"Obasanjo in the eyes of Pa Ayo Adebanjo":

PA AYO ADEBANJO ON OBJ...

When Major-General Olusegun Obasanjo became Head of State following the assassination of Major-General Murtala Mohammed on February 13, 1976 (in a bloody coup plotted by Lt. Col. Bukar Suka Dimka and others), many had thought that the cause of the Yoruba would be protected and advanced.

Leaders of the defunct Action Group and the allies of Pa Awolowo as well as many progressive minds went to work.

They mentioned that since northerners, especially their politicians and elders as well as their elite, always supported any of their own that occupied the seat of government, encouraging and fighting for dividends that benefited their people, Awolowo should do the same with Obasanjo.

The old man had worked with the soldier before he interacted at close quarters with him (Obasanjo), especially during the civil war years, and tried to talk his disciples out of it.

They didn’t give him respite.
‘Ignore whatever you thought about him or your perception of him, act in the interest of the larger group and your people, and table our demands and expectations before him. He’s our son, and he should know where he’s from. Please, seek audience with him, so that he won’t give the impression that it was you who abandoned him’.

The debate went on, and Awolowo eventually agreed. His lieutenants had impressed upon him to seek a one-on-one audience with Obasanjo and he did.

He thereafter booked an appointment with the new Head of State at Dodan Barracks, Ikoyi (Lagos), the official residence and office of Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces and the appointment was granted.

On the day of the appointment, however, to the embarrassment of Chief Awolowo, instead of the one-on-one meeting he had envisaged, he met Major-General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters, Obasanjo’s deputy) sitting comfortably.

With the situation he met, Chief Awolowo changed the subject of the discussion he had intended to have with Obasanjo and instead discussed cassava processing project (known as ‘Gari Ilaju’) he had in Ibadan.

When Awolowo returned to narrate his ordeal, his lieutenants were confused and surprised that Obasanjo could treat Chief Awolowo in that manner.

But Awolowo was not the only victim. A senior officer also found himself in such an embarrassingly awkward situation when he came to see his Commander-in-Chief.
General Olufemi Oluwoye had gone to Obasanjo to discuss the ethnic bias against the Yoruba in the army. And after listening to his homily, Obasanjo surprisingly invited General Yar’Adua and asked Olutoye to repeat what he said. Olutoye was stupefied, but courageously repeated all he said before Yar’Adua!

There were many incidents to show that Obasanjo was anti-Yoruba. He has no interest in, or sympathy for, the Yoruba cause; he only has his own interest for everything he does. 
That is my conclusion, and I have copious evidences to prove it.

Many have even said that Obasanjo detested Awolowo in his lifetime and did all within his power to truncate his dreams or ambition.

They readily cite the election of 1979 (which his government conducted to usher in the second Republic, 1979-1983) largely believed to have been won by Awo (as discussed earlier in chapter 8 under ‘Prelude to the Second Republic’).

And in his book ‘Not My Will’, he confirmed everyone’s long-held belief that he held Awo in contempt.

He derisively stated that everything Awolowo fought for all through his life and didn’t get, fell on his (Obasanjo’s) lap.

Whatever he could do to diminish and destroy the legacy of Awolowo, Obasanjo attempted.

All through the years, he never wavered. He wanted to be seen as the anointed messiah and anyone who stood the chance to overshadow-him, he belittled, diminished and humiliated.

A typical example of this was the annulment of the June 12 1993 Presidential Election won by Abiola. Obasanjo, in his characteristic manner; ridiculed Abiola, whose election had been hailed by most Nigerians, by saying in faraway Addis-Ababa that he (Abiola) was not the expected messiah.

The transition programme supervised by General Abdulsalam Abubakar (Head of State from June 8, 1998 to May 29, 1999) threw up many political parties - People Democratic Party, Alliance for Democracy, All Nigeria People’s Party.

When politics kicked off, General Olusegun Obasanjo (rtd) was drafted from prison to contest for the Presidency by many powerful retired generals, who wanted him, being one of their own, to cover their tracks. He eventually contested under PDP and won.

The intentions was to pacify the Yoruba who had been aggrieved by the annulment of the election won by Chief M.K.O. Abiola, which had widely acclaimed to be the freest and fairest in the country’s political history.

The earlier appointment of Chief Ernest Shonekan as leader of the Interim National Government (ING) following the decision of President Ibrahim Babangida to ‘step aside’ failed to do this.

When Obasanjo was sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 1999, one of his first major actions was to weaken the opposition.

To this end, he invited Chief Bola Ige, the deputy leader of Afenifere, under the façade of forming a ‘Government of National Unity’. Bola Ige, already bitter over the primaries of the AD, was an easy prey.

Ige joined Obasanjo’s cabinet and influenced the appointment of children of prominent members of Afenifere into the government, namely; Mrs. Modupe Adelaja (daughter of Pa Abraham Adesanya, the leader of Afenifere).

