Obasanjo/Atiku’s Lingering Beef: A Matter Of Patriotism Or Personal Vendetta?

To many Nigerians that have been observing the former president Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar age long beef, majorly on media turf, it would have been better if the root of the acrimony between them is gotten to.

However, it would be recalled that Atiku in 2013 disclosed to the media that the genesis of his fallout with his former boss, ex-president, was as a result of the disagreement he had with him on his quest for a third term bid.

In fact, it would be recalled that Atiku in the year under reference made the disclosure during an interview with a newspaper published in Hausa, and disclosed that the real disagreement he had with Obasanjo was triggered from the moment he bluntly told him that he was not in support of an ambition that stretches more than what the nation’s constitution says. He further revealed how the then President gave him a Quran to swear loyalty to him during one of their arguments.

He said, “At first we started arguing, and then he (Obasanjo) opened his drawer and brought out a copy of the Quran and asked me to swear that I will not be disloyal to him. There was nothing I did not tell him in that room. The first thing I told him was that I swore with the Quran to defend the Constitution of Nigeria. Why are you now giving me the Quran to swear for you again? What if I swear for you and you go against the constitution?

“Secondly, I looked at him and told him that if I don’t like you or don’t support you, would I have called 19 northern governors to meet for three days in my House in Kaduna only for us to turn our back on you?

“Thirdly, I asked him, what are you even doing with the Quran? Are you a Muslim that you would even administer an oath on me with the Quran? I was angry, and I really blasted him. He asked me to forgive him and he returned the Quran back to the drawer, and we came out.”

Recall that Obasanjo had moved for a third term of his administration. However, calls by Nigerians all over the world put him off balance, and he gave up on the ambition.

Atiku at the time disclosed further that he clearly told Obasanjo to vacate office at the expiration of his tenure as the constitution does not provide for a third term.

He said, “In fact we had the same kind of altercation when he was gunning for third term, he informed me that “I left power twenty years ago, I left Mubarak in office, I left Mugabe in office, I left Eyadema in office, I left Umar Bongo, and even Paul Biya and I came back and they are still in power; and I just did eight years and you are asking me to go; why?” And I responded to him by telling him that Nigeria is not Libya, not Egypt, not Cameroun, and not Togo; I said you must leave; even if it means both of us lose out, but you cannot stay.”

Also at the time, Atiku refuted the widespread rumour that Obasanjo knelt down to beg him as he said his former boss did not go on his knees to plead for his support, but admitted that Obasanjo visited his home to beg for his cooperation.

He said, “Honestly, he did not kneel down for me. But he did come to my house and I refused to see him. And he knocked my door continuously and asked me in the name of God to come out, so I came out, and we went downstairs, and he asked me to join him in his car and I said, no, because of security reasons, but he insisted. So when we entered his car, I never knew that he had gone round states pavilions and asking for the support of governors and delegates and they refused to listen to him because they have not seen us together. So that was why he came and picked me up so that we would go round together. There is something that many people did not know before, which I will tell you now.

“We sat with party elders and discussed the issue of Presidency and there was debate as to whether the South will have eight or four years? If the South had eight years, so the north too should have eight years subsequently. After lots of debates, it was finally agreed that the South should have eight years. And when power returns to the north, they should also have it for eight years.

“However, governors objected to this arrangement. I was then in a dilemma; is the governors’ objection genuine or just a political gimmick. What if I followed them to run against the president and they later on turn their back on me and align with the president? At the end of the day, one would neither be a vice president or a president because politics is a slippery game.”

At this juncture, it is expedient to ask whether the somewhat “Pull Him Down” (PHD) campaign approach which the former president Obasanjo usually adopt against Atiku by each passing electioneering era is based on national interest or on personal vendetta? The reason for the foregoing cannot be farfetched as the president Nigeria need to salvage Nigeria’s economy should not come at the behest of anyone’s desire for personal score to the detriment of the wellbeing of the nation’s economy.

Against the foregoing background, not few Nigerians with dispassionate and apolitical mindsets were of the view that the former President’s predilection to attacking former Atiku by each passing political dispensation was as a result of the disagreement they had.

It would also be recalled at this juncture that the former president in 2018 urged Nigerians not to count on Atiku for support in his bid to actualize his life-long ambition of being elected the president of Nigeria.

The former president, one of the most influential of his living peers, hinged his blistering position on the unsavory corruption perception of Mr. Atiku while speaking with Journalists shortly after his arrival from Kigali in 2018.

He bellowed, “How can I be on the same side with Atiku?” “To do what?”

“If I support Atiku for anything, God will not forgive me. If I do not know, yes. But once I know, Atiku can never enjoy my support,” he added.

Unarguably sounding unforgiving and embittered, the former president, few days ago described the choice of Atiku Abubakar as his vice as a mistake. He expressed his regret in Abeokuta to students from selected secondary schools who participated in the final of the National Exhibition and Awards, organized by Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE). The former president rued, “One of the mistakes I made was picking my number two when I wanted to become the president,” “But because it was a genuine mistake, God saved me.”

At this juncture, it is expedient to ask, “Is it normal for one man to deny Nigerians the opportunity of having a good leader because of age long disagreement between them? What if Atiku is the leader God has ordained to salvage Nigeria’s economy?” To me, we may be seeing Atiku’s leadership potential and his integrity based on what we often read in the newspaper about him, particularly as regard every derogatory comments the former president has been making about him, but those of us in the Christendom should not forget the biblical injunction in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 that says, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him”.

To me, it is advisable for those that believes in Atiku’s leadership qualities to go ahead, and vote for him come 2023 presidential election as it is doubtful whether the former president’s campaign against him is being influenced by the love he has for the country or the hatred he has for Atiku.