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Tag: Obasanjo

  • Fed Govt votes N280m as car allowances for Obasanjo, Gowon, IBB, Jonathan, others

    Fed Govt votes N280m as car allowances for Obasanjo, Gowon, IBB, Jonathan, others

    Former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Shagari, Goodluck Jonathan, Generals Yakubu Gowon, Ibrahim Babangida, Abubakar Abdulsalam and Chief Ernest Shonekan have been paid N40 million as monetisation. The money is part of a proposed N280 million for vehicle procurement, documents from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation have shown.

    The allocation, which was meant for the 2017 fiscal year, was in the documents showing procurements totaling N2.492 billion in the 2017 capital expenditure and earmarked for seven former Presidents and Heads of State.

    For this year, N2.492 billion capital expenditure is proposed, according to the report submitted  by the SGF during the 2017/2018 budget defence session held by the Hon. Husseini Suleiman Kanagiwa-headed House Committee on Governmental Affairs.

    The N240 million balance for the procurement of vehicles remains outstanding and is meant to be cash-backed before the budget year runs out in March. An additional  N96 million is proposed for procurement of vehicles in the 2018 budget estimates.

    About N120 million was proposed for purchase of vehicles for former Vice Presidents Atiku Abubakar, Namadi Sambo and the late Alex Ekwueme and had been released in 2017.

    Mustapha also told the lawmakers that N65 million was earmarked for building a website in the 2018 estimates.

    The committee members were not happy with some aspects of the presentation, especially the proposed N18.360 million for purchase of 27 laptop computer (Mac Book) in 2018; N,995,190,118 for purchase of security equipment.

    Also, the N64 million for purchase of monitoring trucks also got a knock, as well as the N316 million for purchase of motor vehicles; N124 million for four of 18-seater buses and two 30-seater buses.

    Estimates in the document show that N130 million was also proposed for procurement of two Land Cruiser Prado Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs); N65.551 million for ambulance and clinic equipment while N170 million was proposed for Independence/Democracy Day celebrations same as in 2017.

    The SGF told the lawmakers that the Mac Book computers were meant for Council Chamber because of the high volume of work they do.

    Other proposed expenditures for 2018 include: N1.734 billion for political officers and standing committee; N760.277 million honorarium and sitting allowance; N133.421 million for welfare packages.

    Similarly, N88.65 million is for the purchase of office furniture and fittings; N18.36 million for purchase of computers and N456.64 million for computer software acquisition while N106.834 is for cleaning & fumigation services for the SGF headquarters.

    N116.64 million is meant for support/maintenance of e-Council document management; N60 million for upgrade and turn around maintenance of Council Chambers Conference system; N30 million radio frequency identification device system (RFIC); N35 million for expansion of local area network/OSGF website upgrade and N40 million for socio-economic impact studies challenges/solutions.

    However, the 2017 budget document showed that out of the total sum of N20.800 million proposed for the 52No of Mac Book procured in 2017, the sum of N20.790 million (99.52%) has been released while from the total sum of N170 million proposed for Independence/Democracy Day celebration, the sum of N138 million was released.

    From the sum of N35 million proposed for 1 Xerox D125 Heavy Duty Photocopy Machine to enhance timely production of Council memoranda, the sum of N34,938,750 was released (99.83%) leaving a balance of N61,250 only.

    Also, out of the total sum of N55 million proposed for upgrading and turn around maintenance of Council Chambers System, the sum of N54,400,500 has been released leaving the balance of N599,500 only (98.91%).

  • Quest for change made me team up with Buhari – Amaechi

    Quest for change made me team up with Buhari – Amaechi

    The Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, says that his pursuit for change made him to leave his former party, the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ), to join the All Progressives Congress ( APC ).

    Amaechi made the disclosure on the sidelines of the Future Awards Africa held at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos last Saturday.

    He said that he would have done otherwise by staying in PDP and fight for the change, instead, there was a need to cross over to APC because of his belief in President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “I moved from PDP to APC because I am tired of what is happening in the party, I have the option to stay because of my position as the Chairman of the Governors then.

    “I can use my position to fight them (PDP) and get what I want because I believe Nigeria was not going in the right direction by then.

    “My attention and belief shifted to Buhari which was the viable alternative, I believe in the change mantra because it is the only way to improve on what is on ground.

    Read also: How APC can win 2019 elections – Amaechi

    “He has not disappointed because the economy is now back on track and is growing. This is evident in the current prices of food items because it’s getting lower,’’ he said.

    Amaechi said that prices of food would further crash because of the efforts of the government at making the country self-sufficient in food production.

    “With the change going on, the price will further crash because before this government came in, the price were soaring because we were importing food items, things we can grow here.

    “Now the policy of government which banned the importation of rice is working, the price is now about N16,000, but before now,  we are importing about N3 billion worth of rice.

