₦airaland Forum

Tinubu Government Replies Obasanjo: Use Your Remaining Years To Reflect On Your Failures As President And Head Of State

In a statement on Monday by Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu's Special Adviser (Information and Strategy), the presidency, while cataloguing the scandals and missteps of the Obasanjo's administration said "it would be better and more advisable for former President Obasanjo to temper his self-righteousness in his public discussions regarding our nation’s temporary difficulties."

The President Bola Tinubu-led government has asked former Head of State and former President Olusegun Obasanjo to use "his remaining years" to reflect on the failures of his government and the scandals which rocked his administration.

In a statement on Monday by Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu's Special Adviser (Information and Strategy), the presidency, while cataloguing the scandals and missteps of the Obasanjo's administration said "it would be better and more advisable for former President Obasanjo to temper his self-righteousness in his public discussions regarding our nation’s temporary difficulties."

SaharaReporters had on Saturday reported that Obasanjo lamented that Nigeria’s current economic situation was very bad and that the situation was made worse by the "baba-go-slow" and "emilokan" government of Bola Tinubu and his unwillingness to take responsibility.

Obasanjo had made this statement in his keynote address at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, held on Saturday at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

In his speech, titled, “Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria,” he expressed concern over the country's dire situation, noting, “as the world can see and understand, Nigeria’s situation is bad.”

Reacting, the Tinubu presidency said, "In a recent display of his characteristic self-importance, former President Olusegun Obasanjo once again took to the public stage to bestow his unsolicited wisdom on leadership and governance in Nigeria. From his lofty perch, he blamed those who served after his tenure for the nation's myriad challenges.

"Unfortunately, the former leader's habit of casting aspersions on every subsequent administration has devolved into a recurring pastime, overshadowing the expectation of an elder statesman to join a constructive dialogue on attaining national progress.

"In his latest critique of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he pejoratively called 'Baba Go Slow' and President Bola Tinubu, who he tagged 'Emilokan', Chief Obasanjo used the platform provided by Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum at Yale University to unfurl his latest treatise on leadership and public morality. He also used the forum to write off Nigeria as a failing country.

"The irony of Chief Obasanjo using the platform that celebrates Achebe to sermonise on the ideals of good governance, statecraft, economic management, and corruption should be apparent to discerning minds. When he was alive, Chinua Achebe was a universally acclaimed moral, cultural and literary icon with scant regard for Obasanjo.

"It is on record that Professor Achebe rejected the third highest national honour bestowed on him by the Obasanjo-led administration in 2004 on the grounds of the prevalence of abuse of power, corruption, poor leadership, and, in particular, state-sponsored brigandage endorsed by Chief Obasanjo in Achebe's home state of Anambra. In Anambra, the former president actively supported the abduction of a sitting governor, Dr Chris Ngige, by non-state actors led by Chris Uba, a younger brother of Obasanjo's senior aide.

"Brazen illegality and assault on the Constitution of Nigeria reached a disturbing height under the leadership of Chief Obasanjo. During Obasanjo’s era, the unconstitutional impeachment of four governors who belonged to his party occurred. The governors impeached by minority members of the Houses of Assembly were Joshua Dariye of Plateau, Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo, Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti and Diepreye Alamieyeseigha of Bayelsa. A man under whose watch all of these egregious infractions occurred should certainly not be the one to give any lecture on leadership and corruption. He should not be taken seriously as he reeks of profound hypocrisy of the worst form.

"Former President Obasanjo has continuously pumped himself up as the economic wizard of Nigeria. But a reality check showed he was nothing of such. He left unresolved many, if not all, of the problems of Nigeria, which he itemised in his lecture. He even recently admitted that his government made a mistake by not focussing on gas development, as the Tinubu administration does today. All oil and gas players know that Nigeria has more gas than oil. The only positive of the Obasanjo era was fiscal and monetary policy management buoyed by a consistent rise in crude oil prices throughout his eight-year tenure. This rise in crude oil prices started in 2000 and peaked in 2013 when it reached over 100 dollars per barrel before a decline in 2014, which set the oil-dependent economy downward. The current economic crisis the All Progressives Congress administrations have been battling since 2015 is the product of the poor choices in economic management made by Obasanjo and the two successors from his party. Obasanjo prides his government on paying the $15 billion debt owed to the Paris Club. Still, it was not a wise decision as it was done when the country's critical economic infrastructure across sectors was in shambles.

"While oil receipts brought money into the country, Obasanjo failed to fix the deplorable federal roads or expand the national road network. He did not repair the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the Lagos-Abeokuta road leading to his hometown in Abeokuta, the Otta-Idiroko road, and many others.

