Ahmed Musa Husaini
The Obasanjo Supremacy
There's no disputing the fact that the Obasanjo letter successfully highlighted the successes and weaknesses of the Buhari regime, praising the regime where it needs to be praised (fight against corruption and Boko Haram) and condemning it where it falls short of our expectations.
The nepotism and clannishness is there for all to see, culminating with the controversial NIA appointment, and the failure of the regime to put its house (both domestic and political) in order leads to infighting and factionalization among major pillars of the regime like the NSA, DSS, EFCC and the chief of staff.
President Buhari's contempt for and utter neglect of the political and proletarian class that brought him to power is most appalling, endorsing harsh practices (like secret recruitment) and policies (fuel price hike and shortages) that endanger his support base and strengthen his opposition.
Nothing that Obasanjo said that was not said by many of us on this platform, Obasanjo's letter only succeeded in bringing it to the national front-burner.
But I disagree with Obasanjo on two aspects.
My first disagreement is that by posing as a statesman with a solution, Obasanjo now arrogates himself the position of determining who contests an election or rule Nigeria. But if we are to believe Obasanjo that both the three successive presidents he has endorsed have all failed so far, then given his 0/3 score, we can no longer rely on Obasanjo for solution. Therefore any attempt by Obasanjo to pose as a messiah is merely opportunistic and decidedly self-serving.
My second disagreement is even more fundamental, bordering on the moral right of Obasanjo to criticise the government in areas where he had performed no better, and over problems whose origins or institutionalization can be traced to his own regime. This Obasanjo supremacy is founded on deceit, misrepresentations and opportunism.
Where Buhari is guilty of nepotism, Obasanjo was guilty of an impunity the type of which was never witnessed under a democratic regime. It was under Obasanjo that a sitting governor was abducted, his government house was razed and looted, and governors in Anambra and Oyo states were deposed by criminal, uneducated thugs. It was under Obasanjo that erring governors were extra-judicially removed (impeached?) and supreme court judgments calling for their reinstatement were resisted.
Talking about national unity, Obasanjo left Nigeria more divided than he met it, with a burgeoning militancy in the Niger Delta and a triumphant Boko Haram's Muhammad Yusuf whom Obasanjo's government accorded the privilege of the presidential jet after being granted bail in one of his court appearances. Not to talk of his state-sanctioned religious blackmail against the Buhari candidacy in 2003, and not forgetting the state-sponsored massacres in Zaki-Biam and Odi villages, the Sharia riots, and the resurgent of ethnic clashes in Plateau state culminating in the declaration of state of emergency.
That is also not to talk of political assassinations in which prominent individuals like Harry Marshal, Bola Ige, Funsho Williams and many others were killed and the suspicious plane crashes involving many VIPs. The fact that those killings and crashes were few or non-existent after Obasanjo left power points to state involvement and cover-up in those tragedies.
Let us not also forget how elections were conducted during the Obasanjo regime under Maurice Iwu.
Talking about economic performance, no doubt the economy grew under Obasanjo, but given record oil prices and a favorable global business climate, Nigeria's growth rates of 6-7% was below the expected capacity at a time China and India and other emerging economies were recording double digit figures in growth. But whatever credit he may take for economic growth, it did not translate to more jobs and prosperity for Nigerians, leading his critics to termed the growth rate under as jobless growth. Poverty rates keep rising in the 7 out of 8 years OBJ was in power, only coming down briefly in 2004.
It is tragic that successive leadership failures have allowed Obasanjo the opportunity to re-invent himself as a visionary with the solution to Nigeria's present and future problems, only the short-lived regime of Yaradua was determined in demystifying the fraud that is Obasanjo, exposing the many fraud that was perpetrated under his regime, with Nuhu Ribadu's EFCC as a tool. Not that the fight against corruption is any better today.
No doubt President Buhari has failed given our expectations, but considering the performance of those before him, if he had done no better, then he had done no worse. Personally, I have also echoed Obasanjo's advice that he should not contest given his health challenges and struggles with expectations. But I will never give Obasanjo the opportunity to lead another search for leadership under the guise of any coalition or platform.
That power rests with millions of Nigerians who are grappling with the effects (positive and negative) of Buhari presidency and conscious of the political, social and economic realities around them. They and them alone, can determine that with their PVCs.

The truth is bitter, obj spoke the truth. Buhari is a colossal failure. Let's send the terrorist back to daura

because he's your brother right? aturu