Obasanjo’s poor rating of Jonathan

Obasanjo’s poor rating of Jonathan

THIS much is plain about former military Head of State and civilian President,Chief Olusegun Obasanjo:His life is an interesting and enthralling narrative that captures what’s good,bad and ugly about humankind.He has had a well-documented history of unedifying run-in with all his friends.

With his own biological children,the story is not different.And you begin to ask:why can’t this man keep any relationship for too long? It could be because,in his own words,”nothing embarrasses me,not even journalists”

That was his response few years ago when some African students at the London School of Economics and Political Science staged a protest against him. Over the years,Obasanjo’s public life,his utterances and assessement of others,never fail to attract revulsion.His comments have almost always, been controversial,divisive and provocative.Such is his personality,his character that when he  left office seven years ago  amid weltering allegations that he attempted to extend his tenure beyond the maximum two terms provided in our constitution,every body heaved a big sigh of relief.

But ever since then,he likes pushing people to the wall.His utterances have reflected the image of a raging bull,a blood and thunder personage.All the same, you can’t ignore his voice.It’s a portrait of a complicated man, who even his own  children  admitted that Dad is autocratic,irritatingly domineering.

This was a man who promised before he became President in 1999 to heal the wounds and give his country a new feeling about politics of integrity.But he ended up widening the fault lines and rough patches that divide us as a nation.These fault lines  are still running deep. Of late,his comments,like his personality,are like an apparition we hate to see.We have no choice but to live with him.  Over the weekend,at an event to mark the popular Ake festival for book writers in Abeokuta,Ogun State,Chief Obasanjo unleashed yet another attack against his former friend and protege,President Goodluck Jonathan.Asked on his view about Jonathan’s administration, Obasanjo was dismissive of the President’s performance:”His performance is below average.I will not accept responsibility for his performance”.There is nobody,he claims “that gets such a position(the presidency)without being helped”.In other words,he felt the President to consult people like him(Obasanjo)for guidance.

It must be said that this was not  the first time that Obasanjo would attack Jonathan publicly.These days he seems obsessed by Jonathan.Exactly a year ago,in an “open letter” to the President,Obasanjo accused him of sundry misdemeanours,including failed leadership.Just like his previous outbursts against Jonathan,the latest one informs us better of the former President’s predilection to adjure and perhaps incite the populace against the Jonathan government.

There’s no doubt that Jonathan presidency is the most opposed and vilified since the inception of the present democratic dispensation.But to say,as Obasanjo alleged, that the President’s “performance is below average”,is simply misleading and most unkind.For what is quite obvious,Jonathan’s performance in three and a half years is a lot better than OBJ’s record in 8 years.

Was Obasanjo wrong to assess Jonathan? No.It’s within his right to do so.But,he needs to be fair and honest.That apart, his estranged daughter,Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello had reminded us in the past that his father has no moral right to condemn his successors in office,considering that he(Obasanjo) is impervious to criticism.His intolerance of opposing viewpoint is well recorded.This is what Iyabo said a few years ago in an open letter to the father:”For you to accuse someone of what you obviously practise tells of your narcissistic megalomaniac personality”.She reminded her father,”the letter you wrote to Jonathan(referring to the letter of 2013),would you tolerate such as a sitting President?Do to others what you will allow to be done to you”.  Sadly,Obasanjo is a “self-rigteous”,too-big to fail,who sees the speck in someone else’s eyes,ignoring to see the log in his own eyes.That’s why he was drowned in his presidency,unable to,and confusing his own destiny with that of Nigeria.That’s in spite of public goodwill,he ended up in a cloud of confusion. That reminds me of what his former long-time pal,(now sworn enemy)Gen.T.Y.Danjuma said of him in the Sunday Guardian interview,February 17,2008.Danjuma called him “the most toxic leader Nigeria has produced”. He also alleged that Obasanjo helped himself with the nation’s oil wealth while he was President.Again,this is what Danjuma said of him:”If we take an audit of NNPC,we will find that Obasanjo qualifies for a second term at either Yola or Maiduguri prison”.Does Obasanjo care about these criticisms from his old friends and children? You ask him.

Since leaving of office,not exactly in circumstances he had wished, Obasanjo has been looking for redemption through harsh criticism of policies of the present government.For him,pilloring others have become an oxygen of publicity that makes him relevant in national discourse.   Two years ago,at an event organised by the Centre for Sustainable Development,University of Ibadan(UI),in partnership with African Sustainable Network,Obasanjo walloped the younger generation of leaders in Nigeria.He dismissed them as total failure.He said they were lacking in integrity and were no role models for the future generation to emulate.   Let’s put things in proper context:For sure,a lot things have given rise to serious concerns in our polity.What works for other nations has failed in our country.Leadership crisis has become one of our Achilles heels. Undoubtedly, leadership matters. It is critical,especially in crises times if any nation must move forward.It’s  the ability to connect with the people and shape their aspirations.This is called “transference leadership”.

If leadership is all about virtues and impressions and legacie,then Obasanjo is a sincere deceiver.Through out his Presidency,his conduct,his performance were never ennobling examples for the younger generation of leaders to emulate.His strong-will and willful disposition,his unforgiving spirit,his unlearning and unlearnable character,all represent the worst leadership vices ever unleashed on Nigeria.It can only be compared with  the better-to-be- forgotten regime of late Gen.Sani Abacha. Two examples will suffice to buttress OBJ’s divisive tendency, lack of compassion and tolerance.  In 2004, at a stakeholders’ forum towards finding solution to sectarian strife in Plateau State,Obj in a fit of anger called the then Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Rev. Yakubu Pam a “total idiot”..

For the records,Obasanjo perhaps more than any  Nigerian in our recent political history had the golden chance,a holiness of second chance to make amends and develop the country and improve the welfare of the citizens.Did he improve power supply with the amount of money reportedly spent on the sector? What about corruption?Was it tackled with sincerity of purpose or slectively? This is his record:He had power but he misused it.He muzzled the followership and political foes.He squandered public trust. It needs repeating that leadership is the bane of Nigeria’s development.Which is why the reality of scale of power is often defined by the extent to which it inflences and dominates individual behaviour and conditions external to the individual who holds power.It shapes leadership as well.

It makes no sense therefore when a former leader demands from others the standards he failed to embrace,Hypocrites lose their footing the very moment they hold others to the standards they couldn’t keep. That’s why we need to support the  transformation agenda of the present government.It may not have an ‘A’ grade,but it has a bright chance of succeeding in an atmosphere of peace and unity of purpose.

Source: The Sun News