FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo pulls no punches in a duel. As a soldier and a general to boot, his combat like approach to issues can be understandable. He is not afraid to speak his mind, no matter whose ox is gored. Whenever he perceives things are not going on well, he intervenes, calling on the leadership to mend its way. At times, the intervention may be for personal reasons and not in the national interest.
Without doubt, our nation needs people like him who can speak out once in a while to shake things up or rouse the powers-that-be from slumber. There is no leader in recent memory that Obasanjo has not taken on, be they those he helped to install and those he never supported. To him, they are fair game. Yes, he has a right, just like every other Nigerian, to speak whenever he feels like, but he cannot abuse that right by donning the toga of Mr Know All.
That, to many, has been his attitude in his relationship with those who succeeded him after he left office in 2007. Obasanjo, they say, wants to be in the driver’s seat always. He wants to call the shots and dictate to the man at the helm. Where he does not have his way, he resorts to attacking them. President Muhammadu Buhari came to office with his knowledge. There was nothing he did not say about Buhari before the 2015 elections when he battled former President Goodluck Jonathan to no end. His slogan then was : ”Anything but Jonathan”. He said Buhari had all it takes to be president, explaining that he has known the President since their days in the military. Last year, in a special statement, he descended on Buhari, saying the President has made a mess of running the country. He advocated a third force to take over from Buhari this year. On Sunday, he continued from where he stopped last year when he accused the President of dictatorship – a tag which watchers say best fits Obasanjo in his days in office.
‘Today, another Abacha era is here. The security institutions are being misused to fight all critics and opponents of Buhari and to derail our fledgling democracy. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), police and Code of Conduct Tribunal are also being equally misused to deal with those Buhari sees as enemies for criticising him or those who may not do his bidding in manipulating election results”, Obasanjo said in his statement titled: Points for concern and action. He expressed what he called serious concern over the capability of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct free, fair and credible elections, adding that one of its national commissioners, Mrs Amina Zakari, has become too controversial to be part of the process.
Many analysts are bemused by his submissions. They find it hard to believe that Obasanjo could issue such a statement. “Is it not the same Obasanjo that used the EFCC to hound Governors Rashidi Ladoja (Oyo), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Joshua Dariye (Plateau) and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (Bayelsa) until they were unlawfully impeached by their lawmakers?” they asked. Their impeachment was overturned by the court. The same Obasanjo, they said, used then Ekiti State Resident Electoral Commissioner Mrs Ayoka Adebayo to manipulate the governorship election in Ido Osi in 2007 for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
To them, Obasanjo has no moral right to address Buhari the way he did. They believe that he should first remove the log in his own eyes before he removes the speck in others’ eyes. Will he heed their advice?
The Americana
LONG before he went to
America last Thursday, the
Federal Government had made a big deal of the issue. It is electioneering season and everything is considered fair in this contest for power. Sometime last year, the government said it had learnt that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, had applied for an American visa. The government advised the United States (US) Consulate against granting him the visa in order not to be seen as supporting Atiku’s presidential bid. Well, I do not know what informed the government’s action, but it was certainly not a good move. What is the government’s business with Atiku going to the US? Will the trip earn him victory at the February 16 poll?
These are some of the questions the government should have considered before raising hell over who gets an American visa or not. Why did the government take that path after taunting Atiku that he cannot visit America because he has a case to answer there. Atiku has gone to America and returned home. He went, he saw and he came back without any hitch. Some are saying that he was not arrested because he enjoyed the diplomatic cover of Senate President Bukola Saraki, who went with him. That cannot be true because being in the entourage of the Senate President cannot grant you immunity from arrest in a nation where you are wanted. The truth is Atiku has broken the yoke of ”he cannot visit America” that was hanging over his neck. But will the trip translate to victory for him at the poll? That is the big question.
Minimum wage war
ON Tuesday, the Council of State (CoS) took a stand on the minimum wage. It advised the Federal Government to pay its workers N30,000. States and the private sector were advised to pay N27,000. The Council’s stand may be informed by the need to resolve the wage debacle without ruffling feathers. Indeed, the tripartite committee headed by Ama Pepple, former head of service, recommended N30,000 for the least paid worker. The government had proposed N24,000, the states, N22,700 and labour backed down from its N56,000 demand to accept N30,000. The issue is highly contentious and all the parties should be ready to give and take in order to resolve it. With labour rejecting what it called disparity in the wage, interesting days surely lie ahead. Really, there is nothing to write home about between the N30,000 and N27,000. In as much as we understand labour’s position, may we appeal to the body to tread softly in the interest of all. Easy, they say, does it.
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