BEHAVIORAL CONDUCT OF A FORMER NIGERIAN PRESIDENTTHAT IS UNSTATESMANLIKE
SCRIPTED BY CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI

Political thinkers and writers have, over time, been able to establish a distinction between a politician and a statesman. The politician, at any given time, ispreoccupied with the pursuit of the narrow and limited interest of his party and, in most cases, goals that may be considered gainful principally to his or her own section of the polity. To put it succinctly, a politician considers an issue from a parochial point of view and, more often than not, is concerned with gains of the moment. On the other hand, a statesman is one that is holistically concerned about the welfare and development of his or her polity, irrespective of natural divisions such as tribe, gender, religion or physical incapacitation. A statesman is he or she who, when a problem of any magnitude arises, does everything, within the legitimacy of his or her ability, to solve such a problem. A statesman is never associated with intemperance, just as he or she would not be known for fuelling crisis in whatever circumstance.
Statesmen, the world over, are role models. Younger generations look up to them as symbols of near-perfect standard of conduct in whatever field of engagements they are found.
Nigeria, nay Africa, has a long list of statesman. The likes of Herbert Macaulay, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alhaji Aminu Kano, General Aguiyi Ironsi and GeneralYakubu Gowon are a few examples of Nigerian Statesmen. At any given time in their lives, they always craved to work for the unity and overall developmentthe Nigerian state.
In the African continent, the persons of Dr kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, DrJulius Nyerere of Tanzania, Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, Felix HouphetBoigny of cote d’lvoire and Anwar el-sadat of Egypt are conspicuouslyincluded in the list of Statesmen that Africa has had the privilege of producing.Of all the Statesmen mentioned above, there is hardly any known instance where any of them was associated with either an unpatriotic or indecourousconduct. Their primary focus was their desire to make sure that their country moved forward.
In contemporary Nigeria, there is a man that has been showered with God’s grace; left, right and centre. The man in question enlisted in the Nigerian Armyin 1958 where he met and became an intimate friend of late Major ChukwumaPatrick Kaduna Nzeogwu. By the time Nzeogwu came up with his military coupd’etat of January 15,1966, providence saved the man from being involved in the coup as his friend decided not to involved him having just returned from a military course in India. Who knows, if he had been briefed by Nzeogwu prior to the coup, could he have resisted the temptation of being involved? If he had been involved in that coup, could it have been possible he would be alive to attain the height he later attained? Colonel Benjamin Adekunle; alias Black Scorpion, as General Officer Commanding 3rd Marine Commando of the Nigerian Army, had fought all the battles under his fierce command during the Nigeria/Biafran war but no sooner had he been replaced by the man under review than the war ended and, just from the blues, the man took credit ofending the Nigerian Civil War. General Murtala Mohammed had, on 29th July 1975, overthrown the nine-year old administration of General Yakubu Gowonand supposedly purged the polity, especially the public service of putrid corruption only for the same man to become Head of State of Nigeria following a bloody but unsuccessful coup by colonel Buka suka Dimka that led to the assassination of Murtala Mohammed on February 13, 1976. Chief M.K.O.Abiola had, as it were, won a presidential election on June 12, 1993 only for theelection to be annulled by Military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babanginda. Pursuit for the ultimate realization of his presidential mandate led to the arrest, incarceration and mysterious death of Chief M.K.O. Abiola.
In order to placate the Yoruba ethnic nationality that had been evidently provoked and were visibly aggrieved, an indigene of Yoruba had to be made apresident. Meanwhile, the man had, on Monday March 13, 1995, been arrested and imprisoned by Nigeria’s Maximum Military Dictator; General Sani Abacha, and was almost rusting away in Yola Prison. Following the death of SaniAbacha on June 8, 1998 the man was released and before one could say Jack Robinson, the man had craftly outsmarted Dr. Alex Ekwueme and become Nigeria’s second democratically elected president. By simple arithmeticalcalculation, the man’s three-year tenure as a Military Head of State and his eight years as a civilian president have made him Nigeria’s longest serving Head of Government, having served eleven years cumulatively. But for Nigeria’s watchfulness, the man would have succeeded in elongating his tenure via a financially-induced constitutional amendment.
With the brief expose on the man, it becomes unbelieving for any body to doubt that God has shown a lot of grace to this man. In order not to subject one to further streak of suspense, it has to be stated that the man in question is ChiefOlusegun Aremu Okikiola Mathew Obasanjo; G.C.F.R.
From whatever perspective any one would look at it, the truth, which should be as constant as the northern star, is that the various unsolicited opportunities nature has graciously thrown open to the advantage of former PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo undeniably confer on him the envious status of a statesman.
As it should be, to whom much is given, much is equally expected. ChiefObasanjo, having, almost effortlessly, attained this great height is expected, at any given time, to exhibit a carriage that should be in conformity with his status. Whatever Chief Obasanjo should say or do is surely expected to reflect his status as a statesman. In comparative analysis, Chief Obasanjo is expected to have been raised to a distinct stage of nobility. His conduct should rank him in the same peerage as Ronald Regan and Jimmy Carter of United State of America, Tony Blair of Great Britain, John Kufor and Kofi Annan of Ghana and Alhaji Shehu Shagari of Nigeria.
At Obasanjo’s age of seventy-eight and his status, there are certain conducts no sane person would ever imagine could be associated with him. Chief Obasanjohad claimed to have become a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ while he was in prison in Yola. A preacher of the Lord Christ should be a preacher of love and peace.
Regrettably, Chief Obasanjo has severally failed to conduct himself in a mannerthat is commensurate with his Olympian Status. On Monday 16th February, 2015 one Surajudeen Oladunjoye, who was described by the press as a Ward Chairman of People’s Democratic Party in an area of Chief Obasanjo’s former residence had led a group of purported members of P.D.P to Obasanjo’sAbeokuta residence and in the full glare of the press and the public, ChiefObasanjo directed that Oladunjoye tears his P.D.P. membership card into pieces.