"His administration also should have paid more serious attention to universities and polytechnics. In a joint vote of no confidence in our tertiary institutions, Obasanjo and his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, sought to profit from their weaknesses by establishing their private universities. As a sitting President, Chief Obasanjo abused his office to advance personal interest against the spirit and letters of our constitution when he corralled leading businessmen, women and government contractors to donate billions of naira for his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library and Resorts in Abeokuta and his Bell University in Otta

"For eight years, the Obasanjo administration made no significant investment in security by modernising the Armed Forces. He did not redesign the national security architecture or change the military doctrine. The most critical [quote]investment in our armed forces, especially the military, since the administration of President Shehu Shagari in 1980 was made by the APC-led administration of President Buhari from 2015-2023. When President Buhari assumed office in 2015, the Air Force had fewer than three serviceable fighter jets, and the Navy barely had one serviceable vessel. Within eight years, President Buhari acquired over 40 new fighter jets of different capabilities, including 12 Tucano jets. He also acquired naval ships to strengthen the Navy. The APC administration of Buhari developed the air wings of the Army and Navy and changed the entire Armed Forces into one of the most potent fighting forces in the world.

"[quote]President Tinubu has continued to sustain the same support and funding to the military and other security agencies. It is the reason the country is winning in the multi-pronged fight against Boko Haram terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, and other perpetrators of violent crimes. In the last year, over 400 terror and bandit kingpins have been eliminated, and thousands of Nigerians have been freed from their abductors. The insecurity that engulfed Nigeria started under the Obasanjo administration with militancy and kidnapping of expatriate oil workers in the Niger Delta, which later became a festering wound from which the nation has not recovered. Boko Haram, which became a violent movement in 2009, began its build-up under Obasanjo’s regime.

"On matters of integrity, honesty, and morality in public leadership, Chief Obasanjo is certainly not a paragon of virtue for anyone to model after. Nigerians can still remember the messy public spat between Chief Obasanjo and his then-vice president, Atiku Abubakar, over PTDF money that led to a Senate Public Hearing in 2004. The sordid details of the public hearing included unsettling evidence of how Obasanjo instructed his Vice President to buy Sport Utility Vehicles for his mistresses with PTDF funds. There was also the Halliburton bribe scandal, which the US Congress probe revealed. Bribe payments were made to the highest political authorities at the Villa while Obasanjo was in charge.

"If Chief Obasanjo had addressed the many problems he critiqued in his poorly written Yale lecture when he ruled Nigeria for eight years, President Buhari and President Tinubu would have had a much lighter burden of fixing the country.

"While the Tinubu administration diligently works to overcome the country's economic [quote]challenges, it would be better and more advisable for former President Obasanjo to temper his self-righteousness in his public discussions regarding our nation’s temporary difficulties. Instead, his remaining years would be better spent reflecting on the missed opportunities during his own time in leadership, both as military head of state and civilian president."


https://saharareporters.com/2024/11/18/tinubu-government-replies-obasanjo-use-your-remaining-years-reflect-your-failures?

Nice one from the house of representatives, it's a great feat

Congratulations to her once again, she's now the queen of Africa

Good for him, I think Regina Daniels truly loves him, though you can't rule out money.

I completely agree with president Obasanjo

Special thanks to Ben Murray Bruce of Silverbird and all his efforts to take this Lady to a greater height, Mr Ben is the main Engineer here, greetings to him

Miss universe south Africa congratulates her


As usual, South africans supported Miss Zimbabwe and Botswana against our queen and failed woefully

She was also crowned miss universe Africa and miss oceania



She was rejected in south Africa, but see where God has brought her to

She will now reign in Nigeria and across the 54 countries in Africa

Congratulations to her, she made us proud


Amazing journey for her, This is a big lesson we must learn, No matter how difficult is the situation, keep on the fight.


I heard if the winner can't fulfill her duties, the 1st runner up will take over.

Numerouno94:
Comot Rema and put Kiss Daniel.

Kiss Daniel is also good, there are too many of them, I only mentioned the top ones

Benwallt:
Hmmm. They are coming for you.

U no see Phyno
Flavour
Psquare
Ngwo ngwo

I said among his generation

I am a big fan of Wizkid, he's better than the other dude.


