Lawyer Olanipekun to Obasanjo: Quit politics honourably now
What is your reaction to the postponement of the general elections?
I will address the issue as a lawyer and as a stakeholder in the Nigerian enterprise. Statutorily and constitutionally, the Independent National Electoral Commission is vested with wide powers in the organisation, management and supervision of the electoral process.
For the first time in Nigeria, we have what we label the Independent National Electoral Commission. In the Second Republic, we had the Federal Electoral Commission, not Independent National Electoral Commission.
During the time of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida dove-tailing into the regime of Sani Abacha, we had the National Electoral Commission. The word 'independent' never appeared in the statutes. So, whether deliberately or otherwise or in an attempt to deceive ourselves, we added the word, 'independent.'
When you look at Section 153 (1) of the Constitution, that provision establishes 14 bodies for the Federation, including the Council of State, National Judicial Council, Police Service Commission and the Council of State. And that Section 153 (1) (f) provides for the creation of INEC.
The Constitution vests a lot of powers, duties and responsibilities in it. And further into the Constitution, the chairman of the commission is said to have the same kind of powers and privileges and is on the same pedestal with the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Justices of the Supreme Court in order to guarantee its independence. I dare say that INEC enjoys the same constitutional leverage with the Council of State.
Now when you look at the Electoral Act itself (as amended from time to time), to specifically address your question, Section 26 (1) says that the commission itself has the power, the latitude, in its own wisdom and perception, without being prompted by anybody, and after considering various parameters, and environmental disasters which we call 'Act of God,' to postpone elections. And what does that section say? It is better I read it to you.
It says: "Where a date has been appointed for the holding of an election and there is reason (by INEC), to believe that a serious breach of the peace is likely to occur if the election is proceeded with on that day, or it is impossible to conduct the elections as a result of natural disasters or other emergencies, the commission may postpone the election, and shall in respect of the areas concerned, appoint another day for the election, provided that such reason for the postponement is cogent." That is the law. The reason must be cogent. It must be feasible.
And the law goes further to say that if INEC is of the view that conducting election in such areas might not affect the overall result of the election substantially, then INEC might declare a return, though subject to a challenge in the law court.
Now, the law permits INEC to postpone elections under the circumstances that I have read out to you, which include: breakdown of law and order, breach of peace and environmental disasters. The reasons must be cogent enough and plausible. And these reasons should be given ahead of time.
For instance, INEC postponed the 2011 National Assembly elections midway, around 1pm. (On that day, I had already cast my vote), but people took it in good faith because it was done by INEC without any prompting from anywhere. Now, elections all over the world are very important.
The world has become a global village and Nigeria has become a leading partaker in world affairs. In the UN, Nigeria's position is prominent, more prominent than we think, than we even imagine.
Among the countries of the world, Nigeria is one of the largest. In the black race, Nigeria is the largest. So whatever happens in Nigeria draws the attention of the entire world. In effect, the entire world was aware that Nigeria was to hold its presidential and National Assembly elections on February 14.
All ears on ground, all eyes opened, but a few days to the polls, the National Council of State met and asked INEC to liaise with the security agencies to see whether it was possible for INEC to hold elections. Before that time, kites had been flown, starting with the National Security Adviser, saying, not even in Nigeria, but in London, that for security reasons, INEC should consider postponing the elections.
A lot of people took off from there, joining issues, for and against. Schools of thought emerged even across political lines, curves and cleavages. Those of us who constitute the majority of voters in this country, (let me correct an impression, majority of voters in this country neither belong to the PDP nor the APC, and I belong to that category) are the potent force.
Call us fringe voters, call us fringe PVC carriers, but we constitute the majority, because we have a huge stake in this enterprise called Nigeria. We were looking forward to February 14 to cast our votes but the INEC chairman suddenly postponed the elections, stating that security agencies could not guarantee the security of the process.
Why do you think he said so?
Now, it was not INEC that was saying it, because I read its chairman's lips and body language. He was saying although we are ready, the security agencies said for security reasons, the elections should not hold.
To me as a lawyer, I will say that the postponement of the elections was not within the ambit of Section 26 (1) of the Electoral Act. It was not also within the anticipation of the Act, because it was not done by INEC per se.