Many questions arise from Chief Obasanjo’s conduct;
(1) ​Is Chief Obasanjo’s tearing of his party card a conduct expected from a person of his status?
(2)​Is there any extent of provocation that can warrant any of his peers in Ghana,United Kingdom, U.S.A; Canada or France to tear his party membership card?
(3)​Was dramatization of tearing of his party membership card called for?
(4)​Does tearing of his membership card comply with constitutional mode of leaving his former party?
(5)​Is tearing of his membership card, in any way, a solution to the problems he thinks the party has?
(6)​By tearing his membership card, what did Chief Obasanjo want the younger Nigerian generation to learn from him?
(7)​Does tearing of his P.D.P membership card, a Party that made it possible for him to be President of Nigeria for eight years even when he had failed woefully in the polling unit where he voted, in his ward, his Local Government Area, his state and geo-political zone, not suggest that Chief Obasanjo has lost some degree of mental stability? And
(​Should one be wrong to agree with Chief Obasanjo’s first son; Gbenga, who had accused him of committing incest with his wife; Mojisola OlayemisiAmope?
​All in all, Chief Obasanjo’s demeanour has fallen short of a Nigeria Statesman, whose native origin of Abeokuta is known to be the cradle of Western civilization in Nigeria. This is unfortunate.


CHIEF (SIR) DON UBANI; KSC, JP
(OKWUBUNKA OF ASA)

Nice one obj is an old fool

yes

Abeg, pdp should quit all the begging and bitchin' and just move on! This is getting tired.

#change
#GMB
#APC

Obasanjo is a tout that is why his family members have abandoned him.

The whole world knows Obj is crude.

Well written. OBJ has personal gruss with Jonathan.
Indeed GEJ, the so called Clueless President will go down in history as the first simple man and leader in Nigeria to make an Alpha Male in the person of Olusegun Obasanjo leave PDP by tearing his party card in a dramatic fashion.

As a fmr President, the Federal Government has a Responsibility for OBJ's Good Health for life here on earth. Anything short of maintaining him in good health until he dies naturally will be State murder worse than Euthanasia. So I suggest that the FG should give instructions through its ministry of Health to contact OBJ's physician, look into his medical records, find solutions and possibly talk to a very good and competent psychiatrist about him. OBJ means well for Nigeria. Heavens know this. So PDP should restrain Fayiose and others like him to stop aggravating every issue about OBJ. GEJ TILL 2019. LONG LIVE "AYeria"(Nigeria)!!!!