{"id":60830,"date":"2018-01-29T17:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-01-29T16:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=60830"},"modified":"2018-01-29T17:00:36","modified_gmt":"2018-01-29T16:00:36","slug":"the-swan-song-of-a-failed-leader-cum-letterwriter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/the-swan-song-of-a-failed-leader-cum-letterwriter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Swan Song Of A Failed Leader Cum LetterWriter"},"content":{"rendered":"
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And so,Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of State and two-term civilian<\/div>\n
President wrote aletter to President Muhammadu Buhari praising him on his<\/div>\n
anti-corruption andsecurity policies and scoring him low on his economic<\/div>\n
and foreign affairspolicies and advising him, based on his health issues,<\/div>\n
not to run for a secondterm. The unmistakable paradox marking this letter<\/div>\n
is that of a man who dideverything to illegally alter our constitution to<\/div>\n
procure a third term advisinganother man not to exercise his legal rights<\/div>\n
of a second term but that is notthe topic for this report. The Buhari<\/div>\n
government has put up a well-marshalledand unputdownable response to the<\/div>\n
letter particularly as it concerns theachievements of the government and<\/div>\n
laid an open challenge to whoever feels thatObasanjo or any other former<\/div>\n
leader did better to come forward with the same clarityit did its<\/div>\n
response. Shorn of the cavalier, self-applauding and egocentricrhymes of<\/div>\n
the Obasanjo missive, the reply was couched in the most lucid mannerso as<\/div>\n
to keep the argument focused and showed an undue respect to Obasanjowhose<\/div>\n
noxious tendency to play dictator and examiner to every other regime<\/div>\n
isbecomingly annoyingly petulant.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This reportshall leave the reactions for or against the Obasanjo letter to<\/div>\n
the open spacewhere it is raking sufficient attention presently. It shall<\/div>\n
also leave outwhether Obasanjo has so appropriated the Nigerian state as<\/div>\n
to be the soledeterminant of the fate of Nigeria, as he sought to portray<\/div>\n
in his letters.That would be found out after the elections next year where<\/div>\n
Obasanjo haspromised to present a third force to wrestle power from Buhari<\/div>\n
and install anorder beholden to him. I would rather do a brief revisit of<\/div>\n
the Obasanjostewardship in eight of the eleven years he had been in power<\/div>\n
to find out wherehe draws the experience, the moral and ethical rights to<\/div>\n
dictate the leadershipNigeria must have at any time.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The kind of incessantinterventions Obasanjo makes in Nigeria is the kind a<\/div>\n
successful leader who hasshown, by practice, what he sanctimoniously<\/div>\n
sermonizes on the national space.Does Obasanjo fit this requirement by the<\/div>\n
leadership he provided here inNigeria in eight years? To me, the answer is<\/div>\n
a resounding no for if leadershipperformance is a criterion for Obasanjo<\/div>\n
to twist and swing narratives to talkdown other leaders while<\/div>\n
sing-praising himself, then he should just disappearfrom our space. Most<\/div>\n
importantly, Obasanjo, and of course any other pastleader, must, in same<\/div>\n
clarity as the Buhari government, provide Nigerians withtheir own<\/div>\n
achievements in the areas of Economy, Infrastructures; Power, Rail,Road,<\/div>\n
Air, Security, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Education, Health, Youth,etc.<\/div>\n
before stepping on the national space to insult us with pejorative talesor<\/div>\n
criticisms of others and praises of themselves.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The questionis, did Obasanjo do well as a leader for the eight years he<\/div>\n
was in power? Weshall try to revisit the records Obasanjo left here after<\/div>\n
eight years to see ifhe deserves the huge cloth he had sown for himself<\/div>\n
that allows him to regularlymeddle into other leaders\u2019 affairs and dictate<\/div>\n
how Nigeria should be ran.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The economyhad been Obasanjo\u2019s regular forte and in his latest missive, he<\/div>\n
boasted that heturned Nigeria into a land flowing with milk and honey. You<\/div>\n
may rightly ask thefoundation for this growth because during Obasanjo\u2019s<\/div>\n
