Dear Mr. President,

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 nation interest, alert you to the danger that may be lurking in the corner. Two, none of the four or more letters I have written to you in the past two years or so has elicited neither an acknowledgement nor 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 of 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 it members the Nigerian CEO. It is good for Nigeria. I have also always told you that God has graciously been kind, generous, merciful and compassionate to me and He has done more than I could have ever hoped for. I want nothing from you personally except that you should run the affairs of Nigeria not only to make Nigeria good, but to make Nigeria great for which I have always pleaded with you and I will always do so. And it is yet to be done for most Nigerians to see.

For five capacities in which you find yourself, you must hold yourself most significantly responsible for what happens to 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 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 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.

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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 seems 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 you statement. You said the same to one other person who shared his observation with me. And only a fool would believe that statement that 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 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 crosscheck 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 practices it. PDP has brought stability and substantial predictability to the polity and 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 the 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 destabilise if not destroy our country. This is being oblivious of the sacrifices others have made in the past for unity, stability and democracy in the 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.

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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 destabilising 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 also 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 Ebele 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 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 statesmanlike.


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 and the fourth elected President of Nigeria on the basis of our common Nigerian identity and for the purpose of actualizing Nigerian dream…”


When you won the election, one of the issues you very early pursued was that 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 morally flawed. As a leader, tow 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 trust, 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 s 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 for 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 ta the national level, Labour part 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 a leader of the Party cannot be seen to be loyal to the PDP in support of the candidates of the Party and the interest of such Pasrty 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 or integrity.

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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 o 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 Governor 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 give 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 engage din 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 and the Leader of the Party. I can only wish you every success in your handling of the issue. But time is not your friend nor that of the Party is this respect. With leadership come not just power and authority to do and to undo, but also responsibility and accountability to do and undo rightly, well and justly. Time and opportunity are a 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 Ahmadu 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 surprise 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 f Nigerian and second, what is in the best interest of the Party. I stand for the aim, 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 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 organization, 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 strand 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.

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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 naturalized 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 realize 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 votes 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 1000 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, it 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 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 this 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 at 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 the world. In a way, I share some of their concerns because there are notable areas where we can do more or do better than we are doing. Some of our development partners were politically frustrated to withdrw from Olokola LNG project which happily was not yet the same with 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 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 disinvesting. Nigeria, which is the Saudi of Africa in oil and gas terms, is being overtaken by Angola only because necessary decisions are not being 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 OK and Brass LNG projects. Three things are imperative in the oil and gas sector – stop oil stealing, encourage investment especially by the IOC's 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 or protected in the house. We must all remember that corruption, inequity and injustice breed poverty, unemployment, conflict, violence and wittingly or unwittingly create terrorist 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.

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The serious and strong allegation of non-remitting of about $7 billion from 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 $400 million returned and Atlantic Oil loading about 130,000 barrels sold by Shell and managed on behalf on NPDC with no sale proceeds paid into NPDC account is incredible. The letter of Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria to you on non-remittance to Central Bank buttressed the allegation. 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 whom 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 hight 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 Federal Government is putting the water project for Port Harcourt originally initiated by the Federal Government to be financed by the bank, in the cooler since the Amaechi-Jonathan face-off. Amaechi, whether he likes it or not, will cease to be Governor over Rivers State which 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 if there are other projects anywhere suffering the same coolness as a result of similar situation, let national interest supersede 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 had 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 to hear and they fee 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 God's will in your life. They possess you now for their interest. No interest should be higher or more important than 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 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 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 Nigerian has gone 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 an 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 realize 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 Nigerian 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.

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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 instrumetns 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, you 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 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 pertuate 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 authorized 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 recommend 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. By the government not acting positively and promptly in the case of Buruji Kashamu wanted in the US for drug trafficking and money laundering crimes, it is only confirming the persistent reports of complicity or involvement of high-level political figures in drug trafficking and condonation of the crime for political benefit. Whichever way, it is a very dangerous development for Nigeria. Sooner or later, drug barons will be in control of large real estates, banks and other seemingly legitimate businesses; in elections they will buy candidates, parties and eventually buy power or be in power themselves. It may be instructive if I quote fairly extensively from Lansana Gberie's recent paper titled, 'State Officials and Their Involvement in Drug Trafficking in West Africa”:


“… The controversial and puzzling case of Buruji Kashamu, a powerful figure in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), suggests that a successful and wealthy politician's association with drug trafficking is hardly disabling. Kashamu was indicted by a grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois in 1998 for conspiracy to import and distribute heroin to the United States. The indictment named him under his own name as well as two supposed aliases: 'Alaji' and 'Kasmal'. His whereabouts were unknown at the time, however, and his co-accused were tried and convicted. Later that year, he was found living comfortably in England, and, on receipt of an extradition request from the US, the UK authorities arrested Kashamu. After a very protracted proceeding lasting until 2003, however, an English Judge refused to extradite Kashamu on grounds of uncertainty about his true identity. Kashamu triumphantly returned to Nigeria and soon after became a key political figure. He is now believed to be very close to President Goodluck Jonathan, because of his ability to mobilise votes in key States in Western Nigeria. The US government reviewed Kashamu's case, with the famous Judge Richard Posner presiding. Posner concluded that while Kashamu's identity remains murky, there is little doubt that the figure now exercising authority in Nigeria's PDP is the same as Kashamu the 'Alaji' who was indicted for conspiracy to smuggle illicit drugs into the United States. Despite this, the Nigerian government has persistently ignored calls by civil society groups to investigate Kashamu and extradite him to the US. On 2 July 2013, the Federal Court in Lagos determined that Kashamu should be extradited to the US. KAshamu immediately appealed against this decision, yet in November 2013, a new Panel of Judges constituted by the President of the Court of Appeal unanimously held that his appeal lacked merit, and that Kashamu should be extradited. His extradition to the United States will certainly set an important precedent… unless, of course, he uses his political skills and contacts to continue avoiding it…”

Continuation...

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 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 leader in trying times of political feud or disagreement. Democracy must, however, prevail and be held as sacrosanct. Today, you are the Present 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 and commission, would be the first and 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, transparently with Nigerians to regain their trust and confidence. Nigerians are no fools, they can see, they can hear, the 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 from Nigeria, adopting 'wait and see attitude' and knowing what we are deficient of, it will take time to reverse the trend and may miss some golden opportunities.

Accept, Dear Mr. President, the assurance of my highest consideration.


Yours sincerely,
Olusegun Obasanjo

Thank you for this. Senator Iyabo tried to stop this, but her issues are merely family issues. No one is perfect. We all have skeletons in our closets, but we accept our weaknesses and use our strengths "for the greater good". We have examples of leaders who failed at family level, but led their nations to grander ascensions. Nelson Mandela was a divorcee, Bill Clinton was alleged to have had an affair with an intern in the White House, even King David in the Bible had extra-marital relations. My point here is it is unwise to expect perfection from anyone when we ourselves are not perfect. Even Jesus rightly said, "he who is without sin should cast the first stone."

No matter whatever anyone might say, these issues raised in this letter are real issues, and I applaud Fmr. President Obasanjo for it. Someone (or some persons) have to take bold steps to force desired change. Fmr. President Obasanjo has done his little. What are you (yes, you reading this text) doing to better Nigeria.
I see a Country where the citizens are willing to work hard, under the sun and in the rain, to get the change they claim to crave. I see a Country where the citizens on the streets realize that the leaders they have now were also common people like them; that the moral changes in our minds have to start from the commoner on the street before he gets into government; that jumping a fuel queue for convenience purposes is how the devil slowly steals our conscience and slowly but surely replaces it with his permanently numbed, or better still, dead one; where citizens know that stealing little sums in their humble little offices is breeding their consciences to steal confidently when they get government appointments; where the votes of the poorest person is acknowledged and counted, one man to his vote; where citizens will be the change they desire, in their hearts and minds and in dealing with others and their environment.

hmmmmmmm

Well I have just one comment.

OBJ says GEJ should learn from what is happening in Egypt. I want to ask if GEJ is imprisoned what will happen to OBJ.

Like seriously;dis is not happening, so obj kws all dis and did nothing. Nw it clear dat It all buoys down to our political structure" and not the interest of the public.9ja only God can save us

So baba iyabo can write long letter like this ?
Baba iyabo, who killed Bola Ige, Harry Marshall, Zaki biam people, Odi people and many others during your regime.
Where is the impact of Abacha loot you recovered on Nigerians ?
Who are the beneficiaries of PHCN/ NIPP contract & what happen with Hon. Elumelu probe.
Why did you attempt 3rd term ?
Where are good roads , airports & railtransport during your tenure
Where is the impact on Nigerians from the proceed of govt. Properties you sold ?