Again, let us look at it, where a date has been appointed, and the Constitution itself says that it is INEC that shall appoint a date for the holding of an election. Section 132 (1) of the Constitution says that "The election to the office the President shall be held on a date to be appointed by INEC in accordance with the Electoral Act." The date of election is not taken by INEC to satisfy anybody.
It is not fixed by INEC after permission is granted by the powers that be. Ideally, INEC should be free of all influences. So I want to submit that INEC didn't take that decision to postpone the election and if it did, INEC took the decision outside the purview of the Electoral Act.
Since nobody is challenging it, let us fold our arms and prepare for the elections. And again let me add as a statesman and lawyer that INEC is not independent. If INEC were to be independent then this problem would not have occurred.
Have you heard of an election being postponed in the United States of America? Section 1 of CAP 1 of the 3 US Code, which deals with holding of elections. It's not as clear as ours. Ours says election must be conducted not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the date of inauguration.
But theirs says that "the electors of President and Vice President shall be appointed in each state on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of every fourth year, succeeding every election of President and vice Presidents."
This has been there for centuries and that is the provision for election in the U.S. Let's go back to history. In 1845, when this date was chosen, the United States was largely agrarian, so, factors like the end of the harvest season and the fact that the winter-storms won't have begun were considered.
More so, Sunday was not chosen because of church services, Monday was not chosen because farmers often needed a full day to travel by horse drawn carts to where they will vote, and Wednesday was not chosen because it served as market days in most of the counties. That is why they put it on Tuesday, not even on the first day of the month.
That Tuesday is registered in the psyche and sub-consciousness of every American because this date has never changed. We have to know what happens in the advanced democracies of the world and what makes them tick. In the United Kingdom, there is obedience to the tenor, intention and sprit of the law.
There is also what is called 'The Fixed-Term Parliament Act of 2011,' which mandates dissolution of the present parliament on March 30, 2015 and provides further that election will be conducted on May 7, 2015, unless, the House of Commons votes for an earlier date. In other words, election can be held earlier than May 7, but not later.
If you look at the election that was held in India, the largest democracy in the world, and just as you are aware that the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, was a newspaper vendor, and later, a trained journalist who became the Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world; with about 800 million voters, election date was not changed.
If you keep on changing the date of elections, people will lose confidence in the outcome of the election. Enthusiasm will die, and it affects the economy too.
If this is done in America, but they won't do it, it would affect the New York Stock Exchange. And if it affects the New York Stock Exchange, then it will affect the economy of the entire world. In the same vein, it has affected ours and more so, this is a nation where our federalism is upside down.
Lastly, if the elections were postponed for security reasons under Section 26(1) of the Electoral Act, INEC should have restricted the postponement to the areas under security threat, rescheduling the elections thereat for 28th March, and not the entire country.
What impact will the shift have on the time set out for tribunals to discharge election petitions and perhaps, give their judgments within the set time limit?
It will have an immense impact. Let's remind ourselves that Section 132 (2) of the Constitution (as amended) provides that elections should be held not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before inauguration.
This was done to allow those who would want to challenge the results of the elections to do so. If possible, conclude the matter before the person is sworn in. But now, the elections have been postponed, though the postponement is still within the constitutional window allowed for the conduct of elections.
I must agree with that, but at the same time, we have to consider a lot of factors and variables. In Nigeria, people don't agree with the result of elections. This is bad enough and it takes me to one fundamental issue, which I mentioned earlier, in an attempt to answer your first question.
INEC is not independent and it's not only INEC. We are talking about security agencies, ministries, Immigration, Customs and all of them. We have a very peculiar situation and unfortunately, none of the gladiators and political parties is addressing the Nigerian questions.
Everybody wants to take power without addressing the fundamental questions, which have to do with the un-federal nature of Nigeria's federalism. The Nigerian federation is upside down.
In fact, I'm not aware of any unitary government that is more unitary than Nigeria. We should change the constitutional description of Federal Republic of Nigeria to Federal Unitary Republic of Nigeria. Why do we deceive ourselves? It's better. Everything starts and ends at the centre.
Awesome powers! I say it again, though the President of America is the most powerful public office-holder in the world, but the Nigerian President is the most powerful President in the world. There is no other President that enjoys such awesome powers that have been vested in the Nigerian president.
Barack Obama is there, perceived as the most powerful President in the world, but when you go to America, he is just ordinary. The Nigerian President is not ordinary. He has been made super-human by our awkward type of federalism.
