Less than a week after he rated President Goodluck Jonathan’s performance in the saddle as below average, former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday in Abuja called on the president to learn to tolerate opposition in order to sustain the nation’s democracy, even as he accused Jonathan of bungling the fight against Boko Haram.
Obasanjo, who has been cavorting with the leadership of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in recent months, spoke at a presentation of an autobiography on the first chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and a former President of the Court of Appeal, Mustapha Akanbi, at the Sheraton Hotel in Abuja.
Obasanjo, in his capacity as chairman of the occasion, took another potshot at Jonathan after the presidency’s reaction to his initial criticism of the president, saying Jonathan should stop encouraging “verbal violence which may not physically hurt but has ways of degenerating into physical violence”. The former president said one of the ways to destroy democracy was by destroying the opposition. This, he said, is an indictment against the Jonathan’s administration. He said: “Management of democracy without resorting to brute force and dictatorial tendencies must be cultivated. “As a leader, you must not deliberately do evil or condone evil. You should know that you will one day give account to God, you may cover up here, but before God, there is no cover up.”
Obasanjo also said the president was not fighting corruption. “When the head is rotten, the whole body is useless,” he said. Without mincing words, he accused the administration of naked display of corruption, thereby hampering the nation’s economy. He said: “For quite some time, the covered and hushed up corruption has had its toll on the economy. The non-investment in the oil and gas sector by major international oil companies has added its own deleterious impact.” He added that Nigeria “cannot continue to indulge in disdain for the truth, elevation of corruption and incompetence, reinforcement of failure, condonation of heinous crimes and celebration of mediocrity, tribal bigotry, fomenting violence and anti-democratic practices in states and National Assembly”.
The former president further pointed out that Jonathan had bungled the handling of the Boko Haram insurgency, saying that it took the president years to fully understand the menace. According to him, “Boko Haram is not simply a menace based on religion or one directed to frustrate anybody’s political ambition. It is essentially a socio-economic problem that is tainted with religion. “It is a gargantuan danger to the nation and to all Nigerians. President Jonathan’s understanding of the Boko Haram phenomenon suffered from wrong reading and wrong imputation. That is what led us to where we are today.” Obasanjo blamed Jonathan for the dilly-dally approach the administration adopted in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency. “It even took the president more than three years to appreciate and understand that it is a terrible mix of poor education or lack of education, misinterpretation of Quranic teachings and what it stand for, poverty, unemployment, injustice, drugs, gun trafficking, human trafficking, a fallout from Libya, revenge, frustration, struggle against inequality, imitation of international terrorism leading to training and part of the absorption by international terrorist groups and general poor governance including corruption,” the former president stated.
Obasanjo also faulted Jonathan’s handling of the economy. He said contrary to claims by the federal government, the economy would continue to sink, alleging that Nigerians had not been told the true state of the economy. “The economy is in the doldrums, if not in reverse,” he claimed. “Our continued heavy dependence on one commodity has not adequately prepared us against any shocks from that one commodity in the international markets. “With the figure of $78 per barrel as benchmark, we will be in a bind if oil price falls to $75 per barrel. I am made to understand that Saudi Arabia used $68 as its benchmark for the 2015 budget. “Our inadequate protection of almost all local industries with the heavy cost of energy has dealt a hard blow on most indigenous industries,” he added.
The former president further warned that in the foreseeable future Nigeria will have a budget that cannot be funded. “We may have to borrow to pay salaries and allowances. Revenue allocations to states and local governments have already been drastically reduced. Capital projects at all levels may have to be drastically cut or stopped,” Obasanjo said. The former president spoke on youth unemployment in the country, warning that unless urgent steps are taken to address the situation, the country would implode. Churning our demographic data, Obasajo said of the country’s estimated 178.5 million people, 70 per cent are below 30 years, with 54 per cent being unemployed. “I have no doubt in my mind that youth unemployment, youth dissatisfaction and youth frustration were part of the causes of the so-called Arab Spring from which Libya and Egypt have not yet fully recovered and which caused insecurity and instability in the whole of the Arab world. “We must learn the right lessons and put in place programmes that will address youth empowerment and youth employment, youth discontent and youth dissatisfaction and youth frustration to avoid youth anger and explosion generated therefrom,” Obasanjo said.
Not finished, the former president also took a swipe at the National Assembly, describing it as an assemblage of looters and thieves. He however acknowledged that there were a few exceptions and people who stand out and would not succumb to the scourge of sleaze, even in the federal legislature. The former president said the National Assembly was shrouding its corruption in the opaque nature of its budget, pointing that this has damaged its capacity to oversight the executive. He accused the Jonathan-led executive of making direct payments to the legislature in order to cover up its wrong doings. He said: “Apart from shrouding the remunerations of the National Assembly in opaqueness and without transparency, they indulge in extorting money from departments, contractors and ministries in two ways,” Obasanjo alleged. “They do so during visits to their projects and programmes and in the process of budget approvals when they hike budgets for ministries and departments, which agree to give it back to them in contracts that they do not execute. They do similar things during their inquiries.” Obasano said the federal government under Jonathan has institutionalized corruption and elevated it through the huge sums of money it has been paying to the National Assembly to stop investigating its corrupt acts. “Corruption in the National Assembly also includes what they call constituency projects which they give to their agents to execute but invariably, full payment is made with little or no job done. “In all this, if the executive is not absolutely above board, the offending members of the National Assembly resort to subtle or open threats, intimidation and blackmail. “When the executive pays the huge money, normally in millions of dollars, all is quiet in the form of whitewashed reports that fail to deal effectively with the issues investigated,” he revealed.