It is no time to pass bulk or apportion blame. Obj had his shortcomings as president but to have been able to come out of those trouble waters in his days makes him an elder statesman. He has raised critical issues and i believe Mr. President can read in btw lines just like every Nigerian has done. Nigeria as a nation is sitting on a time bomb, we can see,hear and feel it.The last time we found ourselves in such political logjam was in 1966. Why the component parts of our nation have not started responding violently like they did then is because of civilization and lessons learnt from our previous experience and the experiences of other countries.Mr. President should act fast. Mr. President should put Nigeria first, Nigerians second before his personal interest. Any body who is close to him should tell him to replay all his campaign tapes and be able stand by at least 50% of the pronouncements he made himself. From a school child that has no sandals, Nigeria and nigerians made u Deputy governor,governor,vice President and later Trusted with the highest political office in the land. Ask yourself Mr. president if you have been fair to the nation and her citizens. Even when we can not stamp our feet and condemn you out-rightly but i can say with all due respect that this country has never had it this bad. Forget the so called projects they claim to be commissioning here and there. What % of our national income is involved. I want to agree with Obj that Mr. President is simply engaging in self denials and the earlier he comes out of it the better for this Govt. How can scandals and corruption be the hallmark of a Govt ? From the national assembly members, to the cabinet ministers, to personal assistants , to NNPC, to SURE-P , to CBN to everywhere ! The only thing we hear are missing billions ! And you want me to clap because you build dual carriage way that Akpabio a state governor is doing with ease, I should also dance because you used our millions to build power plants and sold it for peanuts. GEJ awake from sleep! Nigerians are already taking taking their lunch.

Those supporting OBJ should first ask themselves how many letters IBB, Shagari or Buhari wrote to OBJ when he was busy stealing Nigeria dry with Atiku as President and Vice respectively. They should ask themselves whether if Nigeria were China, US, Europe, Japan, UK, etc, OBJ would not have been in jail by now? OBJ failed to probe IBB or Abdusalam after they stole Nigeria dry because they brought him out of prison to make him a President. OBJ started to steal during his turn and in order not to be probed, he installed puppets in the persons of Yar a' dua and Jonathan. Jonathan has ruled only 1 term, OBJ who ruled 2 terms and wasted many human lives and Nigerian billions for a secret 3rd term bid now wnats him to step aside. After OBJ. I will not be surprised if IBB who refused to allow Democracy to berth in Nigeria writes his own letter to Jonathan. Wonders unlimited! It's only in Nigeria that ex-leaders who ought to be in jail are made tin-gods and worshipped by foolish and tribalised Nigerians!

Obasanjo Is The Most Corrupt Nigerian-Gani Fawehinmi


Posted: May, 31 2007, 7:05PM

Finally, Olusegun Obasanjo is on his way out after eight years as Nigeria’s president. Could you assess his tenure?

Eight years of self-centred disposition, eight years of wayo, eight years of deception, eight years of creating a few rich people, eight years of anti-masses programmes, eight years of deliberate junketing all over the world, eight years of make-believe, eight years of dictatorship, eight years of lack of coherent policies, eight years of so much wealth coming to the hands of government out of which Nigerians received aggravated poverty and economic pain.

