An interview with Olusegun Obasanjo: Up close and a little too personal
Nigeria’s former president on Buhari, Biafra and bloody idiots.
Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo continues to wield significant influence in Nigeria. Credit: Friends of Europe.
As the lift in his luxury London hotel rushes upwards to the 11th floor, Olusegun Obasanjo squeezes my arm warmly as he recounts his busy schedule of late. His aide and two PR people nod approvingly as he talks of his jet-setting across Africa, his upcoming appointment with the Archbishop of Canterbury, and his trip to New York straight after.
With a new book to promote, the former Nigerian president from 1999 to 2007 has been busy. So too has the PR firm behind the book, offering him up for interviews far and wide.
Obasanjo can certainly handle it. Aged 80, he may look like a cuddly grandfather. But he still has plenty of fuel in his tank and fire in his belly, as I am to find out later this morning.
As we enter his hotel suite, an American news channel is blaring on the television. He instructs his aide to turn it down but not off. “I won’t know how to turn it on”, he says. His assistant shows him the big red button on the remote before pressing it. The screen goes black. “Now how will I turn it back on?” the former president asks, a touch irritated. The aide quietly reassures him that he’ll personally see to it as soon as the interview is over.
Obasanjo’s new book, Making Africa Work, describes itself as “a guide to improving Africa’s capacity for economic growth and job creation”. Co-written with Greg Mills, Jeffrey Herbst and Dickie Davis, it provides a detailed overview of various political and economic challenges facing the continent. It warns of a growing youth bulge, and provides dozens of recommendations on how to encourage the private sector, diversify the economy and deliver forward-thinking leadership.
As we sit down across the small table in his plush hotel room, I start by asking Obasanjo how well his own president, Muhummadu Buhari, has been faring on these fronts since coming to office in 2015. One thing the two men have in common is the extent to which they polarise opinion, though Obasanjo here is unrelentingly equivocal.
“Buhari has made some announcements. He has tried to keep on going in the area of agribusiness, but not enough,” he says, slowly and cautiously. “It is not yet enough to prepare the ground for uninhibited growth of the economy, which we need”.
“Not enough” seems a sparse and generous reading of an administration that has presided over Nigeria’s first recession in 25 years, rising youth unemployment, and endless policy deadlocks. But even when pushed on specifics, Obasanjo picks his words carefully as he repeats familiar combinations of faint praise and sympathetic criticism of the man he backed for office.
“Is Buhari doing enough about it?” he asks at one point of youth unemployment. “I don’t believe he is. Can he do enough about it? Of course he can.”
Obasanjo’s vague and uncommitted answers contrast with the book he just co-wrote, which packs a handful of statistics into virtually every paragraph and offers dozens of recommendations. But the former president does eventually hone in on one specific: Nigeria’s frustrated young people.
The median age of Nigeria’s population is under 18, and the youth demographic continues to swell. There aren’t enough jobs for them, and if Obasanjo were back in office, his priority would be education. “Youth empowerment, skill acquisition and youth employment – education must be able to do that,” he insists. “If you do that, the ticking bomb of possible youth explosion out of restiveness and anger will subside.”
Obasanjo attributes young people’s frustrations to many of Nigeria’s problems today, including the ongoing agitation in the south-east. Over the past couple years, the region has witnessed widespread protests, violence and military intervention as calls for some states to secede as the independent nation of Biafra have grown in volume.
The former president maintains that secession is not the solution, and says that the government’s military interventions – through which hundreds have reportedly been killed – have “made things worse”. But he accepts that young activists have real grievances.
“All youth in Nigeria have legitimate reasons to feel frustrated and angry,” he offers. “The protesters don’t even know what the struggle is all about, but if it gives them false hope, why not hang onto it?”
What would be his solution to the escalating crisis over calls for secession?
“Let the elders handle it or ignore it until it loses momentum,” he counsels. “There are elders in any community who are still respected…After all, they’re their fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, and can still be used effectively.”
