The looming battle of the generals ahead of the 2019 general elections continues to gather momentum as former President Olusegun Obasanjo seems to be relentless in his bid to stop President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term ambition, FELIX NWANERI reports
If there are two personalities, who enjoy enviable positions in Nigeria’s history, they are former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari. Both men have achieved feats that no other Nigerian has.
They are former military rulers, who later became democratically elected presidents, years after leaving office. Obasanjo was elected president in 1999 after relinquishing power in 1979. He had emerged as military ruler in 1976 after the botched coup that claimed the life of the then Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed.
His return to power 23 years after he left the position, following Nigeria’s return to civil rule, saw him leading Africa’s most populous country for another years (1999-2007). For Buhari, he returned to the seat he vacated in 1983 after three decades, following his victory in the 2015 presidential election.
He had emerged military head of state after December 1983 coup that overthrew the Shehu Shagari-led administration, but was overthrown in a palace coup in 1985. Besides joining Obasanjo as Nigeria’s second former military ruler to return to the presidency through the ballot, Buhari also made history with his defeat of an incumbent president (Goodluck Jonathan) for the first time in Nigeria’s political history.
But, despite their enviable place of pride in history, both men seem to be threading a path to the notorious days of dirty politics, when elder statesmen took to the stage and addressed each other with disrespectful words as Obasanjo relentlessly works to stop Buhari’s second term bid.Interestingly, the former played a major role in the latter’s emergence in 2015.
Being someone who understands the country’s politics as well as have deep knowledge of the Nigerian society, Obasanjo was the beautiful bride in the power play that brought Buhari to power after three unsuccessful attempts.
The former president’s Abeokuta Hill Top Mansion in Ogun State turned a Mecca of some sort then. And to the consternation of most Nigerians then, both the then ruling and opposition political parties – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC), respectively, met with him on several occasions to seek his endorsement of their respective presidential candidates – then President Jonathan and Buhari.
Even Obasanjo’s known political foes like ex-governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, had to overlook their political differences to consult him.
It was same for the leadership of the PDP, on whose platform Obasanjo won the presidential election twice (1999 and 2003), but later fell out with. But, it was the then opposition party that secured Obasanjo’s endorsement after much horse trading, And true to his person, he did not mince words in justifying why he opted for Buhari.
He said on February 10, 2015 at the launch of his 1,500-page autobiography, “My Watch,” in Nairobi, Kenya: “The circumstances Buhari will be working under if he wins the election,are different from the one he worked under before, where he was both the executive and the legislature – he knows that.
He’s smart enough. He’s educated enough. He’s experienced enough. Why shouldn’t I support him?” Shortly after Buhari’s victory at the poll, Obasanjo urged Nigerians to be patient with him, vouching for his ability to clear the mess of the Jonathan’s administration as well as to fix Nigeria.
He said: “The situation was like this when I took over in 1999; no light, no fuel, but it didn’t take us so long before the issues of light and fuel were resolved. The incoming president has a lot of experience; he’s not a greenhorn. It is not as if he hasn’t been into power before, he is experienced.
“He knew what we did to turn things around, even when we were there together during the military regime; we did it together, and it was as a result of our performance that we were invited to do it again.” And when the euphoria that ushered in the Buhari administration started waning over his inability to deliver his campaign promises within one year in office, Obasanjo again rose in his defence.
He categorically stated that Buhari has so far not failed Nigerians. His words: “So far, Buhari has not disappointed us. I trust him, he will not fail Nigerians. I know he will overcome the challenges the country is currently facing.”
But, politics, which many say is a game of interest masquerading as a contest of principles, started manifesting itself, when the camaraderie spirit between the duo started crashing like a pack of cards.
Obasanjo fired the first salvo, when he took a swipe at Buhari’s leadership style, saying that a lot of things still need to be done to get the economy properly back on track. The former president, who did not spare words in his assessment of the APC administration, chided Buhari for persistently blaming past administrations for the nation’s woes. He said the President was elected to effect changes, not to keep lamenting on the nation’s challenges.
His words: “The blanket adverse comments or castigation of all democratic administrations from 1999 by the present administration is uncharitable, fussy and uninstructive. Politics apart, I strongly believe that there is a distinction between the three previous administrations that it would be unfair to lump them all together. “I understand President Buhari’s frustration on the state of the economy inherited by him.
It was the same reason and situation that brought about cry for change, otherwise there would be no need for change if it was all nice and rosy. “Now that we have had change, because the actors and the situation needed to be changed, let us move forward to have progress through a comprehensive economic policy and programme that is intellectually, strategically and philosophically based.
I am sure that such a comprehensive policy and programme will not support borrowing $30 billion in less than three years. “It is easier to win an election than to right the wrongs of a badly fouled situation. When you are outside, what you see and know are nothing compared with the reality. And yet, once you are on seat, you have to clear the mess and put the nation on the path of rectitude, development and progress, leaving no group or section out of your plan, programme and policy and efforts.