When Obasanjo first came to power in 1999, many Nigerians had high hopes that they would get rid of dictatorial tendencies which characterised military rule, but unfortunately, we had a tyrant in democratic toga. We expected that the provisions of the constitution vis-à-vis the welfare of the people and their security would be the focus of the government because Section 14, sub-section 2b of the Constitution says that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary focus of government. Alas! it was not to be under the government of Obasanjo. Take security for instance. He opened up the insecurity of this country in November 1999 when he gave orders to shoot on sight in Odi. And more than 2500 Nigerians were slaughtered because, unfortunately, 13 policemen were missing as a result of the protestation of the Odi people in Bayelsa State.
You saw the killing in Zaki Biam in Benue State. We saw him give an order in Lagos State to shoot the OPC on sight and we protested. And since he gave the signal that human life counted for nothing, police followed the queue, extra-judicial killings became the agenda of the government. Every respectable human rights organisation abroad rated Nigeria very low in terms of extra-judicial killing. Thousands of Nigerians were slaughtered without a recourse to the judicial process by the police and other security agencies, to the extent that it became the culture of Nigerians to ritualise human lives. Legs, hands and other parts of human bodies became a common commodity in markets and dead bodies were being picked here and there, headless. That was Obasanjo’s regime and what human dignity meant for that regime for eight years.
For welfare, Nigerians have never had it so bad in their millions. Instead of government to give employment, it became the stock in trade of this regime to send workers to the unemployment market by all sorts of epithet with ignoble description such as down-sizing, reducing the labour force and so on. Unemployment became unbelievably rampant to the extent that workers approached the doors of government offices with trepidation, thinking they would be sacked any moment. Security of employment became nil in government services. In the private sector, profit motive was taken to a most ungodly level. Sack became a culture of the private sector. Whenever the private sector wanted more profit, they resorted to showing workers out without adequate recompense and this was aggravated by the so-called economic reforms of General Obasanjo where the heritage of Nigeria was sold, not even to the highest bidders but to the favoured bidders, contrary to the Constitution of Nigeria.
The major sectors of our economy were placed on the building blocks of rapacious entrepreneurs, many of whom are in government, using proxies to purchase government properties, courtesy of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, and contrary in Section 16, sub-section 4 of the constitution which says that the major sectors of the economy shall be managed, operated and run by the Federal Government of Nigeria, solely and exclusively.
But today, the major sectors are being sold. The latest example is the refinery in Port Harcourt, one of the four refineries in Nigeria. For eight years, Obasanjo did not build a single refinery to ensure a total reduction in the costs of petroleum products. Instead, Obasanjo, contrary to the Constitution of Nigeria, sold and he is still in the process of selling even in the dying days of the regime, the major sectors of our economy at give-away prices. Look at NITEL, another government investment that is relevant to the welfare of Nigerian people, it is still in the same mess. Our constitution says that economy of the country should not be operated in such a way that wealth would be concentrated in a few hands, but we are now having the very opposite of what the constitution says should be done. A company emerged, called Transcorp. There was no Transcorp before Obasanjo but Transcorp emerged from the bowel of Aso Rock, founded with the collaboration, connivance and conceptualisation of General Obasanjo to the extent that he owns 200 million shares. According to him, it will be the pillar of the private sector emerging in Nigeria. There is little difference between Transcorp and General Olusegun Obasanjo, except that a few favoured friends were brought into Transcorp. Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, the Director-General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange who is supposed to be a public officer runs the Transcorp with General Obasanjo. Both public officers contravened the code of conduct in the 5th and 3rd Schedules of the Constitution. Behold! General Obasanjo was never taken before the Code of Conduct Bureau for this. I protested to the Code of Conduct, I protested to the National Assembly, nothing came out of it. Here is a man who abused his office, set up a company to acquire the heritage of Nigerians. Today, Transcorp has acquired Nicon Hilton, and it has acquired NITEL. If this is not corruption, then I don’t know what corruption means.
To me, Obasanjo is the most corrupt Nigerian and I will never agree with anyone who says Obasanjo is not corrupt. We see it everywhere. This man was in prison for three years and his Ota farm which was in bankruptcy then was almost sold. They were thinking of how to sell most of his properties. Today, Obasanjo’s farm is rated as one of the richest in the world, all in a space of eight years that he governed Nigeria. If that is not corruption, then I don’t know what corruption means. If that is not abuse of office, then I do not know what abuse of office means. I protested to the National Assembly, I protested to various organisations, that look, under the Code of Conduct, Nigerians are entitled to go there and ask for all the declaration of assets of any public officer, on conditions that may be prescribed by the National Assembly. We asked the National Assembly to give us the conditions so that we can exercise our rights to know what had been declared by Obasanjo and others, including members of the National Assembly. But till today, they never gave us those conditions. So, Nigerians don’t even have access to the assets declared by the public officers. No public officer’s assets can be examined.
This regime will go down in history as the most corrupt regime in the history of this country in the sense that no regime ever made so much money as was made under Obasanjo’s regime. It got to a point that the price of one barrel of crude oil was fetching $70 and Nigeria at that time was producing 3,150,000 (three million, one hundred and fifty thousand) barrels per day. As we talk, the Federal Government is making more than N200,000,000 (two hundred million dollars) everyday, including Sunday. The more money the Obasanjo regime made the poorer the Nigerian people became. And the more money the Obasanjo regime made, the richer a few people became, including Mr. President himself.
Yes, there was a battle against corruption. A young man emerged like an oasis in the desert, called Nuhu Ribadu, under the auspices of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which I have often described as a positive accident in this regime. Positive accident because Obasanjo did not plan to fight against corruption because he is corrupt himself. But because he was under pressure from international organisations, like Transparency International that wanted some sort of actions against corruption, he was forced to bring about EFCC. He brought a young man named Ribadu, he never expected that Ribadu would perform that good. So, Ribadu’s performance is an oasis in the desert of corruption. What we are now hoping is that Ribadu, after May 29 will look at the records again, will look at the complaints of Nigerians, including mine, against Obasanjo. For example, his library took me to court. His library which he launched on May 14, 2005 at Abeokuta garnered N8.5 billion. [Femi] Otedola gave N250 million; [Otunba Mike] Adenuga N350 million; [Aliko] Dangote, N220 million; consortium of banks N1.9 billion; consortium of oil companies N2.4 billion and so on. These oil companies we talk about, for eight years Obasanjo was the Minister of Petroleum Resources apart from being the head of state. No oil block was ever given to anybody without the connivance and approval of General Olusegun Obasanjo. He was more active as an oil minister than Mr. President. So there must be more than meets the eye. I will therefore want Ribadu to dust all files, to look at all records and do a thorough investigation into the administration of General Obasanjo, into the personal fortunes of Obasanjo, into the family fortunes of Obasanjo and into Obasanjo’s fortunes all over the world. And let us come with the correct analysis and truth about Olusegun Obasanjo. So that when the facts are all gathered and known, Ribadu will then take the matter to court and charge Obasanjo for corruption and abuse of office. So that the truth will be told about this man who pretended so much.