Empowering old people may seem a counterintuitive approach to resolving a problem he ascribes to young people’s sense of disempowerment, but it is perhaps fitting advice from a man trying to carve out his own role as an elder statesman.
I ask Obasanjo whether devolution of powers could also help assuage the regional disillusionment. The idea of “true federalism” and “restructuring” has recently escalated into one of Nigeria’s main hot button political issues, with politicians, commentators and the media all debating the topic at length.
But at this, the former president sits up and fixes me with a stare from across the table.
“I don’t believe in true federalism. What is true federalism?”, he asks. The man whose tendency in office was always to centralise rather than decentralise power is suddenly bristling. He interrupts with more questions as I respond.
“Why are they not accountable? What powers do they not have?”, he interjects. “They have power,” he insists, poking his finger, claiming that in all but a few sectors, states can do whatever they want.
“In fact, state governors are more powerful than the president. That’s the truth,” he says. “If anybody tells you they want devolution or true federalism, he doesn’t know what he is talking about.” With an audible huff, he leans back.
A broad range of current and former lawmakers, civil society groups, and millions of Nigerians would beg to differ. So too would the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which Obasanjo backed in 2015, at least in its manifesto, which pledged to “amend our constitution with a view to devolving powers”.
But a frustrated Obasanjo doubles down. “The fact anybody talks about it doesn’t mean it’s right.”
—
In Nigeria, Obasanjo’s eight years in office remain highly controversial.
On the one hand, those who see him as a saviour can certainly point to some impressive successes. Coming to power in 1999, he inherited a country that was fragile, coup-prone, indebted and corrupt.
In response, he defanged and professionalised the army. His government tamed rampant inflation, earned debt relief, and built up considerable foreign exchange reserves. And he established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a body that went on to prosecute various high-profile figures – something many Nigerians never thought could happen – and recover billions of dollars in the process.
Obasanjo’s supporters argue that, unlike his predecessors, he left the country in better shape than he found it. That’s no mean feat.
But on the other hand, Obasanjo’s critics have no shortage of ammunition either.
They point out that his macroeconomic successes depended on high oil prices and did little to improve the lives of the vast majority of Nigerians. They complain that Obasanjo imposed a handpicked successor – the relatively inexperienced Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who died three years into his first term – on the country in chaotic elections in order to maintain his influence.
Obasanjo’s critics also say that the EFCC ended up being a politically-wielded weapon and that, if anything, systems of corruption ossified under his watch. The House of Representatives recently labelled Obasanjo the “grandfather of corruption”, while the EFCC’s former chair is reported to have said corruption under Obasanjo was worse than under his notoriously self-enriching military predecessor.
Ten years after he stepped down, Obasanjo still divides opinion. Many Nigerians – both those who love and hate him – wish he would retire gracefully on his farm. But that doesn’t seem to be on the cards in the foreseeable future. The 80-year-old continues to pull strings and enjoys significant influence within Nigeria’s complex political web.
As Nigeria approaches the 2019 elections, for example, the question of who Obasanjo will back has been subject to much speculation. Buhari has been ill for much of his time in office and wannabe successors, of which there is no shortage, have been positioning themselves carefully.
Obasanjo is tight-lipped on this front. “I don’t cross a bridge until I get to it,” he states.
One thing that seems clear, however, is that he won’t be supporting his former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar. The two fell out in dramatic fashion in 2007. This month, there have been growing suggestions that Abubakar is lining up to run in 2019. Two days before I spoke to Obasanjo, the former VP had issued a challenge, calling on anyone with evidence of his corruption to come forwards now.
When I ask whether he will respond to this challenge, Obasanjo is unmoved. “Read my book”, he says, blinking at me. Is Abubakar corrupt? Is he fit for presidential office? Would you support him?
“Read my book”, he repeats in answer to each follow-up, unafraid to let his silence fill the room.
