BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
I am constrained to make this an open letter to you for a number of
reasons. One, the current situation and consequent possible
outcome dictate that I should, before the door closes on reason and
promotion of national interest, alert you to the danger that
may be lurking in the corner. Two, none of the four or more
letters that I have written to you in the past two years or
so has elicited an acknowledgment or any response. Three,
people close to you, if not yourself, have been asking, what
does Obasanjo want? Four, I could sense a semblance between
the situation that we are gradually getting into and the situation we
fell into as a nation during the Abacha era. Five, everything must be
done to guard, protect and defend our fledgling democracy,
nourish it and prevent bloodshed. Six, we must move away
from advertently or inadvertently dividing the country along weak
seams of North-South and Christian-Moslem. Seven, nothing should
be done to allow the country to degenerate into economic
dormancy, stagnation or retrogression.
Eight, some of our international friends and development
partners are genuinely worried about signs and signals that are
coming out of Nigeria. Nine, Nigeria should be in a position
to take advantage of the present favourable international
interest to invest in Africa - an opportunity that will not
be open for too long. Ten, I am concerned about your legacy
and your climb-down which you alone can best be the manager of, whenever
you so decide.
Mr. President, you have on a number of occasions acknowledged the
role God enabled me to play in your ascension to power. You
put me third after God and your parents among those that have
impacted most on your life. I have always retorted that
God only put you where you are and those that could be regarded
as having played a role were only instruments of God to achieve God’s
purpose in your life. For me, I believe that politically, it
was in the best interest of Nigeria that you, a Nigerian from
minority group in the South, could rise to the highest
pinnacle of political leadership. If Obasanjo could get there,
Yar’Adua could get there and Jonathan can get there, any Nigerian can.
It is now not a matter of the turn of any section or geographical
area but the best interest of Nigeria and all Nigerians. It has
been proved that no group – ethnic, linguistic, religious or
geographical location – has monopoly of materials for leadership
of our country. And no group solely by itself can crown any of
its members the Nigerian CEO. It is good for Nigeria.
I have also always told you that God has graciously been
kind, generous, merciful and compassionate to me and He has
done more than I could have ever hoped for. I want nothing
from you personally except that you should run the affairs of Nigeria
not only to make Nigeria good, but to make Nigeria great for
which I have always pleaded with you and I will always do so.
And it is yet to be done for most Nigerians to see.
For five capacities in which you find yourself, you must hold yourself
most significantly responsible for what happens or fails to happen in
Nigeria and in any case, most others will hold you responsible and God
who put you there will surely hold you responsible and
accountable. I have had opportunity, in recent times, to interact
closely with you and I have come to the conclusion painfully or happily
that if you can shun yourself to a great extent of personal and
political interests and dwell more on the national interest and
also draw the line between advice from selfish and
self-centered aides and advice from those who in the interest of the
nation may not tell you what you will want to hear, it will
be well. The five positions which you share with nobody
except with God and which place great and grave responsibility
on you are leadership of the ruling party, headship of the
Federal Government or national government, Commander-in-Chief of
the Military, Chief Security Officer of the nation, and the
political leader of the country. Those positions go with being the
President of our country and while depending on your disposition, you
can delegate or devolve responsibility, but the buck must stop
on your table whether you like it or not.
Let me start with the leadership of the ruling party. Many of us
were puzzled over what was going on in the party. Most party members
blamed the National Chairman. I understand that some in the
presidency tried to create the impression that some of us were to blame.