OBJ Believes He Is God’s Greatest Gift To Nigeria

Akin Oyebode, former vice chancellor, University of Ado-Ekiti and Professor of Law at the University of Lagos speaks with SYLVESTER ASOYA on President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure

In a few days, President Olusegun Obasanjo will cease to be Nigeria’s president. What are the prospects of life outside office for him?
He is not yet out of office. He is still in office and also in power. I agree with you that he has a few more days yet to vacate the position of President
and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. But the way he has been posturing in the last couple of days, for me suggests some withdrawal symptoms in the sense that it has now dawned on him that power will soon pass him by. And somebody who has been used to dominating his environment, calling the shots and being celebrated and saluted as Baba suddenly becomes impotent. It is not a situation he loves to be in if you know the persona of General Obasanjo. In his interaction with human beings, you will notice that most of his friends have abandoned him or he has abandoned them. So he is not too happy with the prospect of a lonely retirement because he is used to being in the news.
Now, he is just a former head of state. He had it before in 1979 when he handed over, but he believes that he is the greatest gift of God to Nigeria. Remember he once asked: “How many presidents do you want to make of me?” And he has this Myasthenic complex, he believes that God gave him only one instruction, which is, to rule Nigeria.
I won’t say to govern. He came like a ruler, an emperor. So, this sudden loss of power is affecting him. Once you’re no longer in power, you will miss the courtesies, the foolery of hangers on, and jesters. Now he is banished to the anonymity of Ota Farm. Although he still wants to be relevant and he has rejoined the association of former leaders. I think I understand his predicament, but he should be rest assured that there is life after retirement and that it could have been worse. So he should look at it with a sense of deja vu. He has nothing to worry about.
Afterall he said that if given another chance he will do everything the same way he did it which is completely unrepentant. Again, that for me, smacks more of bravado.
Definitely he is in discomfiture and he is trying to paper over the cracks by giving us the picture of a wholly-together person who has damned the consequences.
President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure will remain an issue for debate in the years ahead but as an academic, how would you rate him?
It is a mixed bag. He tried to do something about a few things like corruption. I’m saying that in terms of impressing the world that we are doing something about corruption, Obasanjo has moved us a few notches. And we used to be one of the least developed countries despite all our oil fortunes. We have now moved up.
But when you look at the index of the UNDP, we still have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world and one of the highest maternal morbidity rate. Now, when you look at infrastructure, the roads have collapsed, Nigeria can’t guarantee power supply for 24 hours in any part of the country, common water is not available.
We still have Mai ruwa, people who sell water in gallons, in this country. Look at the urban squalor and the rural poverty. Really, Nigeria is a basket case. Of course you can be smiling that we have over 43 billion dollars in foreign reserve but have you ever seen a man who has so much money in the bank and he is starving himself? There is a problem. Look at fuel, Obasanjo increased fuel prices more than 11 times. I can’t believe it.
He just wanted to punish the people. I don’t understand. He is either a sadist or we ourselves are masochists, there are no two ways about it.
The living conditions of Nigerians have been battered when you sum it up in the Nigerian economy. There is no hiding the fact that our lives have really gone under. Is it the exchange rate? How much was it when he came it? How did lecturers run away from Nigeria? The foreign lecturers could no longer stay here because the home remittances could not keep them in business. So they went elsewhere.
So, I am saying that anybody who wanted to resume, rediscover or re-invent Nigeria, should approach the matter differently. I will concede that General Obasanjo succeeded in identifying some whizkids to prosecute his programmes because leadership is the ability to determine goals and identify those who would actualise those goals. No leader can progress more than the men and women around him.
But I say that the blueprint was faulty. And he also had an over bearing persona, he was breathing down the neck of those whizkids.
Obasanjo’s personality, this domineering figure of Baba who knows best did not enable this guys to thrive. Look at the Foreign Affairs ministry, he had no foreign minister; he was minister of petroleum. He even told his advisers that he was not bound to take their advice. If you know it all, then why have advisers? When he talks, he leans on the podium. He likes tutoring other people. You can see the way and manner he has been talking down on academics, trying to humiliate them. He must know that academics are international commodities.
But he is a proprietor of universities. His interest is not in running the public universities because he does not have interest there. When I joined this university three decades ago, we had an international faculty. We had students from Ghana, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Gambia, East Africa. All sorts of students came to read Law here.
But in last eight eight years, perhaps the only foreign students we have are refugees.



