In the 18-page diatribe, Obasanjo took President Jonathan to task for...
his handling of corruption, insecurity, and the crisis in the ruling
People's Democratic Party (PDP) among other issues.
Like most Nigerians, the former president expressed deep concern about
the tragic consequences of the current crisis. Unlike most Nigerians,
however, Obasanjo has had two glorious opportunities to help turn
around the fortune of Nigeria and he squandered both. Of course, it is
easy to say we should focus on the message rather than the messenger.
But this is one instance in which the messenger can't be divorced from
the message.
Obasanjo's letter dated December 2, 2013, and titled, "Before it is
too late" had all the telltale signs of a deeply troubled man. Rather
than writing this particular letter, Obasanjo should have committed
hara-kiri for his many crimes against Nigeria and Nigerians.
It was bad enough that his eight years as president were a tragedy; to
have imposed Umaru Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan on the nation as a
farewell gift is unpardonable. Perhaps, it was payback for the
trenchant opposition to his third term agenda.
In his warped thinking, Obasanjo must have reasoned that his only
option was to foist on Nigerians the very worst amongst us; people so
inept and incapable that after a while we'll be hankering after
Obasanjo. Looking back now, that theory has worked well as Nigerians
now look with nostalgia at the Obasanjo era.
All the things Obasanjo said about President Jonathan and his
administration may be true. But we can say the same and even more
about the two Obasanjo's administrations, 1976-1979 and 1999-2007.
Obasanjo seems to have forgotten too soon his squabble with his
deputy, Atiku Abubakar, that made nonsense of governance, the
political assassinations (including that of Bola Ige, his attorney
general and minister of justice) during his macabre rule, the
massacres in Odi and Zaki Biam. The less said about corruption (who
could forget the wholesale pillage of our patrimony in the name of
privatization) the better. Obasanjo laid the foundation on which
President Jonathan is building and consolidating. He is acting out the
PDP playbook.
Obasanjo's latest intervention is no doubt anchored on the politics of
2015. In his messianic posturing, he feels he has a divine right to
determine or at least have a say on who emerges as president in the
2015 election, an election that may sound the death knell of Nigeria
if we go by the postulations of Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Junaid Mohammed
andFarouk Adamu Aliyufor whom the election is a "do or die" affair,à
laObasanjo.
A few months ago, rather than participating in activities marking
Democracy Day (May 29) that he and his military collaborators foisted
on us, Obasanjo was in Jigawa State as guest of Governor Sule Lamido.
He literally made a case for Lamido as the next president of Nigeria,
the same Lamido whose sons have been indicted by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for laundering billions of Jigawa
State fund through companies owned by the governor.
That is the problem with Nigeria: the feeling of entitlement which the
likes of Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida survive on. Obasanjo should
realize that his "ethnic balancing" theory is not the solution to
"strengthening the unity and stability of Nigeria."
In the postscript to his letter, Obasanjo referenced Generals Ibrahim
Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar as those "who on a number of
occasions in recent times, have shared with me their
agonising thoughts, concerns and expressions on most of the
issues I have raised in this letter concerning the situation
and future of our country." This simply shows that Nigeria and we
(the 99 percent who ought to decide the future of the country) are in
big trouble. It's like asking cats to help improve the conditions of
rats.
Suddenly, President Jonathan has become the alibi of a ruling class
fearful of its imminent implosion. Earlier in the week, the Speaker of
the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, who superintends over a
house that reeks of corruption accused President Jonathan of paying
lip service to the fight against corruption.
Many Nigerians know the problems of the country, and if the likes of
Obasanjo and Babangida will allow, perhaps they can seriously begin
the long and arduous task of fixing the mess created by these rulers.
Obasanjo has outlived his usefulness, if ever anyone found him useful.
Now that he has confirmed that the man he imposed on the country is
not fit to rule, we shouldn't grant him the opportunity to decide the
person to replace him. It is time we the people rose in unison to
decide that.
Let no one be in doubt where I stand on the PDP, the Jonathan
administration and our so-called democracy. "This house has fallen."
There is no amount of letter writing or patchwork that can fix it.
Obasanjo should know that the train has left the station; that the
problem he and his cohorts caused can't be solved by letter writing
but by a complete restructuring of the country.
Obasanjo, Babangida and company have lost all moral right to dictate
how to define the new Nigeria we envisage.
Poignant.
ReplyDeleteTrue! Obasanjo is not in the best position to give that advice, but we should not throw away the baby with the bathwater
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