The situation became clear only when the National Chairman spoke
out that he never did anything or acted in any way without
the approval or concurrence of the Party Leader and that where
the Party Leader disapproved, he made correction or amendment,
that we realised most actions were those of the Chairman but the
motivation and direction were those of the Leader. It would be
unfair to continue to level full blames on the Chairman for all that
goes wrong with the Party. The Chairman is playing the tune dictated
by the Paymaster. But the Paymaster is acting for a
definitive purpose for which deceit and deception seem to be the
major ingredients. Up till two months ago, Mr. President, you told me
that you have not told anybody that you would contest in 2015. I
quickly pointed out to you that the signs and the measures on the ground
do not tally with your statement. You said the same to one other
person who shared his observation with me. And only a fool would
believe that statement you made to me judging by what is
going on. I must say that it is not ingenious. You may wish to
pursue a more credible and more honourable path. Although you have
not formally informed me one way or the other, it will be
necessary to refresh your memory of what transpired in
2011. I had gone to Benue State for the marriage of one of
my staff, Vitalis Ortese, in the State. Governor Suswam was
my hospitable host. He told me that you had accepted a
one-term presidency to allow for ease of getting support across the
board in the North. I decided to cross-check with you. You
did not hesitate to confirm to me that you are a strong believer in a
one-term of six years for the President and that by the time
you have used the unexpired time of your predecessor and the
four years of your first term, you would have almost used up to
six years and you would not need any more term or time.
Later, I heard from other sources including sources close to you
that you made the same commitment elsewhere, hence, my
inclusion of it in my address at the finale of your campaign in
2011 as follows:
“…PDP should be praised for being the only party that
enshrines federal character, zoning and rotation in its
Constitution and practises it. PDP has brought stability and
substantial predictability to the polity and to the system. I do not
know who will be President of Nigeria after Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
That is in the hand of God. But with PDP policy and practice, I can
reasonably guess from where, in term of section of the country,
the successor to President Jonathan will come. And no internal
democracy or competition will thereby be destroyed. The recent
resort to sentiments and emotions of religion and regionalism
is self-serving, unpatriotic and mischievous, to say the
least. It is also preying on dangerous emotive issues that can
ignite uncontrollable passion and can distabilise if not destroy
our country. This is being oblivious to the sacrifices others
have made in the past for unity, stability and democracy in
Nigeria in giving up their lives, shedding their blood, and in
going to prison. I personally have done two out of those three
sacrifices and I am ready to do the third if it will serve the best
interest of Nigerian dream. Let me appeal to those who have embarked
on this dangerous road to reflect and desist from taking us on a
perishable journey.
With common identity as Nigerians, there is more that binds us than
separates us. I am a Nigerian, born a Yoruba man, and I am
proud of both identities as they are for me complementary.
Our duties, responsibilities and obligations to our country as citizens
and, indeed, as leaders must go side by side with our rights
and demands. There must be certain values and virtues that must
go concomitantly with our dream. Thomas Paine said “my country is
the world”; for me, my country I hold dear.
On two occasions, I have had opportunity to work for my
successors to the government of Nigeria. On both occasions, I
never took the easy and distabilising route of ethnic, regional or
religious consideration, rather I took the enduring route of
national, uniting and stabilising route. I worked for both
President Shagari and President Yar’Adua to succeed me not just because
they are Moslems, Northerners or Hausa-Fulani, but because they
could strengthen the unity, stability and democracy in Nigeria.
We incurred the displeasure of ethnic chauvinists for doing what was
right for the country. That is in the nature of burden of leadership.
A leader must lead, no matter whose ox is gored.
In the present circumstance, let me reiterate what I have said
on a number of occasions. Electing Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, in his
own right and on his own merit, as the President of Nigeria
will enhance and strengthen our unity, stability and
democracy. And it will lead us towards the achievement of
our Nigerian dream.
There is a press report that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has already taken a
unique and unprecedented step of declaring that he would only
want to be a one-term President. If so, whether we know it
or not, that is a sacrifice and it is statesmanly. Rather than
vilify him and pull him down, we, as a Party, should applaud and
commend him and Nigerians should reward and venerate him. He has
taken the first good step.