You and I cannot budget for our own businesses and offices except the President presents his own budget and same is passed into law. I listened to President Goodluck Jonathan's interview on Aljazeera Television Network, and he was asked if the INEC chairman would be removed. He said the INEC Chairman and State Resident Electoral Commissioners are his appointees.
To me, Mr. President was simply saying that he could hire and fire the INEC chairman and the commissioners; that cannot be right! They are not Mr. President's appointees or employees. Their tenures are certain and definitive, they are not errand boys, who can be employed and sacked at anytime. Their appointments enjoy constitutional and statutory flavours. They are not like ministers at the federal level or commissioners at the state level.
The question that begs for answer is: is INEC truly independent? If it had decided to conduct the elections, willy-nilly, on that day and the security agencies decided not to show up (I am not saying they would not have), or if there was chaos somewhere, and the security agencies failed to cooperate, the elections would have flopped.
The cold reality is that INEC is not independent. Our federation is not federal at all; everything we have here is against the principles, ethics, ethos and basic ingredients of federalism.
Now, how do we get out of this? We are running away from the Nigerian questions and a number of us are still asking for more states, when many states are not productive. When you are asking for more states, you are weakening the federation.
There is no other country in the world where governors converge on the nation's capital every month or fortnightly, like ours do. I know many governors in the US, who don't step into Washington in years. What are they going there to do? They have work to do.
Most of our governors spend their time in Abuja; how then do they govern? Everybody is looking for power that will not help this country. They should come and heal this land. The joblessness and insecurity are the outworking of neglect, corruption and wasteful governance.
Olanipekun Olanipekun: Most of our governors spend half of their tenure in Abuja – doing what? Do they govern through magic wands, through supernatural means, without being domiciled in their states? I am not actually blaming them because a peculiar situation has been foisted on them.
They have to go to Abuja to see the Minister of Water Resources, to see the Minister of Power; they have to go there to see even directors! And when you talk about security, is it true governors are the Chief Security Officers of their states? No.
The President is the Chief Security Officer of every state and local government area in Nigeria. Why? He appoints the Inspector General of Police who deploys Commissioners of Police; the Commissioners of Police in turn deploy DPOs and Area Commanders whose loyalty is first and foremost to Mr. President. Even the ADCs to the Governors are appointees of Mr. President. And when we say let's talk about state police; let's talk about a parliamentary system, nobody wants to listen.
Today, we are in a Portuguese parliament – noise everywhere and no one is making any point. Nobody is addressing the Nigerian question. Everybody is dodging it, everybody is angling for power.
Power for what? Power that will not solve the current problems; power that will not even help our children; power that is postponing the evil day for the country. One would have expected that each of the presidential candidates will be asked to address the Nigerian question.
That is why we have joblessness in the country; that is why we have insurgency and chronic insecurity, as embodied and represented by the Boko Haram sect.
Part of the Nigerian question that we have not addressed is that everybody now sees the Presidency as belonging to the particular sectional or ethnic group rather than being for all of us. That it is the time for you and I to, in the language of politicians 'chop'. When my man is there, then our area will benefit.
In 1998- 1999, the then owners of Nigeria thought they were doing the South West Yorubas a favour by foisting General Obasanjo on us as President, and his tenure would benefit the Yorubas, and soothe the pains of the nullification of Abiola's presidential victory and eventual death.
Unfortunately, this did not happen.
But the Yoruba people did not vote from him…?
It does not matter. He was imposed on us as our representative and a Nigerian President coming from our zone.
Today, the Ijaws see President Jonathan as one of their own. Although he is the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but the Ijaws are saying 'this is our own time;' 'this is our own tenure', and by extension, the entire South- South has appropriated him.
Some of them have become conspicuous and they are saying it is our own time, but is that the way it should be? I believe the President of Nigeria should not be pigeonholed within any ethnic enclave. If I ask you today, 'what state does Obama come from?'
Despite the fact that you are a highbred journalist, you will still rack your brain before you give me an answer. Bill Clinton is from a small state and he governed America for eight years and nobody remembers where he is from. George Bush, initially the family came from Houston, Texas.
He was governor there and throughout the eight years he was president, he never went there. So we have not got to a stage where we will say that our fidelity is to the nation.
Even as we prepare for the elections, we are having cases of pre-election violence. The National Human Rights Commission said about 58 people have been killed thus far.What does this portend for the elections?
Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, the Chairman of the NHRC, is a young man I respect so much. Very brilliant and articulate, but with respect to him, I want to say that the figure he gave is too conservative. In Nigeria, what I have come to realize is that we don't have accurate records, we don't have the statistics.
What I am saying is that it could not have been 52 from what you and I have been reading in newspapers and watching on television. Just a few days ago, you heard about blasts occurring in Rivers State. That is not right. The way we are going about these elections is not civilised, it is ungodly.
It is wicked and this idea of do-ordie politics (with all respect again, somebody brought this into our political lexicon), is very wrong. If you want to serve me, must you do so by force?
Leadership is about sacrifice, but again because of the Nigerian factor, if you are a governor, you automatically become a multi-millionaire, and if you are president, you become a billionaire. You distribute the national largesse, you control the entire commonwealth.
Everybody bows to you, everybody cringes. We are not learning, even from the neighbouring countries. I have taken you to America, Britain and India. Look at nearby Ghana. What exactly is in political offices, that elections become a do-or-die affair?
It is even worse now, it is now do-or-perish, do-or be vanquished.
In nearby Ghana, elections have been freely and smoothly conducted over and over again since the country returned to constitutional democracy. They have not at anytime thrown explosives, planted bombs at venues of political rallies, killed, bombed or maimed anybody or used machetes, cudgels and guns as means of communication.
I go to Ghana often and I have observed that the place is so peaceful; they have national ethics, they respect humanity. But in Nigeria, there is no respect for humanity, there is no respect for the human life. That is why you see people unleash terror and mayhem at campaign rallies when people are supposedly listening to manifestos. They kill them, inflict excruciating pains.
Why are we so desperate? Is this the democracy – once defined by a former American President as the government of the people, for the people and by the people? Is democracy practised in this manner, anywhere else in the world? Is it nurtured or nourished this way?
I want to ask a question, this is very important and it is directed to all these politicians. Our leaders are supposed to be role models to younger generations. I grew up in the South- West and when we were young, we had role models amongst the politicians. Whatever anybody might say, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was a role model.
Chief Bode Thomas, Chief Ladoke Akintola and many others were role models. They talked at rallies and we listened, even as kindergartens. In those days also, our principals and teachers were allowed to play politics on part-time basis. They were not millionaires. They were not stealing from the public till.
We should be improving, but sadly, we are retrogressing today, we are retarding, and we are crossing the red line. If these politicians were footballers, all of them would have been shown the red card – suspended for life, because they would have picked the yellow card many times. Honestly, they should give Nigeria and Nigerians some peace.
They should be told in clear terms that if politics is for service, then they are not playing politics of service. If democracy is to enhance and promote the living standard of the people, they are doing exactly the opposite of all of these.
In the process of doing so, they are infecting other arms of government. They do this either directly or indirectly, advertently or inadvertently. For the first time now, we are bringing the military into politics. The military is getting involved, the military is making statements, it shouldn't be.
Again, in my own profession, the legal profession, they are getting judges involved in matters that should not ordinarily concern them. They take all sorts of cases, even things that will make the sailor-boy blush, to court. In the process, we are getting the judiciary involved in politics. It is unfair. We cannot continue to pray and expect things to change; we cannot be living in sin and expect grace to abound.
You see, we need to act, because the way Nigeria is going we might even be provoking God. We are doing bad things and we keep praying. Even right at the prayer ground, we see people with guns, machetes and explosives leading to burning of places Well, let me say this, Chief Obasanjo is an elder, and he has been my President twice; and as a Yoruba man, I respect him.
But again as a Yoruba man, I beg to differ from the way and manner he does a lot of things, right from the time he was President of the country. I was the counsel to Atiku Abubakar when Obasanjo removed him as the Vice President. I was one of the lawyers who assisted Chief FRA Williams when Obasanjo impounded the funds of local governments in Lagos State.
I was the leading counsel when he promoted the impeachment of Governor Rasheed Ladoja in Oyo State, and even when we got judgment in court, he refused, for a while, to obey it. I also handled some cases when as President, he over-ruled some Resident Electoral Commissioners in states as per the returns they made, asking them to come to Abuja to make contrary returns.
We have evidence of these. All I want to say is that Chief Obasanjo is a Christian who has enjoyed God's grace in abundance. When you look at the entire Bible, apart from Nebuchadnezzar, I am not aware of any king who was dethroned but came back. Even when Nebuchadnezzar was forgiven and restored to his throne, nothing was said or heard about him any longer.