Andrew Young, Obasanjo’s Friend

As an international wheeler dealer, here is what makes Andrew Young tick

For years, Andrew Young, the civil rights leader, has been deeply involved in this country (Nigeria) through the lobbying and consulting firm he heads, GoodWorks International. Its motto is: “We do well by doing good.”
But the question of what exactly GoodWorks is or is not doing here has turned Mr. Young and his firm into something of a lightning rod, as Nigerians prepare to elect a successor Saturday to this country’s president, Olusegun Obasanjo, whom Mr. Young has known for 30 years.
“We believe that the relationship between GoodWorks International and Nigeria is foisted on juicy financial benefits to the former,” said an editorial earlier this year in a newspaper here, This Day.
For his part, Mr. Young, the former congressman, United Nations ambassador and mayor of Atlanta, dismissed such comments as sniping by opponents of Mr. Obasanjo’s party, which is expected to win the weekend election.
But there is also little question that Nigeria has been very good for GoodWorks; thanks in part to Mr. Young’s long ties to Mr. Obasanjo, his firm in Atlanta has earned millions of dollars here over the years through a network of business dealings that extend far beyond lobbying.
As business has gone increasingly global, many consulting firms based in the United States, like GoodWorks, have increased their operations abroad, taking on assignments in developing nations like Nigeria where power and wealth are frequently concentrated in a few hands. And consulting experts say it is common for United States firms that lobby for foreign governments in Washington to also have business interests in those countries.
A look at GoodWorks’ activities in Nigeria, based on interviews and documents, provides a window into how embedded such lobbyists can become in developing economies.
Along with lobbying for Nigeria, for example, GoodWorks is paid to represent many major companies like Chevron, General Electric and Motorola that seek big contracts from the Nigerian government.
In addition, executives of GoodWorks have stakes in Nigeria’s oil industry, the country’s main source of wealth. And several years ago, the firm’s chief executive, Carlton A. Masters, started an American company with close relatives of President Obasanjo that bought an expensive Miami property with Mr. Masters’s money, Florida records show.
It is not illegal for lobbyists simultaneously to represent foreign countries and companies seeking business from them. And they are not barred from having business interests in countries they represent in Washington.
Mr. Young and Mr. Masters also said in recent interviews that they had been scrupulous in avoiding conflicts between their governmental and corporate clients. They added that their clients who have won contracts in Nigeria have done so fairly, by outbidding competitors.
“We don’t pay anyone under the table, and we don’t accept any kind of questionable payments or relationships,” Mr. Young said. “We don’t work with people where there are questions of integrity involved.”
For Mr. Young, the involvement of GoodWorks in Nigeria is also one of the lesser-known chapters in a long, celebrated and at times controversial career.
Last year, for example, Mr. Young, who first became known as a top aide to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., resigned as a consultant to Wal-Mart after he said that Jewish, Arab and Korean store owners had “ripped off” black communities by “selling us stale bread and bad meat.” He subsequently apologized for the remarks.
GoodWorks has also generated controversy here. Two years ago, for instance, one local activist filed a complaint that, among other things, criticized Mr. Masters for his role in fund-raising for a $50 million, American-style presidential library named after Mr. Obasanjo that is being built in his hometown north of this chaotic and desperately poor city.
Also in 2005, the Nigerian leader was the host for Mr. Masters’s wedding at the official presidential banquet hall, an event that drew outcries from Mr. Obasanjo’s critics.
Several activists in Nigeria said in recent interviews that they believed that Mr. Young had decided simply to profit here from his legacy rather than use it to help a country that remains beset by problems of political corruption, crumbling infrastructure and failed school systems.
“Andrew Young has never been interested in these issues,” said Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer who is also president of the West African Bar Association. “He is just here making money.”
Mr. Young said that while some people still viewed him as an “activist trapped in the ’60s,” he had decided long ago that he could effect more change by attracting private investment to places like Nigeria that needed it.
He also said that the Obasanjo library, which is being underwritten by donations from local politicians and companies, would benefit all Nigerians by serving as a conference center.
“For 40 years of my life, I was on the outside seeking change,” he said. “I realized that I could be more effective being on the inside implementing it.”
GoodWorks, which Mr. Young and Mr. Masters helped found in 1996, has also lobbied in the United States for Rwanda and Turks and Caicos Islands. Mr. Young declined to disclose the firm’s revenue but said that the vast bulk of it came from its operations here.