Let us encourage him to take more good steps by voting him in
with landslide victory as the fourth elected President of
Nigeria on the basis of our common Nigerian identity and for the
purpose of actualising Nigerian dream…”
When you won the election, one of the issues you very early pursued was
that of one term of six years. That convinced me that you meant what
you told me before my Speech at the campaign. Mr. President,
whatever may be your intention or plan, I cannot comment much on the
constitutional aspect of your second term or what some people
call third term. That is for both legal and judicial
attention. But if constitutionally you are on a strong wicket
if you so decide, it will be fatally and morally flawed. As a leader,
two things you must cherish and hold dear among others are
trust and honour both of which are important ingredients of
character. I will want to see anyone in the Office of the Presidency
of Nigeria as a man or woman who can be trusted, a person of honour in
his words and character. I will respect you for upholding these
attributes and for dignifying that Office.
Chinua Achebe said, “One of the truest test of integrity is its blunt
refusal to be compromised.” It is a lesson for all leaders
including you and me.
However, Mr. President, let me hope that as you claimed that you have
not told anybody that you are contesting and that what we see and hear
is a rumbling of overzealous aides, you will remain a leader
that can be believed and trusted without unduly passing the buck or
engaging in game of denials.
Maybe you also need to know that many party members feel
disappointed in the double game you were alleged to play in
support of party gubernatorial candidates in some States where
you surreptitiously supported non-PDP candidates against PDP
candidates in exchange for promise or act of those non-PDP
Governors supporting you for your election in the past or for
the one that you are yet to formally declare. It happened in
Lagos in 2011 when Bola Tinubu was nocturnally brought to Abuja to
strike a deal for support for your personal election at great
price materially and in the fortune of PDP gubernatorial
candidate.
As Chairman of BOT, I spoke to you at that time. It happened in Ondo
State where there was in addition evidence of cover-up and
non-prosecution of fraud of fake security report against the
non-PDP candidate and his collaborators for the purpose of extracting
personal electoral advantage for you. In fact, I have raised with
you the story of those in other States in the South-West where some
disgruntled PDP members were going around to recruit people into the
Labour Party for you, because, for electoral purpose at the national
level, Labour Party will have no candidate but you. It also happened
in Edo State and those who know the detail never stopped
talking about it. And you know it. Ditto in Anambra State with
the fiasco coming from undue interference. If you as leader of
the Party cannot be seen to be loyal to the PDP in support of the
candidates of the Party and the interests of such Party candidates have
to be sacrificed on the altar of your personal and political
interest, then good luck to the Party and I will also say as I
have had occasions to say in the past, good luck to Goodluck.
If on the altar of the Party you go for broke, the Party
may be broken beyond repairs. And when in a dispute between
two sides, they both stubbornly decide to fight to the last
drop of blood, no one knows whose blood would be the last to
drop. In such a situation, Nigeria as a nation may also be
adversely affected, not just the PDP. I wish to see no more bloodshed
occasioned by politics in Nigeria. Please, Mr. President, be
mindful of that. You were exemplary in words when during the campaign
and the 2011 elections, you said, “My election is not worth spilling the
blood of any Nigerian.” From you, it should not be if it
has to be, let it be. It should be from you, let peace,
security, harmony, good governance, development and progress be
for Nigeria. That is also your responsibility and mandate. You
can do it and I plead that you do it. We all have to be mindful of
not securing pyrrhic victory on the ashes of great values,
attributes and issues that matter as it would amount to
hollow victory without honour and integrity.
Whatever may be the feud in PDP and no matter what you or
your aides may feel, you, as the Party Leader, have the
responsibility to find solution, resolve and fix it. Your
legacy is involved. If PDP as a ruling Party collapses, it
will be the first time in an independent Nigeria that a ruling
political party would collapse not as a result of a military coup.
It is food for thought. At the prompting of Governors on both
sides of the divide, and on encouragement from you, I spent two nights
to intervene in the dispute of the PDP Governors. I kept you fully
briefed at every stage.
I deliberately chose Banquet Hall at the Villa to ensure
transparency. Your aides studied all the recordings of the two
nights. But I told you at the end of the exercise that I
observed five reactions among the Governors that required your
immediate attention as you are the only one from the vantage point of
your five positions that could deal effectively with the five reactions
which were bitterness, anger, mistrust, fear and deep
suspicion. I could only hope that you made efforts to deal
with these unpleasant reactions.
