Obasanjo has found
his voice. He now spits fire when he talks. He is bold, brutal and rough
on his victims. He can humiliate anyone and rub it in. While he treated
Yar’Adua with respect that bordered on fear, he took Atiku to the cleaners
and hanged him! He called in Babangida and told him to shut the hell up or
face the consequences. He knows what he wants and goes ahead to do it. He
knows the dynamics of Nigeria’s political theater. He strides on the
landscape like a colossus and dares anyone for combat. He took on all and
won. To him, winning is what counts and he does not care how.
Obasanjo’s Legacy
by Tunde Adenodi.
This subject is very broad. We will attempt to
discuss it under the following headings: The Economy, Political
Development, Electricity, Foreign Policy, Security of Life and
Property, the Delta Region and Official Corruption. We will also
discuss what is expected of Obasanjo’s successor.
General Olusegun Obasanjo has come a long way from
the time in 1976 in the immediate aftermath of Murtala’s
assassination. Unsure of himself and lacking any finesse, he trudged
on gingerly through the minefields of political chicanery of those who
installed him. He could not take any decision without involving his
Chief of Staff. He would even invite Shehu Musa Yar’Adua to a meeting
of his Owu township elders! He lacked so much confidence that he had
to wait until the last minute of his tenure in 1979 to promote himself
a General! This looks like a million years ago!
Not any more. Obasanjo has found his voice. He now
spits fire when he talks. He is bold, brutal and rough on his victims.
He can humiliate anyone and rub it in. While he treated Yar’Adua with
respect that bordered on fear, he took Atiku to the cleaners and
hanged him! He called in Babangida and told him to shut the hell up or
face the consequences. He knows what he wants and goes ahead to do it.
He knows the dynamics of Nigeria’s political theater. He strides on
the landscape like a colossus and dares anyone for combat. He took on
all and won. To him, winning is what counts and he does not care how.
Come to think of it, Nigeria needs his type who
will force compliance on the citizens. Nigeria needs someone with so
much conviction about the rightness of his course that he would force
it down their throats. Will Yar’Adua follow through? Only time will
tell.
But the subject of this discourse is Obasanjo and
his legacy.
After handing over to Shagari in 1979, he retired
to his Ota farm and minded his own business. He developed himself to
the point of relevance in international diplomacy. He was co-opted
into the commonwealth eminent persons group that was precursor to
Nelson Mandela release. He rubbed shoulders with Willy Brandt, Jimmy
Carter and the likes of former Australian Prime Minister what’s his
name? He even learned some French when he thought he could be
Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Then, Buhari stepped in followed by Babangida’s
reckless annulment and Abacha’s rampage and finally Abdusalami
Abubakar. They invited Obasanjo back to power with a mandate to clear
the mess and hand over back to them. He has now fulfilled his side of
the bargain. He did not handover to the main stream political
predatory class. But he has handed over anyway. These are his
legacies:
The Economy:
By the time he took over in 1999, the nation had
owed USD 33.00 billion to IMF, Paris Club and London Club of money
lenders. Internal debt was staggering. He has now cleared it all.
Thanks to frugal management of our resources. We expect Yar’Adua to
continue to manage the economy and build on these achievements. It is
now time for economic growth in the manufacturing sector and the
agricultural sector. Growth is now expected in the economy and the
populace will soon begin to feel the impact of economic advancement.
Political Development
There cannot be any economic development wherever
there is no political stability. In Obasanjo’s Nigeria, there was
relative political stability until federal elections were about to
take place. Then all hell was let loose! Obasanjo was imposed on the
people of the west in 1998 by those who chose him to be president.
Falae was the Yoruba candidate. Obasanjo paid these people back in
their own coins by imposing Umar Yar’Adua on them. Muhammadu Buhari
was their preferred choice. Who says Obasanjo is unfair? If it was
fair to impose Obasanjo on Yoruba in 1999, it cannot be unfair to
impose Yar’Adua on Hausa/Fulani in 2007. What is good for the goose
cannot be too bad for the gander.
