FORMER president Olusegun Obasanjo is perhaps Nigeria’s most complex riddle, a riddle that goes right down to his roots. He is every inch physiognomically Yoruba, but many Yoruba continue to point to his troublous relationship with the Yoruba, his superior airs, and his disquieting view of their culture as an indication of a falsity of his Yoruba roots claim or a fundamental disconnect between him and the ethnic group he claims descent from. He is also the archetypal Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart, having had the distinguished honour of shaping the party’s worldview for nearly a decade, moulding its structure as a political party into a feral beast with rapacious appetite for subverting the constitution and the rule of law, and creating a dissonant ethic through which prism the party viewed and still views the country. However, after a few weeks of intense disagreements with party leaders, he has opted out of the party, and now seems to be rooting for another party with the same frenetic glee with which he drove his former party to bits when he was its unquestioning leader.
Chief Obasanjo is today the chiefest apostle of contrariwise, an example of a leader that has fallen by his rising, a leader canonised by his devilry, a leader metamorphosing resplendently beside green pastures when he should in fact be mummifying in a cadaverous vacuum. He has become unusually the bitterest critic of President Goodluck Jonathan; and many people are cynical. But rather than view his newfound patriotism cynically, the country has felt some relief, as if to say, “Well, you created the mess, do please clean it up.” As a matter of fact, and in a special way, everyone of us knows that Chief Obasanjo is simply being hoist with his own petard. He who now rails against President Goodluck Jonathan’s incontestable political subterfuge, managed in 2007 to conduct probably the worst election this country has ever known. He who now chafes at President Jonathan’s manipulative presidency and unbearable obtrusion, was in his own time in office the most meddlesome and archetypal manipulator.
And so while the messenger’s shortcomings cannot be ignored, it is perhaps time to focus on his message, as self-incriminating as it might be. The message from Chief Obasanjo is that President Jonathan is afraid of holding elections, hoping that when he finally gets round to performing that constitutional duty, the polls would favour him. This was the reason for the postponement of the polls, as plausible as the six-week security operations the government promised to knock Boko Haram into a cocked hat might be. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has done its best to pressure the Jonathan presidency to cease its manipulations, and the people have as best as they could added fillip to the campaign to force the president to live up to his oath of office. But it is in fact Chief Obasanjo’s pressures that have yielded the most impactful result. The presidency has been disconcerted by his campaigns disproportionate to their anxiety in response to the APC’s accusations. The reasons are not far to seek.
First, for reasons political scientists must pay special attention to, the stock of Chief Obasanjo has continued to rise in the North far in excess of his modest talents and achievements. Twice he had handed over power to northerners; first, to Shehu Shagari in 1979, and then to Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007, in electoral circumstances not many can swear by. Second, that region seems to trust him, and is inured to the wholesome distrust harboured towards him by both the Southwest, especially, and the Southeast. In consequence, Chief Obasanjo’s traducement of President Jonathan is redacted lustily by northerners and propagated far and wide. Chief Obasanjo’s campaigns against the president therefore complements the power of the name of Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential candidate, making the two a potent and undeniable force against the president’s reelection chances.
In addition, having failed spectacularly to lay a solid foundation for democracy and the Fourth Republic, and having carried himself untrustworthily and even messianically, it was expected that the disasters that the governments of Mallam Yar’Adua and Dr Jonathan became were enough to consign Chief Obasanjo to the dustbin of history. Instead, the enigma has by his latest actions seemed to rehabilitate himself. He now paradoxically approximates the suspicions of the electorate as well as their yearnings, but he must surely know that his fight against President Jonathan is probably his riskiest ever, and perhaps the last. The cost of losing not only far outweighs every risk he has ever taken, in a sublime sense it even far outweighs the benefits of winning. For the APC and the rest of us, notwithstanding the enormity of our investments in this election, should President Jonathan win, we would groan, recover and move on. For Chief Obasanjo, should President Jonathan win, he had better fall on his sword.
Chief Obasanjo is today the chiefest apostle of contrariwise, an example of a leader that has fallen by his rising, a leader canonised by his devilry, a leader metamorphosing resplendently beside green pastures when he should in fact be mummifying in a cadaverous vacuum. He has become unusually the bitterest critic of President Goodluck Jonathan; and many people are cynical. But rather than view his newfound patriotism cynically, the country has felt some relief, as if to say, “Well, you created the mess, do please clean it up.” As a matter of fact, and in a special way, everyone of us knows that Chief Obasanjo is simply being hoist with his own petard. He who now rails against President Goodluck Jonathan’s incontestable political subterfuge, managed in 2007 to conduct probably the worst election this country has ever known. He who now chafes at President Jonathan’s manipulative presidency and unbearable obtrusion, was in his own time in office the most meddlesome and archetypal manipulator.
And so while the messenger’s shortcomings cannot be ignored, it is perhaps time to focus on his message, as self-incriminating as it might be. The message from Chief Obasanjo is that President Jonathan is afraid of holding elections, hoping that when he finally gets round to performing that constitutional duty, the polls would favour him. This was the reason for the postponement of the polls, as plausible as the six-week security operations the government promised to knock Boko Haram into a cocked hat might be. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has done its best to pressure the Jonathan presidency to cease its manipulations, and the people have as best as they could added fillip to the campaign to force the president to live up to his oath of office. But it is in fact Chief Obasanjo’s pressures that have yielded the most impactful result. The presidency has been disconcerted by his campaigns disproportionate to their anxiety in response to the APC’s accusations. The reasons are not far to seek.
First, for reasons political scientists must pay special attention to, the stock of Chief Obasanjo has continued to rise in the North far in excess of his modest talents and achievements. Twice he had handed over power to northerners; first, to Shehu Shagari in 1979, and then to Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007, in electoral circumstances not many can swear by. Second, that region seems to trust him, and is inured to the wholesome distrust harboured towards him by both the Southwest, especially, and the Southeast. In consequence, Chief Obasanjo’s traducement of President Jonathan is redacted lustily by northerners and propagated far and wide. Chief Obasanjo’s campaigns against the president therefore complements the power of the name of Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential candidate, making the two a potent and undeniable force against the president’s reelection chances.
In addition, having failed spectacularly to lay a solid foundation for democracy and the Fourth Republic, and having carried himself untrustworthily and even messianically, it was expected that the disasters that the governments of Mallam Yar’Adua and Dr Jonathan became were enough to consign Chief Obasanjo to the dustbin of history. Instead, the enigma has by his latest actions seemed to rehabilitate himself. He now paradoxically approximates the suspicions of the electorate as well as their yearnings, but he must surely know that his fight against President Jonathan is probably his riskiest ever, and perhaps the last. The cost of losing not only far outweighs every risk he has ever taken, in a sublime sense it even far outweighs the benefits of winning. For the APC and the rest of us, notwithstanding the enormity of our investments in this election, should President Jonathan win, we would groan, recover and move on. For Chief Obasanjo, should President Jonathan win, he had better fall on his sword.
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