By
Dr. Anthony Phillips
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is a man who, apart from being a former Military Head of State and a two-term President, is quite famous for his letter writing, especially during every election cycle. Why he does this leaves much to be imagined. On 1st January 2023, while many Nigerians were still basking in the euphoria of witnessing a New Year, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo dropped another letter (six pages), which is much talked about. He did not pretend to be a seer in his latest essay. Surely even the preferred candidate suggested in his letter cannot take him seriously from the content thereof. The few words of recommendation written by Obasanjo said nothing to indicate why Peter Obi should be the chosen candidate, except that the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Candidate is a needle with a thread extended to both North and South. What exactly does he mean by that?
Obasanjo simply identified five issues that caught his attention in the campaign season and decided to put pen to paper. For one, the article was quite unpresidential, neither was its presentation statesmanlike. It was more or less a comparative analysis of his administration and that of others since 2007. Except for the fact that he appreciated the maturity and discipline with which the campaigns are being handled, it would have been safe to read from his letter that the presidency should be left in the hands of a candidate who can be pulled by one of those people holding the rope from either end of it. When Obasanjo could not rate the frontrunners, he decided to leave Nigerians’ fate hanging in the hands of rope-holders from the North and South.
Let us do some introspection. Obasanjo is the man who gave us Umar Yar’Adua, of blessed memory, despite knowing about the Katsina ex-Governor’s terminal illness.
Could it be that Yar’Adua was also a needle with a thread? We still remember the famous call Obasanjo made to Germany to ask on the phone, “Umaru, are you dead?”
This was a man, who nursed a terminal illness, and many knew. This was a man, who spent most of his time outside the country going for treatment during his tenure as Governor of Katsina State. Yet, Obasanjo foisted him on us. Umar finally died barely three years into his presidency. Again, Obasanjo picked Jonathan after this VP completed the last year of Yar’Adua’s presidency; and the majority of Nigerians supported the idea. No sooner was Jonathan in office than Cold War between his administration and Obasanjo started. This led to his infamous letter writing, leading Nigerians to embrace a change mantra that reeked of populism. What do we have to show for it? Eight years of total disaster in every sphere of Nigerians lives! The scorecard of this administration is a failure all around. Instead of him apologizing to Nigerians about having misled them once again, OBJ is giving a sermon of confusion.
One would expect him to take the back seat, like those given his kind of opportunity to serve their nations in the UK, USA, Germany, etc.
Let us take a glance at his messages to Nigerians.
1) He sets his administration as the standard against the present administration. Could it be that the whole purpose of his faulty succession plan was a pointer to succeeding himself in office after his tenure elongation plan failed miserably –thanks to Atiku Abubakar? Yes, if it will make him happy, all the administrations after his have fallen short of his performance. Ironically, Obasanjo did not particular perform up to expectation, which was responsible for prolonging the conflicts between the ethnic and the religious groups. One of which is the refusal of his administration to accept the validity of the presidential election of June 12, 1993, even when it formed the basis of his being elected President. He refused to declare June 12 as a Democracy Day in Nigeria. It will be interesting to know how he feels now that President Muhammadu Buhari did it many years later. What matters most is that if President Buhari conducts a free and fair election in 2023, he will forever be remembered as the one who stamped and laid the foundation for democracy in Nigeria. How will he be remembered when all the debts his administration paid have now skyrocketed to unimaginable figures under the person he directly endorsed in his past letter? He had the opportunity and the first shot to be the Father of this Nation, however, he failed to rise to the occasion. Too bad!
2) Obasanjo tries to set standards for the assessment of the person fit to be President. Even if his assessment is not going to be academic, the least he could do was come up with a credible reason and justification, and leave it at that, instead of telling us to allow unknown string holders to decide our fate. While Nigerians are looking to choose a suitable President to preside over the affairs of our Nation, Obasanjo in one breath is placating Nigerian youth to hold their destiny in their hands; and in another breath is asking them to accept his chosen candidate. Bear in mind that he gave neither any legitimate reason for that choice nor persuasive words for his chosen one. He just wants the youth to follow him to another dead end. Remember that this choice has strings on him held from both North and South. Who are the imaginary strings holders he has refused to name? When Jonathan refused to be his puppet, he fought his administration and made it impossible for him to relate with the rest of Yoruba leadership, leading to a disconnection between the South-West and Jonathan’s administration. Will this scenario not play out again should there be a Cold War between him and Obi, or between Obi (the needle) and the purported thread holders?
