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Tag: Obasanjo

  • 2015: We don’t know where we’re going, says Obasanjo

    2015: We don’t know where we’re going, says Obasanjo

    •Ex-President likens nation’s travails to Abacha’s era

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday likened the state of the nation to the late Gen. Sani Abacha’s military era, when he said the middle class was wiped out.

    But he told visitors to his home in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, that “tough times don’t last but tough people do”.

    The late Gen. Abacha was Nigerian Head of State between 1993 and 1998. He ruled with iron fist, sending many pro-democracy activists into exile.

    He jailed the winner of the 1993 presidential election, the late Bashorun Moshood Abiola.

    Obasanjo spoke when he hosted a delegation of the Nigerian Market/Traders’ Council, led by its National President, Yeye Osho.

    The former President recalled that a recent short messaging service (SMS) he got from a Nigerian requesting for financial assistance showed that the nation’s middle class was disappearing.

    The delegation of about 150 persons, including the Iyalode of Yorubaland, Chief Alaba Lawson, had representatives from the 36 states.

    It sought Obasanjo’s elderly counselling on the direction to take in the 2015 general elections.

    The former President read the message from his cell phone’s SM inbox to the delegation.

    He assured them that Nigerians would survive the hard times, as they did in the past.

    Obasanjo said: “As for me, we don’t know where we are going yet, may God show us the way. The way that will take this country and make it a great country, and when, for me ooo, I understand and (if) I see the way, I will tell you. I pray that God will show me the way. May God show you the way.

    “Tough times do not last forever. When tough times come, tough people get going. We will keep going and we will survive this though time.

    “I told him (the SMS sender) that we have experienced this period in time of Abacha. All the middle class were completely destroyed.”

    The former President said he was surprised that such people could afford even basic necessities befitting their status.

    He said: “I was surprised the day a Colonel in the Army complained to me that he and his family could not afford to buy a car.

    “A friend of mine, Dr. Okoro, is a doctor and his wife is also a doctor. They have a daughter, who is also a doctor. Among the three of them, they could not afford a new car. They had to go to Saudi Arabia. I pray we will not have such a time in Nigeria again.

    “We all have contributions to make and should not leave our responsibility to others. If we fail to participate in things that are meaningfully positive for this country, you will be a victim and we all become victims.”

    Yeye Osho said the council supported Obasanjo during his eight-year administration.

    She added: “We had tremendous support from you when you were in government. As such, we deem it necessary, and as a mark of respect, to find out on which direction we are going.”

  • Why I can’t reveal my next of kin – Obasanjo

    Why I can’t reveal my next of kin – Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday registered for the National Identity Card (NIC) and kept the information about his next of kin away from the prying eyes reporters who were bent on capturing his personal data.

    The former president said this would prevent undue “publicity on the matter.”

    Obasanjo, who arrived the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) office, Oke – Mosan, Abeokuta, at 1:35pm and received by the NIMC’s officials led by the Director of Identity Card Database, Abuja office, Engr. Aliu Azeez, quickly had his height measured and finger prints taken.

    But when it got to the column requiring information about his next of kin, the former president who had been responding orally to the NIMC officials’ questions, picked a piece of paper, covered it with his palm, wrote the name of his next of kin and handed it over to the commission’s personnel.

    Turning to the curious reporters and surging television cameramen, he said: “I have decided to keep my next of kin secret and away from you. If you know it, you will give it undue publicity.”

    He later expressed confidence that the project if sustained, would help tackle the country security challenges.

     

  • West Africa must confront weaknesses to curb drugs trade – Obasanjo

    West Africa must confront weaknesses to curb drugs trade – Obasanjo

    West Africa must openly confront its political and governance weaknesses to curb the growing drug trade in the region, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said.

    “West Africa is no longer only a transit zone of drugs but an attractive destination where pushers take advantage of the weak political system to perpetuate their trade,” Reuters quoted Obasanjo, who chairs the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD), as saying while presenting his report to Ghana’s President John Mahama.