The stature of Bola Ige in that cabinet boosted Obasanjo’s government. Expectedly, Obasanjo gloated and, was elated at achieving his purpose.

Another attempt was to woo Alhaji Ganiyu Dawodu, also a prominent member of the AD did not succeed.

On several occasions when Obasanjo invited Alhaji Dawodu to his Ota residence, he was oblivious of the fact that the typical AD loyalist informed the leader pf Afenifere, who encouraged him to go and listen to what Obasanjo had to say
As soon as Alhaji Dawodu landed in Ota, people phoned Pa Adesanya, thinking they were giving him a hint. They were, however, surprised when the latter replied that he was aware of Dawodu’s mission.

The man who carried on as if he was the all-in-all failed woefully on all counts as the President. His eight-year tenure (1999-2007) was a tragedy.

His scorecard was nothing to write home about.

What did he do in eight years?

Before he came we were buying fuel for N20 per litre, and crude oil was $23 per barrel.

In 2007 under his regime, we were buying fuel at N75 per litre, and crude oil was between $65 and $75.

In the worst days of Abacha, one dollar was N85. In 2007, our income had risen, the dollar was over N120.

No president has ever earned what Obasanjo got in terms of revenue. What have we got to show for it?

What about our roads, educationand health facilities? You tell me.

The glorious years of Awolowo in Western Region were only seven years, 1952-1959. Up till today, we are still talking about his achievements.

What did Obasanjo do in eight years that you can remember in years to come?

In practical terms, Nigerians were worse off.

How much were we buying a bag of rice before he came in?

What was the inflation rate, what was the employment figure? What were the redeeming features?

If I had N10,000 before Obasanjo came in, how much was it worth by the time he left Aso Rock?

When you talk about economic programmes, it must influence the ordinary man. It must reflect on his life.

The highest cost of petrol before he got power was N20 per litre, and this rose to N100 under his regime.

During his first tenure in 1976-1979, he built three refineries, but after eight years (1999-200) he couldn’t build one neither could he repair the ones he built earlier.

His claim as one of his achievements as Head of State under the military was that he built these refineries; yet when he came back as president during his eight-year tenure (1999-2007), he could neither build a new refinery nor make the existing ones functional.

And up till today the problem Is still there, because when he was in government, he employed a tailor to do the work of carpenter.

People he gave the contract to refurbish the refineries were not professionals.

How much was the cost of a car before he came in in 1999?

Take the question of education. What was the position of our universities at the time he left in 2007?

None was listed among the 1,000 in the world. If you saw the classrooms, they were nothing to write home about.

Our primary schools had 60 or 70 pupils in a class. If we had a free and fair election, nowhere would PDP have returned in the country.

What did they do to make them worthy of being returned?

How much was a bag of cement before Obasanjo came in? What was the unemployment figure?

Do you know how much money he kept in foreign reserves when our people were suffering?

His tenure was a calamity. Obasanjo is shameless!

Obasanjo had not disputed that he had only N20,000 in his account by the time he drafted to contest in 1999.

He had never disputed that
Abubakar Atiku and Oyewole Fasawe saved him from bankruptcy.

Obasanjo was offered the presidency under PDP. It was he who destroyed the party. He made the PDP to change its constitution on who should become chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT) to favor himself. That was why he said anybody who would occupy that position must be a former president.

For all the negative things people have said about Obasanjo, which he could not refute, if it were to be any decent society, people like him would not feature in public life again.

This was the kind of thing that militated against Edward Heath when he was contesting as Prime Minister of Britain.

Look at the man who says he is clean. How did he build his Presidential Library Complex in Abeokuta?

I am sure that when a real government of the people comes into power, they would take it from him, because he twisted the people’s hands to build the edifice.

Despite Mike Adenuga Jr’s generous donation to his university (Bells University of Technology, Ota) and the construction of his library,Obasanjo still callously sent the EFCC to harass him for refusing to confirm the allegation that Atiku Abubakar had financial interest in Globalcom. This harassment forced Adenuga to relocate to Ghana on self-exile!

How can such a man be accusing everyone of being corrupt when his own hands are soiled?

I have never believed in Obasanjo’s leadership for the little that I know about him. I can’t remember what he stands for on any issue of progress in this country.

What has been his performance? Both his wife number one and wife number two, his children number one and number two have nothing honorable to say about him.

What amazes me is that people give him undue prominence despite his known character. Such a whited sepulchre!

His entire landed property all over the country, his ownership of a private university, and his investment in several blue-chip companies,including Transcorp, put a question mark on his claim to incorruptibility. ’

Excerpts from:
‘Telling It As It Is- The Autobiography of Ayo Adebanjo’, Bookcraft, 2018, Pp. 181-188

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