In defense of Obasanjo
ACHO ORABUCHI
Dallas, Texas
Monday, March 26, 2007
“A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” -- Rosalynn Carter
“In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” -- Eric Hoffer
President
Matthew Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo is working assiduously to take
Nigeria where it ought to be, but he has been widely criticized and vilified for
his leadership of the country. He has enormously received unfair criticism for
his good-intended actions. Undoubtedly, Obasanjo has a clear vision for the
direction to which he would like to take the country. His credible reforms are
demonstrative of this great leadership. Well, as in all democratic societies,
President Obasanjo’s efforts to take the country to the direction its citizens
do not want to go, but ought to be, seemingly attract some rebuff. The intense
spurn of his programs and policies has degenerated to unfair and unwarranted
ridicule of the man. He has been called all kinds of names and has been
described with all kinds of negative adjectives in an attempt to paint a horror
picture of him—to characterize the man as a villain.
Ironically, the horror paintbrush has painted a masterpiece portrait of President Obasanjo in the eyes of many Nigerians who believe that business as usual should not be an option for Nigeria in its quest to achieve global greatness. There should be a different Nigeria in outlook and substance. To these great Nigerians—patriots—in the Diaspora and at home, it takes a democrat, but a tough leader like President Obasanjo to tackle Nigeria’s issues. It’s encouraging that in the face of intense criticism and resistance, the president has stayed the course in his effort to uplift all Nigerians.
Nigeria is a complex society with a mélange of social, ethnic, religious, and political problems that exert enormous challenges to any leader. Compounding the problems is the gremlin of corruption that seems to be a menacing clog on the wheels of any credible reforms touted by the Obasanjo-led administration. Resistance to change has also been ominous and portentous to credible reforms of this administration.
Lately, Major General Muhammadu Buhari tried to play the Igbo against Obasanjo. It was reported that Major General Muhammadu Buhari said the following in a letter he sent to Ohanaeze: "Ndigbo, since 1999 had given total support to the PDP without commensurate or significant democracy dividend. His promise to fix the Oji River Power Station, Coal Field, Enugu International Airport, 2nd Niger Bridge, Abuja-Otuocha-Onitsha Road, Abakiliki-Enugu Road and the completion of Onitsha-Owerri Road are all fake promises. …To add salt to injury, Obasanjo did not find Igbos fit to be vice president and indeed never allowed any of their sons to enjoy the position of Senate President due to Ndigbo, under his leadership."
The above statement credited to Major General Muhammadu Buhari is purely palpable contraption aimed at invoking the emotions of the Igbo for political gains. The Igbo should not allow any politicians’ political gimmicks play into their emotions because such deceits are driven by the politicians’ narrow selfish interests. Judging from the antecedents of these politicians, people should be able to discern the sincerity in their statements. Imperatively, no amount incendiary statements would squelch the antecedents of the perpetrators. By their actions we know them!
Nigerians should not forget that the rein of
Alhaji Shehu Shagari (1 October
1979 - 31 December 1983) ended in December 31, 1983 with the forceful ascension
to power by the Chairmen of the Supreme Military Council of Nigeria, Muhammadu
Buhari December 31, 1983 - 27 August 1985) the same day.
Major-General
Muhammadu Buhari, who led
a military coup d'etat that overthrew democratically elected civilian President
Shehu Shagari on December 31, 1983, justified the military's seizure of power by
castigating the civilian Shagari’s government as awfully corrupt, and his
administration immediately initiated a public campaign against indiscipline—“War
Against Indiscipline" (WAI) with authoritarian trimmings.
When Major-General Buhari seized power from a democratically elected Alhaji Shehu Shagari-led administration to the consternation of many Nigerians and international community, he did not consider an Igbo man or a Southerner as his second-in-command, he chose a Northerner—contrary to the nationalist image he seems to portray lately. Where was his sympathy and love for the Igbo then?
As the Superintendent of Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), Buhari did not remember the Igbo. A few years ago, Major-General Buhari said, “It is today widely acknowledged by the vast majority of rational and objective assessments of events in our country that the defunct Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF), which operated between 1995 and 1999, and in which I had the honour and privilege to serve as the Executive Chairman, represented one of the most positively creative development initiatives in the History of Nigeria.” The Southeast was abjectly ignored by Buhari. The Southeast Zone continues to suffer the consequences of Buhari’s neglect when he was in charge of PTF. The consolation now is that PDP is poised to correct the emerging imbalances that exist in the Southeast.
Interestingly, people are so much fixated on one’s imperfections instead of celebrating one’s strengths. It’s safe to say that Igbo people have benefited in the Obasanjo-led administration. The Igbo are presently occupying or have occupied prominent positions in this administration. In a cursory examination, the Igbo are occupying or have occupied the following positions in Obasanjo’s administration: Chairman of INEC, Ambassador to USA, Minister of Transport, Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Governor of Central Bank, Minister of Health, Minister of Education, Minister of Aviation, Minister of Finance, Minister of Information, DG of NAFDAC, and the list goes on.
In every administration, there is always room for improvement. This is why the situation is best suited for Yar’Adua-led administration to continue with the reform programs of President Obasanjo. Nigeria needs a leader that would continue to fight against entrenched corruption and not leaders who have publicly pledged to stop the reform programs of this administration. Nigeria cannot afford to go backwards.
Nevertheless, it’s time Nigerians stopped viewing national issues through the narrow prism of emotional and tribal constructs or status quo mentality. National progress could not be maximized through such lugubrious frame of mind. For Nigeria to achieve global competitive edge, its citizens should sluice themselves of selfishness perpetuated by intractable problems of tribalism and corruption.