Baba Obasanjo At 80

Remember the late Aro of Mopa and former principal private secretary to the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Chief Sunday B. Awoniyi?

He was former National Chairman of pan-northern group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and one of the formative leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He engaged former President Olusegun Obasanjo, especially over his dictatorial, overbearing tendencies throughout his administration.

In one of their ‘’confrontational’’ meetings, when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar-led gang wanted Obasanjo to do a single term and quit politics, late Chief Awoniyi told this reporter how Obasanjo arrogantly called him by his first name, “Sunday”, even though he was five years older than him.
 

Awoniyi, who was apparently pissed off with Obasanjo’s seeming supercilious and big-headed posturing, was said to have replied, “Segun (referring to Obasanjo) -both of us are from the Yoruba nation, and our culture demands that you respect your senior, no matter your position. By your age, I am your senior and you must respect me.’’Trust the former president: in his usual comic relief, Obasanjo was said to have replied, “Look at this boy; even though you are my senior officially, don’t you know your age mate?”
 

Chief Awoniyi would have been 85 this year, as Chief Obasanjo marks his 80 today (Sunday).
But, few months after that encounter with Awoniyi, the humorous former president reportedly told a gathering in his home town, Abeokuta, that “whether I know the exact date of my birth or not, I think God has made my birth glorious.”

It was a trifling comedy at that event when Obasanjo told his guests at his 77th birthday observance that he had no real record of his birthday. At the event held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, 13 years ago, Obasanjo said that all what he knew was that his mother told him he was born on a market day.

“There are some people including me who do not know their exact birthday. My mother only told me that I was born on Ifo market day’’, he stated.
 

“According to her, in our village, she had prepared to go to Ifo market and Ifo market is every five days. She said as she was preparing, she fell into labour and before those who went to Ifo market returned, I was born.”

Obasanjo said that there were people like him who had no real record of birth, thanking God for what He has done in his life.
 

To some who are very close to Obasanjo who is 80 today, even though some people say he is over 90, everything about him – apart from his age, is enfolded in controversy, conspiracy and treachery.

From his days in the military till day, Obasanjo has been associated with either involvement in secret political plotting against his perceived political enemies or deceitfulness in dealing with people around him. Yet, many of his benefactors said he has a large heart.

For those who knew Awoniyi – while he was alive, he detested dishonest politicians; he was very hostile to abuse of power by politicians especially by those who played God. From the experiences of those who knew him, Chief Awoniyi was not a friend to selfish politicians who derive joy in seeing the poor suffer. The good man died on November 28, 2007 as a result of injuries he sustained from an auto crash along the Abuja-Kaduna road while trying to negotiate many potholes along the expressway.

In one of his many factual stories, Chief Awoniyi, a former super permanent secretary, told this reporter how Obasanjo begged him in 1975 to help save his military career during the regime of a no-nonsense former head of state, late General Murtala Mohammed. What was Obasanjo’s problem? One of his many estranged wives had petitioned Gen. Mohammed, detailing how Obasanjo allegedly misused his power as the then military officer to the detriment of the army. The then anti-corruption crusader general, Mohammed, who later investigated the petition, allegedly found Obasanjo’s offence seeming ‘’unpardonable’’ and was allegedly ready to dismiss him from the military.

An embattled Obasanjo was later advised to solicit the help of Mohammed’s senior prefect at Barewa College, Zaria, Chief Awoniyi, to save his career. He did quite that. A day after Obasanjo approached him for the help he (Awoniyi) was in Dodan Barracks, Lagos – the then seat of power as early as 7am.
 

“At exactly 7:30am, General Mohammed walked into his office and met me waiting for him. He was shocked to see me that early morning; he knew something very important brought me there. And he (Mohammed) said, senior, what are you doing in my office this morning? Before I could reply him he ushered me into his office”, Awoniyi had stated.

The then permanent secretary eventually told his boss, Gen. Mohammed, his mission. According to Awoniyi, the late head of state brought out from his drawer a petition written by Obasanjo’s wife, which he said had been investigated to be true and gave it to him to read. The petition, according to him, was very dirty.

But, in spite of that, the late Aro of Mopa pleaded with Gen. Mohammed to give Obasanjo a second chance. To cut the long story short, the late head of state, after much plea, acceded to Awoniyi’s request and asked him to tell Obasanjo to sin no more.
 

A few months later, General Mohammed was assassinated in a violent but botched military coup by a band of disgruntled soldiers led by Lt. Col. Dimka. Obasanjo was persuaded “against his will” to succeed him.

Sadly, according to Awoniyi, the first person Obasanjo forced to retire from the federal civil service was him – the man who saved Obasanjo from being dismissed from the military.
 

Many cases also abound – which point to the fact that Obasanjo apparently derives joy from betraying his friends. From the south-west geo-political zone, the families of Chief Bola Ige; late Sunday Afolabi; an Owo high chief, Chief Fasawe; Chief Bode George and others, may have similar sad stories to tell about Obasanjo.

Ask his former deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who Obasanjo is, and like somebody once said, Atiku will surely advise anybody to tackle Obasanjo first before a serpent if both mistakenly approach his/her room at the same time.

Reason: it was an Atiku-led political structure, the PDM, which mobilised support and brought Obasanjo to power – against the popular rejection by his Yoruba people in 1999, which supported his then opponent, Chief Olu Falae. But no sooner than Obasanjo came to power in 1999 than he destroyed Atiku and his political structure and till date, the Turaki Adamawa has not recovered from Obasanjo’s action against him.

