One of the biggest flaws of people is pretending to be blind to their own mistakes, but do not pretend to be deaf towards the mistakes of others. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is almost taking up the career of a government critic with his numerous reprimanding letters online forgetting that he may have laid the foundation for the present socio-economic, political and security realities.

The former President may not be able to boast of a fabulous 8 years reign because his regime actually looted the country dry and set it on a sordid path that successive administrations have battled to obliterate. A vivid example is the over $16bn his administration budgeted for power that could not be accounted for. Had the funds been utilized, the days of epileptic power supply would have been over and small and medium enterprises along with the manufacturing industry would have flourished.

Patriotism and political maturity ideally requires that leaders and stakeholders like Obasanjo offers political and economic solutions and advise on issues bordering the country. Equally, there should be support to government's economic objectives towards goal achievement through constructive and positive declarations instead of grumbling at every slight provocation.

As an elder states man and a former Head of State/ President, his recent habit of resorting to online media criticism against governments that he ordinarily has unrestricted access to, tells a lot about his person. It clearly shows how thirsty he is for power and attention. No one would believe that a man who spent three years as a military Head of State, and eight years as a democratic President with nothing to show for will still have the conscience to raise his voice on successive governments that are trying to clean up his mess.
The heart of Obsanjo's criticism is mostly centered on insecurity, but can his regime really boast of doing enough to curb insecurity? The Boko Haram evolved in the North, the OPC was notorious in the South-West, the Militants in the South-South (Niger-Delta), and Kidnapping and armed robbery was alarmingly high in the South East. Rather it was successive administrations that made giants strides in the fight against vices.

Talking about the corruption of anti-graft agencies, Obasanjo deserves the credit for establishing EFCC and ICPC. However, it remained a known fact that these agencies were solely established as private security guard dogs with an adjusted mandate of hunting down perceived political opponents. He exploited these anti-graft agencies to harass, arrest and torture opposition leaders.

Mr Obasanjo prides himself as a farmer but could not develop the agric sector to achieve the most talked about diversification, hence the country's continued dependence on oil. His major pre-occupation in this regard was pumping funds to stabilise his personal farm in Ota, as well as building a library in his name using donations from government and public office holders. This he did to the detriment of the National Library which was left to rotten by his administration.

There is also the issue of his flirtatious life style which led to his son Gbenga, divorcing his wife of six years after his father (Obasanjo) was accused of having sexual affair with her. A young girl, Faith Olusegun Obasanjo also came up online claiming to be one of the numerous offspring conceived by one of the numerous concubines of Obasanjo. Of utmost concern is the revelation the twenty-one year old made by claiming that Obasanjo gave her a whopping sum of $1m to set up herself.

Another sore point is his utterances on Fulanization/Islamisation which is regrettably aimed at sowing discord among fellow countrymen. He complains about nepotism, but it was under his watch that his daughter Iyabo served as a Commissioner of Health and subsequently Senator representing Ogun Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly. At the Senate, Obasanjo lobbied for her to emerge as the Chairman Senate Committee on Health. She was later investigated by the EFCC over funds stolen from the Ministry.

With all these should OBJ still be regarded as a serious person that can attack other people's sense of morality?

Successive governments may still be striving on putting Nigeria on the right path, yet it obvious the present administration has made tremendous impact in the last 5 years reign despite inheriting backlog of problems including struggling economy, insecurity, dearth of railway, epileptic power supply, plummeted oil price, low employment rate. At present the situation is gradually improving, with significant gains still being made amidst the battle against global pandemic of COVID-19.

Today, there is the trader moni scheme to assist small and medium scale enterprises, school feeding program to attract and sustain children in the schools, the N-Power to empower the unemployed, as well as those in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and workers are being adequately remunerated with new welfare packages introduced.

The present administration has also shown commitment to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years with the Alliance for Poverty Eradication (APE) programme which will cover all states in the nation.

A lot has been achieved in the fight against insurgency; the economy is out of recession, railways are been revamped with cargoes being transported from one region to the other. The fight against corruption is been acknowledged and applauded locally and internationally, and leakages that hitherto encouraged looting of government’s funds are being plugged, and a new minimum wage with a significant upwardly reviewed to address issues relating to workers' welfare has been signed and implemented.

According to Adlai E. Stevenson, a hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservations. Obasanjo needs to eschew his bitterness and rancour on those that have succeeded his administration whose only crime is to clean the mess he left. He should be constructive in his criticism and always remember that as a former military Head of State and a civilian president, the gates of the Presidency is always open for inputs and advice from elder Statesmen.

OBJ has a messianic complex.

No successive government have able to ameliorate Nigeria problem, it is always from fry pan to fire, but doing Obasanjo's administration we didn't have the quarter of this complacency, corruption, nepotism and misrule, it seems Buhari was sent to punish Nigeria, he is a complete package of disaster.

Summary pls

I have no problem with anyone critiquing the government because without criticism, the govt wouldn't be aware of its flaws and neglect but OBJ doesn't have the liberty to do so. You cannot be announcing a person's flaws when u have a ton of flaws yourself, OBJ should face the business that pays him (OTA farm) and allow those genuinely advocating for good governance to do so.

The tired old man is supposed to be holding the wheelbarrow, while his successors clean up his mess. He is bereaved of any meaningful contribution to the countries problems. He should go and sit down jooor.

More zombies are going to flock this thread, but they have been missing on all NDDC threads

Op. go back and learn English language.

I pity anyone that takes OBJ serious. Man is a comedian who enjoys attention.
He is like a good coach who could not coach his team on the field. When sacked, he starts dishing instructions from his bedroom to the same team he failed to coach.

Obj has always been a comedian, I wonder why people are taking him serious. Anyway, it is part of what he thinks will keep him in the limelight of politics. But he set the standards for our present predicament since 1999.