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Tag: Ebora Owu

  • Post-poll bluster

    Crave a window into post-poll bluff and bluster, from the electorally vanquished?  Go no farther than the lair of the Ebora Owu!

    But then, want a double-take: into the jaunts, at the victors’?  Check out the vibes, from the 11th Bola Tinubu Colloquium, the 2019 version of the yearly feast of ideas, put together to mark Asiwaju Tinubu’s 67th birthday.

    But between the Ebora Owu and the Jagaban Borgu, there may well be playing out Nigeria’s 21st century equivalent of the Greek mythical change of regnant orders: the Olympian overthrow of the Titan gods.

    The Titans were giants: powerful and strong.  The Olympians were a marvel: beautiful and nimble.  But the time, in Greek mythology, was ripe for change — from raw strength to dazzling brains.

    But the beauty was the Titans knew, not without pains, when to quit.  They bowed out with rare grace.  The Olympians too, took over with even rarer magnanimity.

    It’s the dazzling beauty of Greek mythology, as captured by John Keats’s incomplete long poem, “Hyperion”.

    But it’s all a simple yet sweeping metaphor, in Greek traditional common sense, of the grace of wisely yielding to change — as the Titans splendidly did.

    In contemporary Nigeria, however, that common sense would appear not common — and the bluff and bluster, from the camp of the Ebora Owu, is prime evidence.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is, for good or for ill, one of the towering figures of the current 4th Republic, right from its dawn on 29 May 1999.

    He was not only the republic’s first elected — and two-term — president, he embraced Breton-Woods orthodoxy (most especially, in his second term, 2003-2007), which triggered “reforms” that nevertheless under-developed Nigeria; and mushroomed poverty, just for Nigeria to blissfully count among serf-countries, in the West’s neo-economic imperialism.

    Needless to say, the coming of President Muhammadu Buhari (incidentally, the only re-elected president after Obasanjo) is changing all that.

    PMB’s alternative economic philosophy not only pulled Nigeria from recession, the putative economic stability, that had resulted, has even spurred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to cut the monetary policy rate (MPR) from 14 % to 13.5 %.

    If that heralds a new dawn, it could well result in progressively lower MPR, crashed interest rates, cheaper credit to fund business and, other things being equal, a booming economy; and eventually, development and prosperity.

    That is the sound bite that came from the 11th Bola Tinubu Colloquium, with the celebrator himself advising the PMB economic team to shun any hike in the value-added tax (VAT) — being canvassed, by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), to rise from 5 % to between 8.5% to 10% by 2019 year end.

    Aside, Tinubu harped on the imperative of infrastructure upscale — better roads, more modern rail, etc., as the administration has already started — but insisted that electricity held the ace to power the economy into global reckoning.

    Still, he decried estimated billing: the cash cow of electricity distribution companies (DisCos), pushing their democratic right to extort payment sans service — another Obasanjo-era legacy of corrupt privatization.

    But he also charged the PMB government to deliver more electricity to power factories: to create jobs, reduce poverty and spread prosperity.  That, the Jagaban called, “the government working for the people”, thus challenging the people to also work for the government.

    The sweet mutuality of the state working for its people, and a challenged but immensely pleased people working for their state, is never more beautifully put!  That is the fundament of patriotism; and it had its apogee in ancient Sparta.

    Yet, that ethos was almost extinct, in the Obasanjo era (1999-2015).  Back then, government policy became arbitrary ticket to enrich a few friends, but ruin the majority.

    Elections themselves became a criminal selection process, to fulfil all righteousness in periodic (s)elections; with nary any righteousness in the whole charade.

    That flared in 2003, when Obasanjo “won” re-election.   But it hit the very nadir in 2007, when the outgoing president, after a crashed attempt to corral a third term contrary to constitutional provisions, pushed forth a mortally ill Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

    To be sure, elections from 2015 have not become voter el dorados.  In 2015, violence was higher but more localized, to some traditional flashpoints, especially Rivers State.

    In 2019, there was less violence across the board.  But the violence was more spread out, due mainly to non-democrats insisting on, by hook or by crook, “winning” democratic elections.

    The more spread out violence has sent the losers’ camp howling, and projecting the electoral Armageddon that suits their troubled psyche.

    But the election results have shown Nigerian elections are getting better, even if it hasn’t hit the desirable models many Nigerians dream.

    Still, it would appear far better than the brigandage that ruled the roost in 2003 and 2007, when some lobbies, in some parts of the country, abusing the so-called “federal might”, just sat down to cook and award figures.

    Incidentally, 2007 and its do-or-die election marked the beginning of the end for the Obasanjo era, though it would take another eight years (2007-2015) for that Titanic to sink.

    Ironically now, it’s the old evil selectorate, that progressively ruined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), that now try to pooh-pooh the electoral gains recorded since 2015.

    Obasanjo, the fountain head of that ancien regime, crunching his sour grapes, sees nothing but chaos in the emerging new order; and blusters over his old power and glory, that nevertheless brought nothing but ruin to the majority.

    That is why he would claim Nigerians were more divided today than ever – a contentious hyperbole, for Nigerian “unity” was also a serious issue under his presidency; brag he was the longest serving Nigerian leader (as if sheer length approximates quality delivery); and go to South Africa to resume his charge for the youth to “snatch power”.

    But the last time Obasanjo had the chance to walk his talk on that, he abandoned his darling “youth” and scampered into Abubakar Atiku’s camp!

    The Ebora and the Jagaban, therefore, epitomize two contrasts: the one led an old order to perdition; the other preaches salvation with an emerging order, even as the fierce transition battle rages.