For many political monitors, the ‘’sins’’ of the Ogun State born former president are many. Some northern politicians believe that Obasanjo knew the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was suffering from a terminal ailment and may not be able to finish his tenure but he chose to impose him on the nation against the will of the north and Nigerians in general, eventually making way for President Goodluck Jonathan to come to power.

Yet, even though he played a key role in bringing the late Yar’Adua to power, Obasanjo also fought him in the last days of his administration.
 

Although he was said to have celebrated Jonathan’s ascendance to power, the same Obasanjo fought Jonathan out of power by all means necessary for whatever reasons. His reason was that Jonathan was an ‘’ineffectual’’ president – not competent, decisive, or authoritative enough to achieve desired aims, and he wanted power to return to the North.

However, many people’s assertion was that Obasanjo’s problems with Jonathan had nothing to do with the perceived president’s inability to fix the insecurity and economic challenges in the country but about selfish economic and political interests of the former president.

According to some political analysts, Obasanjo wanted to continue to be ‘’president emeritus’’, in spite of the fact that he was no longer in power, while Jonathan and his team were not ready for that.
Again, before President Muhammadu Buhari was elected, Obasanjo openly praised-sing the leadership qualities of the president, quoted as saying during the 2015 presidential election that Buhari was the ‘’messiah’’ Nigerians needed.

But, less than two years into the administration, the honeymoon between President Buhari and Obasanjo seems to have ended.
 

Delivering the keynote at the First Akintola Williams Annual Lecture recently, Obasanjo pounded Buhari and advised him to stop dwelling on the past, saying since he was elected to change the country, he should concentrate on clearing the mess he inherited.

“I understand President Buhari’s frustration on the state of the economy inherited by him. It was the same reason and situation that brought about cry for change; otherwise there would be no need for change if it was all nice and rosy.
 

“Now that we have had change because the actors and the situation needed to be changed, let us move forward to have progress through a comprehensive economic policy and programme that is intellectually, strategically and philosophically based.

“It is easier to win an election than to right the wrongs of a badly fouled situation. When you are outside, what you see and know are nothing compared with the reality’’, Obasanjo stated.
 

Obasanjo told Buhari that consistent cry is not the answer but cold, hard headed planning that evinces confidence and trust, saying, economy neither obeys orders nor does it work according to wishes.
 

In spite of praising Buhari’s leadership qualities during the 2015 presidential election, it was gathered that Obasanjo wasn’t comfortable with Buhari’s candidacy.

For many people, Obasanjo’s interest in politics is ‘’about himself and himself.’’ Nothing more.
However, one of the celebrated columnists in Nigeria, the Chairman, Editorial Board of This Day, Segun Adeniyi, stated recently in his Thursday’s column that in spite of his inadequacies, there was no doubt that Obasanjo is one of the greatest African leaders of his generation, and his place in the history of Nigeria is already assured.

According to Adeniyi, ‘’By dint of hard work, sharp intellect, luck and an uncommon capacity for long memory (sometimes deployed for mischief), Obasanjo has become in Nigeria almost like the old sorcerer in Paul Dukas’1897 symphonic poem, L’apprenti sorcier, (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice) which ends with the timeless invocation that powerful spirits should only be called by the master himself.’’
He added that at different (and critical) epochs in the history of Nigeria, Obasanjo’s interventions proved to be very pivotal.

Trained in Nigeria, India, Britain and the United States, some tall points of Obasanjo’s 21-year military career, as documented by different writers, include serving in the UN peace keeping mission in the former Congo as well as several command appointments including Commander of the famous Third Marine Commando Division – during Nigeria’s civil war.

Obasanjo was, as Division’s Commander, the officer whom the Biafran Army laid down their arms before him to end the deadly civil war in January 1970. He succeeded the assassinated General Muhammed as Head of State in 1976. Three years after, in 1979 General Obasanjo arguably wrote his name in gold by handing over power to Nigeria’s first democratically elected Executive President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari.
 

After leaving office in 1979, Obasanjo became the co-chairman of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on South Africa.

He founded in 1988, the African Leadership Forum situated in his Otta farm, and is a successful poultry farmer and author of many publications including “Africa Embattled” 1988 and “My Command” 1979, an account of the Nigerian Civil War.
 

As fate would have it, Obasanjo again received the obligation to serve in 1999. He led Nigeria out of military dictatorship with a majority of more than seven million votes over his opponent Chief Falae in the February 27 presidential election. He polled nearly 63 per cent of the votes according to the controversial final result.

To many political observers, the record Obasanjo set when he was military Head of State between 1976 and 1979, and the fact that it was he who, in 1979, organised elections and handed over power to civilian president Shagari, were factors which many Nigerians regarded as crucial.
 

Indeed the catchphrase of his successful campaign was: “He will do it again.” The implication being that at the end of his presidency he will hand over power to another elected government and not be overthrown by a military coup.

Obasanjo is from an unassuming background. Born into a Baptist family, he had told those who care to listen to him that he sought a career in the military because his parents could not afford to send him for higher education. He enlisted in the Nigerian Army in 1958 and was trained at the Mons Officer Cadet School, Aldershot, England. On his return to Nigeria he specialised in military engineering and his army career progressed steadily. His first political appointment was as federal commissioner for Works and Housing in January 1975, before destiny promoted him to number one political position.

For three years as Head of State, Obasanjo is reputed to have worked hard to create a Nigeria of delighted and productive people. He committed Nigeria fully to the anti-apartheid crusade, giving diplomatic, political and military support to the freedom struggle by South Africans.
 

While in office, he was said to have dejected the culture of ethnic favouritism and promoted high work ethics. It was Obasanjo, too, who pushed for the transfer of the nation’s capital from the congested city of Lagos to Abuja, and got most of the planning work done before he left office.