By Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
December 20th 2013
His Excellency,
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR
Agbe L’Oba House, Quarry Road,
Ibara, Abeokuta.

RE: BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
I wish to formally acknowledge your letter
dated December 2, 2013 and other previous
correspondence similar to it.

You will recall that all the letters were brought
to me by hand. Although both of us discussed
some of the issues in those letters, I had not,
before now, seen the need for any formal reply
since, to me, they contained advice from a
former President to a serving President.

Obviously, you felt differently because in your
last letter, you complained about my not
acknowledging or replying your previous
letters.

It is with the greatest possible reluctance that I
now write this reply. I am most uneasy about
embarking on this unprecedented and
unconventional form of open communication
between me and a former leader of our country
because I know that there are more acceptable
and dignified means of doing so.

But I feel obliged to reply your letter for a
number of reasons: one, you formally
requested for a reply and not sending you one
will be interpreted as ignoring a former
President.

Secondly, Nigerians know the role you have
played in my political life and given the
unfortunate tone of your letter, clearly, the
grapes have gone sour. Therefore, my side of
the story also needs to be told.

The third reason why I must reply you in
writing is that your letter is clearly a threat to
national security as it may deliberately or
inadvertently set the stage for subversion.

The fourth reason for this reply is that you
raised very weighty issues, and since the letter
has been made public, Nigerians are expressing
legitimate concerns. A response from me
therefore, becomes very necessary.

The fifth reason is that this letter may appear
in biographies and other books which political
commentators on Nigeria’s contemporary
politics may write. It is only proper for such
publications to include my comments on the
issues raised in your letter.

Sixthly, you are very unique in terms of the
governance of this country. You were a military
Head of State for three years and eight
months, and an elected President for eight
years. That means you have been the Head of
Government of Nigeria for about twelve years.

This must have, presumably, exposed you to a
lot of information. Thus when you make a
statement, there is the tendency for people to
take it seriously.

The seventh reason is that the timing of your
letter coincided with other vicious releases. The
Speaker of the House of Representatives spoke
of my “body language” encouraging corruption.

A letter written to me by the CBN Governor
alleging that NNPC, within a period of 19
months did not remit the sum of USD49.8
billion to the federation account, was also
deliberately leaked to the public.

The eighth reason is that it appears that your
letter was designed to incite Nigerians from
other geopolitical zones against me and also
calculated to promote ethnic disharmony.
Worse still, your letter was designed to
instigate members of our Party, the PDP,
against me.

The ninth reason is that your letter conveys to
me the feeling that landmines have been laid
for me. Therefore, Nigerians need to have my
response to the issues raised before the mines
explode.

The tenth and final reason why my reply is
inevitable is that you have written similar
letters and made public comments in reference
to all former Presidents and Heads of
Government starting from Alhaji Shehu Shagari
and these have instigated different actions and
reactions. The purpose and direction of your
letter is distinctly ominous, and before it is too
late, my clarifications on the issues need to be
placed on record.

Let me now comment on the issues you raised.
In commenting I wish to crave your indulgence
to compare what is happening now to what
took place before. This, I believe, will enable
Nigerians see things in better perspective
because we must know where we are coming
from so as to appreciate where we now are,
and to allow us clearly map out where we are
going.

You raised concerns about the security
situation in the country. I assure you that I am
fully aware of the responsibility of government
for ensuring the security of the lives and
property of citizens. My Administration is
working assiduously to overcome current
national security challenges, the seeds of which
were sown under previous administrations.

There have been some setbacks; but certainly
there have also been great successes in our
efforts to overcome terrorism and insurgency.
Those who continue to down-play our
successes in this regard, amongst whom you
must now be numbered, appear to have
conveniently forgotten the depths to which
security in our country had plunged before
now.