The longer it takes, the more intractable the problem may become.” On the need for Buhari to urgently fix the economy, Obasanjo said: “If we do not fix the economy to relieve the pain and anguish of many Nigerians, the gain in fighting insurgency and corruption will pale into insignificance. No administration can nor should be comfortable with excruciating pain of debilitating and crushing economy.
“Businesses are closing, jobs are being lost and people are suffering. I know that President Buhari has always expressed concern for the plight of the common people, but that concern must be translated to workable and result-oriented socio-economic policy and programme that will turn the economy round at the shortest time possible. “We cannot continue to do the same thing and expect things to change.
That will be a miracle, which normally doesn’t happen in normal national economies. We have people inside and outside who can be brought together to help device the right economic policy and programme to get us out of the pit before we fall over the precipice into a dark cave. Economy requires a great element of trust to get it out of the doldrums, let alone out of negativity. That trust and confidence has to be created.”
He also kicked against Buhari’s request to borrow $30 billion then, saying that going for a huge loan under any guise is inadvisable and it will amount to going the line of soft option, which will come to haunt us in future.
“We immediately need loans to stabilise our foreign reserve and embark on some infrastructure development, but surely not $30 billion over a period of less than three years.
That was about the magnitude of cumulative debt of Nigeria, which we worked and wiped out 10 years ago,” he said. While some analysts observed then that it was worrisome that the former president, who has unfettered access to the Presidential Villa, could opt to go public with his admonitions of Buhari’s government, others said they were not surprised about the former president’s action given his type of politics.
National Chairman of United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, for instance told New Telegraph that Obasanjo should have conveyed his suggestions and advice to the President through normal channels. His words: “I am bit disappointed in Obasanjo for what he has said.
It is not that there is not some substance in what he said, but everybody knows that he has unlimited access to the villa and that has been demonstrated by President Buhari though it would be recalled that it was Obasanjo, who stood on the way during Buhari’s three unsuccessful attempts at the presidency before his victory in 2015.
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“If Buhari, who everybody knows for his uncompromising posture gave Obasanjo that access, it means that former president should convey his suggestions and advise to the president through the normal channel. What he has done by opening up in public smacks of grandstanding and uncharitable even if he feels that his advice is not being taken by the present government.
So, those in the National Assembly, who are reacting and accusing him of plot to bring the down the government have grounds to make such allegation, and that is not good the country’s stability.”
On whether he read politics in the development, he said: “There is politics in Obasanjo’s outburst, but that is not the type of politics one would like to see at this moment as the former president has had the opportunity to lead Nigeria as military and civilian president and I don’t know what else he would be looking for.
I insist that the public channel is not open for him to offer suggestions to the government, especially when it is clear that President Buhari has opened his doors for him.”
But, those who were not surprised about the former president’s action cited the running battle he had with former President Jonathan, when their relationship went sour. Obasanjo had single handedly picked Yar‘Adua and Jonathan presidential and vice presidential candidates of the PDP in 2007, even when they never showed interest for the respective positions.
But Jonathan made a political blunder, when after succeeding Yar’Adua, he felt he could do without his benefactor (Obasanjo) and there is no doubt that the ensuing battle led to his ouster in the 2015 elections.
Obasanjo’s salvo that jolted the immediate past president was his December 2013 letter, titled: “Before it is too late.” He raised sundry issues, which bordered on the cohesion and unity as well as the corporate existence of the Nigerian nation in the 18-page letter.
The former president did not stop at that. The last straw that broke the camel’s back was quitting politics and consequent public destruction of his PDP membership card. Renouncing his membership of the party at his Hilltop Mansion in Abeokuta on February 16, 2015, Obasanjo said: “From today on in the presence of all us and with your support, I am not going to be in any political party in Nigeria. I am no more a politician but a statesman both internally and externally.”
The presidency has tactfully avoided engaging Obasanjo in a verbal war, since his onslaught against the Buhari administration began, but to the former president, it is a fight to finish. He has not only seized every opportunity that comes his way to bash the President, but to drum it on Nigerians o why they should not re-elect him in 2019.
The bashing reached a height in January, when in a 13-page statement, Obasanjo blasted Buhari and advised him not to seek re-election in 2019. In the special press statement titled, “The Way Out: A Clarion Call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement” Obasanjo said Buhari has performed far below expectation and should honourably join the league of the country’s former leaders.
He added that Buhari should not toy with the patience of Nigerians, but should in a dignified way dismount from the seat of power. He wrote: “We all thanked God for President Buhari for coming back reasonably hale and hearty and progressing well in his recovery. But whatever may be the state of President Buhari’s health today, he should neither overpush his luck nor over-tax the patience and tolerance of Nigerians for him, no matter what his self-serving, so-called advisers, who would claim that they love him more than God loves him and that without him, there would be no Nigeria say.