Until we all agree to operate with a modicum of
fairness in our interactions with each other, we shall always see this
type of action. The ball is now in Yar’Adua’s court. We shall keep a
watchful eye on his decisions from now on.
Is he going to behave like the arrogant Heads of
State in times past who appointed only northern muslims to positions
of authority in their cabinets? Is he going to behave like Obasanjo
who shared political posts as fairly as possible always bearing the
diversity of the population in mind? If we are all Nigerians, as I
know we are, no Nigerian should be barred from holding any position
because he is not from the right side of the divide.
In spite of prophecy of doom and chaos in the
aftermath of Yar”adua’s election, I do not expect any military
intervention in Nigeria in the foreseeable future! Obasanjo has done
his home-work. Yar’Adua will do himself a big favor if he allows
Obasanjo to continue to exert some influence in military appointments.
Obasanjo, on the other hand must realize that he is no longer the
Commander-in-Chief. He should respect Yar’Adua as the President.
Electricity
This is the shame of Obasanjo and Africa! The only
other source of shame and embarrassment to black people all over the
world is Darfur in the Sudan! I rank these two problems on the same
scale. (Darfur will be discussed in this article). I do not know how
many trillions of Naira has been allocated to and spent on NEPA. And
you know what? I do not care! All I want is electricity. Uninterrupted
electricity, damn it!
For Yar’Adua, I offer this unsolicited advice: sack
any district manager who cannot provide uninterrupted power to his
neighborhood. Continue to sack them until you find one who can. Along
with this, pay NEPA staff from incomes generated from their
neighborhood. And I mean legitimate income. As a corollary to this,
let consumers pay only for what they consume. In other words,
consumers will not pay for what they do not consume.
This is a shameful legacy of Obasanjo. He had 8
years to deal with this issue and he has failed!
Foreign Policy
Murtala and Obasanjo declared that Africa was the
center-piece of their foreign policy. But African leaders, Obasanjo
inclusive, always close their eyes to evils perpetrated by their
colleagues in Africa. El Bashir of Sudan and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe
have been a source of embarrassment to all Africans wherever they are.
There is slavery in Mali as we speak, and black Malians are the
victims. The Arabs in the Sudan have been en-slaving the black
Sudanese even before Darfur! While General Colin Powel had declared
there was genocide in Sudan, Obasanjo, as Chairman of the AU had
declared there was no genocide! Meanwhile, millions of Darfurians are
perishing in the hands of Sudanese janjaweeds. On Darfur,
Obasanjo has failed the black people of the world. Yar’Adua will have
to work hard to help the people of Darfur.
Official Corruption
For the first time in Nigeria’s history there is a
sustained fight against official corruption. An Inspector General of
Police is now in jail. A governor is in the cooler and several of
today’s governors are heading for prison on leaving office on May, 29
2007. They now sleep with one eye open. The nation’s Vice president is
indicted. The fear of Nuhu Ribadu is the beginning of wisdom! Yar’Adua
must maintain the momentum.
Telephone Service
There was a revolution of some sorts since 2000
when mobile telephone service was introduced in Nigeria. Before then
NITEL was the king of telecommunications. You can now get a telephone
line by paying just 1000 naira! And you can now get a land line by
paying just a little bit more! The consequence is that almost
everybody has a telephone. This is the best of Obasanjo’s legacy!
Yar’Adua must maintain the momentum.
The Oil Producing States
Before Obasanjo chose to hand over to Yar’Adua, I
had advocated that he hand over to a South/Southerner. He chose
Yar’Adua. And I now understand why. But, the oil producing states must
be taken care of. Projects that will impact the lives of the people
directly must be embarked upon. Roads, Bridges and adequate
infrastructure must be provided. The bruised feelings of the people
must be assuaged. Harassment and intimidation must not be practiced on
them as in the past. They must be treated with respect.
Against all odds, Obasanjo handed over to Alhaji
Shehu Shagari in 1979. He is doing the same in 2007. It is Yar’Adua’s
turn to hand over in 2014. Will he respect the North/South zoning
arrangement of PDP? Or will he revert to the winner takes all attitude
of his ethnic predecessors? We shall see!
