economist who thought it helps Russia.Most of those projects,like the famous Sakhalin 2, haven't come on stream yet and it was only last year the major multi-nationals were made to sell their stake.

Higher military spending by Russia boosts their economy? That is not even worth addressing.

Putin will be nothing without high energy prices.Almost all the growth is generated by hydro-carbons for which Putin is not responsible for its boom

Na CNN lock up Boris Nemtsov and Gary Kasparov ? Is it CNN that murdered pesky Russian journalists,human rights activist and and detained numerous opposition leaders?

I thought the funniest statement in Russia which epitomised the farce was when Medvedev said:"I consider it of utmost importance for our country to keep Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin in the highest post of executive power"-they are going to change the constitution to confer more executive powers on the PM,which role Putin will take.If the Nigerian President attempted this,we will be up in arms

Putin is obviously not a model democrat, yes he was a former KGB agent who is capable of doing anything to retain his authority

he will leave a better economy than he met it (regardless of what oil market forces you attribute this to), at least there are those who inherited the most vibrant economy in the world but will leave it in a mess, with House Prices skyrocketing, Bank and insurance companies failing, and energy bills skyrocketing because of their miscalculated war in the middle east.

Putin may have murdered or imprisoned one or two persons who he considered a threat to his office, but their are those who have murdered a generation based on false intelligence and propelled by their insatiable thirst for oil.

Putin will leave a better Foreign Image of Russia than he met it, his country is now taken more seriously in the scheme of things in the committee of Nations. There are those who inherited the once World police, the pacesetters, but will leave a country with a battered image not taken too seriously as was the case anymore.

Russians right now feel very good being Russians regardless of how the West wants to look at Putin, who knows a better definition of a Successful Leader?

Those who adore a failed leader merely because he is the US President, have no business lecturing us on who makes a great leader.

@McKren a.k.a Robert Ford is a historian

Fatuous comparisons are your stock in trade.Putin murdered one or two dead people?Yes,the 100,000 dead in Chechnya,Russia are just "one or two" dead people.Who needs tens of thousands of innocent brown skinned Russians?Ingushetia is absolutely fantastic,maybe you should visit it instead of hiding out in the US and heaping praise on a nation agush with the blood of innocent Russia Muslims.

Putin will leave a better economy than he met it?Well,Nostradamus,Putin still has more years in power with the impending amendment of the constitution and his proposed occupation of the PM position.So,Mr Sorcerer,unless you know how the economy will be whenever Putin leaves power,your statement is absurd.