The feud leading to the factionalisation of the Party made me to invite
some select elders of the Party to mediate again. Since I was
engaged in assignment outside the country, I was not able to join the
three members of the elders group that presented the report of our
mediation to you. I was briefed that you agreed to work on the
report. It would appear that for now, the ball is in your court
as the Leader of the Party. I can only wish you every success in
your handling of the issue. But time is not your friend or that
of the Party in this respect. With leadership come not just power
and authority to do and to undo, but also responsibility and
accountability to do and to undo rightly, well and justly.
Time and opportunity are treasure that must be appreciated and
shared to enhance their value and utilitarianism.
It is instructive that after half a dozen African Presidents have
spoken to me to help you with unifying the Party based on your
request to them and I came in company of Senator Amadu Ali to
discuss the whole issue with you again, strangely, you denied
ever requesting or authorising any President to talk to me. I was
not surprised because I am used to such a situation of denial coming
from you. Of course, I was not deterred. I have done and I will
continue to do and say what is first, in the best interest of Nigeria
and second, what is in the best interest of the Party. I stand for
the aims, objectives, mission and vision of the founding fathers of the
Party, to use it as a wholesome instrument of unity, good governance,
development, prosperity and progress of Nigeria and all Nigerians. I
have contributed to this goal in the past and no one who has
been raised to position on the platform of the Party should
shy away from further contribution to avoid division and
destruction of the Party on any altar whatsoever.
Debates and dialogues are necessary to promote the interest
and work for the progress of any human institution or organisation.
In such a situation, agreements and disagreements will occur but in the
final analysis, leadership will pursue the course of action
that benefit the majority and serve the purpose of the organisation,
not the purpose of an individual or a minority. In that process,
unity is sustained and everybody becomes a winner. The
so-called crisis in the PDP can be turned to an opportunity of unity,
mutual understanding and respect with the Party emerging with
enhanced strength and victory. It will be a win-win for all members
of the Party and for the country. By that, PDP would have
proved that it could have internal disagreement and emerge
stronger. The calamity of failure can still be avoided. Please,
move away from fringes or the extremes and move to the centre and carry
ALL along. Time is running out.
I will only state that as far as your responsibility as
Chief Security Officer of the nation is concerned for
Nigerians, a lot more needs to be done to enhance the feeling of
security amongst them. Whether one talks of the issue of militancy in
the Niger Delta, the underlying causes of which have not been
adequately addressed, if addressed at all, kidnapping, piracy,
abductions and armed robberies which rather than abate are on the
increase and Boko Haram which requires carrot and stick approach to
lay its ghost to rest, the general security situation cannot
be described as comforting. Knowing the genesis of Boko Haram
and the reasons for escalation of violence from that sector with the
widespread and ramification of the menace of Boko Haram within
and outside the Nigerian borders, conventional military actions
based on standard phases of military operations alone will not
permanently and effectively deal with the issue of Boko Haram.
There are many strands or layers of causes that require
different solutions, approaches or antidotes. Drug,
indoctrination, fundamentalism, gun trafficking, hate culture,
human trafficking, money laundering, religion, poverty, unemployment,
poor education, revenge and international terrorism are among
factors that have effect on Boko Haram.
One single prescription cannot cure all these ailments that combine in
Boko Haram. Should we pursue war against violence without
understanding the root causes of the violence and applying
solutions to deal with all underlying factors – root, stem and
branches? Nigeria is bleeding and the hemorrhage must be stopped.
I am convinced that you can initiate measures that will bring all
hands on deck to deal effectively with this great menace.
