Obasanjo, Jonathan
In this report, LEKE BAIYEWU
examines the issues surrounding former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s
endless criticism of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has
been criticising President Goodluck Jonathan over his administration of
Nigeria for the umpteenth time. He had written letters and books on
issues bordering on the wrongs of the incumbent President.
Obasanjo had also featured on various
interview programmes on local and international broadcast media, where
he unapologetically expressed his grievances with the current
administration. The ex-President seizes opportunities to criticise
Jonathan on different issues at different occasions. Observers of his
stance on Jonathan’s administration have said he is becoming the
President’s biggest critic.
The last of such occasions was when women
leaders in the South-Western part of the country visited him at his
Hilltop residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, last Monday.
While responding to the call on him by the women — led by the Iyalode of Yorubaland,
Chief Alaba Lawson, and the Iyaloja General of Nigeria, Chief Folashade
Tinubu-Ojo — to lend his voice to the socio-economic crisis rocking the
country, Obasanjo was quick to say the country is currently facing
economic problems due to failure of the Jonathan-led administration to
plan for a rainy day.
According to Obasanjo, the nation’s
reserves, which, as of 2007 when he left office, stood at about $45bn,
and whose interest rose over time to about $67bn, was depleted by the
current government. He also said $25bn was kept in the Excess Crude
Account ‘as reserve for a rainy day,’ adding that his administration
reduced the debt profile of the country from about $40bn to about $3bn.
Obasanjo criticised the devaluation of
the naira against the dollar, which, he said, had unleashed other
consequences on the economy.
Earlier, the ex-President had, in a
letter to the then National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party,
Bamanga Tukur, dated January 7, 2014, expressed his grievances with how
the party was being run under Jonathan. In the letter, he noted that he
would stay away from internal activities of the party until certain
conditions he gave were met.
While the women were on the visit,
Obasanjo spoke on his membership status in the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party, on whose platform he became the President and later the Chairman
of the Board of Trustees of the party until he resigned. He said: “I am
still in the PDP, though not active. With the kind of people and
behaviours I see in the party, I don’t think I can stand before God and
defend them.”
Obasanjo had similarly attacked Jonathan
through a stinker he wrote to the President in 2013. In the 18-page
letter dated December 2, 2013 and titled “Before it is too late”, he
accused Jonathan, among other things, of not honouring his words and
taking actions calculated at destroying Nigeria. Obasanjo also accused
the President of pursuing selfish personal and political interests based
on advice from his “self-centred aides.”
The Presidency had described Obasanjo’s
claims as “most reckless, baseless, unjustifiable and indecorous,”
saying it was “highly unbecoming, mischievous and provocative” that it
(letter) was deliberately leaked to the mass media in an effort to
impugn the integrity of the President.
Expectedly, Jonathan replied Obasanjo in a
letter dated December 20, 2013. In his response, the President urged
the ex-President to substantiate his allegations with proofs.
Jonathan wrote: “Let me state that you
have done me grave injustice with your public letter in which you
wrongfully accused me of deceit, deception, dishonesty, incompetence,
clannishness, divisiveness and insincerity, amongst other ills.”
When almost 300 schoolgirls were abducted
from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, by the
fundamentalist group, Boko Haram, Obasanjo had accused Jonathan of
failing to react promptly to the abduction.
The ex-President, while speaking on the
abduction in an interview with Bloomberg TV, which was aired on May 31,
2014, said Jonathan’s failure to immediately order the rescue of the
girls spoilt the chances of freeing them.
Obasanjo said: “On the kidnapping or
abduction, the President did not believe that those girls were abducted
for almost 18 days. If the President got the information within 12 hours
of the act and he reacted immediately, I believe those girls would have
been rescued within 24 hours, maximum, 48 hours.
“Don’t forget, they are almost 300 girls.
The logistics of moving them is something (delay the sect would have
encountered). Unfortunately, the President had doubts; ‘Is this true? Is
this a ploy by some people who don’t want me to be President again, who
is doing this?’
“I think that was (the most) unfortunate aspect of the whole exercise or situation.”
Obasanjo, who many Nigerians believe
played a key role in the emergence of Jonathan as President, stated that
although he could be instrumental in bringing Jonathan into office, the
President’s performance in the office was another issue.
He added, “I always tell the President
that ‘if God doesn’t want you to be there, you won’t be there.’ On
instrumentality of people, yes, because God wants him to be there. But
having been there, you have to perform. That is what I believe. When you
get there, no matter how, just perform and keep on performing.”