At a stage, almost the entire North-East of
Nigeria was under siege by insurgents.
Bombings of churches and public buildings in
the North and the federal capital became an almost weekly occurrence. Our entire national
security apparatus seemed nonplussed and
unable to come to grips with the new threat
posed by the berthing of terrorism on our
shores.

www.saharareporters.com/news-page/letter-president-goodluck-jonathan-replies-former-president-obasanjo

But my administration has since brought that
very unacceptable situation under significant
control. We have overhauled our entire
national security architecture, improved
intelligence gathering, training, funding,
logistical support to our armed forces and
security agencies, and security collaboration
with friendly countries with very visible and
positive results.

The scope and impact of terrorist operations
have been significantly reduced and efforts are
underway to restore full normalcy to the most
affected North Eastern region and initiate a
post-crisis development agenda, including a
special intervention programme to boost the
region’s socio-economic progress.

In doing all this, we have kept our doors open
for dialogue with the insurgents and their
supporters through efforts such as the work of
the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and
the Peaceful Resolution of the Security
Challenges in the North-East. You also know
that the Governor of Borno State provided the
items you mentioned to me as carrots. Having
done all this and more, it is interesting that you
still accuse me of not acting on your hardly
original recommendation that the carrot and
stick option be deployed to solve the Boko
Haram problem.

Your suggestion that we are pursuing a “war
against violence without understanding the root
causes of the violence and applying solutions
to deal with all the underlying factors” is
definitely misplaced because from the onset of
this administration, we have been
implementing a multifaceted strategy against
militancy, insurgency and terrorism that
includes poverty alleviation, economic
development, education and social reforms.

Even though basic education is the
constitutional responsibility of States, my
administration has, as part of its efforts to
address ignorance and poor education which
have been identified as two of the factors
responsible for making some of our youth
easily available for use as cannon fodder by
insurgents and terrorists, committed huge
funds to the provision of modern basic
education schools for the Almajiri in several
Northern States. The Federal Government
under my leadership has also set up nine
additional universities in the Northern States
and three in the Southern States in keeping
with my belief that proper education is the
surest way of emancipating and empowering
our people.

More uncharitable persons may even see a
touch of sanctimoniousness in your new belief
in the carrot and stick approach to overcoming
militancy and insurgency. You have always
referred to how you hit Odi in Bayelsa State to
curb militancy in the Niger Delta. If the
invasion of Odi by the Army was the stick, I did
not see the corresponding carrot. I was the
Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State then, and as
I have always told you, the invasion of Odi did
not solve any militancy problem but, to some
extent, escalated it. If it had solved it, late
President Yar’Adua would not have had to
come up with the amnesty program. And while
some elements of the problem may still be
there, in general, the situation is reasonably
better.

In terms of general insecurity in the country
and particularly the crisis in the Niger Delta,
2007 was one of the worst periods in our
history. You will recall three incidents that
happened in 2007 which seemed to have been
orchestrated to achieve sinister objectives.
Here in Abuja, a petrol tanker loaded with
explosives was to be rammed into the INEC
building. But luckily for the country, an electric
pole stopped the tanker from hitting the INEC
building. It is clear that this incident was
meant to exploit the general sense of
insecurity in the nation at the time to achieve
the aim of stopping the 2007 elections. It is
instructive that you, on a number of occasions,
alluded to this fact.

When that incident failed, an armed group
invaded Yenagoa one evening with the intent
to assassinate me. Luckily for me, they could
not. They again attacked and bombed my
country home on a night when I was expected
in the village. Fortunately, as God would have
it, I did not make the trip.

I recall that immediately after both incidents, I
got calls expressing the concern of Abuja. But
Baba, you know that despite the apparent
concern of Abuja, no single arrest was ever
made. I was then the Governor of Bayelsa
State and the PDP Vice-Presidential candidate.
The security people ordinarily should have
unraveled the assassination attempt on me.
You also raised the issues of kidnapping, piracy
and armed robbery. These are issues all
Nigerians, including me are very concerned
about. While we will continue to do our utmost
best to reduce all forms of criminality to the
barest minimum in our country, it is just as
well to remind you that the first major case of
kidnapping for ransom took place around 2006.
And the Boko Haram crisis dates back to 2002.

Goodluck Jonathan was not the President of the
country then. Also, armed robbery started in
this country immediately after the civil war and
since then, it has been a problem to all
succeeding governments. For a former Head of
Government, who should know better, to
present these problems as if they were
creations of the Jonathan Administration is
most uncharitable.

