President Goodluck Jonathan and former president,
Both men were among other African leaders that graced the 50th Independence Anniversary celebration of Kenya on Thursday, December 12.
Obasanjo’s visit was said to have taken everybody by surprise as it contradicts the expected nature of the relationship between both men, owing to recent public criticisms of the President by Obasanjo.
The unexpected meeting held prior to the anniversary event which was held at the Safaricom Stadium in Kasarani, Nairobi with former president, Obasanjo paying a surprise visit to President Jonathan at the Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi where they had a private breakfast together.
Obasanjo, who had the breakfast with President Jonathan had written a strongly worded letter, which went public earlier this week, accusing him of performing below par and taking actions calculated at destroying the country.
Meanwhile, in his speech, at the event, President Jonathan called on all Kenyans to unite. According to him, there was no alternative to unity if Kenyans must move their nation forward. In building their nation, Jonathan told Kenyans that they must make unity their focal point.
He said that the destiny of Kenya lies with its people and as such, the people must strive hard to take their country to a greater height. President Jonathan said that he was happy that former Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga was present at the event and working with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
“Nobody can love you more than Kenyans, so you all have to jointly develop your country. All Kenyans should come together to form an inclusive society.
“Since 2007, many African countries like Kenya have been celebrating 50 years of independence and freedom, our founding fathers talked of political freedom to be followed by economic freedom.
“The present generation of African leaders must work hard on science and technology as well as industrialisation, so that there could be economic development and freedom” Jonathan stated.
Obasanjo was said to have sat quietly during the event and was making calls on his mobile phone at intervals while the event lasted
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WHO IS FOOLING WHO ? 
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eminent Nigerians have been reacting to the 18 page letter sent to President Giiodluck Ebele Jonathan by former President,Olusegun Obasanjo.
Those who reacted on Thursday were a Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, the All Progressives Congress, the Northern Elders Forum, the Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, the Ijaw Youth Council and the United Action for Democracy.
While Abubakar called on the two former Heads of State, Ekwueme and Danjuma to speak up now on the letter, the APC, CNPAPB A, the NEF and the UAD cautioned the Jonathan administration against treating issues raised by the ex- President with levity.
But the IYC chided Obasanjo, claiming that his anti-Jonathan posture was capable of putting the nation on the precipice.
Although Abubakar said he was not competent to speak on the letter, he however insisted that it was expedient for Nigerian leaders to intervene and reduce the tension created by Obasanjo’s weighty allegations.
In a statement issued by his media office in Abuja, the ex-vice-president said like every other Nigerian, he felt the allegations were too disturbing to be treated with apathy by any political stakeholder.
He said at a moment of national anxiety or uncertainty, leaders across the country should rise to the occasion and reassure their citizens about the future.
Abubakar said, “Our priorities for Nigeria are forging lasting solutions to our chronic unemployment, providing safety and security for all, and vastly improving our failing education systems. President Jonathan’s government has consistently failed to address these critical concerns.
“That said, it is on record that I have firmly fought for a democracy where the voters choose their future leaders, not political party bosses.
“If the incumbent President insists on continuing to destroy his own party with vindictive internal wars and thinks his record of rising youth unemployment, never-ending violence, corruption and scandals is worthy of another term, then he is welcome to run. We are confident Nigerians will exercise their democratic right to choose new leadership in 2015.”
He agreed that the President was free to run his government without interference, but said sometimes even sitting Presidents needed outside constructive interventions to move their countries forward.
He said claims that the Presidency was plotting to set up “a killer squad” was particularly worrisome considering the nation’s sad history of unresolved assassinations.
He added that it was not in the character of Ijaw people to take delight in killing people.
Eradiri said Obasanjo’s letter was suggestive of ill-feelings, stressing that he was engaging in the proverbial ‘pull-him-down syndrome’ because the President had unbeatable record of achievements.
He said, “In this country, leaders who see that others will surpass them will decide to drag them down and is that is what is playing out in the case of Obasanjo’s letter to Jonathan.
“The achievements that Jonathan has put on the table will be difficult for any other President to surpass in the country. But he is a man who does not know how to blow his trumpet.”
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Those present at the briefing were the Deputy National Convener, Abdul Yusuf; the General Secretary, Zulu Ofoelue; the National Treasurer, Jide Afolabi; and the National Publicity, Styvn Obodoekwe.
Aye said, “The UAD notes that corruption has remained institutionalised in Nigeria as a patronage mechanism of the ruling elite to foster their control over the economy and polity.
“With the recent rating of Nigeria as the 33rd most corrupt country in the world by the Transparency International, the brazen faces of corruption continue to disrupt national development.”
