WHO’S AFRAID OF OBASANJO…?
by BISIKAY, London, UK
“Every political career ends, inevitably, in tragedy” – Enoch POWELL
When DOROTHY was going on her imaginary JUVENILE journey of innocence to seek the wizard’s intervention down under in AUSTRALIA, she had for company the LION who was a COWARD, the TINMAN who was HEART-LESS, and the SCARECROW who was BRAINLESS.
Discussions about the OBASANJO years ( of LOCUST), between May 1999 and May 2008, always pitch people between the three above Wizard of Oz characters. The cowardly fence sitters, the heart-less naysayers and the brainless praise-singers. But, then where are the DOROTHYs to bring all these together in a much balanced manner? Can we all try to be the UNBIASED judges of the obasanjo years?
Those who give OBASANJO an unmerited measure of CREDIT are dubious and dangerous people as they are inadvertently saying that on balance the man’s GOODNESS outweigh his BADNESS. Ordinarily a LEADER is supposed to lead. We should not be overwhelmed that OBASANJO seemed to have performed any great act of proper leading. (S)he who is afraid of obasanjo should fear no more. Why?
YES, there are the palpable and MEASURABLE changes in some areas of the national life and polity:
1. NAFDAC by irrepressible Dora AKUNYILI
2. Banking CONSOLIDATION by Chukwuma SOLUDO
3. Debt RELIEF by Okonjo IWEALA
4. Abuja RESTRUCTURALISATION by Nasir EL RUFAI
5. Corruption busting EFCC by Nuhu RIBADU
6. Mobile TELEPHONY via the GSM licensing by Cornelius ADEBAYO
7. And…, what else? What did I miss out? Please help me add more…
But of course, do not forget, obasanjo also left us with the following ACHIEVEMENTS:
1. DARKNESS instead of electricity
2. DEATHTRAPS instead of roads
3. Assembly of REPRESENTA”THIEVES” and “STEAL”ATORS (apologies Prof Sola ADEYEYE)
4. IWURUWURU electoral system
5. DAMAGED Federal system
6. Selective AntiCORRUPTION
7. Financial RECKLESSNESS
8. BABAric Politics
9. Judicial LAWLESSNESS
10.INSECURITY
11.UNEMPLOYMENT
12.Wanton DESTRUCTION of lives and properties
13.Decaying INFRASTRUCTURES
14.Fuel SHORTAGES and higher and higher pump PRICES
15.ASSASSINATIONS of political associates and opposites. And there may be more…
I thought that OBASANJO as the PRESIDENT, a priori, was expected to give the PEOPLE of Nigeria a BETTER country where there is LIFE more abundant, through his 2 terms in office. How have OBASANJO’s achievements impacted, directly or indirectly, on the common folks in Abaji, Abeokuta, Abakaliki? He could not even effect a reasonable MINIMUM wage for the POOR workers at the end of his the eighth presidential year despite his gargantuan FISCAL empowerment.
Given OBASANJO’s pedigree, it is WRONG to give the man as PRESIDENT any much measure of credit. With his MARTIAL and PRESIDENTIAL and ENTREPRENEURIAL background as well as POLITICAL majority it defies logic that OBASANJO was on balance an unmitigated and colossal FAILURE. Any other verdict must be viewed suspiciously. He has no excuses as he had the greatest goodwill and resources, human and financial, than all the previous governments combined!
So, I have spent a better part of the last SEVEN years since the gruesome ASSASINATION and unwholesome PROSECTION drama of late Chief Bola IGE on 23 December 2001 on dwelling on the OBASANJO’s presidential DISASTERS, one after the other till May 2008. I would hope that this will be my very LAST write up on the USELESS man. Writing about OBASANJO has now become a real WASTE of time, no more, no less. I could be doing much better things with my time, anyway.
I have COMPILED articles, news, views and reviews from various INTERNET sites and EDITED these into SEVEN different reference BOOKS as the CHRONICLES of the Nigerian Babaric political SAGAS that catalogue the bizarre aspects of OBASANJO’s tragic PRESIDENCY. For this privilege I THANK all the website owners and their writers for their contributions to this project. The books list is as follows:
The first one: TRIUMPH of RULE of LAW: The LADOJA “Impeachment” SAGA of OYO State, NIGERIA ( 1,152 pages)
The second one: The SAINT, The OGBANJE and The VAGABONDS in POWER: The OBI-UBA-NGIGE Gubernatorial SAGA of ANAMBRA State, NIGERIA ( 1, 452 pages)
The third one: Until His Murderers Are Caught, WE’RE All Like CICERO, TRAPPED! In The Nest of KILLERS: The Bola IGE ASSASSINATION SAGA (1, 074 pages)
The fourth one: BABA MUST GO, OR ELSE… BABA WILL DIE!: Chronicle of OBASANJO’s Failed THIRD TERM Saga ( 1,437 pages)
The fifth one: (The SEQUEL to The TRIUMPH of RULE of LAW: The LADOJA Saga) The TRAGEDY of The RULE of LAWLESSNESS or JANDUKUDIGBOLUGI: President of MOLETE School of THUGGERY The ADEDIBU Saga ( 1, 308 pages)
The sixth one: ADEDEBU-KU!? – OH, NO, WHO BENT OBASANJO’S DRY FISH?! Chronicle of The Drama of ADEDIBU, obasanjo’s THUGFATHER’s DEATH ( 1, 210 pages )
Finally, ( and finally finally, I want to insist!), number seven: DANIEL IN THE DAEMON’S DEN – Chronicle of OGUN STATE’S Gubernatorial Gladiatorial Saga: 2007 – 2011 ( 1330 pages )
Within these almost one MILLION of pages I believe that we have captured all there is about to be reported about OBASANJO’s bad deeds. By the way, these SEVEN saga books will be among the SPECIAL collections going into the controversial OBASANJO PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY at Abeokuta. These will be our own vey modest contribution to the man’s LEGACY. I trust UNESCO will love them!
