OBASANJO, ATIKU: NO MORE MUSICAL CHAIRS?

Quite certainly, many Nigerians will be shocked by the recent romance between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former vice-president Atiku Abubakar. The icing on the cake in the new-found friendship between both men was during the 75th birthday celebration of Chief Obasanjo where Atiku said Obasanjo is his only boss.

Ordinarily, Atiku's late mentor, Alhaji Shehu Yar'Adua would have wished that Obasanjo replaced his position as mentor to the Turaki Adamawa. And, given the closeness between Obasanjo and Atiku in the first four years of their administration, it could be predicted that both of them would become really good friends after their presidency. But that was not to be. No thanks to some perceived agent provocateurs who were set to cause a clash between them.

Although the in-fighting in the presidency during those days caused a lot of heat on the polity, it helped strengthen our democratic foundations and also created a fulcrum for separating politics from the fight against corruption.

But much more than that is the fact that the crisis opened the Obasanjo presidency to the test of transparency and accountability, which today has made the Obasanjo/Atiku presidency a model of good governance in the country's recent history.

It is not certain any president and his vice after them, for whatever reason, could afford to wash their dirty linens in the public as both Obasanjo and Atiku did.

Written By Benson Okohue