    “Before now too, we were importing another N3 billion worth of poultry products, we are importing tomatoes but with the ban, we are now concentrating on our local production.

    “Many states in the northern part of the country are now growing rice in large quantities though by right, the South-South geo-political zone should be doing that because they are the ones in the swampy area,’’ he said.

    Amaechi said that the wastage in the PDP era was alarming, adding that the depletion of the excess crude account was supposed not have been.

    “When Obasanjo was leaving, he left about 65 billion dollars in the Excess Crude Account, but this money was frittered away and we wonder where the money is.

    “As at then, the price of crude oil during the president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration hovered around 140 dollars with this, they did not leave anything for the incoming government.

    “With that kind of money, we should be thinking of connecting Nigeria through rail system. The rail between Ibadan to Kano would have been completed.

    “Also the rail gauge between Port Harcourt to Maiduguri and Lagos to Calabar, but all the excess crude money was frittered away, we need to ask questions,’’ he said.

    NAN

  •  I rejected offer from friends to get me out of prison in commando style—Obasanjo

     I rejected offer from friends to get me out of prison in commando style—Obasanjo

    Friends of former President  Olusegun Obasanjo once toyed with the idea of storming the Yola Prisons with commandoes for the purpose of  liberating him from incarceration during the  Sani Abacha years, it was revealed yesterday.

    They were however talked out of the plot by Obasanjo himself.

    “I said no, if you do that, I will not leave the prison,” he said at an event in Abuja to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of  General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Obasanjo’s  deputy when he was military head of state from 1976 to 1979.

    The duo were arrested in 1995 in connection with  a phantom coup by the Abacha Administration.

    They were subsequently sentenced to death before the sentences were commuted to  life imprisonment.

    Yar’Adua died in the Abakaliki Prison in 1997, Abacha a year later, and following the emergence of General  Abdulsalami Abubakar as Head of State,Obasanjo was released from prison.

    He went on to become civilian president in 1999 and was re-elected in 2003.

    Going down memory lane on how he and Yar’Adua were arrested, tried and sentenced over the alleged coup plot, Obasanjo said: “When Shehu was first arrested, I was out in South Africa, and I rushed back home and asked the man who arrested him, and the man who arrested him said to me that he did not know that Shehu had been arrested.

    “I said, ‘Mr. Head of State, say that to the marines.’ There is no way the number two man in this country at one time will be arrested without the knowledge of the current number one man. Soon after, Shehu was released, but only for a few weeks.

    “When he was arrested a second time, I was arrested along with him and kept in separate locations. But after the verdict was given about what would happen to us, we met in Kirikiri. I believe that was his mistake because that was the last time we actually stayed together.

    “We had about three nights and we were able to speak and work together even at the Kirikiri Maximum prison. Even in prison, we strategised  together. Unfortunately, our strategy did not work.”

    Continuing, Obasanjo said: “When Shehu died in prison, my international friends decided that they would use the commando plan to get me out of prison, and they actually did make the plan, got the money  and wanted to get a helicopter to get me out of Yola prison and take me to Cameroon.

    “They sent a message to me and I told them if you do, I will not get out of prison, and that was when they dropped the idea of using commando effort to get me out of prison.

    “That would have defeated what we stood for. We stood for Nigeria and we stood to face whatever consequences standing for Nigeria would cost us.

    “It cost Shehu Yar’adua his life. Those of us who believe in what Shehu stood for and are  still alive, the only thing we can do is to allow the struggle to continue, because we are not at the end of the struggle yet.”

    He described Yar’Adua as the  best deputy he could ever dream of.

    His words: “I could not have had a better deputy than Shehu Yar’adua. When I was military Head of State, we had quite a number of exciting and serious times together that we shared.

    “One day, I had cold and the doctor came to see me, and I said to him, ‘supposed this cold decides to take my life and I slump, what will you do?’ He said, ‘I will try first aid and I will do all I need to do to revive you.’

    I said, ‘If you try that and it doesn’t work, what will you do?’

    He said, ‘ I will call the Chief of Staff.’

    “Just then, Shehu came in and I said: ‘Shehu, listen to what we were talking about’, and I relayed to him the discussion and told him, ‘Now that you have come in, I am here on the ground, what will you do?’

    He said, ‘I have no problem with that. I will kick you with my military boot and say get up, this is your job!’

    “We had such interesting times together. We also had difficult times together.

    “We had to put our heads together and discuss how we could  handle the issue of transition, how to implement our own programmers and how to move Nigeria forward.

    “We succeeded in doing what I believed was the right thing for the country at that time and putting in place a democratically elected government.

    “A few years after that, Shehu came to me in the farm and said he wanted to set up a grassroots party. He said from his study, he had discovered that Nigeria had never really had a truly grassroots party, not even NEPU.

