The first wife of the former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo has broken it in spectacular style with a tell-all autobiography, Bitter-Sweet: My Life with Obasanjo. The author paints a portrait of her husband as a vindictive "master of decoy", a "violent and unrepentant wife-basher", and a man whose "womanising knows no bounds". It couldn't come at a worse time for the 72-year-old Mr Obasanjo who has been busily building a new profile for himself as a pan-African statesman second only to Kofi Annan.

What ensues is an almost slapstick riot of affairs and breathless high politics punctuated with domestic violence and desperation. And it's one in which Mama Iyabo is happy to name names. In the early 1970s her particular nemesis was an older married woman called Mowo Sofowora. One evening, she recalls: "I was eavesdropping on the phone downstairs while Obasanjo was in the bedroom. They had spoken for about 30 minutes when she then said she was having a headache. I had heard enough, so I butted in: 'It's that headache that will kill you, shameless married woman dating a younger man'. On hearing my voice, Obasanjo charged downstairs to beat me and we had one of the many fights that had come to define our marriage."

On another occasion Oluremi Obasanjo, now pregnant, was surprised to hear a nurse at the hospital announcing that Mrs Obasanjo was coming in with her sick children. "Lo and behold, she [Mowo] soon appeared with Busola and Segun, my children. I removed my head tie ... and lunged at her. 'Mowo, Oko ni o gba, o le gba omo mi,' I screamed, meaning: 'You may snatch my husband you can't snatch my kids.' I slapped and punched her. It was a spectacle. The hospital was turned upside down. I ran after the car that brought her, smashed the side glass." Surprisingly she reserves no particular ire for Stella Adebe-Obasanjo, who would go on to be the general's third and most notorious wife, eventually dying while undergoing liposuction in Spain. She describes Stella as just another in "the stable of Obasanjo's many ponies. Her problem was that she was too showy and lacked self respect. During our tempest, she would telephone me to announce that she was in complete control of my husband." In addition to the string of affairs, including one with a wife of another Big Man, the Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, she reveals an extraordinary fallout with Murtala Muhammed, the brigadier he would later succeed in 1976 as military ruler of Nigeria. Muhammed's mistake was to reprimand him over his treatment of his wife: "Obasanjo was enraged that Muhammed was telling him how to take care of his wife. So, he grabbed Muhammed by the collar, in the presence of other officers, and challenged him to a duel."

The final word of course should go to Mama Iyabo, who says that it's about time more people followed her lead: "The public deserves to know a lot more about the experiences of public figures beyond the advertised public appearances they see. If my work has succeeded in doing so, we should look at it as expanding the democratic frontiers of free flow of information. Nigeria and Nigerians need to shed the culture of undue secrecy about public figures and public affairs."

Gripping and racy, it is a story you may not put down until you get to the last page. It is a worthy addition to the growing literature of adventures in power.

Source: http://www.sunshinebookseller.com/_item?item_id=439001

...“If my work has succeeded in doing so, we should look at it as expanding the democratic frontiers of free flow of information. Nigeria and Nigerians need to shed the culture of undue secrecy about public figures and public affairs.”...

Welcome to the world of publishing, ma'am! God bless Nigeria.

Heheheh I dey laff oh! OBJ why did u write dat letter to GEJ? U see urself now? U hav finished urself by urself. Hahahahahahaha rest in the dustbin of political history foolish old man.

Na wa ooooo! Enough of these open letters,pls close them up. We are tired of viewing ur dirty linen in public.
Mrs Obasanjo,doh ooo,sorry. But u enjoyed the benefits that came with it.Life is a bit*ch,so deal with it!

OBJ's downfall is coming from his own household, people who fed on his table, slept on same bed with, but then who else can know you better, and if these same people say you are rotten, what else can Nigerians say?

Op, did she send the letter to you?

Jenams: Heheheh I dey laff oh! OBJ why did u write dat letter to GEJ? U see urself now? U hav finished urself by urself. Hahahahahahaha rest in the dustbin of political history foolish old man.

the foolish ones are those who are so dumb to thinlk OBJ will be deterred by such letters....

FreeWill01: Op, did she send the letter to you?

http://mobile.dudamobile.com/site/sunshinebookseller?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sunshinebookseller.com%2F_item%3Fitem_id%3D439001#2674

martyns303: OBJ's downfall is coming from his own household, people who fed on his table, slept on same bed with, but then who else can know you better, and if these same people say you are rotten, what else can Nigerians say?

You sharp ooh. Iyabo first now another ghost wife.

Why did they have to wait till now, to write this composition . If it was cos obj wrote to Jonathan highlighting his misdeeds, it completely foolish.

And Nigerians need to see this Jonathan can't take a punch like a man, stand up and keep fighting. His modus operandi follows lining up human shield as barriers most of which are women.

Patience takes shots for him
Okonjo takes shots for him
Iyabo makes shots for him.
Now another ode is making shot for him.

The man is a disgrace to Niger delta men. Bloody coward, face your enemy squarely .

Shame on you Jonathan wooo wooo woooo shame !

The OP is a foöl. Remi Obasanjo never wrote any letter to OBJ. What you posted here was gotten from a news item following Remi's launch of her book when OBJ was 72. OBJ is now 75. I believe OBJ is preparing his reply to GEJ.

This is from a book she published YEARS ago....

SLIDE waxie: the foolish ones are those who are so dumb to thinlk OBJ will be deterred by such letters....

