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A man is taken either for his word or his person. In both cases, Nigerians have learnt how not to take the leadership of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for any. The ruling class at all levels has lost integrity as individuals and credibility as political leaders.
There was hardly any case within the last twelve months that I actually sympathized with President Olusegun Obasanjo as a leader, but the case of the recent outburst of his erstwhile political adviser (now former) Prof Jerry Gana, presented an opportunity for me to weep for Mr President.
What is President Obasanjo now going to answer Gana? That the statement was made in bad blood because he sacked him or that it was a fabricated lie to distance the political gladiator from the third term mischief which he (Gana) conceived, nurtured, marketed and defended with the hope of remaining politically relevant at the Presidency. Whatever the President says, Nigerians know that what Prof Gana said about his advise to the President against the third term project was the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
However, whether the president personally asked for the project is not the crux of the matter but the betrayal of trust by Gana at this point in time when the President is managing credibility and integrity crisis.
It is disheartening that after being sacked in May as the Political Adviser in the last cabinet re-shuffle, Jerry Gana’s first public pronouncement was to castigate the man that helped him remain relevant in the scheme of things since the military (which of course he was a visible player) handover of power to an elected government.
It took the sacking of the shameless Gerrymander for him to tell Nigerians that President Olusegun Obasanjo himself insisted on going for a third term and that he failed to heed advice against the dangerous gambit that could have split the country.
These are the words of Prof Gana- the Gerrymander, "I didn’t keep quiet. Many a time I made it clear to him that the third term thing was not right because we had advised on a single term of six years.
“I talked severally and very, very loudly to my boss (Obasanjo) but my words could not make the expected impact. May be you did not hear about it because I was not doing so on the pages of newspapers or in the media.
“It was because the president wanted it his own way that was why the people rose up to oppose the plot, leading to its failure”.
I know exactly what Chief Aremu Obasanjo could have answered Prof Gana if he were to be in the arena where his erstwhile adviser granted the interview arena with him. The President would have said “Jerry Gana, I no blame you. No be your fault. Go ahead and insult me after all you know how you deh before I picked you up in 1999.Were you not among those my close political friends that presented 1001 reasons why I should continue in office beyond 2007”.
What does Gana think he is up to: to fool Nigerians again? He has successfully done that since Babangida’s administration. Though recent declaration of interest to run for presidency by the Minna politician may have pitched him against his Minna brother except that it looks like another act of Gana’s political gerrymandering
In the entire length and breadth of Nigeria, Gana has no other witnesses but Ojo Madueke and Kanu Agabi to prove that he advised Chief Obasanjo against the third term project. Praise God, he has witnesses at all, but the problem is that Nigerians would find it more difficult believing Gana’s witnesses than Gana’s former boss- Chief Obasanjo.
Hear Gana, the presidential hopeful: "I and my good brothers, Ojo Maduekwe and Kanu Agabi, had taken that position at the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC) and many of the people who should have backed it agitated that the document be thrown out. I view that to be a terrible mistake the conference had made".
As the former presidential aide could not have said anything contrary, he emphasized that he has no regret serving under Obasanjo, but "we are not going to be in the exact direction of the present government (come 2007), we shall apply our own policies with a human face" if elected.
A cursory look at everybody that has served at one time or the other in the President’s cabinet particularly within the last two years will in plane language tell Obasanjo that nobody has left his cabinet or the wider government circle without either abusing him or saying things (which most times were truths) derogatory to either his person or his style of order- is –order rule.
Look at the plethora of media reports from key players in his cabinet, both those dropped in the last reshuffle and those still serving, from Doyin Okupe and co. to Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, everybody is complaining publicly and secretly that “Mr President does not take advise and always likes doing things his own way. He does not consult anybody especially when he knows that you will tell him what he does not want to hear”.
The problem of President Obasanjo is that he failed to learn from Nicholo Machiavelli’s exhortation to the Medicci king. Mr President failed to realize that a king who comes to power with a borrowed or foreign troop must move quickly to destroy that troop and build his own army. If that was what he set out to achieve with the last cabinet reshuffle, Mr President may have made a costly mistake.
Considering political events of the last few months, let President Obasanjo undertake a clear-minded critique of the integrity and sincerity of all the people that worked and are still working with him directly or remotely in his cabinet since 1999. Such exercise will obviously show him who his actual enemies were, are, and will be.
The President after such soul search (if he agrees to do it) would honestly acknowledge that his second-in-command, Vice President Atiku Abubakar may not have been as disloyal as Mr President was made to believe by this same corp of selfish aides who are now disgracing him all over the place.
With the exception of a very, very few names, many of the president’s men are opportunists and professional gerrymanders who derived their relevance from the president and in their service or rather loyalty to him, created the legion of problems he is currently facing pertaining to his credibility and integrity. The Jerry Ganas in Mr President’s political circle instead of bringing much value to him has helped erode whatever credibility and integrity he came with into the Presidency in 1999.
Ahmadu Ali has single-handedly dismantled what was previously described as the biggest political party in Africa. Andy Uba is yet to explain the unapproved purchase of military hardware from Israel. The ghost of dilapidated federal roads still hunt Chief Anennih with all the billions he pocketed as minister of works and Chairman PDP Board of Trustees. The Nigerian Ports Authourity hangman is still chasing Olabode George. Ojo Maduekwe and Kanu Agabi are now natives of Abuja because their discordant tones in and around the presidency have removed them from the feelings of their people.
In my candid opinion, I would strongly advise Mr President to quickly mend fence with his second –in-command, Atiku Abubakar. It will be more profitable to forgive Atiku for whatever offence (real or perceived) that he may have committed against you, for it is better to have a friend and associate who would tell you the truth no matter how bitter it may sound at first, than to have army of cunning crooks who tells you only what you want to hear only to go behind disgracing and castigating you for not taking advise or being high-handed on issues. I love you Mr President. Please consider my advice for there are still so many gerrymanders around you. # SENIOR FYNEFACE JP IS A PORT HARCOURT-BASED VETERAN JOURNALIST AND COMMENTATOR ON PUBLIC AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS.
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