Mr. President, the most important qualification for your
present position is your being a Nigerian. Whatever else you
may be besides being a Nigerian is only secondary for this
purpose. And if majority of Nigerians who voted had not cast
their votes for you, you could not have been there. For you to
allow yourself to be “possessed”, so to say, to the exclusion of most of
the rest of Nigerians as an ‘Ijaw man’ is a mistake that should never
have been allowed to happen. Yes, you have to be born in one
part of Nigeria to be a Nigerian if not naturalised, but the
Nigerian President must be above ethnic factionalism. And those who
prop you up as of, and for ‘Ijaw nation’ are not your friends
genuinely, not friends of Nigeria nor friends of ‘Ijaw nation’,
they tout about. To allow or tacitly encourage people of ‘Ijaw
nation’ to throw insults on other Nigerians from other parts of
the country and threaten fire and brimstone to protect your
interest as an Ijaw man is myopic and your not openly
quieting them is even more unfortunate. You know that I have
expressed my views and feelings to you on this issue in the
past but I have come to realise that many others feel the way I
have earlier expressed to you. It is not the best way of making
friendship among all sections of Nigeria. You don’t have
shared and wholesome society without inclusive political,
economic and social sustainable development and good governance.
Also declaring that one section of the country voted for you as
if you got no votes from other sections can only be an
unnecessary talk, to put it mildly. After all and at the end of
the day, democracy is a game of numbers. Even, if you would not need
people’s vote across the country again, your political Party will.
Allegation of keeping over 1,000 people on political watch list
rather than criminal or security watch list and training
snipers and other armed personnel secretly and clandestinely
acquiring weapons to match for political purposes like Abacha, and
training them where Abacha trained his own killers, if it is true,
cannot augur well for the initiator, the government and the people
of Nigeria. Here again, there is the lesson of history to
learn from for anybody who cares to learn from history. Mr.
President would always remember that he was elected to
maintain security for all Nigerians and protect them. And no
one should prepare to kill or maim Nigerians for personal or
political ambition or interest of anyone. The Yoruba adage says,
“The man with whose head the coconut is broken may not live to savour
the taste of the succulent fruit.” Those who advise you to go hard
on those who oppose you are your worst enemies. Democratic
politics admits and is permissive of supporters and opponents. When
the consequences come, those who have wrongly advised you will not be
there to help carry the can. Egypt must teach some lesson.
Presidential assistance for a murderer to evade justice and
presidential delegation to welcome him home can only be in
bad taste generally but particularly to the family of his victim.
Assisting criminals to evade justice cannot be part of the job
of the Presidency. Or, as it is viewed in some quarters, is he
being recruited to do for you what he had done for Abacha in the
past? Hopefully, he should have learned his lesson. Let us
continue to watch.
As Head of Government, the buck of the performance and
non-performance stops on your table and let nobody tell you
anything to the contrary. Most of our friends and development
partners are worried and they see what we pretend to cover up. They
are worried about issue of security internally and on our coastal
waters, including heavy oil theft, alias bunkering and piracy.
They are worried about corruption and what we are doing or
not doing about it. Corruption has reached the level of
impunity. It is also necessary to be mindful that corruption
and injustice are fertile breeding ground for terrorism and political
instability. And if you are not ready to name, shame,
prosecute and stoutly fight against corruption, whatever you do
will be hollow. It will be a laughing matter.
They are worried about how we play our role in our region and,
indeed, in the world. In a way, I share some of their
concerns because there are notable areas we can do more or do
better than we are doing. Some of our development partners were
politically frustrated to withdraw from the Olokola LNG project,
which happily was not yet the same with the Brass. I
initiated them both. They were viable and would have taken us
close to Qatar as LNG producing country. Please do not frustrate Brass
LNG and in the interest of what is best for Nigerian economy,
bring back the OK LNG into active implementation. The major
international oil companies have withheld investment in projects
in Nigeria. If they have not completely moved out, they are
divesting. Nigeria, which is the Saudi of Africa in oil and gas
terms, is being overtaken by Angola only because necessary
decisions are not made timely and appropriately. Mr.
President, let me again plead with you to be decisive on the oil and
gas sector so that Nigeria may not lag behind. Oil with gas is being
discovered all over Africa. New technology is producing oil from
shale elsewhere. We should make hay while the sun shines. I hope
we can still save the OK and Brass LNG projects.