3) He dealt with “Emilokan” as a subject matter. Emilokan is not a name. It is simply the Yoruba word, meaning, “It is my turn.” Hence, he has argued in his article that no one contesting the presidency or any other democratic position should have that sense of entitlement. OBJ said no one, who attained office with this birthright mentality, would serve the people. He more or less lectured us on the reasons why no one running with this kind of belief should be acceptable. He was not personal about the subject matter. Even then, the mere mention of the word “Emilokan” made the APC go bonkers, because it had become a slogan they popularized and hoped would resonate with voters. Well, it is still a Yoruba word that anyone can use to describe a contest. In a monarchy setting where they take turns, it is convenient to use this with pleasure. However, in a democratic contest of this nature, it is more likely inappropriate. In a multi-party or two-party constitution, the inter-party election does not permit “Emilokan.’ In some political parties, where the internal mechanism allows it to take turns through zonal arrangement, it may be allowed within their intra-party arrangements. It should be presumed that he is asking the aspirants to discard the idea of whatever forms of rights to the position of the presidency of our Nation. The advice should be very well taken, understanding that accepting the lies that any region has a right to the presidency might spell doom for the Nation if such a person loses and pretends to be cheated out of the deal. The region where such a person comes from might escalate the falsehood and instigate trouble for the Nation. Remember why political parties were not allowed to declare the results of the election. The same reason holds for why anyone cannot declare his right to the position before the votes are counted.
4) In his letter, he spent a lot of time addressing his newly found constituency and target audience, the Nigerian youth. This was very deliberate. He means to mobilize this constituency for an agenda yet to be disclosed to all. In addition, it should be noted that he recently discovered this constituency only after INEC declared the voter registration and it tilted majorly to this demography. Thus, Obasanjo admonished them to take their future into their own hands. With what would then be the question? The lecturer did not lecture his constituency about the modus operandi by which the youth would take advantage of the opportunity available to them. Neither has he prepared the groundwork for which this group will use to achieve his suggested claim. In the 1980s, this kind of groundswell idea of a New Breed was encouraged in this same fashion. In the South-West and other parts of the country, the New Breed took control by defeating the establishment in most parts of the country. However, before the whole process was over, the civil servants, conducting the elections, doctored the results to favour the establishment. By the next round of the elections, the whole system had been reversed to favor the establishment. Moreover, who supervised the process? It was the same institutions represented by our revered Obasanjo. Is it not suspect for him to suggest that we should trust his judgment in trusting the Northern string holders and the Southern string holders? That was clownish for him to suggest that, with all the available tools by which the youth can decide whom to vote for, Obasanjo is suggesting that this constituency should trust him. That is the height of superiority, self-centeredness and selfishness. From my point of view, he is using Obi as a pawn for something he has not let out of the bag.
5) The question of competence was dealt with in the abstract form. He did not do a comparative analysis of the subject matter. Out of sentiments, he made his assumptions and dealt with them in a way that justified his very parochial thought. He titled all the leading contestants as holders of TVCP (Track-Record of Vision, Character and Physical and Mental Capability). And this TVCP is based on their relationship with him Obasanjo. But the interesting part of his verdict in picking Obi is that using his four-point assessment, OBJ concluded to score all of them equally. But how he (Obasanjo) decided to pick one was inconclusive in his comparative analysis.
Surprisingly, the Obi he chose with his magic wand was one of the governors he impeached from office in the middle of his tenure.
You cannot but wonder what purpose Obasanjo’s letter served. He poured his mind into six pages of a letter, whose subject matter was undisclosed and therefore unresolved. This letter was not about Obi: Let the writer search his soul.
Dr. Anthony Phillips writes from Lagos