Better Obasanjo Denies Lamido And Amaechi
Everywhere in this country of ours are distractors and distractions. Some persons want selfish sacrifice even when they need the people's support. They want to use the sensibility of the general people and hardly remember where several people have ended due to their rapacious selves and their inner political sickness. They exhibit tribal-prejudice and part-taking, which are very detrimental to Nigeria's growth. Even when they know nothing about politics, they would want to make noise, upon the fact that they are senile or intellectually dead of objective contributions. They have warped mind but pretend with wise mind. They plainly think they have possession of Nigeria and Nigerians, when they have very retrogressive ideas. They make us discriminate in criticism and share ethnicity together.
The news speculating that Governors of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, and Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi, were anointed by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo to run for the 2015 elections was shallow. Lamido was contemplated to be the presidential aspirant, while Amaechi, his running mate. But Obasanjo through his Media Adviser, Mr. Garba Muhammad, freshly said that he was not exclusively in support of, or against any Nigerian, who had an ambition to run for the 2015 elections. Hear the statement: “Former President Obasanjo wishes to state that these media reports are not true. Far from thinking or planning for the 2015 elections, the former President is deeply concerned with more pressing national issues. However, the former President does recognise the rights and privileges of any Nigerian to vie for any elective office of his or her choice.”
While Obasanjo was right to exonerate himself, the wrong thing is, why must any right-thinking Nigerian be talking about anointing any candidate for the 2015 elections when we are yet facing perilous times in 2012 in the name of democracy? It seems that somebody was afraid of Obasanajo, and as a result, his irredeemable image is always in the news to make him look much relevant, by saying that he anointed Lamido and Amaechi. It is also evident that someone was trying to make Amaechi lock horns in enmity with his “brother” President Goodluck Jonathan since both of them come from the same political zone, by asserting that Amaechi was interested in contesting the 2015 elections, when he had not made such public. This is corruption of opinion!
It was a ridiculous story that Obasanjo anointed Lamido and Amaechi whereas he had been fingered in all ramifications of the Nigerian specter with the history of corruption and colossal misappropriation in Nigeria since the late 1970s. Did Idi Amin Dada of Uganda seize over N6M of Nigerian currency from Obasanjo as Head of State in the period in quote? How can Obasanjo anoint the “born again Amaechi to run for 2015 elections? Assuming there is anything like that, can Amaechi win under Obasanjo? When would some Nigerians drop this old-frontage of thinking that Obasanjo is still much relevant, except in the camp of those who think his way? Where is the $16bn power project fund? But Obasanjo would say that he was the best President Nigeria had ever produced to fight corruption when comparison is made. It is better that he had denied anointing our Amaechi and Lamido, because Nigerians who know his history would not have taken the duos with a pinch of the salt, if the story of their 2015 elections ambition was true.
The squabble of Obasanjo or his government setting up the anti-corruption agencies does not hold water. Did he not use the agencies as his rot whalers? Under Obasanjo's presidency, Nigerians regretted having an arrogant and visionless administration that witch-hunted perceived political enemy in guise that it was fighting corruption but rather ended up in glorifying corruption. Whitewash administration! Obasanjo had the rarest fate to lead Nigeria but he preferred to use guerrillas' tactics in a democracy instead of being a democrat Nigerians direfully needed at the time. It was ignorant of anybody to say that Obasanjo still anoints people for elective positions in this country. What happened to the Lagos-Ibadan road contract? Why has it been awarded and re-awarded many times? Your guess is as good as mine.
Without mincing word, it would be essential to point that Obasanjo was part of Nigeria's problem; he is supposed to retire to his farm but he is yet making some political posturing indirectly. Like it is in the military, it was under his civilian rule that we saw governors promoted to the senate, likewise the ministers and ambassadors, and kangaroo elections held. It was recycling galore under Obasanjo, and those who perhaps did not support him were frustrated to drop. It was under Obasanjo, because of his military background he used on the politicians that made politicians to be very wicked to this country, as we can see. Hardly are any of them thinking about any developmental projects.
Has Obasanjo not caused a lot of perceived political skirmishes in this country? Is it not a sad commentary from anyone that Obasanjo is still talking in this country without minding how terribly bad we have fared as a country he headed once as military personnel and later as a civilian? But some myopic and ignorant people would say that he tried when the cracks on the political wall show him as a man who wasted our collective future. There is a crisis of significance between the new generation and the continued presence of the old generation. Amaechi is one of the 'fresh brains' we wanted in politics, but it happens that his body language suggests that he knows everything in the world. They said that he studied English Language and Literature in the university but his aura posits that he knows even Economics more than a major in Economics.
Most skeptics would say that most Nigerian politicians cannot achieve what Obasanjo achieved between 1976-1979. Their doubting nature was that he willingly handed power over to a civilian President Shehu Shagari, and introduced the GSM/Internet communication when he came back in 1999-2007 as a civilian president, set up the EFCC to fight 'corruption'. But are these not incongruities for anybody to make Nigerians still take their foolishness since 1999 to the 2015 elections? Nonetheless, there is no ruling out the fact that Obasanjo is a man of honour among his cronies, but he made Nigeria look foolish when he held sway as a civilian president with importation of shenanigan democracy laced with the introduction of “do or die” politics. Some politicians 'did', and some 'died'! So, why would anybody still see Obasanjo as one of Nigerian strategic and visionary leaders, when his mates have chased and mortgaged the youths “out” of Nigeria to be a people that have found solace on Tweeter, Yahoo, Gmail, 2Go and Facebook? Just name them.
It is pertinent to say that Obasanjo wants to be in the news, or those whom he is still their hero, want him in the news all the time. But they should know that his era of “carry go” politics is over. The peoples' votes now count. Obasanjo will be very far from the political arena watching the people as they decide who they want in 2015 to be president. Nigerians are not animals that must be reared by all means. Obasanjo's anointing will never again serve any relevance because those that go to equity must go with clean hands. Does Obasanjo know that George W Bush rarely attend any political meetings since he left the White House, talk less of anointing anybody to run for office? The same is with Jimmy carter; he is said has been writing books to make a living and to sustain his charity work.
What stops Obasanjo from learning from these Americans? It is the minds of many Nigerians that those dishonest politicians countrywide should give up work and stop to partake or enlist another set of badly informed egotistical bungling shady politicians – the remnants of their anointed failures. It is better that Obasanjo denied ever anointing Lamido and Amaechi, because Nigerians are no longer to appreciate whatever that belongs to him, because anointing them will not influence the Nigerian votes to them.
In a nutshell, until Lamido and Amaechi come public and refute this allegation of their presidential intention in 2015 elections, Nigerians would only take the denial by Obasanjo as a mere window dresser.