FORMER President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Monday came under fire from some eminent citizens who described some of his actions in recent time as less than those of a statesman, but a man with a knack for half-truth.
Chiefs Ayo Opadokun and Olusegun Osoba as well as the Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Jelili Adesina, were among those who described Obasanjo as a man who has lost whatever credibility he had and that his recent book, My Watch, is repletes with untruths and vilifications that need to be challenged openly.
They made these assertions yesterday in Lagos at the launch of a book, Watch the Watcher: A Book of Remembrance of the Obasanjo Years, which seems like a response to the Obasanjo’s recent book. It was written by socio-political and civil rights activist, Mr. Yinka Odumakin.
Osoba, a former governor of Ogun State, said: “The Watcher wrote a book which Wole Soyinka has given his verdict. I am also going to give my verdict when I write my book. That he (Obasanjo) does not know about the pact with the AD governors is far from the fact. To correct him, it was July 2002, he (Obasanjo) came to the graduation at UNILAG and we met at the office of the old Head of State. It was there that he almost went on his knees that we, the AD governors, should support his second term ambition.
“We (AD governors) told him that we were not the founding fathers of AD, but Abraham Adesanya, who said he would never go to Abuja to see Obasanjo. Obasanjo later agreed that he would meet us at the presidential lodge. Abraham Adesanya never met him at Abuja but at the slightest notice, Obasanjo came to Ota. Adesanya told him (Obasanjo) that he heard he was going to ambush us (AD governors). Present at the meeting that day was Bishop Gbonigi, the Awujale, among others.
“I am shocked and surprised that he wrote in his book that he knew nothing about the Third Term Agenda which he said God would have given him if he had asked God.”
Also, the reviewer of the book, Prof. G.G. Darah, said the former president was fond of speaking from both sides of the mouth, an action he said was beneath the status of a statesman that Obasanjo claims he is. He also said Obasanjo did everything in his power to liquidate the legacies of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his followers. He called the book, Watch the Watcher: A Book of Remembrance of the Obasanjo Years, “a thriller, a great work, a mighty contribution to debates about Nigeria”.
Opadokun advised Nigerians not just to read the book but to help advertise it for the purpose of educating Nigerians as to the correct representation of the personality of Obasanjo and to discount what he has written in his recent book, My Watch. The elder statesman blamed ignorance on the part of Nigerians for whatever credibility they still confer on Obasanjo and carpeted the All Progressives Congress (APC) for its alleged current romance with the former president.
“Unfortunately, Obasanjo has taken the slot of Yoruba for the Presidency. For eight years, I challenged anybody to tell me what Obasanjo did for Yoruba land. This book is timely, lest we forget about the misdeeds of Obasanjo. I’m grateful to Odumakin. I commend Odumakin for making us to remember”.
Opadokun gave evidence of how Obasanjo became very rich after leaving office, whereas he emerged from prison bankrupt with just about N20,000 in his account. He said the former president also doubled as Minister of Petroleum for eight years, awarded of oil blocks and turnaround maintenance of refineries’ contracts to those who allegedly had no idea of how a refinery works.
“For Obasanjo, Nigeria never existed before him and does not exist after he left office. His only adviser is Obasanjo. Except we have a book like this, we will not know the truth about him. Odumakin’s book is for history; it’s for posterity.
“While in office, Obasanjo couldn’t repair or turnaround one refinery. This was because he gave the work of a carpenter to a tailor. Let’s pray for Nigeria.”
The Police Affairs Minister, Adesina, said Obasanjo’s recent romance with APC stalwarts was political gangsterism at the highest order. “The progressives are gangsters. These days, there are no progressives or conservatives. Politics of ideology is gone; it’s all gangsterism. Today, people want to capture power”.
Adesina accused Obasanjo of being the sole architect that “stopped Awolowo from attaining political power that ought to better Nigeria. Awolowo is revered in Yoruba land; he is our god. Yoruba must rethink itself. Obasanjo is teaming up with gangsters, people who saw him as a never-do-well”.
While Obasanjo worked to scuttle Awolowo’s ascension to power, Adesina said, the former president over reached himself by playing god when he paired up Yar’Adua, a sick man, and Jonathan to run with the belief that he would be able to manipulate Jonathan. Jonathan’s Presidency, he stated, was a fulfillment of Awolowo’s prophecy that an Ijaw man would be president. Adesina said Jonathan’s failure to dance to Obasanjo’s whims and caprices was what provoked Obasanjo in his alleged recent move against the President designed to destabilize the polity.
Adesina warned chieftains of the opposition party to desist from making unguarded statements capable of heating the polity. “Anybody who makes inflammatory statements will be dealt with. I have told the Inspector General of Police. Obasanjo, Buhari, Tinubu are strange bedfellows. Obasanjo wanted Olagunsoye Oyinlola to be Buhari’s Vice President, but Tinubu is smarter than him; he made Osinbajo instead. Obasanjo is now planning for an interim government, but it will not work. The polls will be conducted and whoever wins will be sworn in as president. Obasanjo should remember that those who call for a revolution are often consumed by it”.
The event turned out a revelatory, when Col. Bello Fadile, who was also jailed alongside Obasanjo in the phantom coup, described the former president as a consummate liar, whose word must never be taken seriously. He said he and his fellow colonels in the army back then wanted Obasanjo to head the interim government that was to replace Sani Abacha, but that Obasanjo, after allegedly agreeing and signing documents, later denied being part of it. He said their planned wasn’t a coup but a form of transition, which he said he made known to Abacha at the time.
He said Obasanjo couldn’t exonerate himself from the menace of Boko Haram, as it started rearing its head while he was president.
He added: “A lot of people are to come out to counter his lies.”
Source: Guardian