regime, our nationalinfrastructures decayed to an abysmal level. The roads<\/div>\n
so decayed that even theroad leading to his Otta was turned into an<\/div>\n
untamable river for the eight yearshe was in power. Go to Lagos-Ibadan<\/div>\n
expressway to find the relics of whatObasanjo did here for eight years in<\/div>\n
the billboards bearing his picture erectedthrough the length of the road<\/div>\n
when no attention was paid to that main economicartery as it decayed for<\/div>\n
the period he was in power. Have we forgotten how ourair record was so<\/div>\n
notorious as Obasanjo was in power such that planes werefalling off the<\/div>\n
sky with the prurience dead twigs fall from trees? What of therailway<\/div>\n
sector which so went extinct that not even a coach was added to therotting<\/div>\n
trains Obasanjo met despite huge sums budgeted for the sector? What ofthe<\/div>\n
power sector that crumbled when he was in power even after claiming to<\/div>\n
havespent $16 billion on the sector? So on what grounds were Obasanjo\u2019s<\/div>\n
phantomeconomic growth structured if he paid no attention to development<\/div>\n
ofinfrastructures for eight whole years?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Perhaps,what Obasanjo touts as his economic magic was selling off Nigerian<\/div>\n
prizedassets to a coterie of fawners at give-away prices under a<\/div>\n
dubiousprivatization scheme that robbed Nigerians and enriched his<\/div>\n
hirelings. Even thenation\u2019s refineries were callously sold off by Obasanjo<\/div>\n
in his twilight das butYar\u2019Adua cancelled the dubious sale.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Obasanjo\u2019s self-vauntedeconomic record is no more than a primitive<\/div>\n
latching open of the public cofferto a coterie of cronies to feed fat and<\/div>\n
form a symbiotic ring around him.Bereft of basic economic foundations or<\/div>\n
capacities to outgrow the dubious baseit was structured on, Obasanjo never<\/div>\n
laid any economic foundation that couldoutlast him. Feeding hirelings and<\/div>\n
fronts with illicit enrichment from thenational coffers to grow an economy<\/div>\n
was a blind choice of a leader that neitherabhorred corruption nor saw<\/div>\n
beyond the self-serving caprices that informed suchdecisions. Let us take<\/div>\n
some few instances. Obasanjo gathered a coterie of hismenservants<\/div>\n
together, unleashed direct funding on them with state patronages toform<\/div>\n
Transcorp with the intent of growing into a huge conglomerate in fewyears.<\/div>\n
Yes, his hirelings formed Transcorp, even got hapless citizens to<\/div>\n
investtheir hard earned resources in it. Where is Transcorp today? Like a<\/div>\n
spittle inthe sun, Transcorp hardly outlived the short-sighted, corrupt<\/div>\n
intent thatmidwifed it. That\u2019s the bedrock of Obasanjo\u2019s economic<\/div>\n
knowledge and dreams.What of Corporate Nigeria? This was a motley<\/div>\n
gathering of leading businessmenObasanjo culled together, leased state<\/div>\n
patronage on them with the intent thatthey will drive the growth of the<\/div>\n
country. Throughout his tenure, CorporateNigeria rather played an<\/div>\n
obnoxious role as slush pot for laundering thecountry\u2019s resources and<\/div>\n
mobilizing funds for Obasanjo\u2019s political dreams,including the obnoxious<\/div>\n
third term agenda and nothing more. These show that onthe economy where<\/div>\n
Obasanjo grandstands on epic scale, Obasanjo was no more thana corrupt,<\/div>\n
primitive artist and the fact that none of his many short-sighted<\/div>\n
andshallow-rooted economic policies survived his regime showed this.<\/div>\n
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The social reactionsagainst Obasanjo\u2019s economic policies were so strong<\/div>\n
that Nigerians regularlyspewed out to the streets to protest the harsh<\/div>\n
effects of his policies. It wasso bad that the same time Obasanjo told us<\/div>\n
that we ate and forgot ourselves wasthat period a musician sang the hit<\/div>\n
song, \u201cNigeriajaga jaga\u201d which earned him a savagery insult from Obasanjo<\/div>\n
himself. Havewe forgotten how Obasanjo, so buffeted by angry ripostes<\/div>\n
against his regime byNigerians, taunted Nigerians to flog his picture<\/div>\n
every morning to show theirdistaste for his regime?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What of theblusterous attack Obasanjo laid on the democratic structure?<\/div>\n
Obasanjo willinglyand intentionally subjected the democratic process to<\/div>\n