    “I asked him if there was anything he wanted us to do while in government that we did not do and he said no. I said then, I pray that this grassroots party that you want to build will succeed.

    “I asked him, ‘Do  you want to use this grassroots party to get into power?’

    “He said, ‘Not really. But if it turns out to be the case, will you ask me not to?’

    “I told him not really, but I will be very glad if it turns out to be the case.

    “Many members of that party have remained loyal to the cause he set out to build; his ideals and what he stood for both when he was alive and when he departed.”

    Obasanjo said Yar’adua lived a life of service, saying, “Those of us who knew Shehu very well, knew the type of man he was, the type of live he lived, his commitment to his family, to his religion, to his nation and his friends.

    “When you asked the question, what is life, I think Shehu Yar’adua’s life typifies the answer to that question.

    “He lived his life and gave us eloquent answers about what life is, and that is also evident from what we have seen here today. Twenty years after he passed on, we are here with his memory still green and fresh in all of us.”

    Former Vice President and one of Yar’Adua’s closest  political associates, Atiku Abubakar, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Shehu Yar’adua Foundation, was conspicuously missing at the event. His  wife, Titi, was however present.

    President  Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone  eulogised the late Tafidan Katsina for his selfless service to the country, while one of his colleagues  in the army, General  Paul Tarfa, explained that the coup that toppled Yakubu Gowon was staged principally against the junta and not aimed at Gowon.

    Dignitaries at the event include former Minister of Finance, Mallam Adamu Ciroma; former Minister of Police Affairs, Adamu Waziri; former Governors Donald Duke of Cross Rivers and Peter Obi of Anambra; Mrs Titilayo Ajanaku;  Ambassador Patrick Dele Cole; Gen. Paul Tarfa, among others.

  • Return of slavery in 21st century regrettable, says Obasanjo

    Return of slavery in 21st century regrettable, says Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has lamented the resurgence of slavery and slave trade in the 21st century Africa, saying it is “dehumanising and un-dignifying”.

    Obasanjo said the atrocious act should be “strongly condemned” and no “excuse” should also be made for those perpetrating it.

    The ex-President spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital,  at the opening of the 2017 Annual Conference of the Comptroller-General of Immigration of Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).

    Speaking at the conference with the theme: “Managing Migration and Facilitating Trade and Development in 21st Century Nigeria: NIS’ Perspective,” Obasanjo, who was apparently making allusion to the conversion of immigrants to slaves by criminal elements in Libya, said it was regrettable that slavery had reared its ugly head again.

    He added that the situation the North African country deserved condemnation “in the strongest language possible”.

    He explained that the situation called for sober reflection and that it should move African leaders to feel a sense of regret and reflect on what has to be  done to redeem the victims.

    “I believe that slave trade in the 21st century should be condemned in the strongest language possible and nobody, who is involved in it should be excused.

    “What can we do and what must we do? We must ensure that conducive atmosphere is created for genuine exchange of goods and ensure development within our country, sub-region, continent and the world which we live in.

    “Without movement there can be no development. And movement means migration. But then today, migration has a very nasty connotation particularly when you watch the television and you air hear the story of thousands of our youths daring to go through the desert.

    “Then after they have done such hazardous journey, some of them are being sold as slaves. Slaves in the 21st century, Africans being sold by Africans and maybe to Africans. Making human beings as instrument merchants, property to be sold and commodity; humanising and un-dignifying what God has created to be dignified and uplifted.

    “As if that is not bad enough, these people go further and many of them find the Mediterranean Sea as a common grave. This means they terminate their lives. Why do they do this? It is because they believe they could get greener pasture elsewhere. What they believe they lack in their own country maybe gotten outside their own country.

    “So what does this means? It means that all of us as leaders must feel a sense of regret and have sober reflection on what we have done or what we have not done to bring this about to our own people,” Obasanjo said.

    The former President charged the NIS to embrace culture of training and retraining, professionalism, integrity, honesty, loyalty, and service in discharging their duty.

  • Obasanjo, others for Yar’Adua’s 20th memorial programme

    Obasanjo, others for Yar’Adua’s 20th memorial programme

    THE Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre yesterday said it will hold a 20th memorial programme for the late Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua tomorrow in Abuja.

    A statement by the centre’s Director-General, Jacqueline W. Farris, said the anniversary is an opportunity to remember one of Nigeria’s foremost contemporary leaders, who died in Abakiliki Prison on December 8, 1997.

    The statement said: “The Board of Trustees of the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation will host a Memorial Programme in honour of late Shehu Yar’Adua to mark the 20th anniversary of his death. The memorial is scheduled for Friday, December 8, 2017 at 9:30am at the Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja. Prayers at the National Mosque will immediately follow.

