ओबासांजो अस OUR SAVIOUR

OBASANJO: A SAVIOUR FOR NIGERIA

A wise man once said that when a purpose for a thing is not defined there is likely to be an abuse. This statement appears to be true in regards to elective and political office holders in Nigeria. Many get into office just for the glamour and pecks that come with such office. They failed to ask themselves why am I in this office and what is expected of a person occupying this position? So when an office holder does not know the purpose (duties and responsibilities) of his office or position he is bound to do what he knows or like. Recently former President Olusegun Obasanjo was reported to have told the media that he was not elected president to provide roads, water, electricity and other facilities and infrastructures to Nigerians. According to reports, Obasanjo claimed that he was made president so that he can restore peace and stability to Nigeria. By Obasanjo’s statement the president is not responsible for steady power supply, potable water or basic facilities and infrastructures that in other climes are taken for granted

From the reports, it seemed that during his eight years in office, Baba was not implementing the manifestoes, policies and programmes that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on which platform he came to office, had used to campaign while seeking for votes from Nigerians. Stop asking me whether my vote or that of millions of Nigerians count, are you saying that PDP does not need our votes to win elections? Do you realize that you are libeling the greatest, largest and strongest party in Africa, the great PDP! Baba in his infinite wisdom, can you compete with his wise ways, of doing what he considered the best for national interest and stability. If you think you are smart tell me between Baba national interest and PDP manifesto which is superior? After all the president is the party leader and as the leader he is the wisest of them all.

Some persons are complaining that our current President Umaru Musa Yar’dua has not implemented any of his seven point agenda. Umaru may be following the footsteps of Baba, that is, implementing his own personal agenda instead of that of the PDP. And maybe after eight years in office, he would tell us what he was doing in Aso Rock. You mean Yar’dua daughters have all been married within two years of his presidency? Nonsense, this is an achievement whether you like it or not, bad belle. Was it not during his second coming that Baba’s children started marrying and were given out for marriage. Don’t ask me whether some of the marriages are still on? These marriages were and are in the nation’s interest and to further strengthen national stability and integration.

Talking about manifesto, what do you know about party manifesto? Who determines what a party manifesto is and how it should be implemented? According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: a manifesto is “a written statement in which a group of people, especially a political party, explain their beliefs and say what they will do if the win election….” Don’t mind my dictionary and its definition of manifesto, it is only a learner’s dictionary and its definition cannot be compare to that of a wise man like Obasanjo. My dictionary definition is for political learners and not for masters of the game like Baba. What do the compilers of dictionary know about politics, PDP or manifesto? It is Obasanjo presidency we are talking about and not PDP or Manifesto presidency, so whoever is the president knows what is best for Nigeria, no party, constitution or manifesto can tell or guide him on what to do. So in Nigeria, a party manifesto is only a document to fulfill all righteousness and it does not translate to a promise or covenant of what a party would do if elected into office. After an election, the manifesto is kept in an archive until next elections ( or when an electoral body asked for it) and the elected officer is free to do whatever he likes while in office.

My people have a saying that you don’t argue with a blind man over his dreams because he eyes are always closed so you may not know when he is asleep or dreaming, in short, he can sleep and dream at any time. So who are we Nigerians to challenge Obasanjo’s claim that he was the one who saved Nigeria form disintegration and disappearance from the face of the earth.

Nigerians are ungrateful idiots, a bunch of ingrates who will not appreciate the messianic role of Baba god of Owu kingdom. These Nigerians, especially the bloody Biafrans, would not accepted that it was Baba that risk his life to keep Nigeria one, a task that he did. Don’t mind Brigadier Benjamin Adekunle who attempted to claim victory in a war he did not fight. In short, Obasanjo was and is still the Conqueror of the Biafra Empire. And when Nigeria, that beloved country of Obasanjo, was at the verge of extinction, Baba came out of a well deserved retirement to salvage the country. Forget those who claimed that Baba came out of Prison to the Presidency. The truth is that Baba went to prison in the interest of Nigeria and because of his love for Nigeria. Baba is always ready to die for Nigeria but death has always refused to accept his soul. May he live forever, gods don’t die.

To appreciate the contributions of Obasanjo to national unity and stability, we shall recall some of the milestones of his eight years as a civilian president. Before Baba second coming in 1999, there was no Niger Delta crisis. Except for those irritants from Ogoni land, little or nothing was heard from or known about the Niger Delta region. But when Baba came into office his administration brought Niger Delta to international recognition. Remember the Odi incident in Bayelsa State. And it was Baba that liberated Bayelsa and the entire Niger Delta from the Biafran forces; can you see how much we are indebted to him? As I am writing this piece there is an undeclared war going in Delta state and it is one of the fruits of Obasanjo’s eight years in office. Even the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) thrived well during Obasanjo messianic administration. Baba forgives his enemies easily for they know not what he knew. Forget all those religious crises, tribal wars across the country, they were all in furtherance of national unity, integration and stability, except you have you own meaning of national unity.

We must learn to appreciate creative ideas of leaders like Obasanjo. We should not wait until he is dead before we declared a day as a national holiday to celebrate the contributions of this great democrat, soldier, administrator, peace maker and patriotic Nigerian to the peace and stability of Nigeria. Or what do you think? It is not the business of the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to provide jobs, water, goods schools, roads, hospitals, security of lives and property among other social amenities to Nigerians. Our president has more serious national issues to think about than the welfare and comfort of Nigerians. If you are waiting for the presidency to improve the welfare and standard of living of Nigerians, you are wasting you time and do not understand the responsibilities of the President of the most populous black country in the universe.