Those of us born after the 60’s were taught about the heroics and bravery of the retired General Olusegun Obasanjo in the four walls of elementary and secondary schools.
‘The Civil War lasted for years,” my primary school teacher, Mr. Bayo, began one of his numerous recounts of how the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 ended. “So many people were killed. But the war was brought to an end when the 3rd Marine Commando Division led by Olusegun Obasanjo took over Owerri. This single act ended the war.”
Like all the patriots who have served before and after him, he bled to protect fellow countrymen and women. But, above all, he stood his ground in ensuring that sovereignty of our dear country is never jeopardized.
Unlike many of his colleagues in the military who, in their lust for power, have forcefully got one through coup, Obasanjo showed exemplary leadership, discipline and great respect for the democratic institution by not participating in any coups. He even supervised the return to civilian rule in 1979. All the above Obasanjo should be praised for.
But story becomes history, and history becomes legend, and legend becomes myth. Obasanjo became the president of Nigeria in 1999 after years of military rule. Many argue that this single act rubbished whatever goodwill Obasanjo had. He could have simply rejected the offer and preserved the illusion of his heroism. Others believe that Obasanjo became the president of Nigeria at a time his patriotism was most needed and he could have written his name in gold if only he didn’t let greed take over his soul.
Far different from the Obasanjo of the “olden times” who served with the late Murtala Mohammed, the Obasanjo of 1999 was a man changed by the iron bars of prison. If there was any goodwill Obasanjo worked hard to achieve before 1999, he forfeited it thereafter.
Under his watch, corruption, graft and nepotism were knighted into the nucleus of democratic institutions. Nigeria, a nation with every needed elements to grow and develop, was dragged back to the primordial days. He corrupted key institutions and processes – the INEC, the police, civil service, legislature, among others. To say the Obasanjo’s administration didn’t have some pluses would be unfair. The privatization of the telecom industry and bank recapitalization were strong and needed policies his government implemented. But his bads overweighs his goods.
A renowned political satirist, Elnathan John, said recently, “Nigeria is great. You can try to elongate your tenure, fail, leave office, then write sermons to the incumbent on good governance and sh…t.”
The “new” Obasanjo has shown himself to be a man whose engine runs on consistent publicity. He places himself as a center of attraction and loves to be in control of everyone and everything around him. A friend recently described the “new” Obasanjo as a “selfish, vindictive, narcissistic fox”.
During a recent interview with Fox TV, reproduced by Washington Times, on why he has refused to critique the Obama administration, George W. Bush replied: “I don’t think it’s good for the country to have a former president undermine a current president; I think it’s bad for the presidency for that matter.” Further, he said: “I really have had all the fame I want. I really don’t long for publicity. And the truth of the matter is in order for me to generate publicity I’d have to either attack the Republican Party, which I don’t want to do, or attack the president, which I don’t want to do. And so I’m perfectly content to be out of the limelight.”
The new Obasanjo needs to understand that to truly seek equity, one must come with clean hands. The backwardness, dilapidation and putrefaction of Nigeria is majorly the result of eight years of grand corruption, greed, and graft supervised, presided and executed by him.
READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/388121-new-olusegun-obasanjo-adekoya-boladale.html
‘The Civil War lasted for years,” my primary school teacher, Mr. Bayo, began one of his numerous recounts of how the Nigerian Civil War of 1967 ended. “So many people were killed. But the war was brought to an end when the 3rd Marine Commando Division led by Olusegun Obasanjo took over Owerri. This single act ended the war.”
Like all the patriots who have served before and after him, he bled to protect fellow countrymen and women. But, above all, he stood his ground in ensuring that sovereignty of our dear country is never jeopardized.
Unlike many of his colleagues in the military who, in their lust for power, have forcefully got one through coup, Obasanjo showed exemplary leadership, discipline and great respect for the democratic institution by not participating in any coups. He even supervised the return to civilian rule in 1979. All the above Obasanjo should be praised for.