    “His Excellency Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR will serve as chairman of the occasion. His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma, President and Commander in Chief of the Republic of Sierra Leone will deliver a Goodwill Message.

    “Expected dignitaries who will offer tributes to the late Tafida include Major General Paul Tarfa (retd), Mallam Adamu Ciroma, former Minister of Finance, Mr. Kola Abiola, son of late M.K.O. Abiola and Barrister Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

    “Shehu Yar’Adua not only fought during the civil war to unite the country but paid the supreme price to ensure that democracy is enthroned in Nigeria.

    “The Yar’Adua Foundation was established in 1999. Through its facilities and programmes, the foundation endeavours to inspire future generations with Yar’Adua’s life of service; his commitment to national unity, good governance and to building a just and democratic society for all Nigerians.”

  • Obasanjo and presidential aspirants

    Obasanjo and presidential aspirants

    A trait that should have been discouraged is today being promoted by the mighty in Nigeria’s politics.  It is not the lack of ideology that makes Nigerian politicians to defect from one political party to another at the drop of a hat.  Though not as common as it is today, carpet crossing, as it is known, existed even before the First Republic.  There are numerous other unsavoury practices in Nigeria politics that have endured for too long but the one of concern to us here is a recent development.  It is the making of former President Olusegun Obasanjo into a deity whose blessings every Nigerian who wants to become president must seek!

    Having had a distinguished career in the Nigerian Army in which (through Providence) he was elevated to the enviable position of a Head of State in 1976, Olusegun Obasanjo does not need much introduction to most Nigerians.  But it was not his popularity as an individual that brought him into office during his first tenure as a civilian president in 1999.  Nearly all his kinsmen in the South-west actually voted for another candidate whom they preferred to him.  He was bankrolled by the northern establishment that felt his region (the South-west) should be compensated for the way their son, Chief M.K.O Abiola was denied the presidency by their fellow northerners in the military.  For a presidential candidate, they opted for Obasanjo who, as a military head of state, did not succumb to pressure to hand over to his kinsman, Chief Awolowo who was the runner up in the presidential election of 1979. He handed over to the winner, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, a northerner.

    As he spent more time flying abroad than at home, Obasanjo was also not very popular during his first tenure as a democratically elected president.  Before the primaries of his party for his second tenure in 2003, his deputy who had smartened himself up to contest against him almost pulled the carpet from under his feet.  On realizing on the eve of their party’s convention that most of the state governors and other delegates had massed up behind his deputy, Obasanjo was reported to have knelt down to beg before his second in command withdrew from contesting against him.  Obasanjo and his ambitious deputy eventually won the primaries and subsequently the main election.

    And as he became very dictatorial trying to impose candidates at almost every elective office in the country during his second tenure, Obasanjo was also not very popular except to those he imposed in several offices.  But when he tried to extend his presidency beyond the mandatory two tenures of four years, his surrogates in the National Assembly developed cold feet despite the huge cash inducement that was involved in the project.  He was however able to handpick the candidate who succeeded him as president.  He also handpicked the running mate of his successor and several other key elective posts such as governors and legislators in both the National Assembly as well as those of several states.  But the methods he used for all this especially the conduct of elections were disapproved of by many across the country.  So how did he come to be the god who must be appeased before anyone becomes president these days?

    Ironically, the first notable person to see Obasanjo as a sort of god that must be appeased by persons aspiring to the presidency was General Muhammadu Buhari. During the rancorous presidential elections of 2015 in which Obasanjo dumped President Goodluck Jonathan (his former protégé), Buhari and the other heavyweights of the All Progressive Congress (APC) had paid homage to Obasanjo by visiting him at home!  Many Nigerians doubted when they heard that Buhari could do that.  For, before that visit, he had been floored by Obasanjo in more than one very controversial presidential election that had to be decided in the courts. On both occasions, many believed Obasanjo got away because he was then the president.  Buhari subsequently won that 2015 election and since then it is not out of place to assume that other less notable Nigerians nursing hopes of one day contesting in the presidential elections have been trooping to Ota farm to get Obasanjo’s blessings. This was what probably led Obasanjo to accept a role in a video clip in which a young comedian was being endorsed for the presidency by no less a person than Obasanjo himself albeit in a dream!

    Critics who dismissed Obasanjo’s role in the video clip as nothing but one of his ego trips are now having a rethink if not regretting.  This is as a result of the recent bombshell from former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Nigerians will recall that after the incident in 2003 when the relationship between him and his deputy became frosty, almost like that of two arch rivals, Obasanjo was reported to have vowed to thwart every attempt of his deputy to become a substantive president after their tenure. And since then, Atiku Abubakar had tried heroically to contest every presidential election, but like the late Chief Awo, without success.  As 2019, the year for the next presidential election draws near, he has resigned from APC, the ruling party.  This was probably after consulting his crystal ball and learning that his chances of contesting for the presidency once again in that party were very slim if not nil.  It was in this scenario that former President Jonathan, who Obasanjo not only deserted but also traduced in the heady days of 2015, advised the poor serial presidential aspirant to go and beg his former principal whom he (Jonathan) described as boss of bosses!  And the press secretary of the man had replied that his principal has not ruled that out!