    The former president, not being a classical scholar, might not gain much by the Titan-ic wisdom: of embracing change with painful grace.

    Still, the theology scholar in him should school him in the utmost danger of making false fires.  That was the tragedy of Nadab and Abihu, the two blighted sons of the Levite, Aaron, who made false fires to the Jehovah (Leviticus: 10, 1-2).

    But “false fires” is only a spiritual lingo for cant.  Hauling cant, with the fond hope of subverting change, earns nothing but extreme diminution.

    That is what the former president should be wary of, even as he comes to grip with his post-poll de-mystification.

  • Osun: Ebora Owu finds mojo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on the Osun election tribunal verdict, just re-found his muffled voice — and just as well!

    But that voice cares little about basic justice — an old man that throws childish tantrums, just because his hypocritical whims are done and dusted with!

    Indeed, Obasanjo’s response was a high horse in grand delusion.  But that won’t fend off his creeping irrelevance.

    The release he personally signed, with the heading: “Statement by HE Olusegun Obasanjo on the judgement of the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal”, started with the usual Obasanjo show-off : “While I was in Dubai to attend the Global Education  and Skills Forum meeting…”

    The much vaunted “global statesman”, but with little community value at home, needed to reassure himself he was still relevant — no crime!

    Then, the usual tumbling adjectives, that define Obasanjo’s hypocrisy more than any other: “We will continue to sustain Nigeria in stability and unity on the altar of justice, equity, fairness, freedom, human rights and democracy.”  Yeah right — the normal Obasanjo and his pious but empty platitudes!

    On justice, equity, fairness, human rights and democracy, the Obasanjo presidency woefully failed.  The Odi and Zaki Biam massacres were Obasanjo’s stellar records in human rights; while Obasanjo was so fair, equitable and just, he sat on the Lagos council funds, despite the express order of the judiciary he now praises to high heavens!

    And on democracy?  Well, this same Osun (with Ondo, Edo and Ekiti) was a great testimony to Obasanjo’s democracy credentials.

    He was so democratic he conducted the 2007 do-or-die election, from which Olagunsoye Oyinlola enjoyed nearly a four-year illegal term, before the courts drove him out!  Besides, in that virtual war, many in Osun lost their lives and limbs, for Obasanjo’s do-or-die children to prevail!

    On the surface, Obasanjo seemed celebrating Ademola Adeleke’s win.  But really, he was grudging his so-called “international community” friends, for their refusal to demonize Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election, as Obasanjo’s troubled fancies did, well ahead of the exercise, with his 16-page letter conjuring nothing but Armageddon.

    The actual election came and went but the “international community” validated the election as fair.  But this same “international community” had condemned the 2007 (s)election Obasanjo conducted as a travesty. That hurts!

    Listen to the direct Ebora growl, pouncing on his former friends-turned-bitter fiends: “… those who call themselves our development partners and friends, and preach social justice on the altar of so-called stability, are enemies of justice, democracy and Nigeria” — yeah right!  Obasanjo, sole owner of Nigeria, has thus decreed!

    And how about this deviousness, on the conceptual plane? “… if Buhari could go to court three times to seek justice [and behold: this italicized phrase is the crunch], even without reasonable cause, any Nigerian who feels denied of justice must feel free to go to court”!

    So, Adeleke and Atiku (Obasanjo’s new friends) can go to court without conditions; while well, Buhari (Obasanjo’s old foe), too could go  — though “without reasonable cause”! — even with those fanciful Obasanjo-era “election” tallies, when they just wrote figures?  Or why is the voting tally shrinking, when the voting population is increasing?

    It’s another cant from the Ebora Owu stable!  But then, humbug is the lot of those that have neither conscience nor a sense of justice.

    Friends of Obasanjo should tell him to spare us his sour grape gratings!  They not only rankle, they ooze with virulent self-indictment and condemnation!

  • Ebora Owu and his letters

    Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s 16-page letter to President Muhammadu Buhari couldn’t have come at a better time than now. The elections are just few weeks down the line and since Buhari is not the former president’s preferred candidate, it is not unexpected that Obasanjo, as it has become his habit, would do everything within and outside the books to inflame passion, question Buhari’s integrity, promote his candidate and portray himself as the oracle with the last say on who emerges victorious at the polls. In fact, keen watchers of Nigeria’s political development should be worried if Baba, as he is fondly called, had not released any letter at this critical period. It is an affliction that no one has been able to wean off him. And so, when the latest letter hit the streets and a colleague sent the document to me online, I had asked a simple question: What exactly is new in what has become a routine that should attract my attention? The answer is nothing.

    Now, what exactly did he say in the new letter that he has not said before in an earlier acidic notes to Buhari? Except for his verbose loquacity and fear mongering, he didn’t say much. In fact, he could have re-jigged any of his letters to former President Goodluck Jonathan with a little sauce and dispatch to Buhari. As usual, he says the elections would be rigged by the Independent National Electoral Commission in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress just because one of its commissioners, Amina Zakari, was related to Buhari. He said, under the present administration, the Boko Haram insurgency has become fiercer than it was in the past. He said the ongoing trial of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen, was aimed at deflating his ego and rubbishing his integrity so that he would accede to the rigging plans should the matter be brought before his court. He said the anti-graft agencies would be used to hound members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and that Buhari has perfected plans to unleash the worst kind of terror on perceived enemies with the adoption of the late General Sani Abacha’s strategy. For him, the government has not recorded any positive improvement in key sectors in the last three years be it the economy, fight against corruption or war on terror. And, to cap it all, he reminded those that care to listen that he remains the only Nigerian leader, dead or alive, that is nationalistic in outlook and incorruptible as he has been investigated severally without any misdeed linked to his name.