He stated that it was particularly worrisome that there was surreptitious sharpening of the teeth of state terrorism going on in the country.
“We regard these allegations with utmost seriousness, and demand an urgent verifiable response from the Presidency,” Aye said.
On its part, the NEF said even though Obasanjo said nothing new, he should be given credit for his comment on Jonathan administration.
Its spokesman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said, “This is from the horse’s mouth, if I had said this three weeks ago they would have said, Ango has been in opposition all his life but this is the man I opposed. I opposed Obasanjo, he was my friend. We parted ways in 2003.
“Here is the man who brought this man (Jonathan) to us (North), he was the one who did the mago, mago(trick) for Umaru Yar’Adua, he did the mago, mago for Jonathan.
“Now that he has at least been honest enough to speak out about the fact that, there was a one-term agreement and all of the issues he has raised in his letter, we should take him as an authority on the issue.”
The NEF spokesman also said there was no denying the fact that the nation was on its knees hence the need for all men of goodwill to abandon their ethno-religious differences and work towards rescuing the nation.
But the IYC accused Obasanjo of heating up the polity unnecessarily.
President of the IYC, Udengs Eradiri, who addressed journalists in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, asked Obansajo to look inwards before making spurious comments.
He said it was unfortunate that Obasanjo associated Jonathan with violence and purported training of goons like late General Sani Abacha reportedly did.
He added that it was not in the character of Ijaw people to take delight in killing people.
Eradiri said Obasanjo’s letter was suggestive of ill-feelings, stressing that he was engaging in the proverbial ‘pull-him-down syndrome’ because the President had unbeatable record of achievements.
He said, “In this country, leaders who see that others will surpass them will decide to drag them down and is that is what is playing out in the case of Obasanjo’s letter to Jonathan.
“The achievements that Jonathan has put on the table will be difficult for any other President to surpass in the country. But he is a man who does not know how to blow his trumpet.”
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The APC said it agreed with Obasanjo’s call on Jonathan not to allow personal and partisan considerations blot out his responsibility as the father of the nation.
The position of the APC was contained in a statement by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
In reference to happenings in Rivers State, for which Obasanjo also berated Jonathan, the APC said it had resolved not to sit by and allow anyone make the nation a laughing stock in the comity of nations.
The statement reads in part: “We are aware of the letter to President Jonathan by former President Obasanjo, virtually accusing the President of destroying the same nation he was elected to preside over and uplift.
“We hope he will not allow Obasanjo’s prognosis about him to come true so soon by backing any move that can plunge Nigeria into chaos.
“This is because, we in the APC, have resolved never to sit by and allow anyone, no matter how highly placed, to engage in actions that will make our country a laughing stock and a pariah in the comity of nations.”
The APC said there would be no peace anywhere in the country if the Federal Government supported the perpetration of impunity in Rivers State.
This, it said was not a threat, “but the sure consequences of any acts of impunity.”
Speaking in a similar vein, the Convener of the CNPAPB, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said Obasanjo’s letter raised a number of serious issues that could not be ignored.
Columnist: Chido Onumah
Olusegun Obasanjo’s damning letter to President Goodluck Jonathan must rank as the most narcissistic (and the narcissism of our rulers is legendary) action of any Nigerian ruler in recent times.
In the 18-page diatribe, Obasanjo took President Jonathan to task for his handling of corruption, insecurity, and the crisis in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) among other issues.
Like most Nigerians, the former president expressed deep concern about the tragic consequences of the current crisis. Unlike most Nigerians, however, Obasanjo has had two glorious opportunities to help turn around the fortune of Nigeria and he squandered both. Of course, it is easy to say we should focus on the message rather than the messenger. But this is one instance in which the messenger can’t be divorced from the message.
Obasanjo’s letter dated December 2, 2013, and titled, “Before it is too late” had all the telltale signs of a deeply troubled man. Rather than writing this particular letter, Obasanjo should have committed hara-kiri for his many crimes against Nigeria and Nigerians.
It was bad enough that his eight years as president were a tragedy; to have imposed Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan on the nation as a farewell gift is unpardonable. Perhaps, it was payback for the trenchant opposition to his third term agenda.
In his warped thinking, Obasanjo must have reasoned that his only option was to foist on Nigerians the very worst amongst us; people so inept and incapable that after a while we’ll be hankering after Obasanjo. Looking back now, that theory has worked well as Nigerians now look with nostalgia at the Obasanjo era.
by chido onumah
All the things Obasanjo said about President Jonathan and his administration may be true. But we can say the same and even more about the two Obasanjo’s administrations, 1976-1979 and 1999-2007. Obasanjo seems to have forgotten too soon his squabble with his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, that made nonsense of governance, the political assassinations (including that of Bola Ige, his attorney general and minister of justice) during his macabre rule, the massacres in Odi and Zaki Biam. The less said about corruption (who could forget the wholesale pillage of our patrimony in the name of privatization) the better. Obasanjo laid the foundation on which President Jonathan is building and consolidating. He is acting out the PDP playbook.
