How Will Obasanjo’s Legacy be Written?

By

Kunle I Sowunmi

kshoid@yahoo.com

Dallas Texas USA

How do you want to be remembered? Is a question that continues to hunt every soul not only the politicians but also everybody that is in a position to make a change in any society? A Yoruba adage says “ The king whose time and period brought happiness to the people will have his name written in gold also the king that brought sadness will always be remembered.

President Bill Clinton a Democrat and immediate past president of America in the last years of his presidency increased the salary of the presidency from $200,000.00 to $300,000.00 but he never benefited from it, his successor a Republican Gorge Bush and future presidents will be the beneficiary of this new pay check. Will Aremu and his supporters support third term if the general will not benefit from it? No. Because it is all about Aremu.

I am not too good in citing the exact verse in the Bible to support my argument but the Bible says when a society is scheduled for punishment God will give them a wicked leader and in obeying the rules of the leadership the society will be dealt with accordingly. In one of Harold Robin’s novels “ Never Love a stranger” the writer ended the book with a soul-searching quotation by saying “ To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is not to die”. The question is how will the present leadership in Nigeria be remembered? How will Obasanjo’s legacy be written?

General Obasanjo the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria I am not sure will want to be addressed as General any more but his behavior has not revealed anything civil in his style of leadership. This former military dictator turned politician has not done anything to warrant a change that can make him look like a civilian president, meaning under his “Agbada “ is the green kaki uniform. As a student of history with special study on Obasanjo since he emerged as General Muritala Mohammed’s second in command in 1975 I have not seen anything to make Obasanjo qualify to be a civilian not even when he was striped off his pride and cried to God Almighty from Jos Prison where he was programmed for guillotine by late General Sanni Abacha the then brutal Head of State Nigeria ever had.

From Jos Prison Aremu Obasanjo wept bitterly, rendered into pieces his garment like biblical David, praised God like Solomon, prayed loudly like John the Baptist, He even wrote a Christian Book titled “ The Power of Prayers” after his family and his friends abandoned him in the wilderness. His families were busy sharing his properties. His farm at Ota lost direction like a fatherless baby, his house at Abeokuta was deserted, the military men posted there disappeared.  Ita Eko in Owu Area of Abeokuta was a place nobody cared about. The General’s pride was buried in shame. O ma she o…

The Balogun of Owu and the only recognized General from Abeokuta (we have many of them) cried like a baby from the small prison room of Jos, which was not even equipped with air conditioner. Obasanjo a man of robust shape particularly in the Tommy and cheeks did not find the place very interesting at all. He did what most prisoners normally do, He read his Bible very well. He became closer to God and promised God many things if he could be released among the things he probably promised I think was to formerly apologize to Fela Anikulapo family for the wrongful acquisition of Fela house and death of his mother who was thrown from the sixth story building by the unknown soldiers. Secondly, to ask for forgiveness from the soul of his former school mate Moshood Abiola the winner of 1993 Presidential election in which he Obasanjo played an active role with Babangida in the annulment thereby robbing Nigeria a much more unifying government before being consumed by Abacha lion.

Obasanjo must have asked God to give him a second chance to make amendments in all areas of his life that he had offended the people including the Police officer he publicly slapped and canned for conducting a search on his vehicle along Idi Iroko Road when he first retired as Head of State in 1979 including those Ghanaians he shot their legs for stealing chicken and eggs from his farm and his first wife he slapped on the street of Marina in Lagos and a host of other women he had had in the past particularly the  families of the people of Ota  he acquired their land forcefully  in 1979 through land use Decree  his government introduced  and many more.