By his “book”, Obasanjo is not referring to the carefully-researched and co-written Making Africa Work, but his autobiography My Watch. Published in 2015, it comes in three volumes, extends to 1,578 pages full of copy-and-pasted speeches and reports, and is the size of a small watermelon. I have not read it.
Obasanjo refuses to speak further about Abubakar as we sit in his hotel room, but the former president is not usually known for holding his tongue. He is certainly not afraid to pick fights and condemn his opponents in public. However, the reverse is also true: many Nigerians continue to demand that he be held accountable for his time in office too.
As one might expect of a man who has published 2.2kg worth of autobiography – not including previous memoirs My Command and Not My Will – Obasanjo is highly sensitive when questions over his legacy are raised.
“Come off it. I had the largest poultry farm before I became president, the largest in Africa. The fact I have N20,000 in my account does not mean I’m not wealthy,” he snaps, referring to questions over how he came to be a multi-millionaire despite having just a few dollars when he entered office. “Do you understand that?”
When talking about abstract policy, Obasanjo tried to stay in ponderous elder statesman mode, but the moment his own reputation is under scrutiny, he switches to street-fighter mode. He turns to attack and starts pre-emptively answering questions I haven’t even asked.
What’s your response to people who say that while you were in off-. “My response is that while I was in office, all sorts of accusations were made!”
When your successor came into office, he-. “My successor was ignorant! Totally ignorant.”
I raise the ongoing problem of electricity supply in Nigeria, and lessons learnt from his efforts in office, but he interrupts before I can finish again. “That is absolute nonsense. There was a report from the House of Representatives that proved that wrong… So what the hell are you talking about?”
I’m no longer sure. But what he is now talking about are ongoing allegations that much of the $16 billion spent on electricity under his watch was lost through corruption. Incidentally, contrary to his claim, the report he says “totally absolved” him in fact recommended he be investigated and be “called to account for the recklessness in the power sector during his time”.
It’s around this time that the PR person, who has been sitting dutifully in the corner, proposes that now might be an apposite time to wrap up. The former president and I agree, but he is not quite done.
As I try to explain that many Nigerians still want to know about his time in office, he accuses of me having been sent to interview him by Abubakar and of being a “bloody idiot”. I feel like I’m getting a taste of why the octogenarian is still feared in Nigeria today.
I collect my things and thank the ex-president for his time. My notes remind me to ask for a photo, but as he scowls at the floor, I think better of it. An uninformed and “disrespectful” youth, I have already displeased the elder. Now is the time for me know my place, bow out and be quiet.
Obasanjo remain the biggest waste pipe Nigeria have ever produced
Interesting read, I love the Former President, I will look out for his new books. I have no doubt that he held Nigeria very well during his time as Head of State and President. He is a great Nigerian, having fought in the civil war to defend our unity and allowed his children (in the army) fight for the unity and security of the great country. Will anyone lead this great nation and be appreciated by all? No.
Bose, I don’t think you know what you are talking about -if you ideally organize your rationanel – you will agree with me that President Obasnjo is the most trully stateman in Nigeria – although he has his shortcomings – but he is still far better and sincerely fair in leadership than any other leaders that have ever rule Nigeria both in the past and present. In fact, he is the force holding Nigeria together till date but I totally give a strong regards for the Grace of the Almighty God over Nigeria.
Greed and Ignorance!
Making Africa Work at age 80! He is so ignorant that he does not know how to operate a basic remote control and he has the solution for Africa.
Twice as the leader of the Nigerian government what efforts did he make to make it work for the whole Nigeria, moreso Africa?
How much of foreign investments did he encourage into the Eastern states or a Western state not called Lagos?
He sent most investments to the North to placate his Northern cohorts.
This guy should be sent to a nursing home.