But story becomes history, and history becomes legend, and legend becomes myth. Obasanjo became the president of Nigeria in 1999 after years of military rule. Many argue that this single act rubbished whatever goodwill Obasanjo had. He could have simply rejected the offer and preserved the illusion of his heroism. Others believe that Obasanjo became the president of Nigeria at a time his patriotism was most needed and he could have written his name in gold if only he didn’t let greed take over his soul.
Under his watch, corruption, graft and nepotism were knighted into the nucleus of democratic institutions. Nigeria, a nation with every needed elements to grow and develop, was dragged back to the primordial days. He corrupted key institutions and processes – the INEC, the police, civil service, legislature, among others. To say the Obasanjo’s administration didn’t have some pluses would be unfair. The privatization of the telecom industry and bank recapitalization were strong and needed policies his government implemented. But his bads overweighs his goods.
- In the report of the infamous Halliburton fraud, President (as he then was) Obasanjo supervised the sharing of the $74 million bribe by Halliburton to influence the award of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) contract in Nigeria. He was reported to have given his aide, Bodunde Adeyanju, a whooping $21 million of the bribe. This is less the Siemens and Wilbros oil scams.
- The $16 billion allocated for the National Integrated Power Project developed magical legs while additional N16 billion was paid to 34 ghost companies to execute project under the same scheme.
- Obasanjo directed the sale of the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries to friends at a giveaway price of $750 milion.
- In his promise to revive the railway sector, President Obasanjo removed N8.3 billion from the nation’s treasury, but this money miraculously didn’t get to the rails.
- On February 5, 2009, the Daily Sun reported that President Obasanjo has allegedly single-handedly withdrawn N232 billion from the Federation Account without any approval from the National Assembly.
- The bilateral air transport agreement (BASA) fund of $86 million felt the touch of the former President, as $68.8 million “suddenly disappeared” via an order from Obasanjo.
- Transcorp, believed to be directly linked to Obasanjo Holdings Limited, suddenly got acquisition of four major oil blocs (namely, OPL218, 219, 209 and 220) allocated to it on 21 July 2005 by President Obasanjo; it also acquired NITEL and Nicon-Hilton.
- At the twilight of his administration, President Olusegun Obasanjo awarded some contracts totalling N850 bn in the following tranches: N70 billion to revive textile industry; N58.6bn for the second Niger Bridge and maintenance of same for N42bn; N16.53bn for reconstruction of the Lagos port harbours; N20bn for expansion of the Lagos airport; N4.8bn to build permanent accommodation for the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC); N1.39bn for construction of the Ministry of Defence’s permanent residence; N1.4bn for conversion of steam and head for power plant; N47.4bn for conversion of the Alaoji power plant to double circuit; N3.5bn for procurement and repair of two boilers at the Egbin power station; N233 million to fix the Agege-Lagos road. All these funds were stolen!
- In his infamous third-term move, the former President was reported to have bribed members of the National Assembly with a total sum of N10 billion, a report former Senate President, Ken Nnamani and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila corroborated.
A renowned political satirist, Elnathan John, said recently, “Nigeria is great. You can try to elongate your tenure, fail, leave office, then write sermons to the incumbent on good governance and sh…t.”
The “new” Obasanjo has shown himself to be a man whose engine runs on consistent publicity. He places himself as a center of attraction and loves to be in control of everyone and everything around him. A friend recently described the “new” Obasanjo as a “selfish, vindictive, narcissistic fox”.
During a recent interview with Fox TV, reproduced by Washington Times, on why he has refused to critique the Obama administration, George W. Bush replied: “I don’t think it’s good for the country to have a former president undermine a current president; I think it’s bad for the presidency for that matter.” Further, he said: “I really have had all the fame I want. I really don’t long for publicity. And the truth of the matter is in order for me to generate publicity I’d have to either attack the Republican Party, which I don’t want to do, or attack the president, which I don’t want to do. And so I’m perfectly content to be out of the limelight.”
The new Obasanjo needs to understand that to truly seek equity, one must come with clean hands. The backwardness, dilapidation and putrefaction of Nigeria is majorly the result of eight years of grand corruption, greed, and graft supervised, presided and executed by him.
READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/388121-new-olusegun-obasanjo-adekoya-boladale.html
No comments:
Post a Comment