Three things are imperative in the oil and gas sector –
stop oil stealing, encourage investment, especially by the IOCs
and improve the present poor management of the industry. On the
economy generally, it suffices to say that we could do better than
we are doing. The signs are there and the expectations are high.
The most dangerous ticking bomb is youth unemployment,
particularly in the face of unbridled corruption and obscene rulers’
opulence.
Let me repeat that as far as the issue of corruption, security and
oil stealing is concerned, it is only apt to say that when the guard
becomes the thief, nothing is safe, secure nor protected in
the house. We must all remember that corruption, inequity and
injustice breed poverty, unemployment, conflict, violence and
wittingly or unwittingly create terrorists because the opulence
of the governor can only lead to the leanness of the governed.
But God never sleeps, He is watching, waiting and bidding His time to
dispense justice.
The serious and strong allegation of non-remittance of about $7bn from
the NNPC to central bank occurring from export of some 300,000 barrels
per day, amounting to $900 million a month, to be refined and with
refined products of only $400m returned and Atlantic Oil
loading about 130,000 barrels sold by Shell and managed on
behalf of NPDC with no sale proceeds paid into NPDC account is
incredible. The allegation was buttressed by the letter of the
Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria to you on non-remittance to the
central bank. This allegation will not fly away by non-action,
cover-up, denial or bribing possible investigators. Please deal with
this allegation transparently and let the truth be known.
The dramatis personae in this allegation and who they are working for
will one day be public knowledge. Those who know are
watching if the National Assembly will not be accomplice in the
heinous crime and naked grand corruption. May God grant you the
grace for at least one effective corrective action against high
corruption, which seems to stink all around you in your
government.
The international community knows us as we are and maybe more
than we claim to know ourselves. And a good friend will tell you the
truth no matter how bitter. Denials and cover-up of what is
obvious, true and factual can detract from honour, dignity and
respect. Truth and transparency dignify and earn respect. And
life without passion for something can only achieve little. I
was taken aback when an African Development Bank Director
informed me that the water project for Port Harcourt, originally
initiated by the Federal Government and to be financed by the bank, is
being put in the cooler by the Federal Government because of the
Amaechi-Jonathan face-off. Amaechi, whether he likes it or not, will
cease to be governor over Rivers State, which Port Harcourt is part by
the end of May 2015, but residents of Port Harcourt will continue to
need improvement of their water supply. President Jonathan should
rise above such pettiness and unpresidential act, if it is coming from
him. But if not, and it is the action of overzealous officials
reading the situation, he should give appropriate instruction for the
project to be pursued. And there are other projects anywhere
suffering the same coolness as a result of similar situation,
let national interest supercede personal or political feud and the
machinations of satanic officials.
Mr. President, let me plead with you for a few things that
will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life. Don’t always
consider critics on national issues as enemies. Some of them
may be as patriotic and nationalistic as you and I who have
been in government. Some of them have as much passion for
Nigeria as we have. I saw that among Nigerians living abroad,
hence, I initiated Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation, NIDO. You
must also differentiate between malevolent, mischievous and
objective criticism. Analyses, criticisms and commentaries on
government actions and policies are sinew of democracy.
Please, Mr. President, be very wary of assistants, aides and
collaborators who look for enemies for you. I have seen them with you
and some were around me when I was in your position. I knew
how not to allow them create enemies for me. If you allow
them, everybody except them will be your enemy. They are more
dangerous than identified adversaries. May God save leaders from
sycophants. They know what you want to hear and they feed you
with it essentially for their own selfish interest. As far as you and
Nigeria are concerned, they are wreckers. Where were they
when God used others to achieve His will in your life.
They possess you now for their interest. No interest should be higher
or more important than the Nigerian interest to you. You have already
made history and please do nothing to mar history. I supported you
as I supported Yar’Adua. For me, there is neither North-South divide
nor Christian-Moslem divide but one Nigeria.