Typical Obj. Highly selective memory. Charming when he wants to be. Abusive other times. I’ll give him credit for appointing a great team in his 2nd term in office. But he also worked hard to undermine most of their good work, and therefore his own legacy
President Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency was one of the best and he left very many legacies and credibility
Unfortunately, Nigeria and Nigerians always belief whatever they want to belief irrespective of the true situation of things. Also Obasanjo won the Biafran war for Nigeria and many individuals from this zone will never see anything good about him .
OBJ has written more books than any Nigerian President . He is not limited to Nigeria and Africa. Look at his engagements and you will easily note that OBJ is a global player.
Such is what happens when you go interview a cynical cocky irascible man. Coming out with another controversial inaccurate memoir, once more designed to serve his ego.
Why was he jumpy grumpy after listening to him for his side to a particular angle about his stewardship?, you want to ask yourself, after he has aired his inaccuracy one more time, after allowing him the opportunity of your medium to be heard.
On the the new old tales, “Making Africa Works”, according to the architect of a deconstruct continent and the Nigerian nation, i say it is another memoir on bad architectural design to making Africa more unworkable, therefore, it is going to be the “Making of Deconstructing Africa”, watch out or at best another adventure on image making Obasanjo.
Let me take you down memory lane and build up to my assertions, i shall ask which father gives scorpion to his child as toy, even the unfavourable one, let alone a choice child, who gives bad intentions to something he avows he loved?. Only Obasanjo has such tendencies and capacity to inflict pains and untoward attributes in contrast to a facade for otherwise.
Did he not tell Nigerians that the best candidate would not win the 1979 presidential race, when it was clear who the outstanding candidate was, amongst the lot in a peer with proven record, how on earth would someone who claimed to mean well for a nation, be so mean and so little in thinking, guess what only Obasnajo has the capacity for such double speak.
He imposed a knowingly sick man to succeed him in his second coming as president of Nigeria, claimed the man assured him of good health, when it was known and evidently, that the man was terminally ill and was never at the national council of state meetings, due to ill health, only Obasanjo could be as disingenuously ill motivated, to give bad untoward to anything he claims to love so dearly, his acclaimed love and preference for Nigeria Africa and in fact the world, is ego serving mentality to serve him and only him.
He wrote “My command”, controverted by the real actors as never his command, but a stolen, yet one of the providence that God has always bestowed on him, being in the right place at right time, else most undeserving of all Gods well wish, going by how he managed all of God’s well meaning intention for him and how to translate them into positive modes for mankind.
Like the writer rightly indicated, $16 dollar went down the drain under his beclouded watch, in contrast to the wrong evil perspective recordings in “My Watch”, the most cloudy vision less visual of all time.
Was Jonathan more experienced than Abubakar Atiku in all ramifications, which includes management and governance in all comparative antecedents?, therefore why the preference for the former over Atiku, you want to ask yet again.
The bane of Obasanjo is vendetta bad blood and superiority complex of pathological dimensions, his egocentric infusion into anything and all things, as to remain the ultra focus of all adventures, so unforgiving if you remember how Abiola ended, the man with the best electoral victory in the annals of Nigerian electioneering exercise,
Obasanjo’s ill will coupled with superiority complex prevented chief Obafemi Awolowo, an agile workaholic with proven record, from turning the fortunes of Nigeria around for good and the utmost reason, why Nigeria remains in limbo and may not get out of the wood in a very long time, if she ever did.
Against all norms and conventional practice anywhere in civilized world, was Abubakar Atiku, a sitting vice president prevented from taking over from an incumbent team, even on agreement basis, of course only a myopic self serving president like Obasanjo would assemble and ponder on all illogical reasons to thwart the good intention and ambition of his deputy, who was privy to his presidency, also saved him from a disgraceful exit from second term as president, when all political elders including all governors on both side of isle preferred his deputy to him.
It is always ever only him, or no one else, his perfect persona.
