“When at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each one of us… recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state-our success or failure in whatever office we may hold will be measured by the answers to four questions; were we truly men of courage? … Were we truly men of judgment? … Were we truly men of integrity? … Were we truly men of dedication? …” – John F Kennedy, 9th January 1961.
Leaders lean towards leaving legendary legacy; a few functional followers fixated on foreseeable future, glean and learn from such leaders with the hope of bettering the performance of their mentors. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo once saliently and succinctly stated while participating in a one-day seminar of the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) that “his generation has failed Nigeria.” This was captioned in the Guardian newspaper edition of 28th February 2017. However, as if to encourage and placate himself, he added that men of his generation have helped in midwifing “a united and stable country under a democratic dispensation.” This columnist was born around the time Nigeria was birthed as an independent entity. Hence, how could he be so bold as pinpointing Baba Obasanjo’s faltering or floundering footsteps? In Yoruba common parlance, it is said: “omode gbon, agba gbon, la fi da ile Ife” (meaning: the combination of the wisdom of children and elders culminated in the founding of the ancient town of Ile Ife). This in concurrence and congruence with the statement of John F. Kennedy, erstwhile United States of America (USA) president, made in an address at the Vanderbilt University in 1963: “Liberty without learning is always in peril; and learning without liberty is always in vain.” In essence, in this information age embedded and emplaced in digital technology, wisdom may not all the time domiciled with the elders. It is imperative to interrogate and harness ideas and information across all strata of the population even as our country is populated with no less than 60% of youths. It is in this vein that this columnist will want to approach the topic as a researcher with a critiquing, and not a critical, lens. It is gladdening therefore that Baba Obasanjo himself, in reflecting and retrospection, admitted some faulty footsteps were taken in our country’s trajectory to the utopia and/or mythical promised land of milk and honey.
Erstwhile President Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo, GCFR, recently celebrated his 85th birthday in grand style. He was grateful for God’s graciousness to him. Definitely, Dr. Olusegun Obasanjo, is one of the most favoured Nigerians alive or dead having been in the corridors of power before attaining the age of 40. He partook gallantly in the fratricidal civil war and came out telling the story unlike some who went with the war! He later became a federal commissioner (minister); a member of the supreme military council rising to the second in command; subsequently becoming a head of state after the demise of General Murtala Muhammed from 1976 to 1979; and finally, he became the civilian president after he was released from prison and drafted into politics. He was for two terms of eight years the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. This columnist once referred to Obasanjo’s emergence, as an accidental one in that he was unprepared, with no articulated agenda to rule and reinforce transformation in the body politic of Nigeria – a multi ethnic, multi-cultural and multi- religious enigmatic entity.
Feat in governance
The main ingredient in the unique treatise: “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty” jointly written by the duo of Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, both professors at Harvard University, is the imperatives of inculcating inclusive institutions in governance. It is veritable and visible to squarely state that Obasanjo built functional and sustainable institutions for Nigeria. Notable among which are Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC); Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); Independent and Corrupt Practices and Related Offenses Commission (ICPC); Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), etc. In addition, there were massive reforms in the armed forces and public service. In the former, his government retired up to 200 military officers with over 90 of them holding political posts which invariable invalidated coup making. This was followed by moving the Ministry of Defense from Lagos to Abuja. This was a strategic move that checkmated coup plotting thus stabilizing democracy. In the public service, Obasanjo increased the minimum wage whilst at the same time boosted the take home emolument of political office holders with the supposed intention of crippling or checkmating corruption and attracting capable and competent people into the political arena. Aftermath of Nigeria being listed as the most corrupt country in the world, the EFCC and ICPC were founded to fight corruption. Even though Obasanjo’s government approach was tagged politically selective, it was a good way to suffocate and stifle corruption as few years after, the rating of Nigeria improved on a global scale in comparison to years before the establishment of EFCC and ICPC.
The reforms in the financial and telecommunication s sectors impacted the economy positively most especially the innovation inculcated in the banking sector. The duo of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, then Minister of Finance, and Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo, then CBN Governor were positively passionate and progressive in this direction resulting in raising GDP growth fixated around 3% between 1999 and 2000 to 6% even though this was enhanced by higher oil prices. In the same vein, foreign reserves meteorically rose from $2 billion in 1999 to $43 billion in 2007. Moreover, in impacting the economy positively, the era of Obasanjo helped Nigeria greatly in securing through intensive lobbying, negotiation and persuasion debt pardons from the duo of Paris and London clubs amounting to a humongous amount of $18 billion; and subsequently paying another whopping $18 billion to make the country debt free.
The Other Side of the Coin
In the second part of this article, because of space constraint, this columnist will torchlight certain unpalatable or dark side (as scholars referred to it in the leadership literature or inquiry) of the Obasanjo era taking cognizance of the utterance of Baba Obasanjo at his birthday symposium that most presidential aspirants should be in jail if EFCC and ICPC acting in concert with the judiciary did their jobs. As readers await the second part of this treatise, this columnist would want to advocate for a constitutional amendment that would strip incumbent governors and president of immunity to prosecution. In concluding this piece, it is sagacious to state simply and squarely that “people who stay in glass houses should not throw stones.” Baba Obasanjo, as both national and international elder statesman, in these days of digital technology, should be cautious and concerned with the content and context of his writings and speech as internet does not forget. It is true that EFCC and ICPC were veritable and credible institutions set up during the incumbency of Dr. Obasanjo, yet they were not unleashed not just against Obasanjo but all past presidents of Nigeria. If the duo were loosed to probe the details of Yar Adua’s era highlighting management of his health before his eventual demise; if Dr. Goodluck’s era was to be spotlighted fixating on Madam Diezani in charge of the seeming ubiquitous petroleum industry, there would be cataclysmic and catastrophic upheavals that would seemingly unsettle the socio – economic and political fabric of the country. In Ibadan dialect, it is said “e ja ka da le” meaning: let us just be still and silent. Readers, as this columnist appreciates your interests, this is looking forward to meeting you on this page next week whilst expecting your timely and useful feedback. Once again, thank you.
- John Ekundayo, Ph.D. – Harvard-Certified Organizational Strategist, and also a Leadership Development Consultant, can be reached via 08155262360 (SMS only) and drjmoekundayo@hotmail.com