Let me put it, that talks, loose and serious, abound about
possible abuse and misuse of the military and the legitimate security
apparatus for unwholesome personal and political interest to the
detriment of the honour, dignity, oath and professionalism of these
honourable and patriotic forces.
Let me urge the authorities not to embark on such destructive path
for an important element of our national make-up. The roles of the
military and the security agencies should be held sacrosanct in the best
interest of the nation. Again, let not history repeat itself here.
I believe that with what Nigeria went through in the past,
the worst should have already happened. It must be your responsibility
as the captain of the ship to prevent the ship from going
aground or from a shipwreck. For anybody close to you saying that
if the worst happens, he or she would not be involved is idle and loose
talk. If we leave God to do His will and we don’t rely only on
our own efforts, plans and wisdom, God will always do His best.
And the power of money and belief in it is satanically
tempting. As I go around Nigeria and the world, I always come across
Nigerians who are first-class citizens of the world and who are doing
well where they are and who are passionate to do well for
Nigeria. My hope for our country lies in these people. They abound
and I hope that all of us will realise that they are the jewels of
Nigeria wherever they may be and not those who arrogate to themselves
eternal for ephemeral.
Also, to my embarrassment at times, I learned more about
what is going on in the public and private sectors of Nigeria from our
development partners, international institutions and those transacting
business in Nigeria most times I was abroad. On returning home to
verify the veracity of these stories, I found some of them not
only to be true but more horrifying than they were presented
abroad. Other countries look up to Nigeria for regional
leadership. Failure on the part of Nigeria will create a schism that
will be bad for the region.
Knowing what happens around you, most of which you know of and
condone or deny, this letter will provoke cacophony from hired and
unhired attackers but I will maintain my serenity because by this
letter, I have done my duty to you as I have always done, to your
government, to the Party, PDP, and to our country, Nigeria. If I
stuck out my neck and God used me and others as instrument to work hard
for you to reach where you are today in what I considered the best
political interest of Nigeria, tagging me as your enemy or the
enemy of your administration by you, your kin or your aides can
only be regarded as ridiculous to extreme. If I see any danger to
your life, I will point it out to you or ward it off as I have done in
the past.
But I will not support what I believe is not in the best interest of
Nigeria, no matter who is putting it forward or who is behind it.
Mr. President, I have passed the stage of being flattered,
intimidated, threatened, frightened, induced or bought. I am never
afraid to agree or disagree but it will always 13 be on principles, and
if on politics, in the national interest. After my prison experience in
the close proximity of and sharing facilities with an asylum in Yola,
there is nothing worse for anyone alive and well. And that was for a
military dictator to perpetuate himself in power. Death is
the end of all human beings and may it come when God wills
it to come. The harassment of my relations and friends and innuendo
that are coming from the Government security apparatus on whether they
belong to new PDP or supporters of defected Governors and which are
possibly authorised or are the work of overzealous aides and
those reading your lips to act in your interest will be
counter-productive. It is abuse of security apparatus. Such abuse took
place last in the time of Abacha.
Lies and untruths about me emanating from the presidency is too absurd
to contemplate. Saying that I recommended a wanted criminal by UK and
USA authorities to you or your aides to supplant legitimately elected
PDP leader in South-West is not only unwise and crude but also
disingenuous. Nobody in his or her right senses will believe
such a story and surely nobody in Ogun State or South-West zone
will believe such nonsense. It is a clear indication of how
unscrupulous and unethical the presidency can go to pursue your personal
and political interest. Nothing else matters. What a pity!
Nothing at this stage of my life would prevent me from standing for
whatever I consider to be in the best interest of Nigeria – all Nigeria,
Africa and the world in that order. I believe strongly that a united
and strong PDP at all costs is in the best interest of Nigeria. In
these respects, if our interests and views coincide, together
we will march. Putting a certified unashamed criminal wanted
abroad to face justice and who has greatly contributed to corruption
within the judiciary on a high profile of politics as you and your aides
have done with the man you enthrone as PDP Zonal leader in the
South-West is the height of disservice to this country politically and
height of insult to the people of South-West in general and
members of PDP in that zone in particular.