As head of state in his first coming, he sent experts away from the nation’s economy from which the country is yet to recover, with indigenenisation decree, a law meant to covert the nation’s resources into his pocket and few of his friends. The law brought all sorts of mediocre and bad players into the scene of the nation’s economic life.
Years after the unfavourable law, the country is still scouting currying and cringes for investment with loans from the international community, virtually asking the experts back as players in the country’s economy, not to be taken for a ride the second around, the multinationals have refused to come back, or impose stringent conditions tied to the super banks, as conditions to return and who suffers?, the nation of course.
A classic example of his sanctimonious self, evidently exhibited with the – O.F.N – Operation Feed The Nation – program of his regime. little did Nigeria knew that it was actually, ” O.F.N – Obasanjo Farm Nigeria” in the making. It was in all reality, the ground work and formation of his private enterprise, acquiring people’s land mass including the ones belonging to subsistence farmers, to serve his inordinate insatiable guillotine
The O.F.N with land use decree, was in all intent and purposes meant to serve Obasanjo’s niche and grab idiosyncrasies.
You will find Obasanjo among and supporting his guillotine peers, like the unrelenting unyielding near grave erranting man in Zimbabwe,
According To Obasanjo, the Commander-In -Mischief, -C-In-C, Chief M.K.O Abiola was not the messiah, Chief Obafemi Awolowo the best candidate in 1979 presidential elections, was not to serve the country, with his wealth of unequaled unparalleled unprecedented service and Abubakar Atiku, his sitting vice president was a thief. All not fit enough to serve the Nigerian nation at the highest office, except Obasanjo , the bad COMMANDER with vicious WATCH, debuting again in making AFRICA UNWORKABLE.
He does not take any criticism in good fate, yet criticizes and found no one good enough for anything besides himself. on his ploy to deconstruct Africa at large.
Having lived and done business in Ghana and Nigeria for 19 years, I know how serious and dangerous poltics can be in W. Africa. This reporter did good to leave the ex-President without getting his butt whipped by some of his boys. These things still go on. But, he had better be careful asking Mr. Olusegun where he made his money and how could he afford such a huge place in Ogun State? The Ex-President stole his money and has gotten away with it. Leave him alone or face problems. All of the Presidents steal a big chuck while they are in office and yet if you do not want to start a war. Let them keep it. Who will ask Goodluck where his money came from or ask John Mahama in Ghana how did his brother become the 3rd richest guy in Ghana while John was President? President Olusegun is still one of the most powerful men in Nigeria. As we know the Military Generals still run Nigeria. Which one will we have to back next? Peace. Black American
Very good interview, well written and enjoyable to read. For sure the illiterate Obasanjo couldn’t have written a book on his own. That was why he needed co-authors. What was supposed to be an autobiography was mainly a collection of “copy and paste” of his talk during his office, talks written by speech writers. At least now he recognizes there is a real problem of youth marginalization in the South.
No amount of economic plan will save Nigeria and the Continent when all public officials including all the State Governors are granted a blanket immunity from prosecution for any crime they may commit while in office. Nigeria as a government is designed to fail from the outset so the government is working exactly as designed. Keep up the pipe dream of economic growth
Much of what I am reading about OBJ sounds like Donald Trump. Even though I have a cursory view of Nigeria’s dilemma I am a Black man from America and wish only the best for all the brothers and sisters in the motherland, especially Nigeria.
Ellis Marsalis
Obj disgrased himself by supporting this restarted Dillard called Buhari.
This was a spectacular read. I laughed out, long and hard at the end. A man that divides opinion in his home country. For me, it’s important we heed history, but it’s much more important to focus on the future. It’s quite a challenge leading 140M Nigerians, you can never satisfy all.
Obasanjo has come, done his time, has some praiseworthy things to show for it, but in the same vein, has some condemnable acts he left behind. We should learn our lessons, listen to him when he has something to say, thank him for his time, separate the wheat from the chaff, and move on.