When asked if he had been satisfied or
disappointed with Jonathan’s performance, Obasanjo said: “It is not
about disappointment; I don’t believe he has performed up to the
expectations of many Nigerians, not just me.”
Not done, Obasanjo, again, on November
21, 2014, scored Jonathan’s performance below average. During an
encounter with book writers in Abeokuta, Ogun State, as part of
activities marking the popular Ake Festival, the ex-President said: “His
performance is below average. I will not accept responsibility for his
performance. There is nobody that gets such a position without being
helped.”
Two days after, Jonathan replied Obasanjo, saying he remained the best leader to be produced by Nigeria.
A statement by the Special Assistant to
the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, partly read: “We aver
that Obasanjo’s comments are untrue, misleading and clearly do not tally
with the facts on the ground.
“We, therefore, wish to assert without
equivocation that in terms of performance and achievements, no
administration since 1960 when Nigeria gained independence from Britain,
has done as much as that of President Jonathan.”
Five days after – on November 26 — at the
presentation of books by a former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt
Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, retired Justice
Mustapha Akanbi, in Abuja, Obasanjo strongly criticised the Jonathan-led
administration and the National Assembly for allegedly promoting
corruption and poor governance.
“For quite some time, the covered and
hushed-up corruption has had its toll on the economy,” Obasanjo said. He
added that the increasing corruption under Jonathan had damaged the
economy, warning that “in the future, we will have a budget that cannot
be funded.”
On the escalating insurgency by Boko
Haram, Obasanjo said Jonathan’s delayed understanding of the menace
posed by the group caused the worsening insecurity in the country. He
alleged that it took Jonathan three years to understand the complexity
of the insurgency by the sect.
Several of Jonathan’s loyalists had risen
up in his defence. They argued that Obasanjo has been picking on
Jonathan as the President has refused to be a stooge of the
ex-President.
One of them was a former Minister of
Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, a member of the PDP BoT, who noted
that Obasanjo’s antagonistic behaviour towards the Jonathan-led
administration was in bad taste and lacking in substance.
“I don’t understand why he (Obasanjo) is
doing this. Elections are coming; some of the opposition parties are
threatening fire and brimstone. Yet, you are oiling what they are
saying; and he declares every time that he is a loyal PDP member,”
Babatope lamented.
A Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere
Renewal Group, had also criticised Obasanjo, alleging that the
ex-President created some of the challenges bedevilling the country. The
group, however, did not spare Jonathan either.
The Publicity Secretary of the ARG, Mr.
Kunle Famoriyo, said: “The reign of impunity and terror can be found in
President Jonathan’s administration. Even as former President Olusegun
Obasanjo created part of the problems confronting Nigeria today, his
reign cannot be compared with the clueless Jonathan administration that
some people are trying to market to us in Yorubaland.”
One point Obasanjo’s critics have
continued to make is that while the ex-President has unhindered access
to Jonathan and even attends meetings with the President, he often
criticises Jonathan elsewhere. This, some observers believe, is an
indication that the ex-President may be having ill-feelings towards
Jonathan.
When asked why he chose to write an open
letter to Jonathan, when he should have visited him in Aso Rock to
express his feelings about the goings-on in the country during the
presentation of his controversial three-part autobiography, ‘My Watch’,
on December 9, 2014 — the book in which he called out Jonathan and
several other Nigerians — Obasanjo gave his reasons.
The ex-President said he sought avenues
to ventilate his observations and positions with Jonathan but had to
resort to writing open letters because his efforts were frustrated. “I
opened communication channels with my predecessors. You will see a few
letters I put in the book, how I described my frustrations,” he added.
Incidentally, the book’s reviewer,
Patrick Okigbo, however, made references to Obasanjo’s foibles, saying
it was surprising that the ex-President dismissed them as personal
issues.
Okigbo said: “As is characteristic in the
memoir, the author exonerates himself from any responsibility or blame
for the failed leadership despite the fact that he was the principal
architect of the Yar’Adua/Jonathan Presidency that resulted in the
current administration.
“It is, however, instructive that the
more personal family scandals, such as the allegations made by his first
wife or daughter, are dismissed as personal issues that are being
handled within the family.
“So, is Obasanjo a saint or a sinner? Readers of the book will have to decide themselves.”
Speaking on the war of words between the
two leaders, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association, Ikeja
branch, Mr. Monday Ubani, said Obasanjo’s comments on Jonathan should be
placed into perspectives.