For me, my politics goes with principles and morality and I will not be
a party to highly profiling criminals in politics, not to say one
would be my zonal leader. It destroys what PDP stands for
from its inception…
God is never a supporter of evil and will surely save PDP and Nigeria
from the hands of destroyers. If everything fails and the Party
cannot be retrieved from the hands of criminals and
commercial jobbers and discredited touts, men and women of
honour, principles, morality and integrity must step aside to
rethink.
Let me also appeal to and urge defected, dissatisfied, disgruntled and
in any way displeased PDP Governors, legislators, party officials and
party members to respond positively if the President seriously takes the
initiative to find mutually agreeable solution to the current
problems for which he alone has the key and the initiative. I have
heard it said particularly within the presidency circle that the
disaffected Governors and members of PDP are my children. I
begin to wonder if, from top to bottom, any PDP 15 member
in elective office today is not directly or indirectly a
beneficiary and, so to say, my political child. Anyone who may claim
otherwise will be like a river that has forgotten its source. But
like a good father, all I seek is peaceful and amicable solution that
will re-unite the family for victory and progress of the family
and the nation and nothing else.
In a democracy, leaders are elected to lighten the burden of
the people, give them freedom, choice and equity and ensure
good governance and not to deceive them, burden them, oppress them,
render them hopeless and helpless. Nothing should be done to
undermine the tenets, and values of democratic principles and
practice. Tyranny in all its manifestation may be appealing to a
leader in trying times of political feud or disagreement. Democracy
must, however, prevail and be held as sacrosanct. Today, you
are the President of Nigeria, I acknowledge you and respect you as
such.
The act of an individual has a way of rubbing off on the generality.
May it never be the wish of majority of Nigerians that Goodluck
Jonathan, by his acts of omission or commission, would be the
first and the last Nigerian President ever to come from Ijaw
tribe. The idea and the possibility must give all of us
food for thought. That was never what I worked for and that
would never be what I will work for. But legacy is made of
such or the opposite.
My last piece of advice, Mr. President, is that you should
learn the lesson of history and please do not take Nigeria and
Nigerians for granted.
Move away from culture of denials, cover-ups and proxies and
deal honesty, sincerely and transparently with Nigerians to regain their
trust and confidence. Nigerians are no fools, they can see, they can
hear, they can talk among themselves, they can think, they can compare
and they can act in the interest of their country and in their
own self-interest. They keenly watch all actions and deeds
that are associated with you if they cannot believe your
words. I know you have the power to save PDP and the
country. I beg you to have the courage and the will with patriotism
to use the power for the good of the country. Please uphold
some form of national core values. I will appeal to all Nigerians
particularly all members of PDP to respect and dignify the
Office of the President. We must all know that individuals will
come and go but the Office will remain.
Once again, time is of the essence. Investors are already retreating
16 from Nigeria, adopting ‘wait and see attitude’ and
knowing what we are deficient of, it will take time to reverse
the trend and we may miss some golden opportunities.
Finally, your later-day conversion into National Conference is fraught
with danger of disunity, confusion and chaos if not well handled. I
believe in debate and dialogue but it must be purposeful,
directed and managed well without ulterior motives. The ovation has
not died out yet and there is always life after a decent descent.
Accept, Dear Mr. President, the assurances of my highest consideration.
Olusegun Obasanjo
PS
I crave your indulgence to share the contents of this
letter, in the first instance, with General Ibrahim Babangida
and General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who, on a number of occasions
in recent times, have shared with me their agonising thoughts,
concerns and expressions on most of the issues I have raised
in this letter concerning the situation and future of our
country. I also crave your indulgence to share the contents with
General Yakubu Danjuma and Dr. Alex Ekwueme, whose concerns for and
commitments to the good of Nigeria have been known to be strong.
The limit of sharing of the contents may be extended as time goes on.
Olusegun Obasanjo
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