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Olusegun Obasanjo is a Blown Fuse By Max Gbanite (Strategic security, Defence & Security Analyst)
One of the greatest problems plaguing leadership in Nigeria is the dearth of statesmanship in the orientation of the ruling elite. They indulged themselves at the expense of the people while pretending to be their messiahs. Their understanding of the entrenched gullibility of Nigerians has remained the critical ingredient for their sustenance in power. In decent political climes, religion, ethnicity and nepotism are negative factors and are rarely deployed in electioneering. However, these negativities are the major trending campaign winning issues in Nigeria. It is within the above context that the continuous vituperation by former President Olusegun Obasanjo should be located. The man represents all that is sick with our country and the ruling elite. He is a bundle of contradiction, hypocrisy, deceit and above all a walking illegality.
OBJ as he is fondly called by admirers and detractors had a better opportunity to transform Nigeria and set her on the path of greatness. At a time Nigerians were celebrating the dawn of democracy, he was expected to mobilize the citizenry into positive actions. The energy of the people was at his disposal to channel into productive ventures, but he threw everything away in his quest for limitless powers and personal aggrandizement. The relationship between a messenger and his message cannot be separated in this instance. Obasanjo is simply calling Nigerians a set of idiots. He must be told in clear language that his grandstanding s has been unmasked and cannot convince discerning Nigerians any more.
A man whose government earned over US$292.71billion in revenue receipts from crude oil export alone with little or nothing to show for it has no business lambasting the present administration for its failures. It is on record that OBJ presided over the biggest economic plunder in the history of this country. How else can one describe an administration that spent over US$16billion on generation, transmission and distribution of electricity with no significant improvement in the sector?
Did OBJ complete a major highway in eight years of administration? Let the former President and his supporters beat their chest and point to a major interstate motorway he started and commissioned. Meanwhile, he spent over one trillion Naira on roads during his tenure as President. Where did the money go to? It is a shame that despite his failures in building befitting road networks, he also abandoned the railway sector which the present administration has rescued. We now have modern tracks and locomotives availed Nigerians by the same President Jonathan he has continued to call names.
The petroleum industry was not spared his maladministration. He hijacked the Petroleum Ministry and made himself the sole Minister for almost seven years of his eight years tenure. He trivialized due process and promoted opaqueness in procurement and oil block administration throughout his tenure as President. Nigeria imported over 90% of refined petroleum products during his governance while our refineries were comatose. Is this a man we can take serious when issues of governance and the fight against corruption are mentioned? I beg to differ Baba Iyabo.
That the Obasanjo administration was imperious is an understatement. His government totally abridged the rights of Nigerians and subjected our national constitution to ridicule. He laid siege on all governance and administrative institutions and incapacitated them. He encouraged impunity and deployed the armed forces and police service in his quest for absolute powers in a democratic dispensation. A few examples will suffice in this instance: the impeachment of DSP Alamesiegha, Joshua Dariye and Ayo Fayose in Bayelsa, Plateau and Ekiti states respectively through unconstitutional means hugely unraveled the undemocratic nature of Obasanjo. In the three cases mentioned, parliamentarians were coerced and juiced to fulfill his dictatorial desires. It is important to note that none of them was impeached with the constitutionally prescribed members for such exercise. The case of former Governor Rasheed Ladoja is still fresh in our memories and Obasanjo’s description of late Lamidu Adedibu as the “Garrison Commander” amply demonstrated the wreckage he unleashed on our march to sustainable democracy. When did Obasanjo learn the difference between impunity and constitutionality?
It is laughable whenever the former President beats his chest on his effort at curtailing corruption. His efforts were jaundiced, dubiously designed and whimsically implemented. It was not aimed at curbing corruption but at smearing and destroying the political careers of his perceived opponents. The EFCC became the magic wand at his disposal whenever he wished to conjure charges to jail Nigerians that said no to his totalitarianism. For the records, no meaning prosecution took place under his administration. It was a case of motion without movement in the fight against graft. He is drained of the required morality needed in criticizing a sitting President on how to nip corruption in the bud. He saw corruption and allowed it to conquer him.
Without mincing words, a spade must be called by its name instead of a digger. Former President Obasanjo crowned his inglorious reign by following the footsteps of the departed military cabal that turned our constitution on its head. His zealous quest for an unconstitutional third term in office almost set this country ablaze. Members of the National Assembly were seriously induced to amend the constitution to grant him a third term in office which could have amounted to life presidency in disguise. We could have been crying today had the members of NASS toed his undemocratic route.
His quest for a third term in office cost Nigeria so much both locally and internationally. In a bid to please the west, he made concessions that affected Nigeria. The first was the handover of Charles Gankey Taylor, a former Liberian President to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague for prosecution without the mandate of the African Union that brokered the deal that brought him to Nigeria. Notwithstanding the guilt of Taylor or otherwise, that decision hinged on selfish interest completely reduced our capacity as peace brokers in the continent. That he could afford to betray the country and the African Union for his personal interest speaks volume of his patriotism.
The second was the International Court judgment on the ceding of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun not minding the feelings of the inhabitants, the economic and military interests of Nigeria. He pledged to abide by the ruling of the court on the matter before judgment was delivered. Nigeria had upper hand in the military skirmishes, hence had no business entering into such an agreement. The fact that France was at the forefront of this push should have warned him to stay clear. However, his quest for a third term and the need for the support of the west eclipsed his sense of patriotism. Very ironical that a man that claims credit for the defeat of Biafra could simply handover a huge chunk of our territory based on a court that has no jurisdiction over Nigeria; and he paid forty million dollars to his friends to represent Nigeria at the Hague.
It is deplorable for Obasanjo to accuse Jonathan of being insensitive to the plight of Nigerians. The Jonathan administration has been doing its best to protect the citizens and rehabilitate those displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency. I recall vividly what happened under his regime when bombs detonated at Ikeja cantonment. The then President visited the victims and tongue lashed them for something they knew nothing about; he orderd the decimation of Odi, and Zaki Biam communities. His arrogance as a leader was legendary and cannot be measured with anything Nigerians have seen. Nigerians will never revert back to those dark years again.
Finally, writing about the excesses and the damage the former President bestowed on the country will be inexhaustible. The present political imbalance that empowered state governors at the expense of the positive democratic culture we are striving to build was instituted by him to satisfy his personal political objectives at the time. This has been one of the banes of this republic. He has shown that he was never prepared to be a leader; during his time as Head of State (1976-1979) he looked up to the duo of Gen. TY Danjuma, and Gen. Musa Yar’Adua for directions; and in his second coming (1999-2007) he still could not deliver, and that is a clear indication of a man ill-prepared for leadership. Please Obasanjo should leave Nigerians and the President alone to build a nation devoid of impunity, corruption, autocracy and nepotism.
Practice what you preach Mr. Former President. |