Having said that, let me remind you of some of
the things we have done to curb violent crime
in the country. We have reorganized the
Nigerian Police Force and appointed a more
dynamic leadership to oversee its affairs. We
have also improved its manpower levels as
well as funding, training and logistical support.

We have also increased the surveillance
capabilities of the Police and provided its air-
wing with thrice the number of helicopters it
had before the inception of the present
administration. The National Civil Defence and
Security Corps has been armed to make it a
much more effective ally of the police and
other security agencies in the war against
violent crime. At both domestic and
international levels, we are doing everything
possible to curb the proliferation of the small
arms and light weapons with which armed
robberies, kidnappings and piracy are
perpetrated. We have also enhanced security
at our borders to curb cross-border crimes.
We are aggressively addressing the challenge
of crude oil theft in collaboration with the state
Governors. In addition, the Federal Government
has engaged the British and US governments
for their support in the tracking of the proceeds
from the purchase of stolen crude. Similarly, a
regional Gulf of Guinea security strategy has
been initiated to curb crude oil theft and piracy.
Perhaps the most invidious accusation in your
letter is the allegation that I have placed over
one thousand Nigerians on a political watch list,
and that I am training snipers and other militia
to assassinate people. Baba, I don’t know
where you got that from but you do me grave
injustice in not only lending credence to such
baseless rumours, but also publicizing it. You
mentioned God seventeen times in your letter.

Can you as a Christian hold the Bible and say
that you truly believe this allegation?
The allegation of training snipers to assassinate
political opponents is particularly
incomprehensible to me. Since I started my
political career as a Deputy Governor, I have
never been associated with any form of
political violence. I have been a President for
over three years now, with a lot of challenges
and opposition mainly from the high and
mighty. There have certainly been cases of
political assassination since the advent of our
Fourth Republic, but as you well know, none of
them occurred under my leadership.

Regarding the over one thousand people you
say are on a political watch list, I urge you to
kindly tell Nigerians who they are and what
agencies of government are “watching” them.
Your allegation that I am using security
operatives to harass people is also baseless.
Nigerians are waiting for your evidence of
proof. That was an accusation made against
previous administrations, including yours, but it
is certainly not my style and will never be.
Again, if you insist on the spurious claim that
some of your relatives and friends are being
harassed, I urge you to name them and tell
Nigerians what agencies of my administration
are harassing them.

I also find it difficult to believe that you will
accuse me of assisting murderers, or assigning
a presidential delegation to welcome a
murderer. This is a most unconscionable and
untrue allegation. It is incumbent on me to
remind you that I am fully conscious of the
dictates of my responsibilities to God and our
dear nation. It is my hope that devious
elements will not take advantage of your
baseless allegation to engage in brazen and
wanton assassination of high profile politicians
as before, hiding under the alibi your “open
letter” has provided for them.

Nevertheless, I have directed the security
agencies and requested the National Human
Rights Commission to carry out a thorough
investigation of these criminal allegations and
make their findings public.

That corruption is an issue in Nigeria is
indisputable. It has been with us for many
years. You will recall that your kinsman, the
renowned afro-beat maestro, Fela Anikulapo-
Kuti famously sang about it during your first
stint as Head of State. Sonny Okosun also sang
about corruption. And as you may recall, a
number of Army Generals were to be retired
because of corruption before the Dimka coup.
Also, the late General Murtala Mohammed
himself wanted to retire some top people in his
cabinet on corruption-related issues before he
was assassinated. Even in this Fourth Republic,
the Siemens and Halliburton scandals are well
known.

The seed of corruption in this country was
planted a long time ago, but we are doing all
that we can to drastically reduce its debilitating
effects on national development and progress. I
have been strengthening the institutions
established to fight corruption. I will not shield
any government official or private individual
involved in corruption, but I must follow due
process in all that I do. And whenever clear
cases of corruption or fraud have been
established, my administration has always
taken prompt action in keeping with the
dictates of extant laws and procedures. You
cannot claim to be unaware of the fact that
several highly placed persons in our country,
including sons of some of our party leaders are
currently facing trial for their involvement in
the celebrated subsidy scam affair. I can hardly
be blamed if the wheels of justice still grind
very slowly in our country, but we are doing
our best to support and encourage the judiciary
to quicken the pace of adjudication in cases of
corruption.