    That was the summary of his latest canticles which ended with reasons why the Nigerian electorate should reject clannish Buhari and vote massively for a man he once described as the true meaning of treachery, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar——a man he vowed never to support as presidential candidate in August last year because he would not like to incur God’s wrath. The same Atiku that he has written loads and loads of salacious details on in books and pamphlets has suddenly become the man with the magic wand to transform Nigeria. In giving reasons for the turnaround, Obasanjo says, if the books of sins were to be opened, the thieves in the APC working with Buhari would go straight to hell but failed to tell us where the conscientious treasury looters in the PDP would go to. It is this kind of tragic impulse and deliberate falsehood that make one to disregard Obasanjo most of the time. This man’s capacity for mischief is legendary. If he says Buhari lacks the physical and mental capacity to govern Nigeria due to failing health, did he remember how he foisted Umaru Yar’Adua on his party shortly after Atiku frustrated his self-succession plot through the instrumentality of the law?

    We must concede to him that, as the architect of do-or-die electioneering campaign since the 2003 elections, Obasanjo reserves the right to nurse fears that Buhari could possibly adopt that inglorious template he bequeathed to the then ruling PDP until things fell apart between him and Jonathan. So, we can understand his mortal fear of his shadows. However, one wonders if Obasanjo was living in Jupiter some years back when the Boko Haram threat was a clear and present danger to our collective existence as a nation——that period when bombings and reckless killings became part of quotidian living in different parts of the country including Abuja. It is, to my mind, carrying political infantilism to a ridiculous low for an Obasanjo to say the insurgents are stronger now than they were in the past. It is also amazing, if not silly, that a man who violated the rights and privileges of every democratic institutions and hounded perceived enemies to the gallows by recklessly deploying the anti-corruption bodies against them is the one accusing Buhari of perpetrating such. If I may ask, would an Obasanjo have tolerated the leadership of a Bukola Saraki in the Senate if the appointment ran contrary to his wish? Would he not have ordered his men in the EFCC to give Onnoghen a dose of the treatment meted out on the former Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun, if it were under his regime. To say the truth, Obasanjo’s pretence to democratic ethos suffers a huge deficit when one remembers how he flagrantly ignored the Supreme Court ruling on the seized monthly allocations to Lagos State following disputes over the creation of additional local councils in the state. But for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s political sophistication in confronting Obasanjo’s federal powers, would Lagos not have fallen victim to his plans to ‘capture’ the whole South West states?  In an article published on June 2, 2018 titled “Obasanjo: As it was in the past…,” I had counseled Obasanjo to thread softly and to be mindful of the fact that every lie has an expiry date. Buhari, I must admit, may not have performed to our expectations going by his mantra of change. But in as much as we have the power to send him packing with our electoral power, he enjoys the inalienable right to put himself up for reelection as constitutionally guaranteed unlike some persons who craved a third term by hook or crook. That decision would have to be determined on February 16 after which aggrieved persons can seek redress at the courts if they feel strongly about it. That was what happened under Obasanjo when Buhari failed to get reprieve at the courts. He was to fail twice when he contested against Yar’Adua and Jonathan before Nigerians decided to give him a chance in 2015. Or would Obasanjo say that election was rigged too?

    With respect to his several letters especially the first one he wrote Buhari last year, I had cautioned that: “Obasanjo’s seeming invincibility may come to an ignoble end with his latest decision to exchange deadly political punches with President Muhammadu Buhari in his bid to impose a new leader on the nation in the 2019 election. While it was not shocking that his romance and preference for a Buhari Presidency was short-lived due to what he described as the former’s bumbling economic policies, incompetence and abominable clannishness, Obasanjo’s persistently rabid and ferocious attack against Buhari say much about how badly he would want a man he once dabbed in flowery words out of the presidential seat. You ask: what could have gone so terribly awry that the same Buhari whom Obasanjo supported to put an end to a continuation of the Jonathan Goodluck ruinous regime would suddenly make a 360 degree turnaround? Nothing other than the usual power game among Nigeria’s privileged elite! It didn’t start today and I doubt if it is going to end soon until this set of leaders with military background take their final bow from mother earth.

    “Having said this, the journey might not be as smooth as Obasanjo would have wanted. While he practically had most of the other leaders by their balls tagging them corrupt and unfit to rule, Buhari, in spite of his many failings, may be an exception to the rule. Demystifying Buhari is definitely not going to be a tea party. Unlike the others, Obasanjo’s binge of delirium in tagging every of his targeted victims as criminally corrupt might not stick with Buhari. And, regardless of what he says, it would be delusional for him to think that he remains the only living Nigerian leader without the tar of corruption. And so, whilst jumping from pillar to post in a bid to install yet another president in power, Obasanjo should also be wary that the dynamics of the power game has changed. It would do Obasanjo well to step down on his old time fantasy of playing god in the affairs of this nation. Will he listen? I doubt if he would, anyway.”

    Obviously, he didn’t listen. He never would!

  • 2019: You’re next President of Nigeria, Obasanjo tells Atiku

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday forgave his former Vice President and Presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alh. Atiku Abubakar, of any wrong doing and declared him the nation’s next President in 2019.

    Obasanjo who addressed Atiku as ” President – to- be” and congratulated him in advance,  added that he and others have  reviewed what went wrong on the side of Atiku and submitted that  the PDP Presidential candidate  has “re-discovered and re-positioned himself.”

