Obasanjo and his egoistic posture on morality Nigeria’s democracy is endangered when a former president criticizes the government he gave birth to, even when he is in a better position to proffer solutions, writes DOZIE EMMANUEL. Recently, former president Olusegun Obasanjo took a swipe at the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, accusing it of corruption and non performance. Perhaps, the former president has chosen the last quarter of every year to vent out his anger and frustration on governance in the country. In his letter to Jonathan dated December 2, 2013 and titled: ‘Before It Is Too Late’, Obasanjo also accused Jonathan of ineptitude and taking actions calculated at destroying the country. In fact, his so-called posture on morality and good governance has not gone down well with some eminent Nigerians, who are hitherto calling on the former president to be cautious of his divisive comments. However, his criticism and bitter resentment of the current administration has been dismissed by Nigerians, who argued that he has no moral justification to criticize Jonathan since he did not do any better during his time. Secondly, they said the former president has taken to criticizing government because he has lost political relevance even among his people of the South West. Apparently, this was why former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, described Obasanjo’s comment on Boko Haram as irresponsible when he criticized government’s handling of insurgency and recommended that the same treatment he adopted in Odi community be exploited in tackling the current terrorist onslaughts in the North East. Unable to stomach his vituperations, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, accused Obasanjo of indulging in corrupt practices, adding that he was not any better during his eight years in office. “Obasanjo accused government of the day of corruption, but what happened to the N50 million he shared to each senator and House of Representatives members during his Third Term agenda that failed? What do you call the donations to Obasanjo Library? That is corruption. Go and check the code of conduct, the form filled by Obasanjo. We knew when he came out of the prison; we knew his situation,” Fayose alleged. Similarly, his former political ally, Buruji Kashamu said Obasanjo has not relented in his wicked and self-serving campaign of calumny meant to paint the federal government in bad light and incite the people against it. According to him, “This was a man who was described by his own daughter, Dr. Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, as a ‘liar, manipulator and two-faced hypocrite-having an egoistic craving for power and living a life where only men of low esteem and intellect thrive. “Clearly, Obasanjo is simply playing the card of the opposition APC where a handful of his associates had defected to. He is playing the role of an enemy within. Put differently, he has joined the soapbox while pretending to be doing an honest assessment of the nation’s socio-economic issues. He is simply APC’s godfather.” Some have argued that as the former president, he should restrain himself from comments capable of heating up the polity now that the 2015 general elections are around the corner. Of course, throughout Obasanjo’s eight year tenure, never for once did General Abdulsalami Abubakar make any comment on his regime, even at the point when he attempted to amend the constitution to elongate his tenure. It was even alleged that under his administration, bags of money (Ghana-must-go) exchanged hands freely while pushing for his aborted Third Term agenda. Obasanjo claims he loves Nigeria and as a great nationalist, he cannot keep quiet when things are going wrong. Nobody is saying he should keep quiet, especially now that the country is facing serious economic and security challenges, but castigating and vilifying Jonathan’s administration in order to score cheap political point has not done him any good. His actions and inactions have clearly shown his apathy to the current administration. Admittedly, the Jonathan administration has come under severe security challenges, but it is certainly not acceptable for a statesman like Obasanjo to criticize overtly a government he aided into power. If he says the current government has failed, then he has not only failed himself, but also Nigerians and posterity because the bulk of the blame goes to him. While some posit that he is a master in the game of hypocrisy, others are quick to say that he is a political enigma, who accused others of what he is guilty of. Obasanjo had alleged that federal lawmakers compromised in their oversight functions by collecting money from the executive to execute constituency projects. But in a swift reaction, the Senate has described Obasanjo’s allegation as spurious and unfortunate. Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, said Obasanjo’s allegation was a deliberate atte
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 11:47:47 +0000
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