Baba, I am amazed that with all the knowledge
garnered from your many years at the highest
level of governance in our country, you could
still believe the spurious allegation contained in
a letter written to me by the Governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and
surreptitiously obtained by you, alleging that
USD49.8 billion, a sum equal to our entire
national budget for two years, is “unaccounted
for” by the NNPC. Since, as President, you also
served for many years as Minister of Petroleum
Resources, you very well know the workings of
the corporation. It is therefore intriguing that
you have made such an assertion. You made a
lot of insinuations about oil theft, shady
dealings at the NNPC and the NNPC not
remitting the full proceeds of oil sales to the of
CBN. Now that the main source of the
allegations which you rehashed has publicly
stated that he was “misconstrued”, perhaps
you will find it in your heart to apologize for
misleading unwary Nigerians and impugning
the integrity of my administration on that
score.

season of letters. who's next?

Your claim of “Atlantic Oil loading about 130,
000 barrels sold by Shell and managed on
behalf of NPDC with no sale proceeds paid into
the NPDC account” is also disjointed and
baseless because no such arrangement as you
described exists between Atlantic Oil and the
Nigeria Petroleum Development Company.
NPDC currently produces about 138, 000
barrels of oil per day from over 7 producing
assets. The Crude Oil Marketing Division
(COMD) of the NNPC markets all of this
production on behalf of NPDC with proceeds
paid into NPDC account.

I am really shocked that with all avenues open
to you as a former Head of State for the
verification of any information you have
received about state affairs, you chose to go
public with allegations of “high corruption”
without offering a shred of supporting evidence.
One of your political “sons” similarly alleged
recently that he told me of a minister who
received a bribe of $250 Million from an oil
company and I did nothing about it. He may
have been playing from a shared script, but we
have not heard from him again since he was
challenged to name the minister involved and
provide the evidence to back his claim. I urge
you, in the same vein, to furnish me with the
names, facts and figures of a single verifiable
case of the “high corruption” which you say
stinks all around my administration and see
whether the corrective action you advocate
does not follow promptly. And while you are at
it, you may also wish to tell Nigerians the true
story of questionable waivers of signature
bonuses between 2000 and 2007.

While, by the Grace of God Almighty, I am the
first President from a minority group, I am
never unmindful of the fact that I was elected
leader of the whole of Nigeria and I have
always acted in the best interest of all
Nigerians. You referred to the divisive actions
and inflammatory utterances of some
individuals from the South-South and asserted
that I have done nothing to call them to order
or distance myself from their ethnic
chauvinism. Again that is very untrue. I am as
committed to the unity of this country as any
patriot can be and I have publicly declared on
many occasions that no person who threatens
other Nigerians or parts of the country is acting
on my behalf.

It is very regrettable that in your letter, you
seem to place sole responsibility for the
ongoing intrigues and tensions in the PDP at
my doorstep, and going on from that position,
you direct all your appeals for a resolution at
me. Baba, let us all be truthful to ourselves,
God and posterity. At the heart of all the
current troubles in our party and the larger
polity is the unbridled jostling and positioning
for personal or group advantage ahead of the
2015 general elections. The “bitterness, anger,
mistrust, fear and deep suspicion” you wrote
about all flow from this singular factor.

It is indeed very unfortunate that the seeming
crisis in the party was instigated by a few
senior members of the party, including you.
But, as leader of the party, I will continue to do
my best to unite it so that we can move
forward with strength and unity of purpose. The
PDP has always recovered from previous crises
with renewed vigour and vitality. I am very
optimistic that that will be the case again this
time. The PDP will overcome any temporary
setback, remain a strong party and even grow
stronger.

