As OBJ speaks truth to power
Love or hate him, there is no denying the fascinating fact that former President Olusegun Okikiola Obasanjo has within his DNA an uncommon passion, character and commitment to the unity of this country, called Nigeria. As fate would have it, he remains amongst those erstwhile military men who risked their lives in the battlefield of the Nigeria-biafra civil war to keep the country together, till this day. And good enough, he has had the rare opportunity to be at the helm of this nation’s political affairs twice; first as a military Head of State, after the gruesome assassination of Gen. Murtala Mohammed and later as the civilian president, with the return of civil rule in 1999.
Given this intriguing scenario, a citizen, so tremendously enriched in the variegated affairs of the country should therefore, know his onions when it comes to making comments on the state of the nation, at any point in time.the method he deploys in conveying his opinions and thoughts-through personal visits to some politicians in power, public lectures and the usually labelled controversial letter-writing- may be different but the motive is the same. That of course, is to see that the ship of the nation is piloted with strict professionalism on the safe and steady course, against political, economic and social storms, guided by the compass of patriotism, prudence, probity with the aim to seek the common good for the good majority of Nigerians.
Against this backdrop therefore, it is most disheartening and disappointing that the presidency would react to his recent clarion call that urgent steps be taken, against the ever rising tides besotting our fragile unity, to refer to him as the ‘’Divider-in-chief’’! Really? One would ask himself, if the issues of overtly nepotistic appointments, skewed in favour of a particular section of the country, the searing silence, or long-delayed responses from the presidency while innocent lives are wasted daily are not enough to sever whatever string remains of our much-touted but obviously bedevilled unity. How do we explain the horrifying situation that has fully armed Fulani herdsmen turning the fertile farmlands of Benue through Taraba, Nassarawa, down to Enugu and across the South West States of Ondo, Oyo, into the killing fields of the country? What about the brazen bravado of the beastly bandits that have turned our major highways to fear-fuelling routes for kidnappings and killings?
Little wonder that Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, who has never hidden the fact that he is not amongst OBJ’S teeming admirers, threw his weight behind the current critical concerns of Nigeria’s crumbling unity raised in the latter’s recent letter to President Muhammadu Buhari. With the title ‘Between ‘Dividers-in-chief’ and Dividers-in-law’, Soyinka reinforced OBJ’S claim that Nigeria was gradually sliding into more divided state. “Though, I am notoriously no fan of Olusegun Obasanjo… nonetheless, I embrace the responsibility of calling attention to any accurate reading of this nation from whatever source, as a contraption teetering on the very edge of total collapse. We are close to extinction as a viable comity of peoples, supposedly bound together under an equitable set of protocols of co-habitation, capable of producing its own means of existence, and devoid of sectarian privilege and will to dominate’’.
In hindsight, yours truly had in an opinion essay titled: ‘2019 and OBJ’S Bombshell’, early last year drawn the attention of the presidency to take the salient issues raised in that earlier letter seriously. The grains of the grouse highlighted then included weakness in handling the economy, nepotism, condoning corruption, worsening insecurity, poor understanding as well as handling of the dynamics of internal politics and having a nation clearly divided along ethno-religious lines. But the question remains- are we any better as at the tail end of 2020? The answer is a resounding, No!
What has remained constant however, is the stoic and unbending stance on the part of the presidency that Nigeria has flowered and flourished better in all ramifications under the Buhari administration. That the economy has not nose-dived while explaining the rash of borrowings of humongous sums of money as meant to build infrastructure and attract foreign direct investment. That the Boko Haram has been technically defeated, even as Nigeria is currently ranked as the third most terrorised country in the world. This of course, continues to corroborate the reports of terrorist camps springing up in places such as Niger, Kaduna, Kogi and Oyo states. This has become common knowledge. And on the question of national unity, the presidency has gone further to wave Obasanjo’s fears aside, insisting that Nigeria has always been divided long before now. There is little or no need therefore, to remind them that the calls of IPOB for Biafra nation and that from the proponents of Oduduwa Republic has never been so vociferous.
Such persistent insistence that the presidency never does any wrong rankles the psyche of patriots. And some of us concerned Nigerians make bold to say that our president is not an infallible god. No! He is human and vulnerable to making mistakes. It is a glowing tribute and testament to good leadership for decision makers to admit their mistakes and make amends, when they are pointed out to them. The lofty position he occupies today as well as the reins of power he controls are held in trust on behalf of the people of Nigeria, or should be. He should therefore, listen to the increasing cries of the pauperised populace and not the raucous drumbeats of the unpatriotic sycophants.
“Our country is our life; only when she sails safely have we friends at all. That is our common weal.’’ -Sophocles
Baje is Nigerian first food technologist in the media and author of ‘Drumbeats of Democracy’
The bitter truth staring us all in the face this day is that there is poverty in the land. It reigns supreme as Nigeria continues to wallow in the economic quagmire as the world capital of extreme penury; home to the highest number of preventable deaths of under- 5 children and the number of school-aged youths that are out of school! There are daily job losses, worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic. Insecurity has reached a nerve-shredding crescendo as only the favoured few could go to bed with their two eyes closed. Increasing VAT, electricity tariff and pump price of fuel at this critical moment is insensitive on the part of our political leaders.
It drags the people deeper into the well-woven web of preventable poverty. Indeed, we should be worried that all these are happening while we have sunk into an ignoble debt trap. And for a country richly blessed by God with vast oil, gas, solid mineral deposits, rich agricultural and tourism potentials with abundant human capital all question our leaders’ capacity to manage men and materials.
Methinks therefore, that contrary to the claim of supporters of this administration that both Obasanjo and Soyinka are rabblerousers and crying wolf where there is none, Mister President should be humble enough to admit his failings and make prompt amends. For, “only your true friend would tell you the truth at the risk of losing the cherished friendship”.