    Read Also:Atiku, Secondus meet Obasanjo in Abeokuta

    The Ebora Owu made this known in his address at his residence within the sprawling Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) when Atiku and his entourage comprising the PDP National Chairman, Uche Second us, former Governor of Cross River State, Liyel Imoke,  Director – General, Atiku Campaign Organisation (ACO), Otunba Gbenga Daniel, the Bishop of the Catholic diocese of Sokoto, Rev. Father Matthew Kukah and renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Abubakar Gunmi.

    Atiku’s visit is coming about 48 hours after an elder statesman, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, led a delegation of Afenifere leaders to the Ebora Owu, where the spokesman of the Socio – cultural organisation, Yinka Odunmakin hinted that the Yoruba race in Nigeria would support a presidential candidate with an agenda to restructure the nation’s flawed federation.

    So far, former Vice – President Atiku had continued to promise Nigerians that he would restructure the country within his first year in office if given the mandate to preside over the affairs of Nigeria.

    And Obasanjo’s voice is also considered very critical to the electoral fortune of any politician and it is generally believed that whoever earned his endorsement stand a better chance of getting national acceptance, and hitherto, the former President has been unsparing in portraying Atiku as undeserving of the office of Nigerian President.

    But after Thursday’s meeting Obasanjo’s position on Atiku changed, tilting towards helping him to win the 2019 presidential race against the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress(APC).

    “I am happy to welcome the distinguished leaders of goodwill who have led the PDP Presidential Candidate and my former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, to my humble abode and I welcome the Presidential Candidate himself.

    “Let me start by congratulating President-to-be, Atiku Abubakar, for his success at the recent PDP Primary and I took note of his gracious remarks in his acceptance speech that it all started here. Yes, when it started, it was meant for Atiku to succeed Obasanjo.

    “In the presence of these distinguished leaders of goodwill today, let me say it openly that we have reviewed what went wrong on the side of Atiku.  And in all honesty, my former Vice-President has re-discovered and re-positioned himself.

    “As I have repeatedly said, it is not so much what you did against me that was the issue but what you did against the Party, the Government and the country.

    “I took the stand I had taken based on the character and attributes you exhibited in the position you found yourself.  I strongly believe that I was right. It was in the overall interest of everyone and everything to take such a position.

    “From what transpired in the last couple of hours or so, you have shown remorse; you have asked for forgiveness and you have indicated that you have learnt some good lessons and you will mend fences and make amends as necessary and as desirable.

    “Whenever or wherever you might have offended me, as a Christian who asks for God’s forgiveness of my sins and inadequacies on daily basis, I forgive and I sincerely advise you to learn from the past and do what is right and it will be well with you.  Obviously, you have mended fences with the Party and fully reconciled with the Party.

    “That’s why today, you are the Presidential Candidate of the Party.  In addition to appreciating all that the Party has done for you, may I advise you to work together with all those who contested for the Party’s flag with you as a team for your campaign.

    “There are still areas, nationally and internationally, where you have to mend fences and make amends.  You will know how to handle what is already out and what may yet be put out by the opposition.  But, I am convinced that if you continue with the attitude that brought you here with these distinguished leaders of goodwill, with remorse and contrite heart, the rest of the coast within and outside the country can be cleared.

    “And if there is anything I can do and you want me to do in that respect, I will do.  I am sure with the right attitude for change where necessary, and by putting lessons learned by you to work, you will get the understanding, cooperation, support and mandate – all at the national level.

    “With Nigerians voting for you, it will mean that you secure their forgiveness and regain their confidence. It will be with the hope or assurance of a Paul on the road to Damascus Conversion. After all, change and conversion are of man. I believe that with a contrite heart, change is possible in everybody’s life and situation.

    “For me, relatively and of all the aspirants in the PDP, you have the widest and greatest exposure, experience, outreach and possibly the best machinery and preparation for seeing the tough and likely dirty campaign ahead through.

    “From what I personally know of you, you have capacity to perform better than the incumbent. You surely understand the economy better; you have business experience, which can make your administration business-friendly and boost the economy and provide jobs.

    “You have better outreach nationally and internationally and that can translate to better management of foreign affairs.  You are more accessible and less inflexible and more open to all parts of the country in many ways.  As Pastor Bakare, one-time running mate of the incumbent President said, “You are a wazobia man.”

    “And that should help you in confronting the confrontable and shunning nepotism.

    “As you know, along the road to where you are today, many leaders and ordinary people cooperated and overtly and covertly worked hard.  On your behalf, I thank them all.  May their coast continue to be expanded.

    “And when you become Nigerian President which, insha-Allah, you will be, remember what we did together in government – we ran an administration by Nigerians for all Nigerians where merit and performance count more than blood relationship, friendship or kith and kin.

    “Although some time and ground have been lost, you should endeavour to start from where we stopped and recover some lost ground, if not time.

    Please uphold truth, integrity, principles, morality and fight corruption, crimes and insurgency.

    “The fundamental law of the land, our constitution must be scrupulously defended. I make one demand and one demand on you today, I need you to say before God and man that you will always remain irrevocably committed to upholding ALL the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the whole country will remain your single indivisible constituency.

    “Constitutionalism, popular participation and inclusiveness are pre-conditions for reversing the deficits of the past three and half years. They will ensure abiding faith in our indivisibility, oneness and faith in the survival of all against none.

    “The fundamentals for our development, economic growth and progress are hard and soft infrastructure.  Remember to always give adequate places in your administration to our youth and women.

    “All the authorities involved with the preparation, all processes and conduct of the election must ensure that the election is free, fair and credible.

    “Once again, congratulations and I wish you well.  My distinguished brothers and leaders of goodwill, thank you for making this happen.  I will now count on you to encourage all hands to be on the deck to take Nigeria to the level God has created it to be – autopilot level. God bless you all and God bless Nigeria.”