Until evil people like you lead him to irreparable destruction

Orlando Owoh: The OP is a foöl. Remi Obasanjo never wrote any letter to OBJ. What you posted here was gotten from a news item following Remi's launch of her book when OBJ was 72. OBJ is now 75. I believe OBJ is preparing his reply to GEJ.

But Jona hasn't said anything

ckkris: But Jona hasn't said anything

Who is talking about Jona? Trailer pack I no see am, na the driver I go come see? Rubbish.

Its only in Nigeria that the personal lives of our politicians dont affect their political life

@OP, this isn't an open letter. It's an autobiography. So, you may want to correct the title of your post.

Jonathan should be man enough and tell Nigerians if what OBJ accused him is true or not. Rather than this hide and seek game.

Love_Decay:

You sharp ooh. Iyabo first now another ghost wife.

Why did they have to wait till now, to write this composition . If it was cos obj wrote to Jonathan highlighting his misdeeds, it completely foolish.

And Nigerians need to see this Jonathan can't take a punch like a man, stand up and keep fighting. His modus operandi follows lining up human shield as barriers most of which are women.

Patience takes shots for him
Okonjo takes shots for him
Iyabo makes shots for him.
Now another ode is making shot for him.

The man is a disgrace to Niger delta men. Bloody coward, face your enemy squarely .

Shame on you Jonathan wooo wooo woooo shame !

cry me an ocean.

I just like GEJ. He is a true democrat. See how hitherto hidden and forbidden information are flowing freely to the public domain. GEJ has opened Nigeria to true democracy.

Please, let's support GEJ. I have no doubt that he can move Nigeria forward. Forget those prostitute politicians who are looking for looting partners.

GEJ keep up the good works. NIGERIANS are behind you.

It is open season folks!
Where is my type writer sef?

Lies lies lies,,just like in the case of Iyabo,,I heard she's sueing their a$$es up

egift: Jonathan should be man enough and tell Nigerians if what OBJ accused him is true or not.

Obasanjo is the now the topic. The hunter is now being hunted.

martyns303: OBJ's downfall is coming from his own household, people who fed on his table, slept on same bed with, but then who else can know you better, and if these same people say you are rotten,

Wait until Gbenga comes out with his own open letter to Obasanjo. Nigerians haven't seen half how BAD Obasanjo is.

Love_Decay:

You sharp ooh. Iyabo first now another ghost wife.

Why did they have to wait till now, to write this composition . If it was cos obj wrote to Jonathan highlighting his misdeeds, it completely foolish.

And Nigerians need to see this Jonathan can't take a punch like a man, stand up and keep fighting. His modus operandi follows lining up human shield as barriers most of which are women.

Patience takes shots for him
Okonjo takes shots for him
Iyabo makes shots for him.
Now another ode is making shot for him.

The man is a disgrace to Niger delta men. Bloody coward, face your enemy squarely .

Shame on you Jonathan wooo wooo woooo shame !

You are the biggest fool in Nigeria,mumu like you.

ckkris: Obasanjo is the now the topic. The hunter is now being hunted.

The lion with an arrow on his back should turn and fight for his life. That is what we want, not shadow boxing but the real tournament.

Out of all the cultures in Nigeria, Yoruba women have the best of equitable and respectful treatment in their household and relationship with husbands, particularly in expression of viewpoints their voice is never shut out. There is visibly a breakdown of proper communication channells in Obasanjo's household and one has to wonder why, given his status.

His household is venting and using the public to reach and tell him what ought to be told privately in family meeting. This could mean he does not keep an open door policy with members of his household and they find him closed to approach. How about Uncles and Aunts and other heads in the extended family to use as conduits? This is a disfunctional family.

Men that are gifted with abundant testosterone are always lacking in soft social skills where emotional empathy and the warmness of heart is needed to relate and support. Therefore they fail in marriages because they are unable to give to the household what it needs to stay put in longevity. Not finding support the wife rebels and takes her grief and children away with her. These men have best appeal and women find them sexually irresistable. Woman after woman, no time to share affection with his children and soon the coldness puts a distance and resentment in the children. Where do we find these men? What they lack at home they posess in society. They are superbly successful in running systems, whether strategic or tactical. They are the best in their career field. Look at people who have great success in military, politics, finance and banking, oil and energy, science and engineering, computing and technology, news media and publishing and so on. Their wealth is what holds their silently suffering family together.

Like this woman said, she is not only one in this predicament. If the wives of high grade military generals and wives of super successful politicians or engineers and technologists and inventors were to come forward with their stories, our jaws will hang so low it will drag on ground from shock and speechlessness.

What Im trying to say is, this news has zero national relevance, we should ignore it.

See how Jonah's enemies dey fight themselves, the man na real Goodluck.

open letter season 3

Touch not my anointed.

personal family issues no concern nigeria,this is all politics and nigerians are falling for it

Good for the old ba.stard, next time he will learn to keep his dirty mouth shut.

how can someone who has played such an ignominious role in the running of Nigeria castigate a fellow criminal for doing the exact same thing. This man's hypocrisy knows no bounds. I am happy his harem of ex wives and numerous children are coming out of the woodwork to expose him for the ugly, greedy, megalomaniac that he is, its just that Nigerians hate the truth, it is obvious that this old fool has many enemies but many are still keeping their mouths shut because they are gaining something from him, let his money run out tomorrow and you will see a steady flow of open letters being written by many of the same bootlickers that are defending him today.