Obasanjo weeps
By Ben Agande
Posted to the Web: Monday, May 21, 2007



* Remembers late wife, Stella
* Prays: May Jonathan never be like Atiku

ABUJA — It was meant to be the official handing over of the Villa Chapel, a non-denominational Christian worship centre, by President Olusegun Obasanjo to the incoming Vice President Jonathan Goodluck.

But mid way into the event, a tough-talking President Obasanjo was overcome by emotion and wept as he imagined how his late wife, Stella, would by now, be superintending the packing of their personal effects from the Presidential Villa to Ota as they had planned.

And for the in-coming president, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, Obasanjo had only one prayer for him: “may Goodluck never be like Atiku” and the congregation made up of top government functionaries and guests of the in-coming Vice President chorused “amen.”

And last night on a chat programme of the Nigerian Television Authority, "The President Speaks", the President chided politicians who believed in the efficacy of juju.
The hand-over of the Aso Rock Chapel was the highlight of the weekly church servicewhich President Obasanjo started on his assumption of office.
Top government functionaries and friends and family members of the Vice President-elect, Dr Jonathan including his wife and mother were in the church to witness the ceremony.
Admonishing the Vice President-elect on the need to prepare himself for the enormous responsibility ahead as the leader of the Aso Rock Chapel, President Obasanjo prayed that God would enable him to discharge his duties in that regard creditably.

The president said the assurances given him by the President-elect, Alhaji Yar’Adua, a Muslim, that thechurch would be allowed to exist, emboldened him to hand over the chapel to Dr Jonathan.

He said unlike man, God could be trusted without any form of disappointment, recalling how he trusted his deputy, Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Then he said: “May Goodluck never behave like Atiku” towhich the congregation chorused “Amen.”.

While accepting the baton of change from the president, Dr Jonathan who was also accompanied to the church service by a sizeable number of bishops and pastors from his home state, Bayelsa, described yesterday as a special day in his life.

He said while it might be very difficult for him to fill the vacuum created by the out-going president, he promised to do his best to carry on with the assignment in the best possible way he could.”

Quoting from 1st Kings Chapter 3 verses 6-9, the Vice President-elect prayed God to strengthen him for the tasks ahead just as He was with his mentor, Obasanjo, whom he said, propped him up and put him in his present position.
In his sermon entitled: “Guaranteed key to continuity,” the Chaplain of the Aso Villa Chapel, the Rev. WilliamOkoye, spoke of the importance of continuity in


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Amen

Amen

Amen

Atiku is not bad but Nigerias dont wanna accept atiku, Well

AMEN

@smile4keen: So till today you don't see anything wrong with Atiku Abubakar? is a pity,anywhere the most important thing is that Nigerians are praying very hard for Yara dua and Jonathan,if you can say Amen to this Good prayers, I wonder when you can ever say Amen to a prayer.

May Jonathan never be like Atiku

A--M--E--N!!!!!!!!!

Amen; as long as Yar'Adua never be like OBJ.

I still think professionally and as a leader, that statement shouldn't have been stated by OBJ.
This is not OTA farm that we are managing, this is a country; we must watch what we say and know how to comport ourselves with dignity as a leader. The kids, the future of tomorrow are watching.

No disrespect to the young sisters, but the fight between OBJ and Atiku reminds me of a fight between 2 girls.

Let's consider the whole mess as a dream we never want to remember.

Moreover, this kind of statement could also create animosity between Atiku's supporters and Yar'Adua's administration supporters; and this is far from what we want for our country.

We do not want to use OBJ and Atiku's admin as a bench-mark to judge this new administration. We want a new beginning for the Nigerians and Nigeria. No baggage from the past is allowed.

Please, forget these folks (OBJ and Atiku) and let's move forward.

its a free country and freedom of speech, so he can say what ever he wants to say about ATIKU, it's up to the citizens to dissect and make sense on what they hear.

Exactly, you should be able to easily relate to what I'm referring to; only God knows what you've heard or seen during your upbringing as a child, for you to************ ********** ######### #########.

MAMAJAMA:

its a free country and freedom of speech, so he can say what ever he wants to say about ATIKU, it's up to the citizens to dissect and make sense on what they hear.

The sense in it is that OBJ is behaving so childishly for such statement he presented in a gathering of such and he has reduced himself as an elder statesman

@Has:
Thank you very much, I think you got it.

Our people do not profoundly understand Leadership Roles; and our leaders, on the other hand are not helping either.
Everybody wants to be a leader, but no one has the true stamina, knowledge and solid mental state of mind to effectively perform as one.

