"WE need a very strong President in our country. We need a man who will do what is right for the nation as an entity and for the people. We need a man who will put programmes and policies that will lift the ordinary man from the doldrums of poverty to happiness. We need a man who will stand against all forms of social injustices; the most paramount is corruption." A few of the powerful new year statements from Gani Fawehinmi about the kind of nation Nigeria should be.

The bold and insensitive dismissal of Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), by the Nigeria Police marks the end of pretention by the Umaru Yar'Adua administration and the beginning of reality and truth regarding what Nigeria is about to become. This president is neither a pathfinder nor a savior, but a protector of the ugly past. It is time for well-meaning Nigerians to wake up from an 18-month slumber to do whatever it would take to crush the stumps of the past before it regrows.