*The President’s aborted Abeokuta meeting
By Daud Olatunji, Abeokuta
As controversy continues to trail recent outburst by former President Olusegun Obasanjo when he played host to some women in Yorubaland, led by the Iyalode of Yorubaland, Chief Mrs. Alaba Lawson, and the Iyaloja-General, Chief (Mrs) Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, strong indications have emerged that the move was to discredit President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
A critical look at the leaders of the women showed that they might have links to the main opposition party in the country and the mission was to launch attack on the President.
It was gathered that Obasanjo’s house was chosen for the attack following the alleged romance of the former President with the All Progressives Congress, APC.
The two women leaders, who led other women in the South-West, were known to be sympathetic to the APC.
While Tinubu -Ojo is a daughter of the National Leader of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, Lawson is popularly called ‘Iya governor’ in Ogun State and she has been accused of mobilising market women for the APC.
And, obviously, Obasanjo and Jonathan have fallen apart over some political differences and so much efforts made to reconcile them have been futile.
APC-visit-obasanjoIt was reliably gathered that the erstwhile President had vowed to use his power and influence to fight his estranged political son, who, it was gathered, was no more doing his bidding few years after he became President in 2011.
Obasanjo was believed to have facilitated the emergence of Jonathan as Vice-President to late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2007. Jonathan later became President after Yar’Adua died in 2009. He contested and got elected as President in 2011.
But, Obasanjo and Jonathan fell apart following what some political analysts called the overbearing nature of the former President.
To worsen the relationship, almost all the loyalists of Obasanjo were shoved aside at the recent primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party across the country to elect candidates ahead of the 2015 elections.
However, few days before the visit by the Iyalodes and Iyalojas in the South-West, the former President was said to have avoided Jonathan who was said to have planned to pay a visit to him at his residence in Abeokuta.
Obasanjo, according to the findings, had given Jonathan some conditions that must have been met before he could play host to him.
It was gathered that the former President would stick to his demands for discipline in the party, that Jonathan should accept responsibility for the insecurity/state of the economy and uphold his (Obasanjo’s) relevance in the PDP.
During the visit of six governors of the PDP to him last month, Obasanjo had declared that he would not allow the crisis in the party to be solved through a back-door solution, which he described as a “NADECO” approach.
He also said the party should consult wide in finding lasting solution to the problems which, according to him, were a source of concern to every party member.
Botched visit
Meanwhile, findings have shown that the botched visit by Jonathan to Obasanjo was seen as a last-minute effort to get the blessing of his estranged political godfather ahead of the February 14 presidential poll.
Sunday Vanguard reliably gathered that Jonathan had sent some emissaries to Obasanjo for a visit, to seek his audience just like he did before his eventual visit to a former Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd), Minna, Niger State.
It was also that Jonathan was desperately seeking audience with Obasanjo and had sent some emissaries who had been on the trail of the erstwhile Nigerian leader, who is also a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP.
A reliable source said the President would have been in Abeokuta for the visit penultimate Thursday, but, the meeting was cancelled.
There were signs that Jonathan was being expected at the Obasanjo’s country home that day following the presence of some leaders of the PDP in the palatial building..
The leaders were said to have been hinted of the impending visit of the President, but, after waiting in vain for hours, the visitors reportedly started leaving one after the other.
Obasanjo, according to sources, did not want the meeting to hold especially in his house.
One of the sources, who was supposed to be part of the meeting if it had been held, told Sunday Vanguard, “In fact, Baba (Obasanjo) is willing to come down to Abuja as mark of respect for the Office of the President, but, the President is just determined to come to Abeokuta, just as it was done for Babangida at Minna”.
Now, sources are speculating yjat this made to the final battle between Obasanjo and Jonathan as the former is said to be not in support of the latter to return as President through the February election.
Numbering about 100, the prominent women were given a rousing welcome by Obasanjo’s aides as they arrived the former President’s residence located at the Osoba hilltop in Abeokuta.
The women, led to the former President’s house by Lawson, also had in attendance the Iyalode Ibadan, Alhaja Aminat Abiodun, represented by Eketa Iyalode, Mrs. Adedeji, among others.
Unusually, journalists were not barred from covering the meeting , while Obasanjo took his time to tackle the issues which were raised by the women.
The women had raised issues on the state of the nation, saying they were concerned about happenings in the country, going by the current atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.
Speaking on behalf of the women, Lawson said the nation is plagued by insecurity, economic downturn, poverty, corruption, among other challenges.
According to her, the reason they chose to take their complaints to Obasanjo was because they regarded the former President as the repository of nationhood.
“ President Obasanjo has become a good repository of everything that makes nationhood.You are the hand and eye in all the nooks and crannies of Nigeria. You are the voice everybody is waiting to hear on any topical issue in the public domain. We believe we are in the right place to discuss with you some knotty issues bleeding our hearts as we have seen you as a beacon of hope and light for the nation”, the Iyalode of Yorubaland told Obasanjo.
“The unabated nefarious activities of the insurgents, which have placed us as a people on the throes of war, is worrisome to us, because womenfolk is the most affected. Countless Nigerian women have lost their lives, husbands, children, relatives and sources of livelihood as a result of the despicable acts of killing and wanton destruction by the Boko Haram insurgents.”
