Tuesday, 30 December 2014

DEALING WITH THE “WATCHER” IN MY FRIEND MR. YINKA ODUMAKIN: OBASANJO IS NOT A SECTARIAN LEADER




The administration of former President Mathew Olusegun Obasanjo raised the hope of an average Nigerian but then, the former president made a lot of mistakes. The gravity of these mistakes was deepened further by the Third Term debacle. Nevertheless, despite his numerous weaknesses as a human being, Obasanjo nursed and worked towards an authentic vision of Nigeria that became a big suspect to oppressors who swore that such a Nigeria can never be born  otherwise their own trade will collapse unceremoniously like a pack of cards.
The many betrayals suffered by the former president can be explained by the resolute fight he put up and his insistence on becoming the Head of his own government – the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and his stubborn refusal to accept the status of a mere appendage to an over-arching pretentious ambition which a demon-infested party allocated to him. Had he accepted this especially as this relates to a Satanic AGREEMENT, Obasanjo would have been made to become the darling of most Nigerians, including the party called PDP.
As the President, Obasanjo was actually a man in a serious dilemma. Like Odewale in Ola Rotimi’s play “The Gods Are Not To Blame”, Obasanjo’s destiny as Mr. President was already written in lurid idioms before he came to power – a good child born by an Evil Genius. To be the president he was supposed to be and move Nigeria forward required that he disengages from his godfathers and destroy everything about their vision and mission, and then turn around and marry democracy-the mother that gave birth to him. Giving his background as a soldier and the pretensions of his party, that marriage was a process and highly incestuous. Obasanjo did not shy away from this but instead made a bold effort to embrace his destiny despite the embarrassment, shame and scandal. The Owu Chief told everyone who cared to listen that the devil- the Evil Genius, was bad.
Thus attempts to cut a summary picture of former President Mathew Olusegun Obasanjo’s  eight year rule without a deep and sincere appreciation of a rewarding effort expended by him to assemble together the dismembered skeletal parts of a dying nation, redefine the vague and disadvantaged concept of national unity, giving it a new face, as well as invented a formidable fighting machinery from disparate forces to sustain this unity and move the nation forward, will show only the torso of a local and international gangster.As a prisoner just released from Abacha’s gulag,what other resources had OBASANJO as he assumed the mantle of leadership except his undiluted zeal for the unity of Nigeria- a need that was so critical at that time.
To begin with, how many Yorubas are happy with Obasanjo? He had to destroy A.D., de-mobilise NADECO, Afenifere and O.P.C. so as to spare some oil for the wheels of the Nigerian nation. If Obasanjo did this to his kinsmen, then those who are committed to authenticity as members of the different ethnic groups may grudge as human beings who they are, but they must also be realistic when such necessary diplomatic pinches excite their nerves, forcing their arms be squeezed. Again Obasanjo was a man of many predicaments. To be objective, no matter the credentials Obasanjo paraded, as far as the average Igbo man was concerned consciously or unconsciously, Obasanjo was already very guilty for the role he played during the civil war. To the man from South South, it was now time for Obasanjo to compensate them for their loyalty (or betrayal against Biafra?) during the civil war. To the Northerners, Obasanjo was a lackey they put on the saddle, and so must remain that way. To the South Westerners, it was now their turn to re-live the Awolowo days for the Yoruba tribe. Obasanjo proved all these geo-political zones wrong, except the Igbos. Along this line, one has to remark that, in the murky political waters and slippery diplomatic terrains marked along strong ethnic antiphons, such mistakes are not unpardonable since they are unfortunate fall-outs of credible and responsible governance.
However, the level of Obasanjo’s success cannot be correctly measured without reference to the scandal of a Yar’dua, not as a person per se but as a product of electoral fraud. And ambushed from all sides by the perfected satanic schemes of the Evil Genius, did the Owu Chief have any viable alternative to the inauguration of a Satanic Presidency except a Yar’dua?

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