Former President Olusegun Obasanjo seems fated to be dogged by the “Third Term” project he was widely reported to be hatching the way the former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida has been haunted by his annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, however much Babangida may pretend to the contrary.
No sooner was it bruited in 2006 that Obasanjo was scheming to change the rules to allow him remain in office beyond the two terms warranted by the Constitution than his one-time collaborators in the PDP worked themselves into a froth and warned of the direst consequences if he went ahead.
The rumours were not unfounded.
Obasanjo’s loyal followers had declared that he deserved a third term to continue the titanic job of rebuilding Nigeria after the depredations of military rule. These were no fringe elements. They came mostly from, and were backed enthusiastically by the organized private sector, which sponsored lavish wrap-around newspaper advertisements to press their case.
A leading captain of industry said Obasanjo had been so good for business he could remain in office for another 35 years as far as operators of that sector were concerned.
Obasanjo did not help matters by his mixed signals and studied evasions. When he declared at a reception in Germany that “some well-meaning people” had been urging him to stay longer in office to see his reform measures to a logical conclusion, alarm bells pealed back home.
He calmed the waters somewhat when, when, asked by visiting but since defenestrated World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz whether he would leave office at the end of his term, he answered in the affirmative.
Even after that affirmative statement, Obasanjo was not quite forthcoming. And so, every utterance or chance remark of his, every gesture, every action or failure to act, every clearing of the presidential throat, his coming and his going, and every breath he drew, was deconstructed through the prism of the third-term bid.
Those who claimed to know Obasanjo’s mind could not communicate his intentions clearly and coherently. They said he would surely leave, because he had assured them that he would do nothing subversive of the Constitution. But that assurance left open the possibility that Constitution could be amended to accommodate Obasanjo’s rumoured ambition.
Arguably the most definitive statement on the issue came from Ojo Madueke, Minister of Transport, who said that here was indeed a proposal for a constitutional amendment before the National Assembly, but that it was only one of more than 100 amendments under consideration.
The strategy for the actualization of the Third Term rested on the calculation that at least 24 state governors would be able to persuade, induce, bribe or corral their state assemblies into approving an enabling enactment, after which he National Assembly would be procured by similar methods to approve it.
Teams from the National Assembly fanned out to the so-called geo-political zones and staged “national consultations” to ascertain public opinion on the proposed amendments. In the Osogb centre, Ekiti Governor Ayo Fayose burst into dance, chanting “emi lowo si,” meaning that he fully endorsed the move. After the consultations, the amendment was reported to have won popular endorsement.
It all looked like a done deal.
But when the question was put before the Senate for a voice vote, it elicited only a faint response from the Third Term lobby. In stunned disbelief, the incumbent President of the Senate, Ken Nnamani put the question a second time. Again, the response was barely audible.
The protagonists of the Third Term had lost their voices and their nerves at the most crucial moment, after reportedly obtaining the N50 million and other inducements on offer for each vote.
To this day, Obasanjo maintains that he never sought a third term. He said God had given him everything he ever asked for, and that God would have granted him a third term if he had asked.
There the matter rested until two weeks ago, when Ayo Fayose – who else –breathed new life into and perverted the narrative the way he has perverted everything he has ever touched.
Hear him, as reported by the newsmagazine The Interview, in which he claimed he personally witnessed Obasanjo go down on his knee to beg the late Libyan president Moumar Ghaddafi to assist him realize his third-term quest.
“It was such a pathetic scenario, so shameful. Obasanjo was speaking rapidly like a parrot. I was shocked beyond words. I never knew Obasanjo would be that humble.
“He was on one knee till the end of the conversation. Ghaddafi kept quiet and was just watching Obasanjo. When Obasanjo stopped rambling, Ghaddafi said, ‘Have you finished? Just know that I will not attend that meeting. I have other engagements.”
Obasanjo has his flaws, to be sure. But the Obasanjo I know will never kowtow to any foreign leader. When he was a statesman-at-large holding no substantive office, he carried himself with the dignity of a head of state, and was received as such everywhere he went.
I accompanied him on trips to Benin Republic, Togo, Angola, Zambia, Namibia and to South Africa during and after apartheid. These visits were like summits at which important bilateral issues and African issues were discussed. He always informed military president Babangida before setting out, and always briefed him in writing on his return. I contributed talking points and sat in at meetings, at once observer and participant.
Obasanjo is too self-regarding, too proud of his being a Nigerian, too conscious of the responsibility that status confers on him as a citizen and statesman, and too steeped in the nuances of international diplomacy to kowtow to Ghaddafi or any foreign leader for that matter. Remember his “Dear Margaret” letter joining issues with British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher over her no-sanctions policy on apartheid South Africa?
I say nothing of his being a battle-tested general of the army, and an Owu chief to boot.
Fayose’s claim that Obasanjo kowtowed to Ghaddafi is of a piece with earlier reports that Obasanjo had prostrated before his estranged vice president, Abubakar Atiku, and begged him not to enter the race for the PDP’s presidential ticket for the 2003 general election. It speaks volumes about Atiku’s character that he has categorically disavowed that tale.
In what way could Gaddhafi’s support have advanced Obasanjo’s quest? In what way could Ghaddafi’s demurral have hurt that quest? Even if Libya belonged in ECOWAS, where Nigeria is the dominant player, Ghaddafi’s support or demurral would not have mattered in the least. Ghaddafi became chair of the African Union only in 2009, two years after Obasanjo had vacated power. So, in what guise could he have helped or hindered Obasanjo’s bid?
Besides, if Obasanjo was for any reason inclined to get down on his knees to beg for Ghaddafi’s support, I doubt whether he would have done so with the notoriously incontinent Fayose as witness. Obasanjo would have asked his host for a private audience.
The Obasanjo the world knows is in speech inclined to be slow, measured, and focused, very unlike the rambling parakeet Fayose made him out to be in the encounter with Ghaddafi. This, surely, will not go down as the last installment in Fayose’s unspeakably tawdry career in public life.