    “We believe that we should confront openly the political and governance weaknesses which the traffickers exploit,” the former Nigerian leader added.

    Former United Nations chief, Kofi Annan, set up the commission last year to explore ways to stem the increasing trafficking of drugs and its use in the region.

    West Africa has long produced and consumed cannabis but its collection of weak states has over the last decade become a major transit zone for Latin American cocaine destined for Europe. Heroin from Asia is also passing through the region.

    Drugs are undermining the stability of West African countries and their development, “eating not only into the normal life of our youth, but it’s eating into our political system and governance,” Obasanjo said.

    In its report released in June, the commission called on governments in West Africa to decriminalise drug use and treat the issue as a health problem.

    Obasanjo said because of the amount of money involved, “drug barons can buy, they can do, and they can undo – buy officials in the military, security and pervert justice.”

    Annan said wrong-headed governmental policies by leaders and influential people in society have destroyed many more lives in West Africa than drug use.

    WACD has 11 members including former President Pedro Pires of Cape Verde and former Togolese Prime Minister Edem Kojo.

  • Tambuwal meets Obasanjo in Abeokuta

    House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal met yesterday with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his Abeokuta home.

    Tambuwal, who came at 5:30pm, left about 45 minutes later.

    No reason was given for the meeting. But Tambuwal’s spokesman Imam Imam said: “You know Baba (Obasanjo) is a father to all in the country. The visit was to consult him. It is about rubbing minds on how to move the country forward and make Nigeria better.

    “It was a closed-door meeting. Whether or not it is in connection with a presidential ambition, I cannot comment. Let’s wait till 2015. Then, we will address that.”

  • Hearing on Obasanjo’s letter

    Hearing on Obasanjo’s letter

    The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said yesterday it will inaugurate a Panel  of Enquiry to conduct a hearing on allegations of state-sponsored killings, from 1995 till date.

    The panel is also to enquire into allegations in ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter to President Goodluck Jonathan.

    NHRC this year, upon a request by the President, said it would conduct hearing on allegations in the letter.

    In February, NHRC invited memoranda from  the public.

    Ex-President Obasanjo , in his December 2, 2013 letter: “Before it is too late,” accused the President, among others, of training a killer squad.

    The President, following the interest generated, requested the commission to investigate the issue.

    NHRC’s Executive Secretary Prof. Bem Angwe   said memoranda should be submitted on or before September 2.

    He said “the public inquiry will be thorough and fair to all.”

  • Nyako, Oshiomhole attend Council of State meeting

    Nyako, Oshiomhole attend Council of State meeting

    Despite the crisis rocking Adamawa State, the state governor, Murtala Nyako, on Tuesday surprisingly appeared at the National Council of State (NCS) meeting presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House, Abuja.

    Some members of the Adamawa State House of Assembly are threatening to impeach the governor based on alleged corruption charges.

    Nyako was the centre of attention when he entered the council chamber at 10:55am before the commencement of the meeting.

    Even when he took his seat in the chamber, his colleagues clustered around him to get the first-hand gist about happenings in the state.

    The Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, also attended the meeting. The Edo State House of Assembly is also undergoing crisis.

    Past presidents and heads of state at the meeting are – Olusegun Obasanjo, Shehu Shagari, Ibrahim Babangida, Yakubu Gowon, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Ernest Shonekan.

    Former head of state, Muhammadu Buhari was absent at the meeting.

    Oshiomhole and Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, led the opening Christian and Moslem prayer when the meeting started at 11:38am.

    Also at the meeting are the Senate President, David Mark, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammad Uwais.

    Other governors at the meeting are that of Kaduna, Delta, Niger, Ebonyi, Bayelsa, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Kebbi, Gombe, Enugu and the acting governor of Taraba.

     

  • Emulate Arisekola’s philanthrophic spirit, Obasanjo urges

    Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has urged Nigerians to emulate the philanthropist gesture of the late Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Arisekola Alao for the development of mankind.

