Leadership 2015: Much Ado About Presidential Homage To Abeokuta By: George Agba on July 24, 2013 - 5:31am President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to former President Olusegun Obasanjo last Saturday has been garnished with different political undertones despite clarifications by him that he was only in Ogun State to sympathise with his special adviser on media and publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, who buried his mother the day before. In this report, GEORGE AGBA examines the contentions raised so far. Last week Saturday was the first time President Goodluck Jonathan paid former President Olusegun Obasanjo a visit in his residence in Owu, Abeokuta since the later launched series of media attacks against the present administration. Despite Jonathan’s insistence that the primary reason for his visit to Ogun State was to condole with his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati who buried his mum the previous day, some Nigerians have continued to ascribe reasons to the presidential homage. The fact that the visit came immediately after Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State reportedly cornered Obasanjo in Abuja in a frantic move to settle any misunderstanding between the elder statesman and Jonathan ahead of 2015 also fuelled suspicion. Akpabio was said to have initiated moves to reconcile godfather and political son ahead of the 2015 presidential race, basically to save Jonathan’s second term bid which is said to be hanging on the precipice. Another visit by four northern governors who held a separate meeting with Obasanjo at the same venue that same day strengthened whatever political sentiment that had been skewed into the visit. Governors Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) and Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto) had arrived Obasanjo’s house as soon as Jonathan left. Based on this development, whether coincidental or scripted, some individuals are claiming that the president preempted the governors by going there to beg Obasanjo to help him back on the wavelength of his 2015 ambition. This, according to critics, shows beyond doubt that Jonathan is not in control and that he is so desperate that he is ready for any deal no matter how humiliating. They added that the visit also “teals desperation on the part of Mr. President because when a man is desperate, he will be prone to doing the unimaginable”. Another cause for suspicion about Jonathan’s visit is that the president entered into a meeting which lasted over one hour thirty minutes with his erstwhile political benefactor before leaving straight to the Ashero Estate residence of Abati whose mother’s burial took place the previous day. The thinking is that Jonathan and Obasanjo may have discussed the politics of 2015 and the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially the planned conduct of the party’s mini national convention, since the meeting started by 12pm and ended at about 1:30pm What these insinuators may not be aware of, however, is that Jonathan’s visit was reciprocal. Obasanjo had last May paid Jonathan a visit in his Addis Ababa, Ethiopia accommodation during the special summit of African Heads of state and government as well as 50th anniversary celebration of the African Union (AU), though it was considered as one done out of convenience because the situation made it necessary. Almost immediately after Jonathan’s departure from Obasanjo’s residence, the four Northern governors arrived at the former president’s residence and held another closed-door meeting for about one hour. After the meeting, Nyako said he and his colleagues were only there to consult with Obasanjo on important matters. “Obasanjo is the most accomplished Nigerian ever, and will remain so for a very long time, and we have come to consult him on very important matters,” he stated. At Abati’s residence after leaving Obasanjo’s house, Jonathan did not only confirm his visit to Obasanjo but put a strong defense for his action. He said, while his major purpose of coming to Abeokuta was to pay a condolence visit to his Special Adviser, he couldn’t have come to the town where the former president resides without paying him a visit. Speaking to Journalists when he arrived Abati’s residence, the president clarified that Abati’s house was a stone throw from the former president’s residence and that coming to Abeokuta without visiting Obasanjo would have led people to speculate that there was a rift between them. “Of course, you know that Reuben’s house and former president Obasanjo’s house are just about 10 minutes’ drive to each other. It would not be proper if I’m coming to Ogun State to see Reuben who is just at Obasanjo’s backyard and I would not stop over to greet him (Obasanjo). I’m Obasanjo’s son. Even the man himself will not be happy if we don’t visit him. I am like a son to Obasanjo. Even if he (Obasanjo) hears that, they would think that the president and Baba Obasanjo probably have some differences; so, I said that before coming to greet the family, let us stop over and greet him, and we did just that. We stopped over there. Even our helicopters are there in the Government House; we drove down here”, the president explained. Jonathan further apologised that, contrary to his earlier plan to attend the Church Service of Abati’s mother’s burial after he had commissioned the police housing estate on Friday, he could not make it because of the need for him to go to Togo to meet President of Côte d’Ivoire, Allasane Quattara and his Togolese counterpart for a meeting to preempt some looming political crisis. Condoling with the family of Abati who he described as a member of his family, Jonathan urged the family members to take solace in the fact that their mother lived up to an old age which is even more than the biblical three score and ten. To be fair with the president, it amounts to mischief for anybody to imagine that the mother of his special adviser and spokesman will die and buried without him paying the family a visit. Doing otherwise would have raised yet another question for criticism as to whether Jonathan is sensitive to the wellbeing of those who toil with him through thick and thin. The president may have been aware of what his physical presence would do apart from him being represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr. Mike Oghiadhome at the b3urial proper the previous day. His visit did a lot of magic in boosting the morale of his spokesman. And to demonstrate how this worked out, Abati, while thanking the president, said the family was no longer expecting him since he had previously been represented his Chief of Staff at the service. The presidential spokesman noted with sheepish excitement that the Abati family will cherish the Jonathan’s visit for the rest of their lives. Adding that he was satisfied with the life his mother lived, Abati said not many mothers would die and their burial attract the presence of the nation’s president. Whether Jonathan’s visit to Abeokuta was motivated by his 2015 ambition or not, the truth remains that he has put in electoral structures that will ensure that the votes of the people counts. He has constantly insisted on this and if his assurance to Nigerians is anything to go by, then those who still feel the godfather syndrome will still work in 2015 are labouring under a delusion. He reiterated this position last week when he condemned the unconstitutional removal of the democratically-elected government in Egypt. Speaking when he received Ambassador Raouf Saad, a special envoy of the Interim President of Egypt, Mr. Adly Mansour at the State House, Marina, Lagos, Jonathan insisted that Nigeria government maintains its position that only the electorate in any country have the constitutional right to remove an elected leader.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 08:03:18 +0000
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