God the Omnipresence and ever forgiving God, who is always ready to give human race second, third even fourth chance as long as we repent? God believed him.  God not only forgave Obasanjo like Job in the Bible he elevated him to the position he will be able to fulfill his promises to HIM. Miracles happened. General Abacha died. The new government under an unknown General from Niger State released him from jailed.  Obasanjo had lost weight in the Tommy and cheeks, his hidden tribal marks came out vividly. Time can indeed be a healer of wounds; few months later Obasanjo became the president of the new government in the 1999 elections. Obasanjo gained all he lost like JOB in the Bible including his weight and his farm is now making $250,000 per month as he publicly claimed and his circle of friends increased and Obasanjo as a freed civilian president toured the whole world like “Ajala.” He was outside the country more than his Foreign or External Affairs Minister both were competing for esta-code (trip allowance)

Obasanjo like most human being continue to forget his promises to God and to his people. He stood between developments of his people particularly Lagos state that fought Abacha along with labor Union and press. He refused to allow state police to be established to help put an end to OPC activities and robbers in Lagos and most states of Nigeria that wanted to have State or City Police as a way to fortify democracy as being done in the western world. He closed his eyes to the type of development in USA, which can be done in Nigeria with Lagos as model. He did not approve the new Airport for Lagos at Epe; he made it difficult for Lagos Electricity project to work to maximum capacity through many federal regulations, and he did not contribute to the reconstruction of federal roads in Lagos, all the local government funds running into billions were not released despite instruction in simple English Language from the Supreme Court. Obasanjo used his office to disregards the courts orders and pronouncements.

Obasanjo forgets that Lagos is the center of commercial activities in Nigeria. To us in the south of Nigeria Lagos is like New York to America, London to UK, or like Dubai to the Middle East, and when Lagos is messed up Nigeria is messed up. It is okay for the General to have 42 local government in Kano State which if honest census can be done will not be more than Ogun State in population.  It is okay to have over 20 local governments in Ogun State but not in Lagos State. Every family in Nigeria has a family member living in Lagos state. It is the place with the highest concentration of black man on earth. Lagos is dirty, ugly, and the airport has the worst customer services in the world, which is one of the reasons it will be very difficult to have direct flight from Lagos to USA. The Airport still use outdated words; it cannot change the word Latrine to Toilet or Restroom like every modern Airport It is the only Airport in the world you will have to beg to get toilet papers before you use the restroom. The Baggage section is one of the smallest I have seen in the world. It is like the whole world is moving and Nigeria just remain standing or the world is moving too fast for the country. The facilities in Lagos are stretched beyond limit. No playing grounds, no parks, not even public restrooms; roads are all like pools or canals. Lagos represents the best and worst in the Blackman but Lagos it still our pride. In the seventies when Lagos hosted the FESTAC it was the most beautiful city in Africa. Most blacks from other countries never wanted to go back home because it gave them a pride denied from the western world.

Additional, local government will help to improve lives in Lagos. It will create jobs; it will also take attention away from the center. Additional local government will bring lot of challenges and opportunities to those in the newly created 57 councils but Obasanjo did not see it that way. To him is a challenge to his power, a defense of constitution he never obeyed himself, despite Supreme Court rulings on many negatives actions of his government from the death of Bola Ige to Obasanjo’s Library in which all contactors were levied. He made it difficult for the national Assembly to even discuss the local government unless the Lagos State Governor dissolves the present 57 council which the frustrated Bola Tinubu the Lagos Governor had to do to continue to be relevant to his people. It is all about power to him. Obasanjo does not take into consideration the feelings of the citizens in Lagos State, the Yoruba or Nigerian living in Lagos. It was all about Obasanjo no more. Obasanjo destroyed the local government and it may never happen again.

If Lagos has the highest concentration of black race in the world and Obasanjo’s action is frustrating the effort of the government of such a state it does not make any sense to the dignity of men and women of goodwill. Obasanjo at the end of his presidency will not live in Abuja he will relocate to the dusty Ota town, a suburb of Lagos the same place he denied benefits. No matter how devilish General Sanni Abacha may look to anybody he never stood between money meant for Kano state over his ego or General Babangida over funds meant for Niger state local government not even Sonekan the high chief from Abeokuta will do that against Ogun state government. Obasanjo cannot even claim the glory for the new Abeokuta/Lagos Express road it was started by Ernest Sonekan. This presidency is even a liability to his hometown Abeokuta. No single federal project can be seen by his seven years in Office in his place of birth. I hope Gani Fawehinmi the Lagos Lawyer will now understand the reason why Obasanjo wants to die in office. His report Card is poor at home.