While responding to the issues raised, Obasanjo said, he was not fighting the President, nor was Jonathan fighting him.
He said he was more concerned about the interest of the country, and, therefore, cared less about criticisms.
“I have no grudges against Jonathan and I think Jonathan equally has no grudges against me. I’m not quarrelling with Jonathan. All I know is that whatever is good for Nigeria, that I’m ready to die for”, the former president said.
“I emphasize that whatever is good for Nigeria is what I’m ready to defend with my life. Whoever I emphasize, whoever says he would not do anything good to Nigeria, even if he says he’s ready to go ‘konko below’, I’m ready to square it up with such a person. I say again, whoever that person may be, I want you to get that correctly. If this country is going to change for the better, it would start from the top and if it’s going to be otherwise, it would start from the top, too.”
Commenting on the bad economy in the country, Obasanjo lamented the poor condition of Nigeria’s economy, saying it shouldn’t have been this bad.
“Our economy should not have been this bad. When I was leaving office about eight years ago, I left a very huge reserve after we had paid all our debts. Almost $25billion was kept in what they called excess crude, including the excess from the budget we were saving as reserve for the rainy days,”he stated.
“When we left in May, 2007, the reserve was said to have been raised to $35billion.”But today, that reserve has been depleted! The reserve we left when we finished paying all our debts, our debts that was about $40billion, that is including debt forgiveness, the remaining debt was not more than $3billion.
“Our reserve after we had paid off this debt was about $45billion. As at the end of 2007, I heard that the reserve increased to almost $67billion before the end of that year. But our reserve now, I learnt is left with around only $30billion.”That is why the Naira has been falling against the dollar. What would now happen? I learnt if you want to buy a dollar now, it’s about N192 or N195. What it means is this, what you have been buying at N150 to a dollar, now you need N192 or N195 to buy it. That is the real situation. Is there any remedy? There is, but it does not come overnight because it means we have to give up all the bad things we have been doing.
“I know that God did not create Nigeria not to be rich or great. Is it that the people he created in Nigeria are not knowledgeable enough or not intelligent enough? Or is it that they don’t know their rights? Our problems in Nigeria lie with the leadership. Let’s look at the foundation of our leadership. In the profession I know very well, the military, what we normally say is that there are no bad soldiers but bad officers. If you see a situation where the soldiers are not doing well, we need to examine the officers in charge. So it is in the family, the community, the town and the country.
“Truly, the price of crude has fallen, but anyone who is wise enough should know that since we depend on just one resource and since we have no control over its pricing, we should be planning for this type of situation and the way out of it. Our inability to have a reserve has brought us into this economic quagmire.
“If we are going to solve unemployment problem, it is through agriculture and not through oil and gas. Now, we have no alternative. Agriculture is renewable because the land can be used over and over again, but, once a barrel of oil is gone, it’s gone forever.”
On the February elections, Obasanjo claimed that he’s not apprehensive as being speculated. He also advised the electorate to vote for candidates with integrity and good records.
“I have had some little experience about this country. I was a military head of state and I was also a civilian president, so what is left? So, if I talk, I know what I’m saying. Whoever wants should listen to me and whoever feels otherwise, may turn a deaf ear.
“But when I’m talking, I’m talking with my understanding and intellect. I’m drawing from my experience and from what I’ve learnt with others and from other countries and fellow eminent citizens of the world that I relate with. I have no apprehension over this coming elections. I have no fears over the forthcoming elections.
“Good governance comes from voting, from selection of leaders. It is now left to you to decide who you cast your vote for because if you throw away your votes and tomorrow you are saying good governance, once you throw away your votes you have lost out. That is one. Find out the track records of achievements of those you want to vote for. What have they achieved in the past and not what they have said.”
Political status
While clearing the air on his political status, Obasanjo said: “I am still in the Peoples Democratic Party, though not active. With the kind of people and behaviours I see in the party, I don’t think I can stand before God and defend them.
“Nigeria does not deserve the position it finds itself today. Our nation is plagued with insecurity, corruption, economic downturn, and impunity in doing thing. If man cannot arrest you, God will arrest you. The position you are now, God puts you there. If you think lies can keep you there, continue.
“If you think bad people can keep you there, continue. If you think it’s money, continue. But remember God does not sleep nor slumber. A leader must be forward looking and plan ahead.”At the beginning of last year, the budget was based on $78 per barrel. That year, the government spent more on recurrent expenditure and a little on capital expenditure”.
Obasanjo ruled out the possibility of Nigeria disintegrating after the elections, saying he had been told that he would be the last President when he was contesting election in 2003.
He recalled: “1964 elections led to ‘Wetie’. I saw people being slaughtered; there was the 1966 coup, the 1966 pogrom and the civil war. We survived. Then, Abacha came, we survived. When I was about to contest in 1999, I was told that it was a deceit like IBB and Abacha did. They said that Abubakar Abdulsalami was also out to deceive us. Some people said after me, there would be no Nigeria again, but, after me, there had been two presidents. This God is God of Nigeria”.
vanguard