serious, ceaselessattacks. Democracy survived Obasanjo just because few<\/div>\n
people remained stoicallycommitted to rescue it from Obasanjo\u2019s vice<\/div>\n
grips. Elections under Obasanjoremain the most macabre in the history of<\/div>\n
the country. Terming elections as door die affairs, Obasanjo spared<\/div>\n
nothing to force his ways and nuances onNigerians during the two elections<\/div>\n
his regime supervised in an effort tocripple democracy while promoting a<\/div>\n
Napoleonic vision of reducing the statewith all its institutions to his<\/div>\n
personal estate that is malleable to EmperorObasanjo alone. He had no<\/div>\n
vision that sees the country beyond a PDP enclave ashe deigned himself the<\/div>\n
father and visionary of a sole PDP that rules from oneend of the earth to<\/div>\n
the other. In 2003, Obasanjo went out of his way togarrison the South West<\/div>\n
with soldiers, conquer and annex every space and writeresults for the<\/div>\n
South West states to impose his PDP lackeys on his region. Itwas only<\/div>\n
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that came out unconquered by Obasanjo\u2019sinvading<\/div>\n
army. This was after his Attorney General, Bola Ige was taken out inthe<\/div>\n
most callous manner many relate to the 2003 election and after he<\/div>\n
hadexpressed the wish to quit Obasanjo government and help reorganize the<\/div>\n
thenAlliance for Democracy for the 2003 election.<\/div>\n
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The 2007election was so rigged by Obasanjo to force the late Shehu Musa<\/div>\n
Yar\u2019Adua topower. It was so smelly and odious that the eventual inheritor<\/div>\n
of Obasanjo\u2019s electoraldubiety, Yar\u2019Adua had to publicly admit that his<\/div>\n
election fell short ofdecency. It was so bad that our usually lethargic<\/div>\n
and reactionary judiciary hadto retrieve some of the abhorrently rigged<\/div>\n
elections in the court rooms. This hasreset our electoral timetable and<\/div>\n
system in a manner that best advertisesObasanjo\u2019s manipulation of the<\/div>\n
electoral system to return his wishes. Anydemocratic structure that<\/div>\n
resisted Obasanjo\u2019s obtrusiveness was taken down asObasanjo ravaged like<\/div>\n
an untamed demon deciding with a flip of the finger whobecomes what in a<\/div>\n
supposed democratic structure.<\/div>\n
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Have weforgotten how Obasanjo\u2019s hirelings set on Anambra State, seized an<\/div>\n
incumbentgovernor and burnt the government house while Obasanjo looked on<\/div>\n
with an approvingglint?<\/div>\n
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Obasanjo dideverything to obstruct the course of legality and law. In<\/div>\n
fact, he was law untohimself. When he unilaterally seized the allocations<\/div>\n
of Lagos State because thestate created new local governments, the state<\/div>\n
took him up legally and evenwhen the Supreme Court ruled against<\/div>\n
Obasanjo\u2019s action, he held unto the fundtill he left power. Have we<\/div>\n
forgotten Obasanjo\u2019s ceaseless meddlesomeness inthe affairs of states<\/div>\n
where he was removing and imposing governors with fewminority legislators?<\/div>\n
Have we forgotten how he made the political structure so tenuousby<\/div>\n
removing and imposing his party\u2019s chairmen with \u00a0despotic fiat? Have we<\/div>\n
forgotten how Obasanjowas changing the Senate leadership like he was<\/div>\n
changing handkerchiefs for hiseight years in power? Simply put, Obasanjo<\/div>\n
in his eight years in power, deignedhimself as above the law and forced<\/div>\n
the Nigerian state to follow his Trojanfootsteps. He was an outlaw that<\/div>\n
relished placing the state and its institutionsunder his elephantine and<\/div>\n
rustic feet.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
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What recorddoes Obasanjo show on security? Wanton targeting and killing of<\/div>\n
politicalopponents of his and his PDP that was writ large on the Nigerian<\/div>\n
space. HisAttorney General was killed, Marshall Harry was killed, A.K<\/div>\n
Dikkibo was killed,Suliat Adedeji was killed, Funsho Williams was killed,<\/div>\n
Daramola of Ekiti waskilled, Ogbonnaya Uche was killed and many more such<\/div>\n
victims of state sponsoredkillings that wrote the entire Nigerian space<\/div>\n
with blood-felt pens. The formerSenate President, Chuba Okadigbo died<\/div>\n