    The former Nigerian leader made this plea during his condolence visit to the family of the late Islamic leader at his residence in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    Obasanjo, who arrived  the residence at about 10:28 am in company of a Commissioner in the National Population Commission (NPC), Chief Lateef Gbadamosi and former Secretary to Oyo State Government, Chief Lasisi Olakojo, were received by Alhaji Abu Arisekola-Alao on behalf of the family.

    “When the news about his death broke in Ibadan, I was around but I could not believe it because I spoke with him four days before he travelled. He was a humble man of many parts. He was a community leader, a state leader and a national leader. He appreciated what God has given him both in material terms and used it to benefit mankind. He was a philanthropist of note,” Obasanjo said.

    He added, “He lived a fulfilled life and he was humble to the core. He lived his life to serve the masses and the downtrodden.”

    Describing the void left behind by the late businessman as one that will be difficult to fill, Obasanjo urged the deceased’s children and family members to unite themselves and avoid any act of rancour.

    Responding, one of the late Arisekola’s sons, Isa, thanked the former President for his visit. Shortly after, Obasanjo visited Aare’s graveside to pay his last respect.

  • Jonathan to meet former leaders in Aso Villa

    Jonathan to meet former leaders in Aso Villa

    President Goodluck Jonathan will meet some former Nigerian leaders at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, later on Thursday.

    The meeting, billed to start by 8pm has been classified as private.

    The agenda of the meeting was unknown as at press time on Thursday, even though it came at a time President Jonathan expressed increasing worries over conduct and utterances of some politicians, which he claimed was encouraging terrorists and could jeopardise the 2015 general elections.

    While it was also unknown if all former leaders have been invited to the meeting, former Heads of State –  Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari are already in Abuja for the meeting.

    Also, former Vice President Alex Ekwueme and ex- Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, are in town for the meeting.

    Others expected at the meeting, if invited, are former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and former Head of the Interim National Government (ING), Chief Ernest Shonekan.

  • My rift with Obasanjo over, says Atiku

    My rift with Obasanjo over, says Atiku

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said the rift between himself and former President, Olusegun Obasanjo is all over, re-iterating that he harbours “no hatred or enmity” against his former boss.

    A statement released and signed by the former VP’s Media Office read that he spoke on Tuesday in Abuja when he granted audience to the leaders of the Northern Youth Leaders Forum, a group that recently embarked on a mission to end the rift between the former President and his deputy.

    The release stated further that the team, led by Comrade Eliot Afiyo, had weeks ago met former President Obasanjo in Ota, at which event he announced that he had forgiven his former vice president.

    He was quoted to have said: “I don’t harbor any grudge against my former boss. Yes, we had disagreements in office. These were mere disagreements. I harbor no hatred or enmity against him or anybody. I never had anything against him and I will never have,” Atiku said while responding to the group.

    He explained that in politics, he has opponents, but no enemies. “Politics is not war,” he emphasized.

    Atiku thanked the group for successfully brokering peace between him and President Obasanjo, adding that this single effort had marked the leaders of the youth organisation as serious-minded people who are fully prepared to take over the leadership of the country from their seniors.

    Meanwhile, Atiku reflected on the current security situation in the country appealing to the Federal Government to take the challenge more seriously. “If we can go to other countries to rid them of these kinds of problems, it shows that we have the capacity to put this one down immediately so that the suffering of the people can be reduced.”

    In an earlier speech, chairman of the group, Comrade Afiyo described Atiku as an “honest and forthright leader, a courageous and dogged democrat, a loving and compassionate guardian, an accommodating and caring shepherd and a role model.”

    He expressed happiness and satisfaction with the joint decision by both Obasanjo and Atiku to accede to their request to bury the hatchet, adding that this is a development that will go a long way in healing the rift in the country.

  • Photo: Obasanjo counsels Jonathan

    Photo: Obasanjo counsels Jonathan

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan at the Funeral Mass for former Lagos State Governor, late Sir Micheal Otedola in Lagos.
    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Goodluck Jonathan at the Funeral Mass for former Lagos State Governor, late Sir Micheal Otedola in Lagos.