    In normal societies, it is not always easy for anyone to impose himself or be imposed by an individual as the leader of a village of only a few hundred persons.  Succession is also not always rancour-free even when there are hereditary structures in place such as in kingdoms.  The larger the society the more difficult it becomes to get a leader and in a democracy which we claim to be practicing, it is unthinkable for an individual to determine who becomes the leader unless the person was in control of the instruments of coercion and has no qualms in using them to intimidate the citizenry. Obasanjo is no longer the President so he cannot be using the security forces to coerce anybody. What then made him so important that anybody nursing ambitions to become the president must first be anointed by him? Here is a man who, left on his own, could not have won the two presidential elections he contested.  What has now turned him into an Oracle that must be worshipped by anybody yearning to become president? What are Nigerian political heavyweights telling the world about our democracy by elevating one person to the status of a god that must be appeased by every presidential aspirant?  That we are now zombies?

     

    • Maduku, a retired Nigerian Army Captain (Infantry) lives in Effurun-Otor, Delta State.
  • Adeniji’s death a great loss to Nigeria, says Obasanjo

    Adeniji’s death a great loss to Nigeria, says Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described the passing of Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji as a great loss to Nigeria.

    Obasanjo said this yesterday in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abeokuta.

    He noted that Nigeria had lost one of nation’s most outstanding diplomats, who brought his unique knowledge and experience into the Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international community.

    Obasanjo said Adeniji’s enormous contributions to the nation in particular, and international community in general earned him an eminent position in the nation’s gallery of unforgettable public servants.

    “I am currently in China attending the Club of Madrid General Assembly and Annual Policy Dialogue, the sad and shocking news of the passing of Adeniji got to me with a personal deep sense of loss.

    “In particular, I note his memorable stint in the Nigerian Foreign Service in the decades after Nigeria’s attainment of independence, during which he carved a niche for himself in global diplomacy.

    “He served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nigerian embassies in Washington D.C., Sierra Leone, Ghana and France. In all of these places, he served committedly, loyally and with distinction.

    “Ambassador Adeniji worked closely with me during my administration as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2003 and 2006 and later as Minister of Internal Affairs between 2006 and 2007.

    “He contributed immensely to the anticipation and management of crisis within and in several brother African countries, in pursuance of our foreign policy thrust, which retained Africa as centerpiece of our diplomatic agenda,” Obasanjo said.

    He urged Nigerians and the family of the deceased to find solace in the fact that God granted him the grace to come this far in the journey of life and in the enviable legacies that he left behind in the nation and the international community.

  • Atiku visits Obasanjo

    Atiku visits Obasanjo

    Poor Atiku Abubakar. Every time he gets set to run for the highest office in the land, some invisible but sturdy obstacles are rolled on the way. His political opponents and their friends will reel off a legion of reasons why he should not run. Some will simply say in a most damning manner that he is not fit for the job; a former vice-president not qualified for the number one job?

    He has been derided for changing parties- as if he is the only notable politician who does this routinely. He has just jumped the All Progressives Congress (APC) ship. There are speculations that he plans to rejoin the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). That common action has attracted attacks and derisive jokes.

    On the social media has suddenly appeared a caricature of the Turaki Adamawa, smiling, in a doctor’s clinic, a heart monitoring equipment strapped onto his chest and a blood pressure cutt on his arm. The caption: “Atiku undergoing medicals at PDP Headquarters in Abuja. On free transfer.” Some soccer buffs at work, no doubt.

    It is, I dare say, a big credit to his tenacity and sense of purpose that Atiku, like a marathoner, stays the course. He keeps throwing his hat in the ring.

    There seems to be a problem of perception, his minders may have told him. He recently challenged anybody who insists that he is corrupt to come out with the proof or remain quiet forever. Again, to his credit, nobody has accepted that simple challenge.

    Atiku plans to pick the PDP ticket and give President Muhammadu Buhari a run for his money in 2019. Buhari has not said he will run? Will Atiku get the ticket? Nobody can tell, for sure.

    As usual, there have been suggestions, propositions and postulations on how the Turaki should go about his life-long ambition. Of all such suggestions, the most striking seems to be from former President Goodluck Jonathan. He asked Atiku to beg former President Olusegun Obasanjo – Atiku was the vice – president in the Obasanjo presidency – if he must realise his ambition. Obasanjo and Atiku had a turbulent relationship that almost cost the former a fresh tenure.