This unfortunate but illuminating interview depicts the real, uncensored, uncouth, near-illiterate, Obasanjo and his style of Daddy-Knows-Best politics. There are more from where he came.
This interview says it all : OBJ is a liar and a schemer, who when confronted with facts that conflict with his “alternative facts”, morphs into a military dictator – under the guise of a “cultural elder” who has been disrespected or wrongly maligned.
why moderation?
The most unquestionable detrabilised leader that ever emerged in Nigeria,highly impartial and great at balancing Nigeria’s cumbersome equations.OBJ sees Nigeria as a country for all indigenous tribes and not for one to dominate another,in a nutshell,his patriotism is unparallel.
Nice one… Mike Shokunbi!
It is my opinion that former President Olusegun Obasanjo is still the best President Nigeria ever had. Period. On the other hand, the current administration has been hampered by the mess it inherited from the previous administration. President Buhari’s age and declining health is another issue. We all know what he is capable of doing if he was in good health. Along with VP Osinbajo, we have a combination of leaders with high integrity, and the love of the country at the root of their hearts.
Very interesting selection of observations.
Atiku threw a challenge that anyone who says he is corrupt should come out and say so. Why can’t he go to Maryland in US to clear his name on money laundering? $16 billion on electricity during OBJ’s time and yet no light has got to go down as corruption whether he likes it or not.
Obj. Good and Bad.
sometimes this guys think they know but really they don’t have anything to offer they don’t know they are the real problem we have
He is a part of African’s problem, and now, he wants to be seen as a statesman? He is a common thief!!
When Obasanjo says he does not believe in True federalism and devolution of powers, he should just be reminded that believe is done in the Churches, Mosques, Synagogues, Temples and other religious outfits.
He and his fellow autocrats and upholders of the status quo had better realized that they are just one out of over 170 million Citizens.
One should have expected that asking the Citizens would have been the simple solution here not believes.
Making Africa Work — is this a joke or is it…. ? Well, the western world know the truth and kept silent, at this what can the poor, hungry and unarmed fear gripped youths do? When a thief, a dangerous criminal, a murderer, a man his son accused of having sexual relationship with the son’s wife, ITT thief, a man who slaughtered a whole community without a reason, a man who killed hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children in the 60’s, when a devil is president. Obasanjo, we all know who you are,.. a man should dance at home before dancing abroad. A fool at 80.
Just look at him…all of a sudden, he now knows how to make Africa work! Obasanjo, the frustration of Nigeria’s youth started with your administration!
Just another self-servative politician. To those who think that corruption and bribery are a specifically Nigerian vice – All I can say is look closer nearer to home. U.K. Tories and U.S. Republicans are the most selfish, corrupt, thieving and heartless bastards the world has ever known. I laugh with scorn when countries like Nigeria are singled out by the west for being corrupt. They’re at the very heart of the swindling operation in Nigeria. I wasn’t born yesterday.
Yes – God save the people of Nigeria and the British Isles from these swindlers – because nobody else will.
Nations populated by sheep and governed by wolves.
It was ever thus.
I just don’t know what the answer is.
Hello Dear Obasanjo as a Godfather acclaimed better tell your colic northern now is the best time to move forward by each region by region to let the Biafra have their referendum now you are still alive so that God can still forgive you at last, forget all this write-up all is lie Nigeria is a ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Country that was form by Freud people deceive Biafra for their well given resources God promise them
One Nigeria is a Crime
Goodbye Nigeria
Welcome Biafra
OBJ remains an enigma, blowing hot and cold at such short space of time , but that is him . Is he one of the best that we have had in Nigeria as a Leader, perhaps yes , but that sis if you consider his undying nationalistic views , aside from that , he is just as naive and empty as the rest of them . It is unfortunate that none so far has had the will to tackle the deep problematic issues that has besought us as a nation in over 40 years … now , the chicken has come home to roost , the young ones are restless ,there are agitations across the country and it now behooves on those who are sane to do the right thing …call a conference of regions and change the direction of the country once more ..as they you cannot be doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result .
it is absolutely not fare for a president that actually governed this country for over 8 years with huge loots from her not explicitly explain where he got his money from. Charity begins at home. I still dont know why he will not support devolution of power to states.