Instigating people to cause problems and
disaffection within the party is something that
you are certainly familiar with. You will recall
that founding fathers of the Party were
frustrated out of the Party at a time. Late
Chief Sunday Awoniyi was pushed out, Late
Chief Solomon Lar left and later came back,
Chief Audu Ogbeh and Chief Tom Ikimi also
left. Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo left and later
came back. In 2005/2006, link-men were sent
to take over party structures from PDP
Governors in an unveiled attempt to undermine
the state governors. In spite of that, the
Governors did not leave the Party because
nobody instigated and encouraged them to do
so.

The charge that I was involved in anti-party
activities in governorship elections in Edo,
Ondo, Lagos, and Anambra States is also very
unfortunate. I relate with all Governors
irrespective of political party affiliation but I
have not worked against the interest of the
PDP. What I have not done is to influence the
electoral process to favour our Party. You were
definitely never so inclined, since you openly
boasted in your letter of how you supported
Alhaji Shehu Shagari against Chief Obafemi
Awolowo, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe and others in
the 1979 presidential elections while serving as
a military Head of State. You and I clearly differ
in this regard, because as the President of
Nigeria, I believe it is my duty and
responsibility to create a level playing field for
all parties and all candidates.

Recalling how the PDP lost in states where we
were very strong in 2003 and 2007 such as
Edo, Ondo, Imo, Bauchi, Anambra, and Borno,
longstanding members of our great party with
good memory will also consider the charge of
anti-party activities you made against me as
misdirected and hugely hypocritical. It certainly
was not Goodluck Jonathan’s “personal
ambition or selfish interest” that caused the
PDP to lose the governorship of Ogun State and
all its senatorial seats in the last general
elections.

You quoted me as saying that I have not told
anybody that I will seek another term in office
in 2015. You and your ambitious acolytes
within the party have clearly decided to act on
your conclusion that “only a fool will believe
that statement” and embark on a virulent
campaign to harass me out of an undeclared
candidature for the 2015 presidential elections
so as to pave the way for a successor anointed
by you.

You will recall that you serially advised me that
we should refrain from discussing the 2015
general elections for now so as not to distract
elected public officials from urgent task of
governance. While you have apparently moved
away from that position, I am still of the
considered opinion that it would have been
best for us to do all that is necessary to refrain
from heating up the polity at this time.

Accordingly, I have already informed Nigerians
that I will only speak on whether or not I will
seek a second term when it is time for such
declarations. Your claims about discussions I
had with you, Governor Gabriel Suswam and
others are wrong, but in keeping with my
declared stance, I will reserve further
comments until the appropriate time.

Your allegation that I asked half a dozen African
Presidents to speak to you about my alleged
ambition for 2015, is also untrue. I have never
requested any African President to discuss with
you on my behalf. In our discussion, I
mentioned to you that four Presidents told me
that they were concerned about the political
situation in Nigeria and intended to talk to you
about it. So far, only three of them have
confirmed to me that they have had any
discussion with you. If I made such a request,
why would I deny it?

The issue of Buruji Kashamu is one of those lies
that should not be associated with a former
President. The allegation that I am imposing
Kashamu on the South-West is most
unfortunate and regrettable. I do not even
impose Party officials in my home state of
Bayelsa and there is no zone in this country
where I have imposed officials. So why would I
do so in the South West? Baba, in the light of
Buruji’s detailed public response to your “open
letter”, it will be charitable for you to render an
apology to Nigerians and I.

On the issue of investors being scared to come
to Nigeria, economic dormancy, and
stagnation, I will just refer you to FDI statistics
from 2000 to 2013. Within the last three years,
Nigeria has emerged as the preferred
destination for investments in Africa, driven by
successful government policies to attract
foreign investors. For the second year running,
the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Investments (UNCTAD) has ranked Nigeria as
the number one destination for investments in
Africa, and as having the fourth highest returns
in the world.