Yet some writers still give us the OBASANJO good guy, fine president NONSENSES. Nonesense!
So, by the way how many such CHRONICLES are there about the man’s enormous GOOD deeds? Could we CHALLENGE obasanjo and his apologists to compile ONE, just ONE, only ONE, chronicle of 1,000 pages of obasanjo’s GOOD deeds as a person and as a president, to match any one of our compilations of his numerous unpresidential babarisms. Let all the apologists combine their efforts, now.
What we have come to CONCLUDE about obasanjo is that the man was an unmitigated DISASTER, over all. Whichever way you may want to see the man who turned himself into an ANIMAL at Aso Rock, his records of good deeds are overwhelmed by those of EVIL ones. Moreso, the accursed man deliberately chose to be a LIABILITY to the nation for he had the CAPACITY and the CAPABILITY to be a HEROIC and CELEBRATED leader. Yet, he chose the DIABOLICAL path to ignomious legacy. Alas!
I am still at a loss as to finding a totally RATIONAL explanation to explain obasanjo’s DEMONIC adventures at Aso Rock, 1999 to 2007. It is ONLY obasanjo himself ALONE who may want to attempt to EXCUSE his presidential madness, all other APOLOGISTS are merely wasting their time. So, maybe, we should look forward to the MEMOIRS to be aptly titled: MY BOLEKAJA PRESIDENCY. I can only hope that it would not take forever like BABANGIDA’s much anticipated memoir: HOW JUNE 12 RUINED MY LIFE, or even ABDUL SALAM ABUBAKAR’s own memoir: MKO – MY ROLE IN HIS MURDER.
I would like to bet anyone that the old MAD, BAD and SAD obasanjo will become a SPENT Force, what with the dramatic DEATH of his dry fish ADEDIBU, the late governor of the Molete Presidential School of Thuggery, as well as the COLD WAR between OBJ and Umaru Musa YAR ADUA, his anointed incumbent president. He has become WOUNDED and rendered powerless but would still like to delude himself that he still has the means to do DAMAGE against his perceived ENEMIES, that is, you and I. So, s/he who is afraid of obasanjo should pleas fear him no more! But DARE him!!!
Let us all please STOP giving this unfortunate man any more undeserved accolades which only goes on to help the ex- this ex-that of a president to assume airs of importance from which he then continues to wreck some HAVOC on innocent souls, like Governor Gbenga DANIEL of Ogun State and Honourable Dimeji BANKOLE, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President Yar ADUA in the ongoing politrical DRAMA around OLUMO and ASO Rocks. Lets move NIGERIA forward, lets put obasanjo in his right place, in the DOG House, at the top of the Nigerian Hall of SHAME! Let others learn from his shame
However, there is only one thing that still baffles me about OBASANJO: why did he as a BADDIE, hand over to YAR ADUA, and not to ODILI who could be seen as a SUPER BADDIE. He single handedly IMPOSED his successor, and might as well have imposed someone else, who could have been just ANYBODY including his notorious THUGFATHER, Mr ADEDIBU, (who, Allah be praised, is now of satanically blessed memory!). It could be assumed that as much as IWU, the so called INEC man, had been captured by OBASANJO he could equally have been compelled to deliver an Andy UBA or Ahmad ALI ( mun go ) presidential landslide or earthquake or tsunami or volcanic eruption, for that matter. And NIGERIANS would have been mesmerised to doing NOTHING about the felonious tragedy. After all obasanjo has got away with the number three position STOLEN for Mr David MARK. What have any of us done about it? Could it then be that somehow, paradoxically, OBASANJO might have meant well for NIGERIA, after all? Or it could be the man has a HIDDEN agenda, of his own? Like wanting an instalmentally dying man to contest the election and get the election scuttled so that he might stay on or wanting a poor performer whose dismal record may make the obasanjo presidency seem much better than it really was, bla, bla, bla… Otherwise it could be that the man was simply CRAZY!
Those who write to hail obasanjo are therefore the real ENEMIES of progress in Nigeria: SHAME on you!
Let me conclude this piece, just as I did my last piece on ADEDIBU in May shortly before he went off to become translated eternally, that may obasanjo REPENT and APOLOGISE to all NIGERIANS for the forgiveness of all his ATROCITIES, in and out of Aso Rock. He can not continue in his EVIL ways forever, as his time will, willy nilly, soon come to an inevitable, ignoble, terrible END…
(PS: To all who read this article and those who may be responding, please accept my apologies for troubling you with a rather USELESS subject and object of reference, unless you are one his mugus.)
BISIKAY, PhD. London, UK
drbisikay@yahoo.com
He is the author of:WHY MANAGERS CAN’T LEAD AND LEADERS CAN’T MANAGE ( lulu.com )