Talk is easy but making it work (practical) is very hard. I guess everyone of us have got enough to talk about everyone both positive and negative.
Obasanjo will never be short of both admirers and critics, for good reasons.
I was barely 8 years when the war ended and I was very familiar with all the stories filtering out of the war front. Being from the generation of warriors and having been taught about the spoils of war, I knew about the winner taking all (including the ultimate, the head of the looser).
Interestingly, the Nigerian command that passed through my village were rather magnanimous in victory. Only those who shot at the troops got fired at. So, when I learnt (from his book, My Command) that it was General Obasanjo that led this troop that passed through my village, Ogbuebulle, I knew he would always be my general.
So, in spite of his failures and foibles as a man/leader, I am one of those willing to dwell on his successes rather on his failures, and there are many things worthy of celebration about him.
I am pained by the double standard of the west and their blind greed in obfuticating their determined desire to keep Nigeria down. Obasanjo a man who inherited Nigeria in 1966 with so much hope and resources to rebuild after the carnage in Bifraland choose instead to embark on an elaborate funfair wasting all the money and resources from our oil boom. Allowing frivolity and partying to become the national agenda. When he eventually gave way he gave power to the party that lost the election. In 1999 when he was few days close to his death, he was gifted Nigeria again by one of his former aides, he presided over the most corrupt inhumane regimes ever witnessed, he sold NIGERIA Plc to himself that included all utility services and their juicy landed properties. Nearly everything in Nigeria today belongs to Obasanjo including who becomes president, for a man to spend nearly three trillion to change the constitution to make himself Nigerian life president. To sell Nigeria house in new York and never explainseen why is not a man of any honour. Obasanjo a two time president under pdp out of greed and power hunger abandoned the sacred order of party politics and foisted his senile friend on Nigeria without care of the need of the country and the changes that is going on in the world over is not a man the west especially the UK establishment should be listening to. Obasanjo has had more opportunities than any Nigerian dead or alive to make Nigeria great, but no. I consider Mathew Obasanjo an unrepentant prodigal with no chance of repentance.
SUNDAY
Planet earth is a stage where everyone that is born into it has a role to play, it could be a good role or a bad one. OBJ. has played his role he should leave the stage for the younger generation, he has out leaved his usefulness. The farm (O.F.N) in question is the property of Nigeria, one day it will be taken away from him.
OBJ remains in my view, the BEST PRESIDENT NIGERIA HAS EVER HAD.
Unfortunately, many bigoted and besotted to their ignorance twerk and twist wallowing in the music of the renegades and lacerate the floor with the worn shoes of poor in memory.
Some oddity mentioned OBJ does not know how to use a RC, and I laugh. Such is the propensity to absolute idiocy and mumuism that you fail to read behind the lines of a perfect statement decked in the garb of old people diplomacy. Hahahahh. Remote control ko, remote control ni
Another one, definitely a Yiboes wants OFN, Otta farm taken away from him. Go and take it, Ole. Yeye dey smell like you. What have done with Nigerian Airways, Virgin Nigeria, Nigeria Shipping Line, Ajaokuta, PHCN, et all.
I think Obasanjo is better than Buhari 100% BUHARI has not get anything to offer to Nigerians this government will end in confusion Make i word today and wait for the answer
Baba Obasanjo remains a leader with sincere love for Nigeria, do not forget he worked with a lot of saboteurs that never wanted good for the nation,
This interview is packed with so many ironies. Obasanjo has the ideas that will make Africa work but doesn’t know how to operate a TV remote. He said education and youth empowerment offer the best way out even though he presided over the persistent closure of our universities during his tenure. How can he be a “ponderous elder statesman” when he lacks the self control that would allow him to answer the most inane questions from the young. Imagine calling the journalist ‘a bloody.’ It surmises his belief that Atiku Abubakar is out to get him.