     

  • At 80: Ebora Owu sweet and sour

    At 80: Ebora Owu sweet and sour

    From his wild rants, Ayo Fayose, Ekiti governor, cuts the picture of a doomed dog, deaf to the hunter’s whistle.
    His gruff request for a “refund”, of “his” N10 million, the then President Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly extorted for his presidential library, from sitting governors in 2005, could well be due comeuppance for brazen hypocrisy.  But it was no less graceless, coming at the zenith of celebrating the old man at 80.
    Still, that was pure Karma at work!  As a younger man, Obasanjo himself, in Not My Will,  had poked rude jabs at seniors, professional and biological.
    On account of the February 1976 coup, which claimed Gen. Murtala Muhammad, Obasanjo had summarily condemned Gen. Yakubu Gowon, his former commander-in-chief, thundering “Mr. Gowon” would face trial — and sure conviction and execution — should he set foot on Nigerian soil.
    Well Gowon, his honour restored, is alive to see a coarser Fayose do to Obasanjo, what Obasanjo did to him!
    On Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s failed presidential ambition, he mocked: what Awo craved all his illustrious life, he, a mere boy from the Egba backwaters, got on a platter of gold.
    Why, he even slammed the great Zik of Africa as ending life as Owelle of Onitsha!
    But even as Karma’s agent, Fayose just doomed himself to a similar fate!
    It is this vigorous paradox of immaculate rot that makes the Obasanjo public persona puzzle at 80.
    The Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) need not be the biblical whited sepulchre, glittering outside, rotten within.  But given its suspect moral provenance, it risks boiling down to just that, despite its huge historical potentials.  Talk of a rigged process to an immaculate end!
    Since Gen. Obasanjo first hit on Nigeria, as Civil War hero, Federal Works commissioner under Gen. Gowon, Gen. Murtala Muhammad’s chief of staff, Supreme Headquarters, and later military Head of State, he had always projected public high-mindedness.
    Under his tenure as military head of state, he changed the National Anthem, arguing that the new reflected Nigeria’s African essence more than the old.  He also conceived the National Pledge, an everyday awakening of the dormant patriotism in the citizenry.
    Even as Lord of Manor at Dodan Barracks, Lagos, the Obasanjo regime pushed out official civic communications that compared the government to a dustbin, into which citizens rightly throw their garbage!  Moral?  Governments — even under juntas — must be humble and long-suffering, always putting citizen’s rights and welfare first.
    As elected president, he founded the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), with the volcanic Nuhu Ribadu as first chairman, thus mainstreaming the War Against Corruption; as well as the ICPC, to lesser applause.  Still on anti-corruption infrastructure, he established the Due Process Office, under Oby Ezekwesili, to check the soulless padding of contracts.
    Of course, under his economic “reforms”, away from the public sector-led ethos of his first coming, he crowned the local Breton Woods royals of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Charles (later Chukwuma) Soludo, Ezekwezili, and Nasir El-Rufai who, as first Bureau for Public Enterprises boss, birthed the first set of privatization of public companies; and liberalized the telecoms sector.
    But Obasanjo’s flaw has always been failure to walk the talk of his own high-mindedness.  That has been responsible for the sweet-and-sour that has pork-marked his public persona, spanning some 47 years since 1970.
    Even under the growl of Ribadu’s anti-corruption rhetoric, cynical extortion, that was the fund-raiser for the OOPL, strutted in full public glare, probity be damned!
    Or how else would you call a sitting president, doubling as oil minister, suborning the cream of the Nigerian economy, to “donate” to a private cause, dressed in public garb?  But that was even on the narrow economic front.
    On the far larger canvas of politics and constitutionalism,  Obasanjo’s, through Ribadu’s EFCC, was the ultimate paradox of an absolute corruption war corrupting absolutely!
    Tornado Obasanjo, flush with cynical puritanism, blasted the Constitution and blighted the impeachment clause.  Enter then, the tragi-comic lingo of “simple minority”, for “impeaching” state governor-enemies of the presidential Leviathan!
    The motif of the Leviathan-come-to-crush all was also all too apparent, in the fate of the hubris-stricken Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its eventual destruction.
    That, to be sure, was mutual opportunism gone awry: Obasanjo wanted power to crow about his “greatness”; a manipulative military cabal, with their civilian side-kicks, wanted a pawn, to sustain their hegemony.  But the pawn soon turned brazen manipulator, and the PDP goose was cooked.    Good riddance!
    As usual, the Ebora Owu has claimed everything good and decent left the PDP when he did.  But that is a sweet, self-serving lie.  Fact: Obasanjo moulded the PDP from a neither-nor power machine, to a partisan monster, with a “do-or-die” electoral temper.
    Poor, naive Goodluck Jonathan was the ultimate fall guy, for he got buried under its rubble, ironically to Obasanjo’s sanctimonious applause!
    This paradox of immaculate case housing a rotten core, and its dire testimony to history, may have propelled Obasanjo’s manic essay at self-written history: My Command, Not My Will, Under My Watch — the narcissistic “My” would appear no accident! — and of course, the ultimate in self-erected shrines, the OOPL, first in Africa!
    What drives all this racket of intellect, and thunder of integrity, positioning the former president as the model of honest and enlightened citizenry?
    Perhaps Buhari and Awo.  President Muhammadu Buhari is as taciturn as Obasanjo is voluble.  But his unquestionable integrity quakes and vibrates, like when you roll a vessel filled to the brim — the telling opposite of the grating and scraping, of rolling an empty one!
    Now that Buhari is also president, history has a choice, between tinsel and solid gold, in presidential integrity.
    Chief Obafemi Awolowo (1909-1987) never attained federal power.  But in distilled public intellectualism, of plotting a way out of Nigeria’s morass, he is nonpareil so far.
    Obasanjo, on the other hand, has authored a lot of narcissistic tomes, detailing his watch, at his many layers of responsibility, in an active engagement with contemporary Nigeria, climaxing with the presidency.
    Again, between Awo and Obasanjo, history has its pick, if the subject is rigour and cutting-edge ideas.
    One clear difference between Awo and Obasanjo, though: while an intellectually restless Awo craved a more workable Nigeria, bench-marking Jeremy Bentham’s greatest good of the greatest number, Obasanjo thoroughly understood — and still understands — his Nigeria, and for good and for ill, thoroughly milked it.
    Perhaps Obasanjo’s greatest tribute?  That he was great. But only because Nigeria was puny, as Gulliver beside Lilliput!  If ever Nigeria hits its dizzying heights, he could well turn a dwarf.
    Still, to the Ebora Owu, happy birthday  at 80!