Obasanjo should, therefore, be thanking God every day, for God's abundant grace on him. We should all have at the back of our minds that our children need to make role models out of our leaders.
Today, we are getting into troubled waters because, unlike during our time, when as children we were aiming to be like some of the then leaders when we grow up, our children are not been well guided and stimulated by a good chunk of our present leaders.
You see, with all due respect, our leaders should cultivate the idea of 'do as I do, not just as I say' and it is a popular saying in Yoruba that Orisa bi o ba le gbe mi, fi mi sile bi mo se wa (Deity, if you cannot support me, leave me the way you met me).
Under the present Nigerian arrangement, vintage political offices are rotated among the six zones created by Abacha, starting with the President. Obasanjo has appropriated the eight years allocated to the South-West, meaning that he has appropriated my own allocation and those of my generation within the Nigerian arrangement.
If the rotation cycle continues, no Yoruba man from my zone can become President of Nigeria in the next 40 years. This means no young man of about the age of 30 from that zone can nurse a presidential ambition. It's painful and demoralising.
The General should do things and take steps to pacify us rather than making us think that we are damn too lucky to have him. On 11th November, 2002, when leading members of the NBA NEC and some highly reputable leaders of the Bar on a courtesy visit to President Obasanjo, I pleaded with him that he should emulate the late President Nelson Mandela by spending just one term of four or five years in office and allow the Nigerian rotational cycle to evolve.
He took it personally against me and the NBA which I led. Had he heeded the NBA's advice, Nigeria would have been a more stabilised country and democracy by now. I have read through the book, 'My Watch.'
Is it fair for Chief Obasanjo to talk ill of Chief Obafemi Awolowo who died in 1987? You go and read what he said about Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Wole Soyinka, Atiku Abubakar and every other person. Again, with all respect, I want to plead with the former President to apply the brakes. Nigeria wants to benefit from his experience.
I am not a PDP member and I could not have been, but what I am saying is that Chief Obasanjo had all the opportunities to re-arrange Nigeria, because God did not call him to be president for the second time in vain. He had every opportunity to fight corruption, to ensure strong succession, good succession while he was leaving office.
He had every opportunity to set a record, to put standards in place. Look, every human being is prone to doing what is wrong, but when you have strong institutions, then every person will of worship and killing of adherents. There is actually now murder in the cathedral, apologies to T.S. Elliot.
What are we looking for? What is our goal?
Did this issue of involvement of judges in politics inform the Chief Justice of the Federation's charge to tribunal chairmen recently to be circumspect in handling political cases?
It was when the judges of the tribunals were being sworn in, in anticipation that the elections might hold on February 14. The judiciary did not want to be caught napping. The CJN gave them the charge, and commendably so in my own estimation, never to allow the judiciary to be used to truncate democracy.
He said: "Never again, never again, will the judiciary be used to truncate our democracy." Now, if you interpret the language, it means that Nigerian judges had been used for that purpose in the past – during the Sani Abacha era. The judiciary was used to annul Chief MKO Abiola's election through an exparte order.
And I want to plead, as a senior member of the Bar, ordinarily I should not be talking about myself, but (I have been in this profession since 1976, and I took the silk in 1991. I have been president of the Nigerian Bar Association and left that office gloriously in 2004), I think I can advise members of my profession.
All of us, both at the Bar and on the Bench must watch what we do, and we must not allow our profession to be used to stultify our nation's democracy. And again, let us be wary of exparte applications and orders. By the way, why would a lawyer apply for exparte orders in matters involving qualification or disqualification of an aspirant to a political office?
Why are we in a hurry?
Why would any lawyer be afraid of putting other parties on notice, particularly on sensitive political matters which can make or mar our crawling democracy?
Why do you want to steal a match – especially in a political matter? It is not done, and it is not fair. I dare say that in no other nation in the world are these kinds of things allowed or practised. And that is why I support, with every pint of blood in me, the admonition and warning of the CJN to the tribunal chairmen.
I am not aware of any country in the world where the judiciary stops the holding of election, or directs its postponement. No court can order the people not to exercise their franchise. No court has that jurisdiction.
What is your reaction to the manner former President Olusegun Obasanjo dumped the PDP, his recent utterances about President Goodluck Jonathan, as well as some of his recent actions?