after attending an ANPP rally whereObasanjo ordered that attendees be tear<\/div>\n
gassed and after inhaling the gas,Okadigbo slumped and never recovered<\/div>\n
from that brutal attack. It was duringthis period that the famed Nobel<\/div>\n
Laureate, Wole Soyinka tagged Obasanjo\u2019s partyPDP as a nest of killers! In<\/div>\n
genocidal terms, have we forgotten the levellingdown of Odi and Zaki<\/div>\n
Ibiam? What of the carnage in Plateau that was exacerbatedby Obasanjo\u2019s<\/div>\n
open distaste to the local Christian community and an aggressivedisplay of<\/div>\n
his muscle? How many people were killed in Plateau and yet Nigeriansdid<\/div>\n
not force Obasanjo out as a result? How will we forget that it was<\/div>\n
duringObasanjo\u2019s tenure that kidnapping, which has grown to a decibel<\/div>\n
today, wasintroduced in Nigeria?<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Obasanjodeliberately promoted corruption in the formal sector. He it was<\/div>\n
who was alwaystrolleying Ghana-must-go sacks of cash to the national<\/div>\n
assembly to remove andinstall one officer or the other or to pass any of<\/div>\n
his idiosyncratic bills. Themost notorious was the deployment of sacks of<\/div>\n
cash to the National Assembly tocarry out an illicit alteration of the<\/div>\n
constitution to grant him a third term,which many credibly believe was a<\/div>\n
precursor to the pursuit of a lifepresidency. He it was who approved jumbo<\/div>\n
salaries for legislators while givingthem publicly owned houses in the<\/div>\n
guise of dubious privatization. Obasanjo\u2019swheeling and dealing is so<\/div>\n
fatuous as to fill an encyclopedia. DuringObasanjo\u2019s time and even while<\/div>\n
he was pretending to fight corruption, we heardof such earth-shaking<\/div>\n
scandals like the Siemens deal, the Halliburton scam,etc. His presidential<\/div>\n
library project where governors were allegedly forced tocough out N10<\/div>\n
million each shows Obasanjo as a man without scruples, a moralwreck and an<\/div>\n
ethically-compromised character. The $16 billion power sectorscandals cap<\/div>\n
the dubiety of Obasanjo. And for a man who, when he left prison,had a<\/div>\n
paltry N20,000 in his account and now betraying no qualms about being<\/div>\n
oneof Africa\u2019s richest men, with investments that span all strata of the<\/div>\n
economy,Obasanjo is a study in guile and duplicity.<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n
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DuringObasanjo\u2019s tenure, salacious stories of how he carries raunchy<\/div>\n
amorous sessionswith female appointees was so pervasive and these stories<\/div>\n
got instant fillipfrom the steamy stories that openly gushed out about<\/div>\n
Obasanjo\u2019s personal lifewhere allegations of incestuous relationship were<\/div>\n
raised by even his son. Whenhe was fighting with his erstwhile deputy, we<\/div>\n
heard of how girlfriends were patronizedby state resources and how<\/div>\n
contracts were used to procure satiation to hiselephantine libido.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The above isnot an exhaustive narrative about Obasanjo\u2019s tainted persona<\/div>\n
and that of hisfailed regime but just to show his dubious qualification to<\/div>\n
always sermonizeand bask in self-adulatory lights about the deliberate<\/div>\n
charade he ran from 1999to 2007. I wonder how Obasanjo pretends to know<\/div>\n
every solution to everyNigerian problem but failed so woefully to leverage<\/div>\n
on such knowledge in hiscomprehensively failed eight years\u2019 leadership.<\/div>\n
Obasanjo, who roundly failed asa leader and was practically chased away<\/div>\n
from power, has no right to disturbthe peace of the country with his usual<\/div>\n
tirades against successive governments.Period! He should go procure a<\/div>\n
mirror and stare into it if he wants to know afailed leader.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
This reportis not to defend the Buhari government. It had done a good job<\/div>\n
defending itselfby listing verifiable achievements. What I rather want to<\/div>\n
show is that Obasanjois not concerned about good leadership because he<\/div>\n
drove in the oppositedirection when he had opportunity to provide one. His<\/div>\n
readings of the Buharigovernment is rather the mischievous and scheming<\/div>\n
Obasanjo. If we realize thatthree months ago, precisely September 2017,<\/div>\n
the same Obasanjo told the wholeworld that President Buhari had so<\/div>\n