He said: “We have to situate Obasanjo’s
motive as well as the issues he has raised in his criticisms. What is
his motive and are the issues raised factual? Most times, he speaks the
truth to the government but what is the motive; is it because he loves
Nigeria or the citizens? Most time, it is from a selfish point of view.”
According to Ubani, most times, when
Obasanjo criticises a government, it is either he has fallen out with
the government in power, he does not have access to it or there is some
other reason that bothers on him. “If he is in good terms with a
government, he won’t criticise it,” he said.
The lawyer added: “Just before the 2011
elections, a few of us who were lone voices then said it was not the
turn of the South to produce the president; that it was the turn of the
North to complete the eight years of two terms. Obasanjo would have been
on the side of the truth but he insisted that Jonathan should run. Now
that he does not have his way with Jonathan, he comes out to criticise
him.
“However, on the issues he has raised,
are they true; are they factual? Most of the things he has said are
factual – they are true. They are things that we know, but because of
his elevated position, when he says them, it gets to those at the top.
They are things we all know are true, only that when Obasanjo says it,
it becomes a strong, big piece of news.”
In his submission, a Professor of
International Law and Jurisprudence at the University of Lagos, Prof.
Akin Oyebode, described Obasanjo as a blunt person, who does not bother
about whose ox is gored on issues and what impact his comments have on
the polity.
However, Head of the Department of
Political Science and International Relations, University of Lagos,
Prof. Saleh Dauda, strongly criticised Obasanjo, urging the ex-President
to be more factual in his claims.
He said: “Such comments and criticisms
are not coming from the so-called father of the country, a statesman.
That is not how a statesman should behave, unfortunately. That he left
certain billions of dollars in the treasury and now it is empty; I
expected him to have asked whether the business of government was just
to keep monies in the treasury or to provide social infrastructure and
embark on economic development that will impact on people’s lives
positively.
“If he had asked what the monies were
spent on, he would have been able to know why they were not where he
left them. And with his position, he has all the opportunity to talk to
the President in a way that he would understand and correct him, rather
than going to the public.”
According to Dauda, the comments from
Obasanjo are not coming from a pure heart. The professor said while
Obasanjo’s experience with the affairs of the country qualified him to
play an advisory role, he however condemned the ex-President for
allegedly making inflammatory statements. “Why are (Shehu) Shagari,
(Gen. Abdulsalami) Abubakar and Yakubu Gowon not doing the same thing?”
Dauda asked.
President Jonathan, while playing host to
a delegation of the Tanko-Yakasai-led Northern Elders Council in the
Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday had condemned some politicians
parading themselves as statesmen and senior citizens, whereas they are
by their utterances, “ordinary politicians and motor park touts.”
Although Jonathan did not mention names,
he said such politicians could not be described as statesmen because of
the big offices they occupied before but by virtue of what they brought
to bear on the nation.
The President told the northern elders that some people were hiding under big names to create problems for the country.
Jonathan also said such people were in the habit of making unguarded statements with the aim of creating enmity.
The President said: “At the appropriate
time, Nigerians will know all of them even though I know most of such
people. The younger ones do not know.
“Some people, including those with big names, are hiding under some clogs and creating a lot of problems in this country.
“They are making provocative statements
that will set this country ablaze. How can someone tell me that such
people are senior citizens? They are not senior citizens and they
can never be. They are ordinary motor park touts?”
During the Monday visit to him by the
women leaders, Obasanjo, vowed that he would not keep quiet until the
right things were done. He, however, denied quarrelling with Jonathan.
He said: “Is (it) that Jonathan and I are
not in good terms? There is nothing as such. I have no grudge against
Jonathan and I think Jonathan equally has no grudge against me. I’m not
quarrelling with Jonathan but all I know is that whatever is good for
Nigeria, I’m ready to die for.
“I emphasise that whatever is good for
Nigeria is what I’m ready to defend with my life. Whoever — I emphasise,
whoever — says he would not do anything good for Nigeria, I’m ready to
square it up with such a person. I say again, whoever that person may
be; I want you to get that correctly.
“If this country is going to change for
the better, it must start from the top; and if it’s going to be
otherwise, it must start from the top too.
“I have had a little experience about
this country. I was a Head of State and a President; so what is left? If
I talk, I know what I’m talking about. Whoever wants should listen to
me and whoever feels otherwise may turn a deaf ear. But when I’m
talking, I’m talking with my understanding and intellect.
“I’m drawing from my experience and from
what I’ve learnt with others and from other countries and fellow eminent
citizens of the world that I relate with.”
Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole 
President Goodluck Jonathan, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)
