The people of Nigeria continue to suffer poor electricity supply which have turned worse. The President met the generation of 3000 megawatts in 1999 but is leaving under 1000 megawatts today. The refineries which were points by him to criticize the regimes of Babangida and Abacha are almost dead and the NNPC which also formed a basis used by him to stringently lambaste those who ruled before 1999 has been described as the den of corruption under him. Remember he was the Minister for Oil for seven and half years until a couple of months ago.
The rule of law suffered the greatest hammer under the Obasanjo regime and posterity will adjudge him as the first civilian ruler of Nigeria to have ever humiliated the rule of law this way. Not only did he disobey many Judicial proclamations but also flagrantly disobeyed due rulings. He not only behaved like the emperor but also turned to ‘a bull in the china shop’ which had to be avoided by all. His power was used to detain a sitting governor, an event which was led a Police Officer of the rank of Assistant Inspector General while the later died mysteriously when the bubble of their state sponsored criminality burst. He flagrantly disobeyed the Supreme Court on many instances which should have earned him an impeachment.
Several unconstitutional impeachment acts were carried out with the undoubtable support of the President with the taxpayers’ funded Police playing very ignoble roles. These were in Bayelsa, Plateau, Oyo, Anambra and Adamawa States. The Constitution which Obasanjo swore to obey was severally ridiculed with snubbing and his Attorney General was like a ball in his unconstitutional schemes.
His introduction of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is very good but has made a nonsense of same by using the agency to pursue some shadows. The confirmation came from no one else than the President who in his characteristic display of unpresidential comportment, announced to a gathering at Akure that he would send the EFCC after one of the then gubernatorial candidates for the State of Ondo. There have been confirmed cases of double standard from the anti corruption Commission before and after the 2007 elections in which some indicted men and women by the same organization were left off the hooks after speculated instructions from the above. There were even the reports of the president removing some names of his favorites off the list of indicted.
The President’s war against corruption was done in after his handling of the so called Presidential Library scheme blew up in his face with most of the donors being beneficiaries of his government patronage. His purchase of 200million shares in the Mega Company- Transcorp which bought most of the public enterprises offered for sale by Obasanjo’s government; payment of 250 million naira to his personal lawyer from a public fund to incorporate a private business; his personal assistant’s smuggling of huge amount of dollars to the United States in the Nigerian Presidential jet and other atrocities revealed by his deputy - Atiku Abubakar have clearly showed that the war can not be fought by stained souls. Nigeria is rated the 6 th most corrupt in the world, a position which makes the governments of Shagari and Buhari/Idiagbon as saintly.
The President’s economic reforms have produced bad roads, almost zero power supply, highest rate of unemployment since Independence, more corrupt Nigeria Police and negative consequences on the majority of the people of Nigeria. His experience of 1976 to 1979 have not been utilized to turn around the infrastructures of the country and his penchant for laying the blames at door steps of those who took over ‘from me’ is wrong. Nigerians have seen how incompetent he is with the country’s infrastructures. He has also been unable to stop his supporters and chorus singers from stealing. Evidences show that he was largely involved in the attempts to do a Third Term as against his denials while his utterances also confirmed that he knew about the thuggery carried out before and during the elections by his pocketed Police all over Nigeria.
Mr. President in his self righteousness and all knowing was the Minister of Petroleum for seven and half years during which Nigeria’s money fortunes grew beyond calculations but with his close men almost pocketing more money into their private pockets than ever in the history of grafts in Nigeria. His cleanliness has been debunked by his deputy who convinced the whole world that they are both corrupt and the task ahead for his successor would be to prove the contrary or send him to gallows.
The President threw away his great opportunity to play the Mandela role in the elections which just held in April 2007. The elections had been adjudged by all international and local observers as the poorest by any standard, be it regional, African or International and the President was told by no less a person than the former Secretary of State of United States.
Mr. President not only helped his party to intimidate with soldiers and Police but personally intimidated the voters by visiting Ekiti with his retinue of soldiers and Police a day before the April 14 elections and also on the date of elections. He traveled through his Otta Farm to Ekiti raising tensions unnecessarily, returning to Lagos State which refused to be intimidated nor swallowed before moving his ‘do or die’ train back to Ogun State.
His party clearly and shamelessly stole people’s votes while the President unlike the Third Term which was denied was in the know of all. His State Governors had a monopoly of violence and they clearly carried out the President’s order of ‘do or die’. The observers were so shocked to see some Policemen in uniform thumb printing while others were busy keeping real voters away! Real ballot boxes were made useless while fake ones from either palaces or government houses replaced them in broad day light. It was the crudest display in any democracy in any part of the world including West Africa and people were completely intimidated with some killings resulting from the AK-47 armed soldiers of the Commander in Chief.
Some cases were so painful that the people had to resort to the hanged Khalifeh Bhutto’s prayers: “God saves Pakistan” but “God saves Nigeria”. Results were obstinately overturned at the collation stage and the declared winners running underground! Can anybody imagine a supposed winner running underground if he or she truly wins? Votes were not just stolen but voters killed while the chief of Police was given a pat in the back for doing a swell job. Most PDP candidates had several armed Policemen to work with them while these were used to ridicule Nigerians in the face of the world. The election cheaters and their chief supporter can not definitely escape posterity!
There is however great hope for the aspirations of Nigerians and also for the future of democracy in Nigeria because of the only army remaining standing in Nigeria today is the Judiciary. The Senate President was right to have alluded to this when he said that the Legislature had been conquered by the Executive arm under retired General Obasanjo while the only arm of government which is still standing after the ‘do or die’ control of our retired General is the Judiciary. The Nigerian Judiciary has really distinguished itself and the members of the bench should stand up for recognition as they have earned themselves a pride of place in the outgoing civilian regime.
The next President after Obasanjo must make it a point of duty to reunite the country in all ramifications by solving the problems of Niger Delta, Movement for the Biafra , the great divisions created by the outgoing President amongst the Yoruba, the politics of ‘do or die’ created by the same President and re-establish the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as recently legislated by the National Assembly so that all the actions by this outgoing government will be reviewed.
The Nigeria Police needs a new orientation in which their obedience will be to only acts conforming with the Constitution and not loyalty to the person of the President. The Military too should undergo further professionalism in which their members will not again be used to steal people’s votes or to maul down the taxpayers. Both the Police and the Military must have a constitutional code of engagement which will make them to disobey orders contrary to their loyalty to the people and constitution of Nigeria. There have been cases of junior officers in some Police in America or Europe refusing to carry out orders contrary to their loyalty to their fatherland. The National Lawmakers may need to fashion out a legislation to protect the loyalty of soldiers and Police men/women to only the supreme interest of their country.
History of Olusegun Obasanjo’s final years is already being compiled and posterity will definitely throw more light on his acts of omission or commission in the last eight years as Nigeria’s number one man .
John Ayodele,
bishopbode@hotmail.com
Atlanta , USA .
