IS former President Olusegun Obasanjo the devil incarnate he was portrayed to be in Yinka Odumakin’s ‘Watch the Watcher’ and by all the commentators at the book launch? I know OBJ is capable of mischief; I know he is self-conceited; I know he has ego, a very large one for that matter. I have ceaselessly and mercilessly lashed at those downsides of the former President, who, arguably, is the most decorated Nigerian leader living. OBJ can be cantankerous - and annoyingly so! He applies stern rules on others but allows himself the luxury of laissez-faire. Often, he is as guilty, if not more guilty, of the same offences for which he calls upon the executioner to behead others. It was so when he lambasted Babangida’s regime in his “SAP with a human face” letter. It was so when he said MKO Abiola was not the messiah that Nigerians needed. It was so again in his latest “Before it is too late” letter to President Goodluck Jonathan. Often – and I think deliberately – Obasanjo drips with malice when he has decided to grind an axe with anyone. He throws all arsenals at his disposal into battle; he does nothing by halves. He also throws caution to the wind. On occasions, especially when he is out of office and out of favour, he says the right things or fights the good fights; but often, he is the wrong person to do so because he hardly comes to equity with clean hands. I do not know of an instance when OBJ accuses anyone of wrong-doing that it is not the case of the pot calling the kettle black. I have narrowed down Obasanjo’s problem to this: He claims more credit for himself than he actually deserves. He takes his own fair share of credit quite alright; but not satisfied with that, he also gobbles the credit due unto others. OBJ has a voracious and, perhaps, insatiable appetite for accolades. His hubris is taller than Mount Everest. Be it in his role in the Civil War of 1967\1970 or in his place in the political evolution of Nigeria since 1979, OBJ imagines he stands head and shoulders not just above anyone else but also above everyone rolled into one. General JJ Oluleye, now late, who was Obasanjo’s colleague in the Murtala Muhamed\Olusegun Obasanjo Federal Military Government of 1976\1979, had told this columnist: “Obasanjo has equal capacity to do both good and evil”. I agree no less!


Now to ‘Watch the Watcher’: That not a single kind word was said about Obasanjo at the book launch is evidence enough that politics, and not a disinterested evaluation of the man Obasanjo, was at play. Interestingly, the ‘Watch the Watcher’, led by the author, my brother Yinka Odumakin, and my senior professional colleague, Aremo Olusegun Osoba, was also on trial at the book launch. Vividly was the Yoruba adage played out, to wit, that when you point one accusing finger at someone else, the remaining four fingers point in your own direction. This time last election circle in 2011, Yinka Odumakin was the presidential spokesperson for the Buhari\Tunde Bakare CPC presidential ticket, which the Bola Tinubu party machinery supported up to a point before the accord between CPC and AC collapsed like a pack of cards. This time last election circle, too, Osoba was a staunch AC member who helped to install Ibikunle Amosun as governor of his native Ogun State; only recently, he was also a national leader of APC but today, both Yinka and Osoba are no longer on the same page with Buhari\Tinubu. It amuses me when I hear respectable Afenifere leaders portray Tinubu as evil. If he is, then, he is the vintage Frankenstein monster created by them. Sure, I have issues with some aspects of the politics of Tinubu, which I have not tired to express: The culture of impunity, deification of a mere mortal, personalisation of the state, and the primitive capitalist accumulation which he epitomises in many respect cannot but be offensive. But the sadder aspect of it is that Tinubu was the creation of those who today demonise him! They helped to fast-track his meteoric political rise; favoured him above his betters; compelled others to step down for him – and many of them were glad to eat from Tinubu’s hands while the good time lasted. Tinubu eventually proved smarter than them – and for them. When the others fell into Obasanjo’s ambush in 2003, only Tinubu escaped. And that was the game-changer! It is not for fun that Tinubu’s admirers call him “the last man standing”. Tinubu was the only governor of AD in 2003\2007; he successfully kept his hold on Lagos between 2007 and 2011, using godson Gov. Babatunde Raji Fashola as front; thereafter, his political fortunes witnessed an exponential rise when more states fell under his belt. He became automatically the rallying point of the party\tendencies opposed to the PDP. Just like they say of evangelism, money is the oil that lubricates the wheels of politics: the man who has it, who is willing to spend it, and who has favours and largesse to dispense in quantum becomes, inexorably, the beehive. Tinubu, however, has his fault lines: He loves power and will do anything to get and keep it. So he elbows other contenders and soon turns them into enemies. Like IBB, he believes in the “settlement” syndrome. He knows the important role money plays in politics; so he would not mind keeping by any means a hefty war chest. On top of these, he is not an especially humble person: If need be, he rubs it in!