Obasanjo’s latest intervention is no doubt anchored on the politics of 2015. In his messianic posturing, he feels he has a divine right to determine or at least have a say on who emerges as president in the 2015 election, an election that may sound the death knell of Nigeria if we go by the postulations of Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Junaid Mohammed and Farouk Adamu Aliyu for whom the election is a “do or die” affair, à la Obasanjo.
A few months ago, rather than participating in activities marking Democracy Day (May 29) that he and his military collaborators foisted on us, Obasanjo was in Jigawa State as guest of Governor Sule Lamido. He literally made a case for Lamido as the next president of Nigeria, the same Lamido whose sons have been indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for laundering billions of Jigawa State fund through companies owned by the governor.
That is the problem with Nigeria: the feeling of entitlement which the likes of Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida survive on. Obasanjo should realize that his “ethnic balancing” theory is not the solution to “strengthening the unity and stability of Nigeria.”
In the postscript to his letter, Obasanjo referenced Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar as those “who on a number of occasions in recent times, have shared with me their agonising thoughts, concerns and expressions on most of the issues I have raised in this letter concerning the situation and future of our country.” This simply shows that Nigeria and we (the 99 percent who ought to decide the future of the country) are in big trouble. It’s like asking cats to help improve the conditions of rats.
by chido onumah,
Suddenly, President Jonathan has become the alibi of a ruling class fearful of its imminent implosion. Earlier in the week, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, who superintends over a house that reeks of corruption accused President Jonathan of paying lip service to the fight against corruption.
Many Nigerians know the problems of the country, and if the likes of Obasanjo and Babangida will allow, perhaps they can seriously begin the long and arduous task of fixing the mess created by these rulers.
Obasanjo has outlived his usefulness, if ever anyone found him useful. Now that he has confirmed that the man he imposed on the country is not fit to rule, we shouldn’t grant him the opportunity to decide the person to replace him. It is time we the people rose in unison to decide that.
Let no one be in doubt where I stand on the PDP, the Jonathan administration and our so-called democracy. “This house has fallen.” There is no amount of letter writing or patchwork that can fix it.
Obasanjo should know that the train has left the station; that the problem he and his cohorts caused can’t be solved by letter writing but by a complete restructuring of the country.
Obasanjo, Babangida and company have lost all moral right to dictate how to define the new Nigeria we envisage.
Colonel Umar- Says 'He Suspects Obasanjo's Real Motives ...
accused Mr. Obasanjo of spearheading a secret agenda tied to his personal political interests. Mr. Umar, one of the former military officers to have opposed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, stated that it was dangerous for Nigerians to uncritically take Mr. Obasanjo at his word.
He added that Nigerians should realize from the former president’s antecedents that he is a deceitful and insincere man who was complicit in creating the mess Nigeria is in today. “What is it that [Mr. Jonathan] did not do with impunity?” asked the former military governor.
“It was the same man that attempted third term and was confronted headlong. He is the [same] man that destroyed our nation. [He] wanted [former Governor Peter] Odili before it failed due to some challenges with EFCC. He later imposed a sick man as a leader and we are where we are today,” added Mr. Umar.
He further described Mr. Obasanjo as “the same man that gloried and celebrated corruption in Nigeria,” adding that the former president “ensured that corruption got its solid foundation, and today he is the moral voice of Nigeria. It is dangerous and scary. Our citizens should be critical.”
Mr. Umar contended that Mr. Obasanjo did not believe in the principles he wrote about in a leaked letter that descended on Mr. Jonathan with harsh words.
“Do not be carried away by his noise about democracy and justice, it is all a ruse. He did [govern Nigeria] and we saw how he was tyrannical, a dictator. It is laughable and dangerous that Obasanjo is the man we want to take seriously. I am begging our people to be critical and thorough so as to unravel his real agenda.”
In the interview, Mr. Umar cautioned Nigerians to recognize that, “There is more to it than what we can see. There are certain things we don't know. [Obasanjo] said that he gave Generals Babangida, Abdulsalami and Danjuma copies of his letter.
Why did he not give [a copy to] General Gowon? It means something is in the offing. And it is scary today that Nigerians are taking Obasanjo seriously. It is important that we look at the message and the messenger critically.”
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