Aremu Obasanjo must note all the promises he made to God from the Jos Prison. In the Language of Julius Caesar in the book written by Shakespeare” What touches us most shall be served last” This is Obasanjo’s principle to prove to Nigeria he is a Nigerian first before being a Yoruba man but the general is wrong you have to be the son of your father before you can become the son of the country. Charity must begin at home before it can end abroad Beeni (apology to the palm wine drinkers club) Obasanjo is a Yoruba man with tribal marks using Yoruba slot at the presidency and using the same Yoruba mandate to punish the Yoruba. It will take the next another 46 years before the presidency comes to the Yoruba again may be 106 years before another Egba man becomes the president of Nigeria.

Obasanjo cannot use corruption to fight corruption, which is his present approach. His Minister of Education can be removed from office for 55-million Naira deal but his indicted party men can be forgiven for stealing while the police IG that stole billions of naira meant for the police got only 6 months in jail term half which he spent in the government hospital or guess house. All contractors can be levied to contribute to his Library but the same person will like Governor Dariye of Plateau State to be punished for corruption and when he along with his Vice President partake in the sharing of the money his government through the EFCC is accusing Dariye of stealing maybe the governor did not give more as expected.

All the men in the congress or national Assembly can be bribed with 50 million naira each to support the third term yet he cannot see anything wrong in this.  Obasanjo can force his self appointed men to write a constitution for Nigeria maybe he does not know that the idea is even undemocratic and he thinks such a constitution from such a gathering will stand the test of Time? It is definitely for his farm. Obasanjo thinks he can decide for Nigeria how we can live, think, and work infact he thinks like Louis 14^th of France in the 18^th Century “La state de moiré” “ I am the State” before the French revolution. Obasanjo has not learnt anything from history. Nigeria owns this man nothing. He needs to go in 2007

The outcome of such a constitutional change will be problematic. It will be unfair to other races in Nigeria for Obasanjo to elongate his tenure in Office no matter his intentions. It is okay to have 50 percent derivation in 1963 constitution when cocoa, ground nuts and palm oil were doing fine but not okay when oil is now involved which will benefits the South-South and we expect the people of the south-south to just accept what ever we offer them. Will Obasanjo and his Northern friends feel the same way if oil is suddenly discovered inside Olumo Rock in Abeokuta or if Ogun river suddenly turned to Crude Oil, or Lake Chad turn out to be the greatest deposit of black gold or within Sokoto Caliphate Oil wells are scattered everywhere? No. It will be a different story.

Obasanjo used his presidency to destroy all those who fought for democracy in Nigeria. He created a parallel Labor Union to destroy the Nigeria Labor Congress to prevent collective workers opposition to his anti workers programs he increased the gas prize 12 time in his 7 years in office; he destroyed the Enahoro group that wanted the National Conference by creating a parallel one that will elongate his stay in office.

For him to have legitimate base in the West he destroyed AD the alternative political party in the West. By 2007 AD will be history but Obasanjo will not have the last laugh. Obasanjo is not a builder but a General who destroys hope and he has done this several times with 1993 election of Moshood Abiola who tagged his program “Hope 93”, Obasanjo destroyed the hope of Awolowo in 1979 when he said the best will not win the presidency while Awo was still contesting the election in court he was busy swearing in Shagari as President. At home he destroyed the right to have the right king at Owu by imposing his classmate on the people the Owu has not known peace as a result of this. He should not be allowed to further destroy the hope and future our children. He needs to go in 2007

Finally, Obasanjo’s administration will be credited for one thing and one only, the removal of National Debt, which he created himself in 1978. But he will be judged critically for his long throat for trying to elongate his state in office like General Gowon did in 1974, he will be seen as a man whom much was given but little was given back. He will be seen as a very selfish president, anti people, and anti democracy, a cavalier in civilian uniform and a man who secretly hate his people, a man who on the long run failed to realize like a gambler in the song of Kenny Rogers must know when to call it quit. This will be the legacy of Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo will be leaving behind and to this writer history will be very critical of his years in office.