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. 2
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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