“One other important point to make about Peter is that he is a needle with thread attached to it from North and South and he may not get lost. In other words, he has people who can pull his ears, if and when necessary.” – Olusegun Obasanjo
Those who want to hold on to the above quotes to mean that Olusegun Obasanjo is looking for who to control have been told that if Obasanjo controls you there’s no way you can derail or sleep in governance.
Twenty-twenty-three (2023) is another historic year for Nigeria. Since the inception of the current political dispensation in 1999, election years have become landmarks… usually decision times for leadership recruitment. Our actions and inactions as a people in these years have turned out to be the determinant for the kind of leadership we enjoy subsequently.
Therefore, expectations are very high as we roll into this new year. The anxiety for 2023 is even more, weighed against the backdrop of the changing dynamics created by the seemingly third force in the polity resulting from the dramatic entry of the Labour Party presidential flag bearer, Peter Obi, into the race for the Aso Rock Villa.
For the first time since 1999, this year’s election is going to be contested by more than two critical candidates, thanks to Obi’s candidacy in the Labour Party. The year opened in a manner picturing what we are to expect going forward. Easily the most influential former Nigerian leader, Olusegun Obasanjo, set the stage abuzz with his theatrical endorsement of the Labour Party candidate Obi as the best among the runners.
“None of the presidential candidates is a saint, but when compared to the knowledge, discipline, and what they can offer, Obi has an edge, Obasanjo wrote in an open letter to Nigerians. None of the contestants is a saint but when one compares their character, antecedent, understanding, knowledge, discipline, and vitality that they can bring to bear and the great efforts required to stay focused on the job, particularly looking at where the country is today and with the experience on the job that I had, Peter Obi as a mentee has an edge.”
When people are in the process of hiring a CEO for the nation, the man who had held the position and made a success of it rolls out a principle or a standard by which the best for the job can be gotten. You cannot but listen.
In this political dispensation, Chief Obasanjo is easily the best among the four CEOs we have had since 1999 from him through to the late Umaru Yar’Adua whose tenure was marred by an ailment that eventually took him out, his successor Goodluck Jonathan, and the incumbent Muhammadu Buhari.
Obasanjo’s new-year message in a frank but brutal manner showed, especially for the undecided, which direction they should go and why. He gave out what to look out for before hiring any leader for current Nigeria’s challenges. He made it clear that using old methods to confront the current challenges will not yield the needed results. He set out what to look out for the called TVCP: Track record of ability and performance; the vision that is authentic, honest and realistic; character and attributes of a lady and a gentleman who are children of God and obedient to God, and physical and mental capability with the soundness of mind as it is a very taxing and tasking assignment at the best of times and more so at our most difficult era.
He did not jump into drawing up these qualities; he first interacted with the frontline candidates and before endorsing the LP standard bearer, Obasanjo took into consideration the TVCP he marshalled out, finding Obi as the only person that fits in as a square peg in a square hole.
“I have come to realise several factors in character, attributes and attitude that are necessary for the job of directing the affairs of Nigeria successfully and at a time like this. These characteristics or attributes are many but let us be mindful of some key ones together,” the 84-year-old former President said.
Chief Obasanjo also tackled the sentiments that are prevalent in the nation’s politics over time and said, “Let me say straight away that “Emi Lokan” (It’s my turn) and “I have paid my dues” are the same thing and are wrong attitude and mentality for the leadership of Nigeria now.
“We can only continue to play politics of ethnicity, religion, region, and money bags at the peril of our country and to self-destruction. We need selfless, courageous, honest, patriotic, in short, outstanding leadership with character and fear of God beyond what we have had in the recent past.”
Perhaps the most touching point in Obasanjo’s sufficiently great and noteworthy letter is the passion with which he delved into our unsettled past and why we must bury it if we must move forward. Coming from one who was not just a former head of state twice and a combatant civil war hero, makes it very striking.
“Let’s stop living on our different wrongs or mistakes of the past: treasonable felony, Tiv riot and its handling, first military coup and its aftermath, second military coup, araba, pogrom, and the civil war, all in the 1960s. And more recently OPC, Egbesu, MASSOB, IPOB, Boko Haram, and banditry. No region can claim to be innocent or to be saintly. And no justification will suffice.
“Can we let the past go? I appeal to young Nigerians to stop inheriting other people’s prejudices and enemies. Make your friends and stop inheriting your father’s enemies. Let’s stop criminalising and demonising one another based on the civil war on which we are all wrong. And let’s praise and thank God for preserving the oneness of Nigeria.”
By this impassioned appeal, Obasanjo has hit the nail on the head because Nigerians have been inheriting the errors of our past and letting them blur their view for a better and prosperous nation.
Obasanjo’s message that the job of administering future Nigerian is not for the aged was straight and unmistakable. “The vigour, energy, agility, dynamism, and outreach that the job of leadership of Nigeria requires at the very top may not be provided as a septuagenarian or older. I know that from personal experience. And it is glaring out of our current experiences.”
Electioneering time is when good points are made but hardly receive accolades because those it did not favour look for a way to rubbish it. As laudable as Obasanjo’s points are, they still did not go down well with some sections of the polity. Expectedly, the other presidential candidates have reacted angrily. According to the APC group, the endorsement of Obi is insignificant and of no consequence. For the PDP group, Obasanjo’s letter changes nothing electorally. To the PDP, Obasanjo endorsed the wrong person.
The significant thing which showed the haters of Obi’s endorsement as plain envious is that all of them had sought Obasanjo’s backing. After visiting Obasanjo at his country home in Abeokuta, the APC claimed to have got his back. Obasanjo’s refusal to endorse PDP was more embarrassing because its flag bearer was VP in the Obasanjo presidency for eight years.
Presidency, which ought to be neutral, also reacted to the scathing remarks in Obasanjo’s letter that intended to expose the failure of governance in the last seven and half years of this regime. According to the Presidency, Obasanjo was envious of the achievements and successes of Buhari and was trying to woo the Igbo votes. If you agree with this, say “Wao!”
Wherever one may be in the ongoing politics of endorsement, Obasanjo has done his part. We all–youths, aged, Christians, Muslims, northerners, southerners, men, women, rich or poor, political and apolitical–must do ours, bearing in mind that nothing ratifies and endorses evil like silence and indifference.
Here are words from American author and public speaker Jim Rohn: “It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you get off sometimes, what matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions.” God, help us.