OBJ VERSUS PMB: AS THEY FRAME EACH OTHER

The former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo announced recently that President Muhammadu Buhari is framing up stories to finally detain and prosecute him. This new major outburst of OBJ  this year made me remember Tunde Kelani’s epic film, Ti Oluwa N’ile, where a well-respected town chief, Otun, gravely manipulated a judge to bungle justice. But from the night the judgment was made and his excited side won, death started killing the winners serially by interment. Chief Otun fought at processions to stop interments, ran for his life, cried hard till he got solution and his life was spared. Having left for years after the crises, Otun returned to town suddenly, asking to regain his chieftaincy title. Otun in the greedy battle, over the title at the end, lost his life even when interments and killer-ghosts spared him despite his earlier atrocities.

Truth be told, Obasanjo worked hard as president. Taking over power in a country where soldiers were so used to political power than staying in the barracks, OBJ stabilised the polity by retiring such soldiers, confronted ethno-religious crises aggressively, scouted for rugged and seasoned professionals like the Akunyilis, the Okonjo Iwealas and Oby Ezekwesilis. They came with expertise. They all worked as a team starting free feeding in schools, setting up Global system for mobile communications, sanitizing the food-drug industry and finally getting a major debt cancellation.

But old habits, they say, die hard. OBJ although quite a very detribalised personality has some inhuman personal habits and his militocratic approach to many issues as he many times denounced fundamental human rights, democratic values and the rule of law. In his days, politicians die under mysterious circumstances and electoral rigging was the order of the day.

There are very few respected personalities in Nigeria that Obasanjo has not quarrelled with in his lifetime be it IBB, MKO, Wole Soyinka, GEJ, the Kutis, Tinubu, Buhari, etc to mention but a few. Obasanjo’s complicated lifestyle as reaffirmed by his first wife positions him better to tolerate many bootlickers, fake friends, liars and crooks. But when he was in power, they cuddled him the El-Rufai way.

If anyone should be grateful to God and consider human leadership as ephemeral it should be OBJ. A man that no one invited him to the 3 coups but when they won, they did call him to lead. A man that handed over power in the military and gets it back in a democracy. A man God led from prison to presidency and yet handed over power to democratically elected governments twice. A man whose CV is a book.

But If there is anyone who should never complain that someone is framing up plans and documents against him, it is Obasanjo. Who framed up Fayose and removed him? Who wiped off the whole of Odi and toppled 2 senate presidents? For me, it is legends like Nelson Mandela that qualifies to write such public letters to perhaps Jacob Zuma, not those who cannot identify the killers of a sitting attorney-general, vents at foreign journalists because of Malabu oil scam questioning and goes livid when asked why his soldiers pushed down a 70+ year old female activist from a storey building. OBJ’s letters are mostly political and the most impatient amongst those leaders he wrote jailed him immediately. This just tells us that OBJ can definitely write letters but not a public one.

Obasanjo and Buhari

But come to think of it. Comparing OBJ and PMB, don’t you think OBJ is more alert, detribalised, understands the body language of business, fights conflicts with all aggression, employs experts, understands foreign policy but applies militocracy for personal wishes?  Sai Baba is unaware, strongly tribal even where federal character matters, runs on propaganda, lays back during crises and employs more party loyalists than experts. He lacks the finesse for international business and politics.

The issue is both of them are one-way traffic, selective in their anticorruption fight, ignores the office of the citizen, belongs to the same age-long Nigerian political class, manipulates the rule of law and apply good governance moderately. The only thing I am sure of is that PMB will never write any letter.

How I wish Buhari could help bring this former Nigerian leader to justice if found culpable at last? That will pass a great message to the Nigerian Elite.  But I sincerely doubt if Buhari himself will not be culpable of most of OBJ’s atrocities when he leaves office, Or even more.

Oya fight me.