As far as today's music is concerned in naija, Wizkid is the best among his generation

This is how I rank them in Nigeria

1. Wizkid
2. Burna Boy
3. Davido
4. Rema

However, Burna Boy is more recognized outside Nigeria than the rest

What do we call the action of south African government refusing to help in the rescue operation

Nigerians will never learn, they collect bribe money from politicians, make wrong choices, then lament later


How much is 2k, 5k that will make you sell your vote, see what poverty has reduced our people to, they can't think properly again

James urged security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address these issues.

Paul James, Yiaga Africa’s election programme manager, has raised concerns over alleged vote buying in the ongoing Ondo State governorship election.

Speaking on Arise TV on Saturday, James disclosed that politicians had been distributing money, food items, and fertilisers to voters during the election period.

“We saw glimpses of vote buying in the buildup to the election, where politicians, in their usual theatrics, were giving voters between N2000 and N5000 at campaign rallies.

"There was also the usual distribution of food items,” he said.

He highlighted incidents in October where fertilisers were given to farmers, noting, “It’s challenging to draw the line between palliatives and vote buying, especially during the buildup to elections.”

James urged security agencies and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to address these issues.

“We have called out to the anti-graft agencies and the Nigeria police to keep an eye on the process and ensure that people involved in nefarious activities are apprehended and brought to book.”

He also stressed the need for security officers to act professionally. “We expect the officers to be professional in the discharge of their duties,” he said.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that Agboola Ajayi, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the Ondo State governorship election, voiced his disappointment with the electoral process after casting his vote at Apoi Ward 11, Unit 004 in Ese-Odo Local Government Area.

Ajayi had expressed frustration with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) malfunctioning, which delayed his accreditation for about 10 minutes.

Ajayi's concerns go beyond technical glitches, as he believes the system has been compromised.

He had stated, "The system has been compromised. It is sad INEC can't conduct election well in one state."

Source: https://saharareporters.com/2024/11/16/ondodecides2024-politicians-induce-voters-food-items-money-fertilisers-farmers-yiaga

Alphafeezay:
He is there

okay

Where is Mr president? he's supposed to be there

EmperorCaesar:
Bro, readjust the topic....Na just "." dey the headline

People no go see am na

the story is already on front page, someone else has posted it

Chidinma Adetshina will win this year's edition

Wishing our queen all the best.

I don't know the impact of Victor Osimhen, iheanacho and other stars on our team

FreeStuffsNG:
Smh.

That you think N47.9 trillion is no longer big money alone shows that you are not rich. Go and work hard to raise N1 million first then come back.

Even by USA standard, $28 billion is a whopping amount and if you think that US dollars is actually gaining more value because of naira's devaluation then it means that you don't understand economics. If USD is as strong and valuable as you think, Americans will not have voted against the democrats on the ground of economics. They complained bitterly that they now need more dollars to buy items and pay for services.
The devaluation of naira does not improve the lot of USA or the US dollars, the US is not even our biggest trading partner, it actually favours naira more and we now eventually stopped subsidizing the US dollars.
International Monetary agencies will later come around to beg us to raise the value of the naira as more US dollars will soon start chasing fewer naira yet we will keep the value of naira low to further favour our economy.

Lol, I'm not a rich man but I am okay and well informed

It appears you know the factors that influenced the just concluded election in America but don't want to talk about them, it's much more than what you wrote here but I don't have time to write long epistle now


Trying to defend the indefensible is not patriotism, I personally don't have any problem with you, but you just have to agree that the policies of this government has weakened naira, monetary and fiscal policy

Biodun556:
28 billion dollars is not small money

it is small money for a big country like Nigeria with over 200 million population

N47.9trn was big money before, but it's nothing under this government, our currency has truly lost its value

This is just $28billion going by the current exchange rate


I believe this money will achieve a lot if it is well utilized, but half of it will be mismanaged and embezzled by government officials

I see nothing wrong here, it's called discipline

I won't support vdm against Femi falana

Sending my condolences to his family, rest in peace general

Mariangeles:
You're a shameless tribalistic bigot!
Shame on you!

You need to condemn the squalid remarks made by the woman, it's very shameful of her to be honest

jaxxy:
Go and do a study of Nigeria and how people in government are looting and masses in millions are suffering with no human rights or basic amenities and tell me if she is wrong.

she's totally wrong to call Nigeria a zoo, stop defending nonsense

Who do we study in Nigeria? 2baba, Timaya, wizkid, Burna Boy, Davido or Tiwa savage?


But I like it when people are honored while they are still alive

[quote author=Zonefree post=132868299]We're studying Tinubu already. [/quote

Lol, Tinubu is a bad course, I won't spend a dime to study such course