Imperialist agent. Still confused. Struggling to fool the world that he has a good legacy for Africa. I AM CONVINCED KARMA WILL HELP HIM REAP WHAT HE SOWED GOOD OR BAD. NEEDS TO ASK GOD FOR FORGIVENESS B4 HIS TRANSITION AWA FROM GBENGA HIS SON. GOD HELP HIM
Mighty Joe Young!
Somebody who spent billions to stay for another years in office is nothing but an idiot and a waste. Please the press, stop talking about Obasanjo, this is not how the outside world is supposed to be seeing Africa.
Qbasanjo is still relevant in Nigeria politics but he is the man that put Nigeria into this mess by not allowing Chief Awolowo to rule the country when he won the election . Let put OFN behind us I will advice all numerous men of GOD and Imams and Muslims leadersto come together pray and fast for God to give Nigeria a good and God fearing leaders void of bad conduct .This is a serious matter not operation of TV remote .
Firstly, OBJ converted a Federal Government Agriculture project ‘’ Operation Feed the Nation (O.F.N) for his personal use, that alone is a misdemeanor, however, know ye all men that nobody created is eternal, upon OBJ’s demise the Ado Odo Ota kindred shall reclaim possession of their ancestral land.
I wonder why many of us are insensitive even to talk about people like OBJ, he’s an illiterate a mechanic in the Nigerian army and yet we ascribe accolades to their criminal activities.
A man his own family sees him as a misfit, then, miscreants will come out openly applaud him just for spoon of porridge, it’s shameful, things wasn’t this way back then in my secondary school days, especially in the entire South of Nigeria. We don’t praise anybody just because the person gave us a piece meal. So, it’s my candid opinion to my brothers and sisters to desist from this dance of shame in the market, its absolute rubbish. People who supposedly to be you security guard at the gate is now lording on us and yet we compliment them as the best to lead us.
OBJ introduced Godfatherism in 1999 when you came from nowhere to head the government of Nigeria while we relegated the real educated and principled Nigerians that took their life in their to stop General Sani Abacha from transmuting into a civilian presidency, the group of 34 eminent Nigerians (G-34) and from that moment OBJ and cohorts took advantage of the situation and chose the agberos (the five fingers of five leprosy family) to lord on Nigerians with him. The governors he selected at that time became demi-gods and started to convert state allocations for their personal enrichment without any knowledge of governance.
It continued thereafter and that is what has brought about you restiveness, for instance, in Abia state, the then governor from 1999 to 1987 anointed another stooge that took over and when everything is going down, some of us started to ask the governor who came concerning the decay in infrastructure, his simple reply was that his former boss and the mother were still in-charge on finances and state policy that we should allow him to come back for the second time so that he can be himself and be able to take decisions by himself.
So also in this present administration, the current have repeated the same that his former boss, his wife and son are still in charge, hence his hands are tied.
Nigerians, I think its time rise to the occasion, he that is knocked down and killed by a moving train, means that his deafness killed him.
May God settle this ugly situation we found ourselves?
Those rebuking Olusegun Obasanjo are just too ignorant. I have never seen any president outperform him as a military head of state and as a civilian president.
People say he is corrupt, he probably jailed or hurt some of the gullible and corrupt people in power today and the question is how come no one has provided evidence or a concrete allegation against him? I read how someone was trying to measure OBJ’s intelligence by how he struggled to operate a TV remote control, but he managed Africa’s most populous nation Thrice( on each occasion, brought an end to war, cleared all the debt, and set the economy in the right direction). He led Africa from the front and brought dignity back to the continent.
I am not sure those criticizing him had successfully led a group of 10 persons…