“President Buhari needs a dignified and honourable dismount from the horse. He needs to have time to reflect, refurbish physically and recoup and after appropriate rest, once again, join the stock of Nigerian leaders whose experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed on the sideline for the good of the country. His place in history is already assured. Without impaired health and strain of age, running the affairs of Nigeria is a 25/7 affair, not 24/7.”
Though the President’s media handlers initially declined to respond to the letter, the presidency avoided tantrums, when it responded after almost 24 hours through Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The minister said it was possible that Obasanjo had been so busy that he could not keep track of the progress recorded by the Buhari administration. His words: “Chief Obasanjo is a patriot, and he has proven this time and time again. We appreciate what he said concerning the administration’s performance in two out of the three key issues that formed the plank of its campaign: fighting corruption and tackling insurgency. “Specifically, the former president said President Buhari must be given credit for his achievement so far in these two areas. We thank him for this.
Apparently, the former president believes that the administration does not deserve a pass mark in the area of the economy, which is the third of our three-pronged campaign promises.
“We have no doubt that in the face of massive challenges in this area, this administration has availed itself creditably. We believe that Chief Obasanjo, because of his very busy schedule, may not have been fully availed of developments in the government’s efforts to revamp the economy, which was battered by the consequences of over-dependence on a commodity as well as unprecedented pillaging of the treasury.” On whether or not Buhari should run for another term, the minister said: “We believe this issue is a distraction for the president at this time. This is because Mr. President spends every waking hours tackling the enormous challenges facing the nation, most of which were bequeathed to his administration by successive past administrations.” But, Obasanjo would not let go despite the presidency’s demeanour in reacting to his criticisms.
He has continued to fire salvos as well as insisting that Buhari must go. While reacting to Buhari’s refusal to sign the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement in March, the former president averred: “That President Buhari didn’t sign the free trade agreement in Kigali is disappointing; I hope he signs it before it is too late.
“Egypt started the discussion on the formation of the Organisation of African Unity but didn’t conclude it and Nigeria took over. Nigeria was also central to the discussion of the free trade agreement, but I am surprised that the country withdrew from signing.” He stepped up his criticism last month, when he suggested how to unseat Buhari in the 2019 elections.
Hosting a group of young professionals under the aegis of Nigerian Young Professionals Forum and New Nigeria 2019 in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Obasanjo suggested that a coalition of all movements in the country and poaching of “uninfected members” of the leprous APC and PDP to join the coalition will bring about the needed change in leadership in 2019.
He also charged members of the groups not be deceived by what he described as APC’s claim of reforms or PDP’s apology, insisting that present administration has proved to be ineffective and incompetent. “Don’t let anybody deceive you. Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent and effective and performing government.. The first lesson I learnt in my military training is never reinforce failure.
What we have now is failure. Never you reinforce failure; let failure be failure,” he said. Again, Obasanjo, last week Wednesday launched another scathing attack on Buhari over his recent visit to the United States (U.S.). He emphatically said the President bungled would have been his redemption and insisted that he would not back down from his opposition to Buhari’s second term bid. He was reacting to the fallout of the meeting between President Buhari and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump and a report published by an online medium titled “Workers’ Day: Obasanjo makes U-turn, declares support for Buhari.” His words : “From the Buhari/ Trump meeting, Chief Obasanjo only saw through three points: one, the U.S. will continue to reduce purchase of crude oil from Nigeria and there is nothing Nigeria under Buhari can do about it; two, the U.S. will export agricultural products to Nigeria and Buhari’s government will encourage that; and three – all the killings taking place in Nigeria by herdsmen are being done by expatriates trained by Gadaffi and no Nigerian is to blame and Buhari cannot do anything to stop it. “For whatever the meeting was worth, President Buhari again bungled another opportunity to self-redeem. No wonder President Trump ordered him in a rather condescending manner to go back home and stop the killings going on in Nigeria! We hope now Buhari will heed Trump’s advice which, hopefully, will be considered non-abusive.
The former president denied ever meeting with the Comrade Ayuba Wabba- led leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to canvass support for Buhari’s second term bid. He described the report as deliberate falsehood aimed at hoodwinking unsuspecting Nigerians. He maintained that his position remains as stated in his January 23, statement on the state of the nation, wherein he asked the President not to seek re-election. Obasanjo said Buhari’s performance had been nothing but mediocre, adding that he “will continue to exercise his right to free speech and no amount of hate speech will assuage Nigerians, who are in need of a brand new leadership.”
No doubt, the APC and its government have been at the receiving end of Obasanjo’s onslaught for now, but only time will tell how events will pan out in the days ahead as politics is not just exciting as war, but quite dangerous as well.