The former president insisted that over the years, the legislature has never singled out any corrupt lawmaker except where the executive was involved in the indictment of a member. He listed some of the cases where the executive led in exposing corruption in the National Assembly to include those of former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Salisu Buhari, and former Senate President, Adolphus Wabara. He maintained that majority of the members of the National Assembly live above the law in both misconduct and corruption and cannot in good conscience carry out oversight duties on any government ministry or department. He maintained, nonetheless, that there were still some “honourable” and “distinguished” men and women in the federal legislature “who would not do anything to soil their hands”, warning that with a largely corrupt legislature, Nigeria is doomed. “When the guard is the thief, only God can keep the house safe and secure,” he said. “But I am optimistic that sooner rather than later, we will overcome.“God will give us guards of integrity and honesty with the fear of God and genuine love of their people and their country. “Today, there is no institution of government that is not riddled with corruption, not even the military. As the people cry out, where then is the salvation?” he asked.
Also speaking at the event, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would never produce a governor in Lagos, charging that the state would continue to be under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He said: “Recently, I told Bode George, (Musiliu) Koro and (Adeseye) Ogunlewe that “look at me o! You will never win Lagos. God will give us another APC governor”. Akiolu’s statements generated a lot of excitement from the audience. He said he became the Oba of Lagos through divine intervention and that he did not spend a dime. “After I was retired, some justices of the Supreme Court, including Belgore, Uwais and Akanbi came to me and told me that they intend to go and see the president, but I told them with due respect that is where God wants me to be. “One of them, Wali held my hand and prayed, saying that within one year, you will see what God will do in your life, and exactly a year later, my father, the late Oba, joined his ancestors. ”Governor Tinubu came and said don’t give anyone any money to be Oba, if it is yours, it will surely come and that is how I became the Oba, even though President (Olusegun) Obasanjo was against me,” the Oba said.
Obasanjo, who was seated at the high table, did however not respond but laughed off the remark. Continuing, Akiolu said before the inauguration of Obasanjo as president, the former president pledged to ensure transparency in the Nigerian oil sector, but Obasanjo later reneged on his pledge as the oil sector was besieged with quantum corruption. The Oba maintained that contrary to his promise, Obasanjo failed to address the problems, which led to a decline in crude oil output.
Responding, Obasanjo differed from the Oba of Lagos, stating that it was during his tenure that allocations to states became transparent with the publication of monthly revenues to the three tiers of governments. He said his government also worked out modalities to enthrone accountability and transparency in the oil sector.
Vice-President Namadi Sambo, in his speech, commended Justice Akanbi’s efforts in the fight against corruption and his commitment to service. He said by carving a niche for himself in the fight against graft, he had left an indelible footprint in the sands of time. In his remarks, Akanbi observed that though there were allegations of a witch-hunt by the federal government when he was in charge of the ICPC, there was never a time Obasanjo interfered with his job at the commission. Akanbi also frowned at the increasing cases of nepotism and tribalism in the country, stating, “merit no longer matters in the scheme of things”.
In a related incident, the Northern socio-cultural organisation, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), has questioned the federal government’s capacity, willingness and sincerity in prosecuting the war against the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents. The umbrella body for Northern Muslims, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) on Monday had rapped the federal government over its lack of seriousness in fighting the terrorists. According to the ACF, the failure of the government to squarely address the security challenges posed by the deadly activities of the terrorists was pushing Nigerians to resort to self defence.
In a communique issued in Kaduna at the end of the meeting of its Rapid Response Committee, the forum also condemned the recent killing of over 30 people by suicide bombers in a popular market in Maiduguri, lamenting that the security situation had deteriorated to the extent that the government was not capable of providing minimal protection to the citizenry.
The communiqué, which was signed by the Secretary General of the forum, Col. John Ubah (rtd), also said the “ACF, as an umbrella body for the north feels highly disgusted and indeed embarrassed to note that northerners actively serving in the federal government in very high positions, not only remain passive but are collaborating in the mis-governance, ineptitude, financial recklessness and mindless corruption in the country”.
The forum expressed shock over the recent attack on members of the National Assembly by the police, describing the action as another manifestation of the impunity and disregard for the rule of law that have characterized the administration’s approach to governance. The communique read in part: “The meeting condemns this crude process of subverting the sanctity and independence of the legislature. This action is a violation of the constitution and an insidious conspiracy to scuttle our young democracy. “The incident at the National Assembly illustrates the extent to which our democratic institutions are being compromised and abused by the political leadership in pursuit of narrow personal ambitions. “It is becoming the norm for political leaders to give unlawful orders to the security agencies who take certain actions directed at political opponents. “The meeting urges the Federal Government of Nigeria to allow the police and other agencies of state to operate within the parameters of the constitution. “No meaningful progress can be achieved unless we allow our institutions of state to grow and perform their functions without undue interference. “The meeting further deplored the deteriorating security situation in the country, and the inability of the government to provide minimal security to the citizenry. “Only on the morning of November 25, 2014, suicide bombers attacked a popular Maiduguri market, killing about 30 people and injuring scores of others. “All these call question the federal government’s capacity, willingness and sincerity in prosecuting the insurgency war and bringing it to a speedy end. “It appears that Nigerians are being pushed to the wall to defend themselves in desperation. “With regards to the forthcoming general election, the ACF has resolved that elections must hold under all circumstances and in every part of the country. “All pending cases in court relating to President Goodluck Jonathan’s eligibility to contest in the presidential election, must be concluded before the 18th of December, 2014, being the deadline for submission of names to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This is extremely important for the survival of democracy in Nigeria.”