But I am also not able to accept the picture painted of Tinubu as someone without a single redeeming feature. Whenever the APC describes President Goodluck Jonathan as clueless, I have often disagreed. It is not true that Jonathan has done nothing for Nigeria. He may not have known how to present his achievements or his negatives may, by today’s reckoning, dwarf his positives; there is, however, no denying the fact that he has won plaudits in certain areas – agriculture, for example; affirmative action for women is another. How about his making our elections more credible? With OBJ, we would have known by now who would ‘win’ next month’s elections! When tempers calm and politics recedes, Jonathan will be accorded his rightful place in history. As critical of Obasanjo as I have been, I nonetheless expect that whenever he speaks the truth to power, power should listen. I do, of course, understand why Obasanjo speaks speaks truth to power: It may be not as much as he cherishes the truth as he has personal scores to settle. Be that as it may, I will not throw away the baby with the bathwater: If I do, the truth will be lost; more so in our clime where, from time immemorial and not just beginning with Jonathan, power has perfected the art of silencing the mouths of many with filthy lucre. If ‘holy’ men, so to say, will not speak up, then, let us not restrain the ‘devils’ who decide to fill the void for whatever reason. If not for anything else, the role Tinubu has played in the emergence of a viable opposition to PDP - which has ruled since 1999 and which, as a result, had begun to take all of us for granted - is laudable. It bears repeating that democracy without vibrant opposition will sooner than later become autocracy.

I forbid anyone, however, to interpret the aforementioned as an endorsement of any of the two leading political parties. As they stand at the moment, both have a lot of work to do to gain my approval. Each time, therefore, that one points an accusing finger at the other, the remaining four fingers point in its own direction in a case of the pot calling the kettle black. If we accuse Jonathan of being spiteful of a neither-here-nor-there ‘gentleman’s agreement’ that he would not go for second term; how about Buhari who wept openly while telling Nigerians that 2011 was his last shot at the presidency? The only difference between Obasanjo’s Presidential Library donations of over N6 billion and Jonathan’s own campaign donations of over N21 billion is the figures involved; both are proceeds of corruption. At the launch of Yinka Odumakin’s ‘Watch the Watcher’ the reviewer, Prof. Gordini Darah, travelled memory lane to recall the epic battles fought by Nigerian students against Obasanjo’s policies that not only began the commercialisation of higher education in Nigeria but that also eroded the autonomy of the University system. Odumakin, in his vote of thanks, recalled the lecturers who were sacked by the Obasanjo regime for “teaching their students what they (the lecturers) were not paid to teach”. Odumakin was full of thanks to Darah, his lecturer at Ife, for belonging in that genre; otherwise, the author said he would not have become what he is today. “Ali Must Go” was the students’ battle\rallying cry during the struggle against Obasanjo and his Federal Military Government. Yet, the same Dr. Ahmadu Ali, who, as Federal Commissioner for Education (as they were then called), was the ‘Man Friday’ Obasanjo used to destroy higher education in Nigeria, truncate destinies, destroy flowering academic careers, and cause untold hardship in untold number of families, is today the Director-General of Jonathan’s re-election bid! Not a voice was raised against that at Yinka Odumakin’s book launch. Some Nigerians are downright insensitive; have impunity running deep in their blood arteries; have no sense of history; and have been thoroughly compromised! Was Ahmadu Ali’s appointment meant to placate or spite Obasanjo? Notice, also, the deafening silence of APC to the incongruous appointment of Ahmadu Ali: Of course, APC’s dilemma is not far to fetch: With their new-found romance with OBJ himself, castigating Ahmadu Ali would badly expose the opposition party’s ‘yansh’! The grandstanding of our politicians notwithstanding, the politics of compromise, devoid of ideological clarity and integrity of heart, which blurs men’s vision, distorts their focus, serves selfish interests while marginalising the citizenry, cuts across board.