  • Ebora Owu at 80

    The Ebora Owu is 80; and the whole land cannot help but notice!  Hate him or love him, you cannot ignore this enigma from the backwaters of Egbaland in Western Nigeria that beams when called the “architect of modern Nigeria”.

    If you scoff at that — as indeed many do —  you can keep your skepticism, or cynicism. Heavyweights outside Nigeria’s coast don’t  share it.  And the grand old lady of Liberia, President Eileen Sirleaf-Johnson, is living proof.

    She rhapsodized that day be blessed, when Africa’s first presidential library happened in her lifetime!  (See, excitable Africans love spectacles, even if it is of tinsel, not gold)   What Hardball was unsure of, however, is whether that came from the heart or just quid-pro-quo for the West African gang-up at the expense of poor George Weah, that fetched her the Liberian presidency. Poor George!

    Still, aside from President Sirleaf-Johnson, other titans, particularly from Ghana, were there: former President John Kuffour and former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

    So was Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, former President Goodluck Jonathan and former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, among other dignitaries.

    Grant Baba his day in the sun.  You don’t turn 80 twice.  Nor do many turn 80, after emerging the first Nigerian to rule as both a soldier and elected civilian. Even fewer Nigerians still would celebrate four scores, after taking the Biafran instrument of surrender, ending the tragic Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970),

    Of course, Baba is not noted for modesty, so he let fly one or two narcissistic bombs!

    One: The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost it when he and Col. Ahmadu Alli, former handpicked national chairman and Obasanjo’s garrison commander, left.  But who does not know that the pair of Obasanjo and Alli destroyed PDP, with their army barracks mentality and do-or-die politics?

    Two: That Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, used his “big grammar” to bomb him off the UN high office; but that God later raised him as elected president. Why is no one surprised?

    Still, Hardball could just wonder why Baba exerts so much energy, writing his own history; and erecting fawning monuments.  Is he, in his inner recesses, scared of a harsh verdict, when history finally sits in judgment?

    Hardball figures the Ebora benchmarks himself against two figures, to quieten his raging demons.

    Public intellectual: He figures himself some public intellectual, to be matched with the great Chief Obafemi Awolowo, whose birthday incidentally is in March too.  Awo is the most documented politician in Nigerian history — and most of the stuff was not just writing “nice things about yourself” (apologies to Prof. Osinbajo) but rigorous thinking about Nigeria and how it could attain greatness.  Baba writes self-history, a player that zealously crowns himself king, history be damned, if it disagrees!

    Man of integrity: Here, he loves to be rated along President Muhammadu Buhari.  Two years ago,  Obasanjo smugly declared: only two honest Nigerians lived — Buhari and himself!  Not a few chuckled at that!

    Ironically, it is in the realm of integrity that the new Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) takes most terrible knocks.  Because Obasanjo procured “donations” for it as sitting president (unlike the practice in America where presidents seek funding for their libraries after their terms), Baba has left himself open to charges of presidential extortion, even if to a worthy historical cause. And to stress the bathetic, gubernatorial delinquent, Ayo Fayose is already demanding an alleged N10 million he “donated” in aid of Obasanjo’s library, ha!

    Well, Baba has stated his case — by writing own history and erecting own monuments.  Its left to history, the ultimate judge, to accept or reject his plea.

    Meanwhile, happy birthday to the Ebora Owu — and the one and only Baba Iyabo!

  • Ebora Owu at 80

    Ebora Owu at 80

    As former President Olusegun Obasanjo celebrates his 80th birthday this week, Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU revisits the career of the civil war hero, who has ruled the country as a military Head of State and civilian President, his legacies and his vision for Nigeria.

    At 80, Mathew Aremu Okikiolakan, Olusegun Obasanjo, civil war hero and former President of Nigeria, has cause to roll out drums. Although he has been in blissful retirement since 2007, and he ‘retired’ from active politics two years ago, he is still a factor. The General is not locked in any battle for relevance. Unlike other ex-leaders, Obasanjo is more outspoken and his views are respected and criticised by fans and foes. Ultimately, the leader’s outburst has always generated controversy.

    His legacies are three-fold. As an Army General, he claimed in his highly controversial book, ‘My Command,’ that he ended the civil war. His colleague, the late Major-General James Oluleye, in his book titled: Military leadership in Nigeria (1966-1979), states: “Obasanjo felt he won the war through a solo effort.” Also, Gen. Alabi Isama, who objected to the claim, said his juniors, including Gen. Alani Akinrinade, actually achieved the feat only for him to take the glory.

