Nigerians, particularly members and supporters of the People\u2019s Democratic
\nParty (PDP) that are still hoping for a revived PDP someday, former
\nPresident Olusegun Obasanjo has a word for them.<\/p>\n
Obasanjo for the second time in less than three years, said the party is
\ndead, sunk and gone, praying that the fortune of Nigeria should also not
\nsink \u2013 apparently like that of the PDP.<\/p>\n
The former Board of Trustees (BoT) of PDP reiterated his position on
\nFriday while replying comments by former National Chairman, Alh. Ahmadu
\nAli, about their past relationship in government during an International
\nSymposium titled: \u201cPurpose and Utilitarian Values of Presidential
\nLibraries\u201d at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, the
\nOgun State capital.<\/p>\n
The event, which also include the grand opening of the Olusegun Obasanjo
\nPresidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, to mark the 80th birthday of the
\nex-President was organised by the Centre for Human Security (CHS), an arm
\nof the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL).<\/p>\n
The ex \u2013 President recalled that he brought Ali to lead the once powerful
\nand largest party in Africa because of his truthfulness, saying PDP was
\ncontrolling 30 out of the 36 states of the federation when Ali and him
\nwere leading it but lamented that its fortune sank when the duo left the
\nstage.<\/p>\n
He noted that while Ahmadu Ali served as the National chairman of the
\nparty, he\u00a0 ensured its stability and effectiveness but lamented that the
\nparty is now down and out following an intractable internal crisis.<\/p>\n
Obasanjo: \u201cAhmadu Ali is truthful and that was why I brought him to head
\nthe PDP and all went well when Ahmadu Ali was the National\u00a0 chairman. We
\nwere controlling 30 out of the 36 states, when Ahmadu and I left, the
\nfortune of the PDP began to sink.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you believe it or not, today PDP is sunk and gone. May the
\nfortune of Nigeria never sink like that of the PDP\u201d with the audience
\nresponding in a thunderous \u201cAmen.\u201d<\/p>\n
And responding also to avalanche of eulogy from dignitaries \u2013 Nigerians
\nand foreigners, during the symposium, he said the Olusegun Obasanjo
\nPresidential Library was established to correct one of his mistakes of the
\npast, especially not collecting and archiving materials connected to his
\ntime during the civil war.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201csomebody among the speakers said God has always given me the
\nopportunity to correct my wrongs. I will say God has done that for me not
\nin all cases but in most cases and this Presidential Library is actually
\nan act of God which he has given to me to correct one of my mistakes of
\nthe past and I have said this very often.<\/p>\n
\u201d I was in the war front, it was very one significant thing in my life and
\nin the life of Nigeria. I was military head of State, it was one
\nsignificant thing in my life and in the life of Nigeria but I was not as
\nmindful as I should have been about collecting materials that were
\nconnected with those events, the war front and civil war both on the
\nvandals side, we called them rebels side or if you like the Biafrans side,
\nthey called us vandals, we called them rebels.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we did collect something, when I was also the Military Head of State
\nI didn\u2019t pay much attention to collect materials, where I should have paid
\nattention to.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, by 1988, it occurred to me that these are mistakes, I looked at some
\nof the materials we got from the war fronts, they were in very bad state
\nof neglect so what I did was to try and micro-film what we could
\nmicro-film.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also learnt a lesson, when you are in a position to keep materials and
\npreserve them for prosterity, you should do so and I never knew there will
\nbe another opportunity, so, God created another opportunity for me to
\ncorrect the mistakes of the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod is the God second chance and for some of us He is not God of second
\nchance but God of many chances and I will be internally grateful to God
\nfor the opportunity he has given me but more importantly whatever I might
\nachieved, I take responsibility but whatever I might achieved it would not
\nhave been possible without the people who have helped me in life to be
\nable to achieve what I have achieved.<\/p>\n
\u201cTake the Presidential Library for example if not for the members of Board
\nof Trustees I will have fallen by the roadside and that will have been
\nanother mistake because it got to a stage that things were rough, things
\nwere rough and we are just putting heads together, it is God of many
\nchances.\u201d<\/p>\n
He urged the youths who attended the programme not to be mindful of their
\ncurrent position \u2013 whether poor or weak, assuring that \u201cIf he (given his
\npoor background) could make it this far, they can also make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He advised them to share whatever ideas they have with others,\u00a0 for the
\ngrowth and development\u00a0 of\u00a0 Nigeria.<\/p>\n
The ex \u2013 President said having passed the kiln of life including marking
\ntime in prison without being killed by his jailers, he has nothing anymore
\nto fear save God.<\/p>\n
Dignitaries who took turn to speak on the \u201cPurpose of utilitarian Values
\nof Presidential Library, hailed Obasanjo for establishing the OOPL,
\ndescribing him as an \u201ciconic legend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former US Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Mr. Andrew Young, said
\nthat without Obasanjo, Africa might still be in a desperate position,
\nadding that, \u201cit is time for Nigeria to realise and make amendment where
\nit\u2019s lagging behind\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no human being\u00a0 in Africa that has experienced what Obasanjo has
\ngone through in the last 50 years, \u201cOne thing about him is that he is the
\nsame way same person whether in New York, UN, World Bank, White House or
\nchina, he does not change. He does not give a damn whom he makes mad,\u201d he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said Obasanjo should be celebrated, adding that\u00a0 \u201cthe presidential
\nLibrary will help others to understand his work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also speaking, Tracy Roosevelt, grand daughter of former US President,
\nFranklin D Roosevelt, explained that a Presidential Library is a place,
\nmeant to bring together the memories of the past and to also bring men and
\nwomen together for higher goals.<\/p>\n
Roosevelt said Obasanjo gave the gift of the Library to his people, to
\nshare the memories of his past with his people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 14 presidential libraries in the United States of America
\n(USA), but, the first\u00a0 Presidential Library in Africa was created by
\nObasanjo in Abeokuta,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigerians, particularly members and supporters of the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP) that are still hoping for a revived PDP someday, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has a word for them. Obasanjo…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n