    The story is told of how Obasanjo grovelled before Atiku to get the governors’ support ahead of the crucial PDP convention. Those who claim to know Baba Iyabo closely – they are few, I am told – have sworn that was sacrilegious. The Ebora Owu, they stress, would surely take his pound of flesh in a bigger measure. He takes no prisoner.

    The Jonathan advice sparked a round of questions and speculations. Why should Atiku beg Obasanjo? What is his offence? Does anybody need Obasanjo’s endorsement? Will he speak for potential voters? Is the PDP ticket in Obasanjo’s pocket? Did Jonathan prostrate for Obasanjo when he wanted to run?

    The questions are so many. Some of them are ridiculous; others simply absurd. Besides, many have been suggesting how a meeting of Obasanjo and Atiku will go, if it ever happens. Here is one of such imaginary scenarios of such a meeting:

    Obasanjo springs up from a seat in his expansive sitting room as soon as Atiku is ushered in. He smiles briefly and offers a handshake. Atiku throws himself at him for a hug.

    “Please, sit down. Good to see you again. I’m sorry I couldn’t give an earlier appointment. I’ve been travelling. The problem in Zimbabwe, Kenya and so many others. Anyway, what brings you this time?”

    “Baba, I thank you for your time, for receiving me despite your tight schedule. I won’t take much of your precious time sir. I bring peace. You’re our leader; our pillar. We do not think it will be wise to take any important step without informing you and carrying you along.  In this country today, nobody can say you don’t count. You are not just an ordinary person; you’re an elder statesman. And…”

    Obasanjo cuts in, raising his right hand. “Please, go into the specific. What exactly do you want? That long introduction seems to be confusing. Straight to the point.”

    “Baba, I’m running and I wish to get your blessing.”

    Smiling, Obasanjo looks straight at Atiku, his visage betraying some incredulity. “You ’re running? Where to? Why? Is anybody pursuing you?”

    “No Baba. I’m planning to contest the presidency on the platform of our great party, the PDP. And I am honoured and privileged to be telling you this so that I can receive your blessing. Former President Jonathan and many other eminent Nigerians have advised me to visit you and settle whatever differences we may have. This is my mission sir.”

    “Hee he. Jonathan asked you to come here? Am I in their party? Please, I’m a statesman. I announced it that I’m no longer a politician. When I resigned from PDP or whatever they call themselves, I didn’t do corner corner o. I tore their card. So, if that boy, em…eeem…eeeem… Jona, is telling you to come and you’re coming here, is he sincere? I remain a farmer and a statesman. One million Atikus can’t change that whether they are running or walking or flying. I’m sorry, Mr Atiku.”

    “You seem to be getting it all wrong sir. I’m not asking you to come out of retirement and campaign for me. No. I’m only informing you and asking you to bless me so that I can succeed.”

    “Again, I’m not a politician. Are you listening? I’m too honest and frank to remain in that circle – of lies, backstabbing, intrigues and corruption. Deceit. No. I’m done. My politics now is Nigeria. Anybody who says Nigeria will not rise and move forward, I am ready to go konkobilo with that person. So, oga, that is my position.”

    “Baba, I salute your sincerity – and courage. You are not the type who will deceive anybody to score cheap political points. You’re blunt. There are many of us in the race. That is why I crave your endorsement. You must have an opinion on this important matter.”

    “Yes. I have heard that some of you are warming up. I’m not the type that fears. I have my opinion on each and everyone of you. The other boy (wetin be im name now o?). Obasanjo scratches it aggressively. He looks up and continues.

    “Makarfi. Yes; I hear he too wants to contest. I know he used to be governor of Kaduna. He was a senator. And now chairman of what they call Caretaker Committee. Hmmm…

    “Sule Lamido is my boy, but dem say he get baggage. And you know Buhari is a soldier. He will simply ambush him and that will be the end of the matter.

    “Buhari sef. I said so that he will not steal. He will fight corruption and jail all the thieves making noise and gallivanting all over the place. But Buhari may not do well in the economy. I said so. No be so?”

    “Baba, I thank you for your insight. The words of our elders… . Do I take it that I have your blessing to pick the PDP ticket for 2019?”

    Hmm…hmmmm…hmm (Obasanjo clears his thrioat). “PDP my foot. I don’t care who gets the PDP ticket. Dat one na dem toro. I’m not a member and I don’t plan to be one. Let them sell it or give it or dash it to whoever they like. Me o, Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo, I don’t care. A statesman I will remain. I thank you for visiting.”

    A crowd of reporters and photographers have set up a camp outside the door. As Obasanjo and his guest emerge from the main house, they spring up onto their feet and rushed towards them.

    “Baba, good afternoon. How are you sir?”

    Obasanjo, smiling without showing his teeth:”I dey kampe, as you can see.”

    “How did the meeting go?”