    Indisputably, Obasanjo presided over the defunct Supreme Military Council (SMC) that handed over power to an elected civilian President. On the account of a successful transfer of power from the military to civilians in 1979, he became a great statesman and a citizen of the world. Up to now, many world leaders still shower praises on him for exemplary leadership.

    When he bounced back as President 20 years after, he laid a good foundation, especially in his first term and stabilised the polity, although allegations of a third term ambition, at the tail end of his second term, which was disputed, created a hollow in his record and underscored a reluctance to surrender control.

    However, Obasanjo seems to stand out among past parochial leaders. He has been described as a total Nigerian; a detribalised leader with a national outlook. Historians claimed that he was not ethnic jingoist, but a President of all Nigeria.

    Obasanjo is an interesting figure. His life is full of humour. His real age is in the realm of conjecture. By his own account, he was born on a market day, either in his village of Ibogun-Olaogun, or Owu Kingdom, Ogun State. It will require some historians and archeologists to dig into his past to unravel the authenticity of his claim. His childhood friends-Prince Bola Ajibola, Olowu of Owu, Oba Dosunmu, Dr. Onaolapo Soleye, and Dr. Olapade Agoro, are above 80. The shortcoming was not his, but that of his illiterate parents, who never recorded his date of birth.  In his military and political career, he has not come across as a crowd puller, but a rare beneficiary of God-given opportunities that have catapulted him to stardom.  As a cat with nine lives, when hopes were lost for him in the past, the General miraculously survived.

    A political scientist, Umar Pella, noted that Obasanjo is a lucky leader. It is an understatement. There were better tacticians on the war front, but the lot fell on him to receive the Biafran surrender. He was not visibly involved in the July 1975 coup that ousted the military Head of State, Gen. Yabuku Gowon, he emerged as second-in-command to his successor, Gen. Murtala Mohammed. Following Murtala’s assassination, Obasanjo, who was allegedly in hiding, surfaced and was made the Head of State. Although he was in prison when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was formed, he later became its greatest beneficiary as the presidential candidate and winner of the election. “With little investment of effort compared to his peers, Obasanjo is always absent when hard work is required, but equally present whenever the work is done, not as a party to, but a sole beneficiary of results. His bond with the scene of victory has become mythological.”

    Psychologically, Obasanjo’s life bears eloquent testimony to Adler’s exposition on the human craving for superiority and ultimately, the stoic rejection of inferiority. Having been born into a position of disadvantage, the struggle for liberation from poverty and obscurity, and the craving for fame, became more latent and intense. Obasanjo may have been deficient and unrealistic in self-appraisal as he always speaks glowingly about his accomplishments. Yet, instead of a balanced assessment of his predecessors and successors, he has often alluded to their dark sides, thereby conveying the impression that he was the most outstanding Commander-In-Chief who has served without an atom of blemish.

    For eight years in this dispensation, he was the most powerful Nigerian. His word was law and the country his fortress, as it were. Other big wigs-governors, party chieftains, captains of industry, monarchs and opposition figures-trembled before his might.  As the power-loaded President, he brooked no opposition. Even, court orders were ignored by the Federal Government and the National Assembly at a time nearly became a crippled organ of government in an inexplicable atmosphere of decorative checks and balances. In that exalted office, the fear of the Balogun of Owu and the Ekerin of Egbaland, was the beginning of wisdom.

    In 2007, Obasanjo as the number one citizen determined who became governors and federal legislators. He was always combative. He handpicked his successor, the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, and his running mate, who succeeded him, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. He catapulted his favourites to power, demoted others and liquidated those who fell out of presidential favour.

    No Nigerian, living or dead, has had that unique privilege bestowed on him by Providence. Politically, Obj, as he fondly called by admirers, was able to achieve the feats that eluded the giants of history, including the indomitable Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the highly cerebral Dr. Nnamidi Azikiwe, the radical Alhaji Aminu Kano and the business mogul, Chief Moshood Abiola, despite their intellectual fitness, power of ideas and political virtues. The highest office landed on the palm of Obasanjo twice, and by chance. Thus, he  became  the first Nigerian to have serve as the military and civilian leader of the most populous country in Africa.

    When he joined the Army in 1959, little did he guess that he will become the military leader. He had reflected in his famous book: “Not My Will”, apparently in mockery of Awolowo, that he was bare-footed on the line as a pupil when the Premier of defunct Western Region, who was already aspiring to the Office of Prime Minister, visited his primary school.

    Obasanjo’s career blossomed in the military. When the Third Marine Commander, the late Gen. Benjamin Adekunle, became reckless on the battle front, Obasanjo was drafted to the battle field. When he accepted the surrender of the scattered Biafran soldiers, led by Col. Philip Effiong, he took the shine off his seniors, Gen. Iyalla Bisalla and Adekunle, the Black Scorpion.

    Obasanjo loved power. Thus, he was among the senior officers who loathed the composition of Gowon’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) and agitated for the inclusion of soldiers. In deference to their wish, the Head of State appointed Murtala as Federal Commissioner for Communications and Obasanjo was given the Works and Housing portfolio.

    When the coup led by the Commander of Brigade of Guards, Col. Joe Garba, against Gowon, who was away in Kampala, Uganda, succeeded, Murtala became Head of State and Obasanjo the Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters. When Murtala was killed, he was catapulted to the driver’s position. “His ADC, who went to bring some files from office saw General Muhammed’s body almost at the entrance to Dodan Barracks and went back to break the news to him. On hearing the bad news, he immediately slipped into hiding to avoid being pronounced a hero posthumously. So, on February 14, after appearance, he was appointed the new Head of State. I was not present at the SMC meeting, but those present said he burst into tears on accepting the assignment,” recalled Oluleye.