Well, let me say this, Chief Obasanjo is an elder, and he has been my President twice; and as a Yoruba man, I respect him. But again as a Yoruba man, I beg to differ from the way and manner he does a lot of things, right from the time he was President of the country. I was the counsel to Atiku Abubakar when Obasanjo removed him as the Vice President.
I was one of the lawyers who assisted Chief FRA Williams when Obasanjo impounded the funds of local governments in Lagos State. I was the leading counsel when he promoted the impeachment of Governor Rasheed Ladoja in Oyo State, and even when we got judgment in court, he refused, for a while, to obey it.
I also handled some cases when as President, he over-ruled some Resident Electoral Commissioners in states as per the returns they made, asking them to come to Abuja to make contrary returns. We have evidence of these. All I want to say is that Chief Obasanjo is a Christian who has enjoyed God's grace in abundance. When you look at the entire Bible, apart from Nebuchadnezzar, I am not aware of any king who was dethroned but came back.
Even when Nebuchadnezzar was forgiven and restored to his throne, nothing was said or heard about him any longer. Obasanjo should, therefore, be thanking God every day, for God's abundant grace on him. We should all have at the back of our minds that our children need to make role models out of our leaders.
Today, we are getting into troubled waters because, unlike during our time, when as children we were aiming to be like some of the then leaders when we grow up, our children are not been well guided and stimulated by a good chunk of our present leaders.
You see, with all due respect, our leaders should cultivate the idea of 'do as I do, not just as I say' and it is a popular saying in Yoruba that Orisa bi o ba le gbe mi, fi mi sile bi mo se wa (Deity, if you cannot support me, leave me the way you met me).
Under the present Nigerian arrangement, vintage political offices are rotated among the six zones created by Abacha, starting with the President. Obasanjo has appropriated the eight years allocated to the South-West, meaning that he has appropriated my own allocation and those of my generation within the Nigerian arrangement.
If the rotation cycle continues, no Yoruba man from my zone can become President of Nigeria in the next 40 years. This means no young man of about the age of 30 from that zone can nurse a presidential ambition. It's painful and demoralising.
The General should do things and take steps to pacify us rather than making us think that we are damn too lucky to have him.
On 11th November, 2002, when leading members of the NBA NEC and some highly reputable leaders of the Bar on a courtesy visit to President Obasanjo, I pleaded with him that he should emulate the late President Nelson Mandela by spending just one term of four or five years in office and allow the Nigerian rotational cycle to evolve.
He took it personally against me and the NBA which I led. Had he heeded the NBA's advice, Nigeria would have been a more stabilised country and democracy by now.
I have read through the book, 'My Watch.' Is it fair for Chief Obasanjo to talk ill of Chief Obafemi Awolowo who died in 1987? You go and read what he said about Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Wole Soyinka, Atiku Abubakar and every other person. Again, with all respect, I want to plead with the former President to apply the brakes.
Nigeria wants to benefit from his experience.that Chief Obasanjo had all the opportunities to re-arrange Nigeria, because God did not call him to be president for the second time in vain. He had every opportunity to fight corruption, to ensure strong succession, good succession while he was leaving office.
He had every opportunity to set a record, to put standards in place. Look, every human being is prone to doing what is wrong, but when you have strong institutions, then every person with caution himself.
What we have in Nigeria are not strong institutions but strong individuals. Chief Obasanjo did not leave strong institutions; he did not leave a strong INEC, he did not leave an impartial EFCC. Again, some people will say 'take the message and leave the messenger alone.'
I am not one of those who subscribe to that school of thought, particularly when the message and messenger relate to one and the same person – a person who has occupied a sensitive and dominant position in Nigeria; a person of the calibre and stature of General Obasanjo.
The messenger should also be our role model, he should be a father-figure and his message also should be the gospel truth. Perhaps, you have forgotten 2011? General Obasanjo dramatized at Aso Villa, telling Jonathan, 'you must contest.' I watched it.
But then, you asked a question about General Obasanjo, if he had put the proper things in place, Nigeria will not be like this. Then as a Yoruba man too, I felt very uncomfortable when I read in his latest book that Awolowo was one of those who introduced corruption into our political system- it is there in My Watch.
Haba! And unfortunately too, people are not addressing the issues. With all respect to former President Obasanjo, I have come to the conclusion that he portrays himself as the only person who is good, who is right, the only person who can do things properly, the only person who can govern.