    “Which meeting? No meeting o. You know Christmas will soon be here. The former VP came to wish me merry Christmas. Is anything wrong with that? And I wish you all Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.”

    After a handshake with Obasanjo, Atiku walks briskly towards his car, adjusting his agbada. The reporters rush to catch up with him.

    “Sir, how did it go? Is it true you came to tell Baba to support your ambition? Did he promise to back you?”

    “Baba has spoken and that is all. I have no comments – for now. Have a nice day, my friends.”

    An aide opens the door. Atiku jumps in and the car rolls out of the large compound.

    The Maina roadshow returns

    After a short break, the Abdulrasheed Maina  roadshow is back. The fugitive civil servant, in an interview with Channels Television from an unstated location, has been reeling off incredible facts and figures emanating from his work as the head of the controversial Pension Task Force Team.

    Perhaps out of ignorance or sheer sense of impunity, some key government officials have allowed themselves to be roped into the Maina mess. There are desperate efforts to bring in President Muhammadu Buhari.

    It is too early to pronounce Maina guilty. He should forget about the threats he claims are being issued against him and return home to clear his name. In the court of law, he will be allowed to say all he knows about how trillions of naira have been creamed off neatly and roughly from the pension funds.

    It is sickening enough that Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, his Interior counterpart Abdulrahman Dambazzau and others have been named in the botched bid to reinstate and reward Maina with a promotion. But this should not be the main issue. Who are the fat cats who fed on the huge pension funds? Who took what? Where is the cash Maina claims to have recovered? From who?

    Until these and other questions are settled, the Maina matter will remain an arrow shot right at the heart of the anti-graft war. It must be resolved – fast.

  • Obasanjo’s makeover

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo posted an epic switch in political ideology lately when he advised power actors that elections in Nigeria needn’t be a matter of life or death. But you might miss the significance of this counsel if you didn’t know just where he was coming from.

    The elder statesman, arguably a legacy ruler of the present republic, admonished that politicians’ pursuit of power through elections ought not be all-consuming as it typically gets, since there are multiple options for rendering service to fatherland. “If you cannot be the chief servant, you can be the assistant chief servant. This is because the chief servant cannot do it on his own, he has to work with others,” he was reported saying.

    Speaking in Calabar at the public presentation of a book on the paramount ruler of Obudu, Cross River State, the ex-president enjoined politicians who failed in elections to help winners succeed in office. His striking counsel: “Politics should not be about life or death. Politicians should learn to tread with caution as the 2019 elections draw closer.”

    Host state governor at the event, Professor Ben Ayade, backed up what Obasanjo advised by underscoring the transient nature of power, saying: “Power is like the wind that blows away. In (exercising) power, one must do so with the fear of God.”

    By all reckoning, the former president has impressive credentials to dish out from personal experience beneficial codes of political behaviour. He had been at the pinnacle of power in this country both as military head of state and a two-term civilian president. But going by the new creed he postulated, his conversion couldn’t be more drastic if he was the biblical Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. What was not too clear is the exact point of his transforming encounter, like what we know of the flashing light that brought feisty Saul down and blinded from his marauding horse on Damascus road.

    It was Obasanjo who vocalized and gave imperial assent of some sort to the deeply ingrained streak of nihilism in Nigerian political culture by declaring the 2007 elections a ‘do-or-die affair’ for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), of which he was at that time standard bearer. Speaking in the heat of electioneering at a parley with party stakeholders in Abeokuta North council area, a couple of months before that year’s general election, the then president had declared: “I will campaign. This election is a do-or-die affair for me and the PDP. This coming election is a matter of life and death for the PDP and Nigeria.”

    He made clear though that the poll was ‘do-or-die,’ so to block persons he perceived potentiated to drag the nation backwards from getting into power. In other words, it was beyond contemplation for him to leave that determination to the electorate, who ideally should just be empowered with useful information and allowed ample berth to freely exercise their franchise; and thereafter, whose choice, no matter what, must be respected and given unmediated effect. After all, voters deserve the leaders they freely choose. But all that seemed like idle talk to the then president, who revved up all levers of incumbency to craft the political field in his own image, code-naming the general election ‘operation totality’ and charging party members to snatch victory at all levels.

    That was the political ideology the ex-president professed in 2007. And the result? That year’s poll hugged perhaps the lowest point of credibility ever in Nigerian electoral history: an infamy that no one – not even beneficiaries of the outcomes – could in good conscience live with. Wasn’t that the reason the late President Umaru Yar’Adua couldn’t wait to hustle in a programme of electoral reforms after he took office?

    Well, it was the same Obasanjo who sang a new and profoundly edifying tune at the Calabar book presentation penultimate week. His words again: “Politics (in Nigeria!) should not be about life or death.” He is, without doubt, reputed for pushing doctrines that sum up to that ideology in his sundry election observation and truce mediation missions across the world as an international statesman, since the time he effluxed from the Nigerian presidency. But thank Heavens we live to see the day he openly recanted on the ruinous world view he elevated to state policy as leader of his home country; and really, we must acknowledge it was gracious of him to have outed with that self-overriding declaration.

