OBJ has gotten another passion outside farming.......pls read bfor comment... It appears that former President Olusegun Obasanjo has gotten one passion in recent times outside farming. That passion is the unrelenting bashing of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. The ex-leader has stopped at nothing in painting the administration he was privy to its coming, in bad colours. The worst aspect of the media wars is that they are open, brazen and combative. What exactly does the former president hope to achieve by Jonathan’s constant pillorying? Is he doing this so that Nigerians will not vote for GEJ come 2015 or to attract so much bad image for the administration that has so many challenges already confronting it including those caused by some politicians? The other day, he scored the GEJ administration as performing below average. What has GEJ done to OBJ to merit these unfriendly verbal missiles? Having been privileged enough to preside over Nigerian affairs for 11 years, OBJ should spare us these constant war of words against his political godson. If there is something wrong in their relationship, Nigeria should not be used as a guinea pig. Obasanjo should reach out to his political son and they should settle the rift between them without overheating the polity unduly. Nigerians are indeed tired of Obasanjo’s coarse sermons on the mount. We have heard enough of these sermons. We need practical examples from the preacher as well. After all, example is better than precept. OBJ is one of the luckiest Nigerian rulers so far. He is lucky to have become a president twice in the country from 1999 to 2007. He has been a military Head of State from 1976-1979. He has been to prison and from prison became the president. He is also blessed with long life and good health. Obasanjo is imbued by nature with native wisdom and a high dose of the dramatic. But, at times, he hugs controversy and verbal pugilism. He is blunt and vindictive. When he was in power as president, Obasanjo claimed to have a vision of where the country would be in future but along the line his third term ambition frittered away that vision. That was a big minus for his administration. He organized the Oputa panel but did not implement its reports. He wanted to improve electricity generation and distribution but his effort did not rescue the power sector from unsteady power supply and other ills. His anti-corruption war was blamed for being selective. His rule was accused of impunity, arbitrariness and staged-managed impeachments. He ruled Nigeria according to his ability and temperament. But he should not see his rule as the best for Nigeria. He has played his roles in this entity called Nigeria; he should allow others to play theirs. Every leader has his style and temperament. Let OBJ allow GEJ to run his show the way he deems fit. After all, before him, there were the Azikiwes, Awolowos, Bellos, Balewas, Ironsis, Gowons and Muhammeds. Nigerians know their leaders and they know those that have etched their names in their memories. Even if Obasanjo is one of them, he should allow Nigerians to make such pronouncement. GEJ is still in power. Nigerians will judge him one day. History and posterity should be allowed to judge our leaders and not the leaders themselves. No leader, no matter how benevolent, will judge his regime. Since the relationship between OBJ and President Jonathan went sour over GEJ’s second term ambition, he has refused to see anything good in Jonathan’s administration. Obasanjo’s anger against GEJ’s administration is well portrayed in his 2013 explosive open letter to the president entitled “Before it is too late.” While a few Nigerians see OBJ’s letter as one that should not be ignored, most see it as being hypocritical. They see it as the pot calling the kettle black. The way I see OBJ’s letter to GEJ as being hypocritical then is still the same way I regard his recent unfair assessment of Jonathan administration’s performance as being below average as well as other charges he leveled against GEJ during the week. Just as Obasanjo’s jaundiced rating of GEJ is about petering out, he unleashed another bomb on Jonathan accusing his administration of horrendous corruption, incompetence, condoning of heinous crimes and celebration of mediocrity, tribal bigotry and other uncomplimentary epithets. No doubt, Obasanjo’s charges are being exaggerated. Certainly, GEJ’s performance in office so far is not below average as OBJ rated him. But, taking into cognizance the peculiar circumstances under which GEJ operated, his performance is above average. The attack on GEJ is beyond performance issue. There may be other factors that fuel the relentless attack. If the truth must be told, Obasanjo has a hand in GEJ’s emergence in the nation’s political scene as the vice president of the country from where divine providence completed the rest. The rest of the epic story of GEJ’s rise to power is well known that there is really no need for a recount in this article. There is nothing new or altruistic about OBJ’s obsessive bashing of GEJ. It has even assumed the status of a hobby. All the same, it is indeed unbecoming and impolitic for a past president to criticize a sitting president, especially one that he was instrumental in his emergence. If GEJ did well, OBJ has some credit. Similarly, if GEJ did not do well, OBJ will accept some responsibility. He always rates his administration higher in performance than others. His recent comment on power generation in which he scored his administration higher than the government of President Jonathan and others, is a good case in point. The problem with Obasanjo is that he hardly admits his faults. He does not also admit his administration’s failures. Like every human being, Obasanjo has flaws. I think that one of his flaws is his inability to admit his failures and mistakes. As a Nigerian, Obasanjo can criticize the Jonathan administration, but I think that there should be more decent ways of doing so rather than the media. Or where he chooses the media, the assessment must be fair enough. Besides, Obasanjo has unfettered access to the president unlike most Nigerians. A telephone call to Jonathan can do most of the things he dramatizes openly about GEJ’s administration like a headmaster chastising an errant pupil. As a former president, Obasanjo should be a leading example in this light. Obasanjo’s voice should moderate national discourse and not stoke needless fire and controversy.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 13:48:12 +0000