One of our major problems in Nigeria

Just because you're the oldest individual in the village doesn't mean you're a leader. It is much more bigger than that.

its a free country and freedom of speech, so he can say what ever he wants to say about ATIKU, it's up to the citizens to dissect and make sense on what they hear.

Mamajama, you must be a crackhead. Your post makes no sense

If Yar'adua goes in the foot steps of OBJ(wants tenure elongation) then i pray that Goodluck Jonathan becomes like Atiku and stop him just the way Atiku stopped OBJ, he(Atiku) might not be a good man but he deserves credit for driving OBJ to his otta farm. if not for the likes of Atiku (though his war against 3rd term was personal and for his own selfish good) Nigeria will not be thinking of handing power to another civilian government come May 29th.

degoat if I am a crackhead, then that makes you a degenerated RETARDED DWARF, Punk boy you better check yourself before I put the smack at your mouth.

In response to the elite. OBJ is an elder stateman, and should be able to give advice to his successor. him telling Jonathan to be faithful to his boss has no grounds for criticism. We as people live and learn from our mistakes, shame on you if you make the same mistakes twice.what is the definition of DEMOCRACY? and what are the features of DEMOCRACY? you guys exert too much energy on irrelevant issues.

amin.

MAMAJAMA:

In response to the elite. OBJ is an elder stateman, and should be able to give advice to his successor. him telling Jonathan to be faithful to his boss has no grounds for criticism. We as people live and learn from our mistakes, shame on you if you make the same mistakes twice.what is the definition of DEMOCRACY? and what are the features of DEMOCRACY? you guys exert too much energy on irrelevant issues.

Being loyal to the president at the expense of the constitution and the citizenry at large is the utmost stupidity the subordinates of a ruler can indulge in, the advice OBJ ought to be giving Goodluck is to defend the constitution with all he has and to be loyal to the people of the country not being loyal to the president cos the president is just a person and nigeria is supposed to be greater than that person. i will still reiterate that if ya'adua becomes like OBJ and seeks to turn the constitution so that he will elongate his tenure then Goodluck should be like atiku, revolt against it and drive him back to katsina the way Atiku drove OBJ to otta

Atiku drove OBJ to Otta? That is completely laughable, why give credit that is due to the
lawmakers to only a single individual who had no constitutional power to affect the outcome
of OBJ gunning for a third term. Did Atiku give the lawmakers a special brew that helped them
grow new backbones (courtesty of his marabout ) ?

I believe old age is creeping up on OBJ, otherwise he should have known that some of his
utterances or actions are counter-productive as it makes him seem almost childish. Having
said that, a leader need a loyal deputy to succeed. We can't afford another embarrassing
situation where the President and his deputy are bickering like husband and wife. If the VP
feels the President is out of line and is acting outside the limits of the constitution, he should
spill the beans and resign honorably. The role of the VP is not to replace the legislature.

By the way, between Atiku and OBJ who is laughing now? OBJ has masterfully crushed his
enemies and caged other enemies of the country, 3rd term or no 3rd term.

I will say, it is too early to make that judgment at this point. Both of them are still running around with the immunity protection, let us wait for about 6 months and see what happens.

As far as am concerned the quarell between OBJ and Atiku is the best thing that has happened to this country for so long.

That being said every successive government should always be better than their predecessors, and that is our prayers for Nigeria.

You know what? you're right; if it wasn't because of the quarrel between the two, one of them would have been our new president.
So, I second your point, McKren.

@BigB1

What is wrong in the statement?

May we never see the likes of Atiku again. A resounding Amen.

MAY JONATHAN NEVER BEHAVE LIKE CORRUPT,GREEDY,ARROGANT,DISLOYAL,FETISH AND UNGODLY ATIKU.AMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNN.

my beloved country. i cant wait to see the back of OBJ and be rid of his crass utterances. but in any case, may we never see the likes of atiku, obj and many others again, AMEN!!!

tunrex.dj:

MAY JONATHAN NEVER BEHAVE LIKE CORRUPT,GREEDY,ARROGANT,DISLOYAL,FETISH AND UNGODLY ATIKU.AMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNN.

You took the words right out of my mouth mate.
AAAAMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEN!!!!!!!!!!!! ^{Did I forget to say may his sorry ass rot in jail post May29?}

May we never again have the likes of both OBJ and ATIKU. Amen

Atiku and Buhari will soon become Yara dua's best friends. But OBJ will hurt Atiku to the extent that Atiku can have a breathing space near Yara dua