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Babatunde Adenodi
Pharmacist
East Orange,
New Jersey
 USA

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The last I heard of Abacha’s loot was that some $2 billion had been returned to the treasury. And a whole lot more in Naira. No one knows about IBB. But we remember that he lost $12 billion of the oil windfall in 1991. If those are not probed, then Obasanjo must not be probed. What is good for the goose must also be good for the gander. That is the only fair thing to do. Let those in the house of representatives who enjoy the sensationalism of an Obasanjo probe take note of this. Probe everybody or none. Obasanjo is not the only villain.

 

Obasanjo as the Villain?
 by Tunde Adenodi.
 

The collective amnesia of General Obasanjo’s detractors is astounding. But reading through General Theophilus Danjuma’s interview on his old friend can be revealing. Between the detractors and Danjuma, his old friend and mentor, can be found the truth. Fact: Detractors can never find anything good in their target. Danjuma, however, was the one man who, in deference to the Chief of Staff under Murtala Muhamed, offered the Presidency to Obasanjo in the aftermath of the coup that got Murtala killed.

Again, after he was released from Abacha’s gulag, he was one of those who had so much belief in him that he offered Obasanjo the presidency the second time around. Both times, Obasanjo never sought for the position and never worked to get it. The 2 men have been very close since… until Obasanjo’s failed attempt to perpetuate himself in power. So, Danjuma can be trusted to give a fair assessment of Obasanjo’s presidency.

Fact: Detractors of Obasanjo, and they are many, can never see any good in him, no matter how hard he tries. And fact: He, of his own volition, decided to fritter away all the goodwill he ever had in his attempt to stay in power beyond 2007. So, you can hardly blame them for being so hard on him.

Until the period after 2003 when he nurtured an ambition to stay in power beyond 2007, Obasanjo, yes, General Olusegun Obasanjo was the most well intentioned President Nigeria ever had! He is the only one in the history of Nigeria who made decisions based on what was best for the country, not what he thought his Yoruba ethnic group would prefer! He made the country, unlike all the other Heads of State we ever had; he made the entire country his constituency. He tried hard not to favor and not to be seen to favor his own ethnic group. And this he did to the utmost discomfiture of his Yoruba tribe. God knows, and indeed everyone now knows that he is perhaps the only one President that is most hated by his own people.

Buka Suka Dimka had just killed the Head of State. Hands dripping with blood, he was accosted by Col Babangida who talked him out of the rebellion. This cleared the way for Obasanjo, “against his own wish”, to become the Head of State. He took over and worked assiduously to execute to the letter all of Murtala’s political plans without change in the time table. He handed over to Shagari, and rightly so, in 1979 and started the Otta farm where he minded his business until he was called again to lead the country out of the abyss Babangida and Abacha had led her into. Both times, Danjuma was not far behind him. In fact, Danjuma was the one who raised much of the money needed for his campaign in 1999 and also in 2003.

For the benefit of Obasanjo’s critics, here are some of the positive things he did while in office:

He led the country at a period of extreme national trauma of the assassination of Murtala Muhamed and did it successfully.

He executed the political programs enunciated by Murtala and handed over to Shagari. This was the first in all of Africa.

He left for Shagari a robust foreign reserve which Shagari lavished in only four years in office. Shagari accumulated a foreign debt of $34 Billion when Buhari took over.

This foreign debt of $34 billion, ironically, was paid off by none other than Olusegun Obasanjo before the end of his second term as president.

Again, he bequeathed to his successor, Musa Yar’Adua, a healthy foreign reserve which, it is hoped, the new president will spend wisely.

He handed over to Shagari during his first outing and to Yar’Adua in his second outing. The first handover was voluntary, but the second was not without a fight. Both handovers were to northerners who, it must be noted, have not had that kind of good heartedness of handing over to those not of their own ethnic group for 40 years.

He engaged in structural panel-beating in the polity which will be difficult but not necessarily impossible to reverse.

To a large extent, he had laid the foundation of good governance that is responsive to the aspiration of the governed. He testified in front of Oputa panel. IBB did not. Buhari did not.

He improved communication by making the telephone available to every household in Nigeria.

The above are just a few of what Obasanjo was able to achieve while in office. None of the other presidents achieved these. In fact, other than Abdusalam Abubakar, no Nigerian Head of State of northern origin ever left office voluntarily. They are forced out and sometimes out-rightly assassinated.

President Obasanjo had some difficulty in deciding who to hand over to from among the northerners. He had ditched his deputy earlier after seeing some form of disloyalty exhibited by Atiku. First, it was his concern for his legacy after he was gone from office. Whom could he trust to handle the polity in a manner fair to all? Who would make decision on merit and not especially for the reasons of political expediency? Yar’Adua, he thought. But has Yar’Adua lived up to this expectation?

So far, Yar’Adua has shown unfairness whenever the selfish interest of his northern constituency is threatened. If his constituency is not adversely affected, he can decide one way or the other without much effect on him. This is why he has tarried on his decision on rationalization of the Naira: To give room to his kinsmen to work out the modalities of rounding up their illegal forex business.

Who was best positioned to protect his legacy? Obasanjo himself. This is why he was angling for a 3rd term in office. And once he decided to go for the 3rd term, he threw all caution to the winds and allowed all manner of grime to go on unchecked in his administration. This is his undoing. This is the crux of Danjuma’s opposition to him, and rightly so.

Unfortunately, the opponents have latched on this weakness of Obasanjo’s to launch their attack on him. And they seem to have forgotten completely all he ever achieved. They compare him with Abacha and say Abacha was better?! And that the born again Buhari was better? Buhari would slap your face and dare you to cry. But Babangida would slap your face, beg you and slap you again before offering you his own shoulder to cry on! As for Abacha; he slaps you and wonders why you are complaining! And he does not stop there. He goes ahead to punish you and your household for complaining! To say all these are good but Obasanjo is bad is standing logic on its head. It is like telling those who overthrew them that they were wrong. Were they?

The last I heard of Abacha’s loot was that some $2 billion had been returned to the treasury. And a whole lot more in Naira. No one knows about IBB. But we remember that he lost $12 billion of the oil windfall in 1991. If those are not probed, then Obasanjo must not be probed. What is good for the goose must also be good for the gander. That is the only fair thing to do. Let those in the house of representatives who enjoy the sensationalism of an Obasanjo probe take note of this. Probe everybody or none. Obasanjo is not the only villain.
 

 

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