http://www.tribune.com.ng/quicklinkss/opinion/item/27591-sad-day-for-obasanjo-iii/27591-sad-day-for-obasanjo-iii

how do i get the book?

OBJ is the real DEVIL INCARNATE!!!!
The reason Nigeria is in turmoil now.
His misadventures in NIGERIAN politics keep yielding bad results.

The worst is yet to come!!!!!

Unbiased and insightful article.

Watch the Watcher,nice name for a book.This article explains why some pple won't vote as doing so would mean choosing who you feel is the lesser of two evils.

viccipedia:
WHO KILLED FUNSO WILLIAMS

Google is your friend

God sees it all

Obasanjo is d man!!!

OBJ is still the man I believe is responsible for all these post military chaos we are struggling with today. It is his steps his followers are following. I don't think he has the right to even criticise GEJ.

Well, I love OBJ...

Nigeria and Drama ehen.

Obasanjo is a green snake in a green grass. No one knows if he's in PDP or APC now. He's the cause of the predicament Nigeria is going through now.
Am sure he's beefing GEJ cos he wasn't successful, going for third term, and now GEJ who he brought there is about to accomplish that. OBJ deal with it and stop spewing trash in an attempt to vent your fustration. Deal with it. Pot calling kettle black.
Painting another person black doesn't make you a saint.

GEJ till 2019.
GEJ until buhari writes and pass WAEC.

Jonathan success dey give am sleepless night

Gej till a better alternative!

Nigeria sha!
It baffles me in no small terms seeing men of yesteryears who's actions and inactions put Nigeria in this sorry state, join the bandwagon of those vilifying the current government.

The caliber of people against GEJ's administration actually made me to opt for a reappraisal of the reputation the opposition are trying so hard to sell to Nigerians and all I can say is, it's a SCAM!

It's quite saddening seeing people jubilate when men like OBJ badmouths the government, forgetting that it was these same people's cluelessness railroaded us into this sorry state. What changed? Nothing! It is still the same people. GEJ must have done something right to piss these sharks off so much.

I think it's safer to say #GEJ till 2019!

Let us open our eyes and stop looking at everything through the prism of inordinate sentiments.
Nothing is as it seems.

OBJ is not the one sc rewing Nigeria right now m o rons

OBJ can be cantankerous - and annoyingly so! He applies stern rules on others but allows himself the luxury of laissez-faire. Often, he is as guilty, if not more guilty, of the same offences for which he calls upon the executioner to behead others.

I totally agree with that assessment! 100likes

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President Jonathan To Speak On Current
National Issues Today At 7pm
www.nairaland.com/2140838/president-jonathan-speak-current-national#30609133

This is an unbiased exposition on a lot of SW leaders and their double dealings, they might be your friend today but if the course doesn't favour them they will do their chameleon thing

OBJ will soon die I prophecy.

GEJ til 2019

He don't matter no more.
I'll leave it at that.

And I should read all that?
Abeg make person summarise

No matter what they say, all I need is change.

Ok

Jonathan success dey give am sleepless night:

GEJ till obama wears jeans

The writer is neither here nor there! At this point in our struggle to choosing a credible leader, I don't think anyone who decides to sit on the fence should open his/her mouth. I want leaders that are bold, that can give us a pointer to a new Nigeria we yarn for.... Until then, please tell the OP to remain silent!

#GenerelalMarch4Buhari

Please am lazy to read this morning.

A kind Nigerian should summarise the post biko

The only kettle that calls pot black is OBJ.... He kept this country in the current state of motion without movement situation and he keep blaming another person. GMB till PEG forgive ali baba