A spokesman for Mr. Obasanjo, Uba Sani, said that the Nigerian government was pleased with GoodWorks’ performance, describing the firm as “good friends of Nigeria.” And Mr. Masters said much of the recent criticism of GoodWorks was coming from those who did not want to see the firm’s lobbying contract, which expired in April, renewed by Nigeria’s next president. After eight consecutive years as president, Mr. Obasanjo is barred from running again.
GoodWorks’ dealings in Nigeria reflect Mr. Young’s relationship over three decades with Mr. Obasanjo. And like much else in Mr. Young’s life, it is a relationship filled with a mix of drama, ideals and opportunism.
The two men met in the late 1970s, when Mr. Obasanjo, then a general, first served as this country’s president, one in a long line of military figures who ruled Nigeria.
“Obasanjo and I kind of hit it off immediately,” said Mr. Young, who was the United States ambassador to the United Nations at the time. “We were mainly concerned with democracy.”
Two decades later, the names of Mr. Young and Mr. Obasanjo, who was no longer in public office, appeared together in a United States Senate report about the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, the rogue financial institution.
The report criticized Mr. Young for, among other things, trying to obtain a bank loan to help Mr. Obasanjo start a farm equipment company for which he would have worked as a consultant.
That deal never went forward. But in the mid-1990s, Mr. Young found himself urging Gen. Sani Abacha, then Nigeria’s president, to release a number of political opponents he had jailed, including Mr. Obasanjo. In 1999, the year after his release, Mr. Obasanjo was voted president in democratic elections.
Mr. Young said he believed that his old ally had since reshaped the country for the better by eliminating entrenched corruption and raising the quality of life.
“There isn’t anything that’s happened in Africa worthwhile, almost since 1960, that he hasn’t been involved in,” Mr. Young said.
Some activists credit Mr. Obasanjo for certain improvements, like taking some steps to increase the transparency of how this country’s oil wealth is distributed. But they added that he has allowed Nigeria’s infrastructure to disintegrate further while a small group of insiders has grown richer; electrical blackouts are routine and highways are so bad that short journeys can take hours.
Mr. Masters said that GoodWorks, which became Nigeria’s lobbyist in 2001, had worked with officials there to reduce the country’s international debts. But unlike some lobbyists for foreign governments, the firm appears to have done little to influence American policy toward its client. For instance, GoodWorks said that it had “no recollection” of a single instance in which it represented Nigeria in talks with any federal overseas development agencies.
Instead, the firm, apparently in keeping with Mr. Young’s philosophy, has focused its energies on business development in Nigeria and representing companies before Mr. Obasanjo’s government.
Mr. Masters said that GoodWorks typically received a “success fee” equal to 1 ½ percent of a contract’s value, a fee that can lead to big payouts. In 2005, for example, G.E. Energy, a GoodWorks client, won a $400 million contract to supply generating turbines in Nigeria.
The company, a subsidiary of General Electric, said in a statement that it had a “standard sales representative agreement” with GoodWorks, but declined to elaborate.
Mr. Young said that GoodWorks has started small companies here that employ Nigerians. But the company also has other local business interests. For example, the head of the company’s Nigerian office is the major shareholder in a local energy company, Suntrust Oil, which won a lease during a 2002 government auction of offshore fields that did not interest major energy companies.
While Mr. Young, 75, still serves as the firm’s public face, it is Mr. Masters, in his late 50s, who spends much of his time traveling through Africa and the Caribbean. Along the way he has made his own connections.
In 2001, for instance, Mr. Masters formed a Florida company, Sunscope Investments, with Mr. Obasanjo’s brother-in-law and his wife, that purchased a Miami condominium for about $750,000, Florida public records indicate.
Asked about the issue, Mr. Masters said in a written statement that he had put up the money that Sunscope used to buy the property. He added, however, that Mr. Obasanjo’s relatives had quickly lost interest in the venture and had not profited from it in any way.
Florida records indicate that Mr. Obasanjo’s sister-in-law, Yamisi Abebe, remained an officer of Sunscope until last year, when the company was dissolved and transferred its interest in the condominium to Mr. Masters for a nominal sum.
One lobbying expert, Charles Lewis, the founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan group in Washington that monitors lobbying, said that given Mr. Masters’s multiple lobbying roles in Nigeria, his decision to involve President Obasanjo’s relatives in his business dealings was troubling.
“It looks like hell,” Mr. Lewis said.
Mr. Masters stated he had done nothing wrong.
This weekend’s election will decide whether Umaru Yar’Adua, the candidate of Mr. Obasanjo’s party, will succeed him. If he does, it is far more likely that GoodWorks will remain Nigeria’s lobbyist than if one of the opposing parties is elected.
“We’ve never gotten involved in politics,” Mr. Young said earlier this year. “We’ve tried to stay friendly with everyone.”


