₦airaland Forum

By Dr Ugoji Egbujo

Corruption can kill Nigeria. Fake news can decimate it. But fuel poured on it from high by acclaimed fathers can ruin it quickly and leave it desolate for ages. That is why Bishop Kukah must rush back to Ota.

We have become familiar with Obasanjo and his letters. We have become conversant with their contents. We know they always contain some truths and malicious fabrications too. And a rehash of seductive beer-parlor conspiracy theories. We have come to understand the ego that drives his pens. But in his last letter to President Buhari he dropped a particular hint of grave desperation.

We know he wanted President Buhari to resign last year. The president refused. Then he wanted him not to run for re election in 2019. The president ignored him. Then he planned to raise a righteous brigade to return Nigeria to the path of glory. But when the time came he didn’t find the angels to make up the brigade. The gods threw up Atiku Abubakar.

The very Atiku whom he had described in his book as a wolf. We know he is not to blame. The gods are to blame. Man proposes, the gods dispose, perhaps. Obasanjo is infallible. So he cleansed and refurbished Atiku Abubakar. He said he had forgiven him for the sins he committed against the nation. Obasanjo is that large. He said it was anything but a recalcitrant and infernally nepotistic Buhari.

We understood Obasanjo’s travails. Whatever it is that troubles him never allows him be friendly with any Nigerian president for too long. No one expected his chumminess with Buhari to last four years. But no one expected that when he broke up with Buhari he would go to new extremes to exact his vengeance. We were baffled when he started calling Buhari’s supporters morons. But he is truly unhinged now. In his recent letter, he all but said that a free and fair election cannot be won by Buhari. So a free and fair presidential election in February is an election Buhari must lose? 2019: APC denies plans to destabilize PDP controlled states In telling the president to give the country a free and fair election and go home in peace, Obasanjo implied that any result declared by INEC that had Buhari as winner was fabricated. He added that INEC officials and Buhari’s men were already writing the February election’s results. He called Buhari’s re election effort a self secession project. And said that Buhari was putting into practice all he learnt from the villain, Sani Abacha. Obasanjo’s flippancy is potentially a recipe for an Armageddon. Buhari’s supporters may be morons. But why won’t Obasanjo allow the votes of morons to count. And allow the country to decide. Aren’t the votes of morons valid votes? Why is Obasanjo striving to contaminate the process.

It isn’t just dangerous. Obasanjo is poisoning the political waters. In ruling out in advance the legitimacy of any Buhari victory, Obasanjo is indirectly inciting the opposition to reject the results if Buhari wins. And he is legitimizing such a recourse to confusion as resistance against the perpetuation of another Abacha. The Federal Government can treat it with levity. But we are already in dangerous territory. The president can go about shaking hands with and smiling with Obasanjo. When trouble breaks, it is the poor in the slums and rural areas that will bear the brunt. It is evident that the country cannot contain a widespread post election violence.

Obasanjo is clearly priming the south-south and the south-east zones , opposition strongholds, for confusion. No one in Ogun actually listens to him. The south east has a group that would be willing to magnify any post election confusion. Voting: INEC to give priority to aged, pregnant women, PLWD Someone has to call Obasanjo to order.

The president must not leave it to minnows. Garba Shehu’s tantrums and Femi Adesina’s niceties aren’t enough. The president must take center stage and read out the full implications of the kernel of Obasanjo’s letter, the fullness of its divisive and inflammatory content, to Obasanjo and to the public. I don’t know if an ‘enough-is-enough’ national dress would make him look more like Abacha. My primary concern is the safety of the country. And the protection of the democratic process. Obasanjo can choose self indulgence and blooming hypocrisy. If they have no deleterious social consequences, they would be fine. Many were shocked to see Obasanjo at the National Council of States meeting after he had literally labeled the president as demented. I knew he would be there. His presence was to make a statement, send a message. The body language of defiance. Obasanjo came to embolden Buhari’s opponents. That wouldn’t be bad if he had subscribed to an open contest, left the February elections to the majority to decide. That was mischievous because he has called ‘democrats’ to gather to resist any victory by Buhari at the polls which in his words can only result from rigging. Someone has to call Obasanjo to order. And if Buhari can’t do it because it could be misread as vengeance or pettiness or ‘Abachaesque,’ then Bishop Hassan Kukah and his peace committee should. National statesmen are free to voice out concerns about the preparedness of the electoral umpire. But any past national leader who trenchantly undermines public confidence in the electoral body could be sending wrong signal.

The peace committee must caution Obasanjo publicly. Obasanjo feels strongly about Buhari remaining in office. He is determined to do everything to see him lose. That is fair. He should be seen campaigning against him and campaigning for Atiku. Obasanjo hasn’t been seen wooing anyone one for Atiku. He should be on the campaign trail. He sits in his house and writes presumptuousness. And when he is not divining victory for Atiku, he is declaring the electoral umpire and the coming contest as already flawed. That is neither sportsmanship nor statesmanship! And what about the peace committee?

Bishop Hassan Kukah has a special moral obligation to caution Obasanjo. He was crucial in taking Atiku to Ota. He therefore had a hand, albeit inadvertently, in birthing this new Obasanjo-Atiku tag team. He must feel particularly concerned about the recklessness of Obasanjo’s enthusiasm. The peace committee should endeavour to counter every extremism, from every quarter, that seeks to inflame or poison the electoral process. The committee cannot exist just to witness the indoor signing of lame agreements. The committee must tell the public that any of the candidates can win the election. The committee must counter any misinformation about the preparedness of INEC. The minds of our people must be tuned to accept results that reflect the wishes of our people, even the wishes of morons.

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/01/obasanjo-bishop-kukah-is-urgently-needed-in-ota/

OBJ the grandpa of corruption..

This should be coming frm the stable of APC camp

Oweku:
OBJ the grandpa of corruption..

Global icon OBJ. Let buhari Just get set to exit Aso Rock.

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