impressed him that he didn\u2019t regretsupporting him, then we see through the<\/div>\n
dubious Obasanjo\u2019s schemes at play.<\/div>\n
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Obasanjowould have followed up his letter with such theatrics like tearing<\/div>\n
his APCmembership card, were he a member of APC but Obasanjo has no card<\/div>\n
to tear. Thisitself, introduces a huge cog in his mischievous wheel. While<\/div>\n
he can act,grandstand, and scheme with PDP, he has no such liberty with<\/div>\n
APC and theleaders and members of APC are not beholden to Obasanjo, who,<\/div>\n
at a time,personified PDP and did everything to forcefully levy it as<\/div>\n
Nigeria\u2019s soleparty. That Buhari is not of his political party is enough<\/div>\n
to sound a warningnote on him that he is writing his last letter and will<\/div>\n
not pull this schemethrough. Again. Obasanjo seems to over rate the<\/div>\n
capacity of his letter inJonathan\u2019s removal. His letter to Jonathan and<\/div>\n
the show of support for Buhariwas an escapist move from a sinking ship to<\/div>\n
a moving train. The Buhari trainwas already off the station by the time<\/div>\n
Obasanjo jumped in to escape a shipheaded for the rocks. By 2019, he would<\/div>\n
have to prove if he now has achievedhis desire to approximate the Nigerian<\/div>\n
state as a sole determinant of the fateof Nigeria.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It is funnythat Obasanjo, in his letter, stated he may be target of<\/div>\n
attacks by advisers whomay prey on him for the positions he expressed in<\/div>\n
his letter. Why should heworry? When he was intentionally careering the<\/div>\n
country to the hell it is today,very many respected voices who cautioned<\/div>\n
or advised him were so abused, deridedand insulted by the horde of attack<\/div>\n
dogs he kept to lynch at anybody that hadcontrary views to his. Prof<\/div>\n
Soyinka, Cardinal Onaiyekan, Col. Abubakar Umar, \u00a0late Prof. Chinua Achebe<\/div>\n
and many more eminentNigerians were torn to pieces and abused in<\/div>\n
indecorous terms by Obasanjo\u2019slapdogs when they offered simple advise to<\/div>\n
the drift of the Nigerian Stateunder Obasanjo. It was so bad that Achebe<\/div>\n
threw away a national award byObasanjo on the grounds that Obasanjo set<\/div>\n
his hirelings to destroy his stateand the personal attacks on him! So why<\/div>\n
is Obasanjo afraid of how others willreact to his letter? A case of a<\/div>\n
professional head cutter perpetually afraid ofthe knife?<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But toObasanjo\u2019s confusion at present, Buhari suffers such intrigues as<\/div>\n
Obasanjo\u2019s sosilently that it hurts. He is not likely to migrate to the<\/div>\n
mud and wrestle withObasanjo, as he anticipated. He is not known for that.<\/div>\n
He is a leader thatstands out for his ability to suffer fools patiently<\/div>\n
and gladly. His and hisadvisees are not abusing Obasanjo, as Obasanjo is<\/div>\n
fond of doing. Rather,Obasanjo is faced with an angry public who read<\/div>\n
through his mischief and feelthat his days of self-serving intrigues in<\/div>\n
the guise of writing letters toevery leader but himself, should be brought<\/div>\n
to an end because Obasanjo is afailed leader. 2019 is a decisive year for<\/div>\n
both Obasanjo and Nigeria. Goodenough, he has said he is forming a<\/div>\n
coalition to take over power from Buhari.He better succeeds in that<\/div>\n
mission because if he fails, that would be adisastrous end to his<\/div>\n
obtrusiveness. If he fails, his letter to Buhari willbecome a sad swan<\/div>\n
song for an ardent letter writer but an egregiously failedleader called<\/div>\n
Olusegun Obasanjo.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Peter ClaverOparah<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Ikeja,Lagos.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
E-mail:\u00a0peterclaver2000@yahoo.com<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    And so,Olusegun Obasanjo, former Head of State and two-term civilian President wrote aletter to President Muhammadu Buhari praising him on his anti-corruption andsecurity policies and scoring him low on his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Swan Song Of A Failed Leader Cum LetterWriter - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/the-swan-song-of-a-failed-leader-cum-letterwriter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Swan Song Of A Failed Leader Cum LetterWriter - 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