    Obasanjo did not derail from the path charted by Murtala.  A political scientist, Prof. Bayo Adekanye, noted that the military leadership implemented the programme of self-liquidation of acquired power. But, two issues remained unresolved about the transition programme. Some thought that Obasanjo was partial. Others said it was a figment of imagination. The Head of State’s remark that the best presidential material may not succeed him was worrisome. Many felt that he was referring to Awo. Also, the disclosure by mischief makers that Obasanjo showed a preference for the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) during voting portrayed him as someone who betrayed a tribal cause by the sheer exercise of his conscience and conviction.

    After handing over power, Obasanjo was perceived as a moral voice at home. He started wring books which were described as controversial. When successive military regimes erred, he whipped them into line. For example, he criticised the prolonged detention of former military Head of State General Muhammadu Buhari and his deputy, Tunde Idiagbon, by former military President Ibrahim Babangida. He also spoke against the regime’s Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). Obasanjo said: ‘’Adjustment must have human face, human heart and milk of human kindness.’’

    But, his comments on other leaders in ‘Not My Will’-Awo, Zik, Kano, and Waziri Ibrahim, angered their followers. He mocked Awo for not becoming the President. He described Zik as a national figure who regressed to a local chief, the Owelle of Onitsha. He dismissed Ibrahim as an unserious politician. He chided Kano as a serial protester, who may inadvertently carry placard against himself.

    Obasanjo also sought for global fame. But, his bid for the Secretary-General of the United Nations was scuttled by home critics. At the forefront of the campaign against his aspiration was the Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who said that, judging by the abysmal human right record of his administration, he was unfit for the global assignment. Neither were other intellectuals, including Arthur Nwankwo, a right activist, comfortable with Obasanjo’s preference for a one-party state, “open hatred for intellectual activity” and “anti-intellectual trend,” which made his military regime to move against undergraduates who protested against the hike in school fees during the ‘Ali must go’ demonstration.

    Obasanjo adorned the cap of a pseudo-pro-democracy agitator in the days of Babangida and Abacha by campaigning for the restoration of civil rule. Yet, when his Egba kinsman, Abiola, was struggling for the restoration of his mandate, the retired General remarked that he was not the messiah Nigerians were looking for. Instead of agitating for the revalidation of the June 12, 1993 presidential election result, he supported the Interim contraception headed by another Egba man, Chief Ernest Shonekan. Rationalising his position, he said it was unfortunate, but understandable. Three months later, the interim government fell.

    Under the Abacha administration, Obasanjo was humiliated when he was roped in a phantom coup. He may have been killed in the prison, if the activist-doctor, the late Beko Ransom-Kuti, had not alerted the whole world on the’ internet’ that that he was about to be either poisoned or injected. Then, a death penalty was hanging on his head for offences he did not commit.

    Obasanjo survived the ordeal and fulfilled his destiny. From prison, he returned to power without much struggle and labour. But, critics claimed that he was not prepared for the job. He lacked a programme of action. He stabilised the polity and saved Nigeria from new coups by sacking “political soldiers.” After that, his preoccupation was the second term ambition. He only relied on previous experience. Obasanjo’s understanding of the national question was in conflict with his progressive and radical rivals.  Instead of resolving the fundamental national question-restructuring, true federalism, state police, devolution-he concentrated attention on building political empire for personal survival. Under his leadership, the 2003 and 2007 elections were massively rigged. Indeed, the exercise was a do-or-die affair. His successor, Yar’Adua, acknowledged that the 2007 poll was severely flawed. Before the election, the third term project of the former President unsettled the polity. It collapsed like a pack of cards. Therefore, when he described the National Assembly as a chamber of corruption, some legislators fired back, saying that third term was part of the corruption.

    Obasanjo left office, leaving the country prostrate. Although he set up the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to fight graft, critics said that it later became a tool for witch hunting perceived foes. Power outage, collapsed infrastructure and rigged elections became his legacies.

    Outside power, became PDP the Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees (BOT). The man who scorned at Zik for regressing from an Olympian height of Zik of Africa to Owelle of Onitsha, returned to Abeokuta to coordinate local politics which pitched him against the Governor Gbenga. As Obasanjo and Daniel flexed muscles as factional PDP leaders in Ogun State, the persistent bickering and discord contributed to the party’s waterloo during election.

    When ailing President Yar’Adua was absent for a long time from the country, Obasanjo lent his voice to the debate about his fitness to remain in office. He said if a person was assisted to get a job and he lacked the strength to do it, he should leave. To him, former President Atiku Abubakar should not vie for the presidency because he is disloyal and corrupt. He did not spare Dr. Jonathan, who he described as an incompetent leader presiding over a corrupt government. Irked by Dr. Jonathan’s obvious weakness, he fired two letters to him denouncing his ineptitude. Obasanjo later resigned from the PDP by allowing his ward chairman to tear his party card. A former leader who could not mobilise enough support at his ward level claimed that he supported the mega party, the APC, because he was assured that it will not field Atiku as its presidential candidate. Later, he announced that he had retired from politics.

    In retirement, Obasanjo is not tired. The book, ‘Bitter-Sweet: My life with Obasanjo,’ written by his wife, Oluremi, speaks volumes about Obasanjo as a family man. It may underscore an unfinished business of reconciliation with aggrieved wives and children, thereby putting his family in order. Obasanjo is a gerontocratic monitor whipping any erring leader to line. He is an ardent critic of bad governance and corrupt leaders. But, he is also a shrewd businessman, almost with an appetite for business investment and wealth accumulation. His political retirement notwithstanding, he remains an issue in national politics.