Today, Nigeria is holding 18 percent of all
foreign investments in Africa and 60 percent of
all foreign investments in the ECOWAS Sub-
Region. Kindly note also that in the seven
years between 2000 and 2007 when you were
President, Nigeria attracted a total of $24.9
Billion in FDI. As a result of our efforts which
you disparage, the country has seen an FDI
inflow of $25.7 Billion in just three years which
is more than double the FDI that has gone to
the second highest African destination. We
have also maintained an annual national
economic growth rate of close to seven per
cent since the inception of this administration.

What then, is the justification for your
allegation of scared investors and economic
dormancy?

Although it was not emphasized in your letter
of December 2, 2013, you also conveyed, in
previous correspondence, the impression that
you were ignorant of the very notable
achievements of my administration in the area
of foreign relations. It is on record that under
my leadership, Nigeria has played a key role in
resolving the conflicts in Niger, Cote d’Ivoire,
Mali, Guinea Bissau and others.

The unproductive rivalry that existed between
Nigeria and some ECOWAS countries has also
been ended under my watch and Nigeria now
has better relations with all the ECOWAS
countries. At the African Union, we now have a
Commissioner at the AU Commission after
being without one for so long. We were in the
United Nations Security Council for the
2010/2011 Session and we have been voted in
again for the 2014/2015 Session. From
independence to 2010, we were in the U.N.
Security Council only three times but from
2010 to 2015, we will be there two times.
This did not happen by chance. My
Administration worked hard for it and we
continue to maintain the best possible relations
with all centres of global political and economic
power. I find it hard therefore, to believe your
assertions of untoward concern in the
international community over the state of
governance in Nigeria With respect to the Brass and Olokola LNG projects, you may have forgotten that though you started these projects, Final Investment Decisions were never reached. For your information, NNPC has not withdrawn from either the Olokola or the Brass LNG projects.

On the Rivers State Water Project, you were
misled by your informant. The Federal
Government under my watch has never
directed or instructed the Africa Development
Bank to put on hold any project to be executed
in Rivers state or any other State within the
Federation. The Rivers Water Project was not
originally in the borrowing plan but it was
included in April 2013 and appraised in May.
Negotiations are ongoing with the AfDB. I have
no doubt that you are familiar with the entire
process that prefaces the signing of a
Subsidiary Loan Agreement as in this instance.
Let me assure you and all Nigerians that I do
not engage in negative political actions and will
never, as President, oppress the people of a
State or deprive them of much needed public
services as a result of political disagreement
I have noted your comments on the proposed
National Conference. Contrary to the
insinuation in your letter, the proposed
conference is aimed at bringing Nigerians
together to resolve contentious national issues
in a formal setting. This is a sure way of
promoting greater national consensus and
unity, and not a recipe for “disunity, confusion
and chaos” as you alleged in your letter.

Having twice held the high office of President,
Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I trust that you
will understand that I cannot possibly find the
time to offer a line-by-line response to all the
accusations and allegations made in your letter
while dealing with other pressing demands of
office and more urgent affairs of state.
I have tried, however, to respond to only the
most serious of the charges which question my
sincerity, personal honour, and commitment to
the oath which I have sworn, to always uphold
and protect the interests of all Nigerians, and
promote their well-being.

In closing, let me state that you have done me
grave injustice with your public letter in which
you wrongfully accused me of deceit,
deception, dishonesty, incompetence,
clannishness, divisiveness and insincerity,
amongst other ills.

I have not, myself, ever claimed to be all-
knowing or infallible, but I have never taken
Nigeria or Nigerians for granted as you implied,
and I will continue to do my utmost to steer our
ship of state towards the brighter future to
which we all aspire.

Please accept the assurances of my highest
consideration and warm regards.

GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN

Open lEtter season 1- Action packed movie
☀̤̈kα̲̅¥ , waiting for obj's response
But one thing I know is that all of them are thieves and this is just a case of pot calling kettle black. Only God can save this country

ok

What's he saying?

Is he campaigning or what?

GEJ, there shouldn't be any controversy about performance - it is either you are performing or not.

What has GEJ got to say about fighting corruption? Blah blah Blah...

How about snippers? Can OBJ hold his bible... Blah blah blah...

Nonsense - the guy is too petty. He is even accusing OBJ of subversion - send sss after him now.