– Courtesy, New York Times. Published: April 18, 2007 .[/color]

Kai, Obj has stirred the hornets nest - stings from all angles. That is why one must not throw stones if one lives in a glass house.

Obasanjo who was worse than Jonathan during his days have suddenly turned the messiah of the masses.

Erm! Mr JP_Philips, I remember a while ago when you rated OBJ very high relative to GEJ.

Wetin hapu oga mi ?

Little wonder he bided us farewell with an increase in the petroleum pump price due to our objection to his 3rd term agenda.

I wonder how some people sleep at night.

Obj saint over night. The issues OBJ raised has always been in the scene of Nigeria politics even before we got our independent in 1960. It also took place during OBJ government. The issue of bringing the country down has existed. Self and group ambition is responsibe. We're having a problem of power/loot and not development. OBJ should equally write a letter to this bloody extremist in the North called them govs, leaders and godfathers, who think the country is their company. And the crises ranging from PDP to Bokoharam has to with ambition by a few group of people who cannot offer anything meaningful to the country. To OBJ, GEJ should by 2015 hand over power to who? Atiku and co devil. Pls allow Nigerians to drive the country not zone or group selfness.

Message from a Nigerian Youth www.nairaland.com/1564305/message-leaders-today

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Summary

Yawns

well, with all said and done, if we as vulnerable as we presently are, with some of us turning right and, the next second turning left, are asked to vote to decide who is a better man between obj and gej I suppose if we look well enough we would still vote in favour of the later. as for me me I can always tell a man of goodwill even if I gain from him or not.

OBASANJO NEEDS TO ACT LIKE NELSON MANDELA!© by Attorney Patryk Utulu (USA)
--Attorney Patryk Utulu

In keeping with the generous spirit of Nelson Mandela, I – and I suspect, millions of Nigerians – suffered in silence as we watched Chief Olusegun Obasanjo engage in brazen self-eulogy masquerading as praise for Mandela. Granted, other “leaders” did it too but in more comments than one, Chief Obasanjo was alternately mourner-in-chief, praise-singer extraordinaire but also, self-promoting super braggart. Yes, Chief OBJ all but anointed himself best friend, biological son, soul mate and political heir to Mandela.

But besides his nuisance value in the APC versus PDP power struggle, what is Obasanjo really up to?

It is an objective, historically accurate, non-partisan fact that Chief Obasanjo was:
President of Nigeria from 29 May 1999 – 29 May 2007….and before that:
Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria from Feb 1976 to Sept 1979….and before that:
Vice President of Nigeria from July 1975 to February 1976….but has become:
At 75 years, a septuagenarian who disdains etiquette and often publicly trades insults with journalists!

Which begs the question:
(1): As a 75-year old man who had been Vice President, Military Head of State empowered with absolute decrees and a two-term 8-year President of Nigeria, WHAT DOES OBASANJO THINK HE CAN DO FOR NIGERIA NOW that HE COULDN’T HAVE DONE during his multi years of political power?
(2): Put differently, can anyone imagine President Nixon being efficient in today’s Google-age America?

Far be it from me to ever free sorry for a man who owns an airplane. But for the sake of our Fatherland I’m forced to be sorry that Chief OBJ is not “enigmatic” as much as he is a bored, educated olden who is bankrupt in common sense and ideas on productive use of that vast wealth he accumulated in office.

If civilization is about knowing how to invite yourself to a party, then sophistication is about knowing how to leave while the applause is still on. OBJ’s friends ought to tell him that he isn’t Mandela or Socrates as much as he’s become a comedian who laughs at his own jokes.

But Chief OBJ can still be relevant. Examples abound of ex-presidents in continuing global relevancy:
(1): President Clinton has Clinton Global Initiatives which “supports the development of commitments by facilitating dialogue and, economic opportunities, etc. Since leaving office Bill Clinton has used CGI to engineer global cross-sectoral partnerships, obtaining 2,500 global commitments, which are already improving the lives of more than 430 million people in over 180 countries estimated at $87.9 billion.
(2): President Jimmy Carter has been involved in a variety of international public policy, human rights, charitable causes, eradicating guinea worms/river blindness, monitoring elections, building Habit for Humanity Homes for the poor, and as global goodwill ambassador, resolving conflicts!

So, dear Chief Obasanjo: whether or not your daughter, Iyabo, wrote that letter the premise holds true: Nigeria is NOT your family heirloom…and Aso Villa is not the seat of your family estate. Stop distracting from the big problems we have in Nigeria. Please follow the example of your self-declared mentor, Mandela, who put in his time, gave up power, went home and maintained unto death a policy of contributing constructively from the sidelines without interfering with his successors. The greatest title in life is Private Citizen. Millions of Nigeria’s Youth need your help. Please spend your time, money and wisdom helping them. You can create a Charitable Foundation and DECLARE yourself PRESIDENT OF YOUTHS OF NIGERIA. Even President Jonathan will be thrilled to come to your inauguration.

Without distractions, Nigerians need APC and PDP to tell Nigerians what they’ll do if given a mandate
If you love Mandela as much as you claim then do what Mandela did: forget Aso Villa and Go Home!

Patryk A. Utulu is a U.S.-based attorney and Strategic Communications Consultant
Executive Director, The Center for Community Empowerment and Lifeskills, Inc. (USA)
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