    Still, it appears that the underlying assumptions in Obasanjo’s articulation of his helpful ideology misses some fundamentals of the bedeviling zero-sum disposition by Nigerian politicians towards electoral contests.

    The ex-president seems to presume, for instance, that the political elite, in seeking public office, are keen on rendering service to this country; and as such, he advised that there always would be other openings for service if one loses out on an office being sought in a particular poll. Experience shows however that a negligible few, if at all, among contenders in Nigerian elections seek public office to render service. Hence the idea of ‘chief servant’ or ‘assistant chief servant,’ as the ex-president teased, does not genuinely resonate.

    Truth is, the intention of most Nigerian politicians in seeking public office is never to serve, but rather to profiteer from those offices. The bloated returns – licit and illicit – that attend political offices in this country are more than sufficient motivation for the unbridled desperation we see. In the familiar parlance of politics, public offices are ‘captured’ (Obasanjo himself used that word in regard of the 2003 poll), not won by way of uninfringed pleasure of voters. And to a typical politician, electoral contests are concerted heists by another name; against which the election management body must continually wage a counter-battle to the extent of its integrity quotient.

    Meanwhile, it isn’t that the governance model we have adopted and the statutory framework for its enactment really help the zero-sum political culture. For instance, the winner-takes-all endgame of the presidential system we run on first-past-the-post track rules cannot but fuel raw desperation in power predators, much unlike the everyone-gets-a-pie outcome of the proportional representation model. You could argue, of course, that the winner-takes-all model works perfectly well in the United States from where it was copied. But also bear in mind the sophistication of that country’s legal architecture and the norms enshrined through centuries of unbroken practice, among other things.

    So, what do we make of Obasanjo’s new ideology? My view is: the ex-president did great service by pointing out the path of rectitude for political culture in Nigeria at the cost of tacit self-repudiation. He is like a prodigal returnee speaking out to the following effect: ‘Track back from that ruinous road you are committed to; never mind that I have not myself been a good example of what is right to do!’ He should by all means be heeded and his wise counsel taken to heart by his addressees, that is politicians, like it is scripture.

    But the point must also be made that the infamy of our political culture in this country will not end in self-willing morality. There is a crying need to rework the governing statutes, and no time seems more opportune than now, with the ongoing review of the electoral laws. We could well begin by taking out the perks that make political offices so attractive.

     

    • Please join me on kayodeidowu.blogspot.be for conversation.
  • Diabetes kills only careless people – Obasanjo

    Diabetes kills only careless people – Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday morning led hundreds of people on road walk  for diabetes awareness in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, saying  “diabetes kills only careless people.”
    Obasanjo  who was joined in the road walk by the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrasheed  Adewale Akanbi (Osun State) and Commissioner of Health in Ogun State, Dr. Babatunde Ipaye, added if one took care of oneself, one would discover that “diabetes is not a killer disease.”
    The Ebora Owu who noted he is now  well above 80 and could walk  with agility despite being diabetic(covering a distance of 1km  uphill of the distance on foot during the walk), lamented that many of the nation’s youth rarely exercise.
    “Diabetes is not a disease that should kill, I was diagnosed to be diabetic more than 30 years ago but rather, I am growing strong, if you don’t believe I am growing strong and you didn’t witness this walk, come and see me at night, you will know I am growing strong, come and see me in the morning, you will know I am growing, even in the afternoon, you will know I am growing strong.
    “What is necessary is a management of diabetes. Some people said some diseases are incurable, but diabetes is manageable and compliant.
    “My headmaster in primary school was diagnosed at the age of 50 and died at age 85, you will agree with he tried.
    “What to do is that if you’re diabetic, don’t be nonchalant about it and don’t eat carelessly. Three things are important, the food you eat, regular exercise and prescribed medication, those are the three most important things.
    “You can be diabetic and still lives till 100, I don’t know when I would die but I am above 80 and many of the youth could not catch up with my pace during  the exercise this morning, many of them were running after me.
    ” This is my message. Whether you’re diabetic or you have a family or friend with diabetic, diabetes is not a killer disease or it should not be a killer disease unless you are careless,” Obasanjo said.
    The about two kilometre walk which began at the Marque within the sprawling Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library(OOPL), Abeokuta, coursed through MKO Abiola Way and had 15 minutes stop – over at the premises Sunny Yinka Oil on same before turning to end it at the take off point.
    The road walk was organized by the Southwest zone of the Diabetes Association of Nigeria(DAN) in collaboration with OOPL to mark the 2017 edition of World Diabetes Day.