But I want to, with due respect to him, take an exception to this. I object to a situation where an elderly Yoruba man abuses another elderly Yoruba man, particularly a sage like Awolowo.
When you look at page 267, Volume 1 of the book, My Watch, he said Chief Obafemi Awolowo "institutionalized bribery and corruption in the political system of this country, through payment of ten per cent on contracts and supplies to the socalled party organs and machinery."
Earlier at page 266, he stated that "Action Group and UPN that emanated from its ashes, have always made blackmail their stock in trade." He went further to say that "Chief Awolowo travelled all over the world and adopted all means and methods for stories, incidence and anything with which I could be personally embarrassed."
Then he went for the killer "It is an irony of history that those who institutionalized bribery and corruption in the political system in this country, through payment of ten per cent of contracts to party organs and machinery are always the first to cry wolf of corruption and point accusing fingers to cover up their misdeeds.
It just happened that those they deceived became wiser after the event". Chief Awolowo died in 1987, yet Obasanjo published this book in 2014. Why not allow the sage to rest in peace?
Let us re mind ourselves that he said this much about the late acclaimed leader of the Yorubas, in his other controversial book 'Not My Will'. To him, General Buhari would not make a good economic manager. Is that fair? At page 191 of Volume 2 of the same book, he said Atiku was duplicitous, disloyal, dishonest and a liar.
To him, Prof Wole Soyinka "is a self-serving critic and a misfit as a political analyst…he is surely a better wine connoisseur and a more successful 'aparo' hunter than a political critic." This is what he said at page 119 of volume 3. At page 472 of Volume 2, Tinubu is described as primus inter pares among corrupt governors in the nation. He portrayed General Alabi Isama as a hungry man in search of cheap popularity.
This is contained at page 112 of Volume 3. I don't know whether you have read Ayi Kwei Armah's book, 'The Beautiful Ones are Not Yet Born'. Maybe the author had General Obasanjo in mind when he coined the title of that book. The only beautiful one is, our dear General and two-time Head of State.
Nigerians have not forgotten so soon that but for the vigilance and resistance of the Action Congress members and people of Lagos, during Chief Obasanjo's tenure, Raji Fashola would not have been declared as governor of Lagos State in 2007 as INEC website published a fake result different from the actual returns.
Did the General not create a political Garrison Commander in Ibadan who was given the presidential fiat to unleash terror on his opponents? Was it not during Chief Obasanjo's tenure that the abduction and kidnap of a sitting governor Chris Ngige of Anambra State were carried out?
Has the General ever appreciated the late Beko Kuti who saved him from being executed by Abacha and who in return was court-martialed and jailed?
On the General's resignation from the PDP and the theatrics that attended same, I am not amused like several others. Maybe because I am not a politician.
Our dear General has the inalienable right to withdraw his membership of the PDP, but in my respective view, the attending drama was unnecessary, particularly the public show made out of the tearing of his PDP membership card. It is like an employee who resigns his appointment and decides to tear the original copy of his appointment letter.
Having publicly torn the membership card of the PDP, will he also renounce the privileges, benefits and appurtenances that had accrued to him as a PDP member, including his attainment of the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007?
Or will he just tell us that all these former benefits and accruals remain valid? Again, I am worried that our children watched this unnecessary dramatisation. These are children who want a George Washington to emerge from our leaders.
These are young ones who want to see the likes of Winston Churchill from the league of our past and present leaders. These are budding folks who want a Mahatma Gandhi to emerge from our nation. This is a growing generation desirous of a Lee Kuan Yew to turn the tide.
These are toddlers who want Nigeria to produce a Nelson Mandela. I am further worried that more often than not, contributions to political discourse nowadays are very much narrowed and pigeon-holed on convenience rather than on objectivity.
We are not being fair to the country. I pray that the disagreement between former President Obasanjo and President Jonathan is based on altruistic and nationalistic reasons rather than on breach of personal agreements.
Though unsolicited, I advise the APC and General Buhari to be very cautious of the General's Valentine gift. For my part, I would plead that we keep on respecting the General and also keep on deferring to him, even when some of us don't agree with his methodology and the way and manner he carries on his narrations, sermons and homilies.
I expected him to have resigned from partisan politics and become a father of all. That would have been more enobling.
[END]
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