In his New Year message to Nigerians, former President Olusegun Obasanjo officially threw his weight behind the presidential ambition of former governor of Anambra State and the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
In a special letter addressed to young Nigerians, Obasanjo said the current leaders have done their best but their best has not been good enough for the country. He added that it has been hell on earth. He said those alive should brace themselves for the remaining few months of the present administration and prepare for a better future of liberation, restoration and hope.
“Our leaders have done their best, but their best had turned out to be not the best for Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad. For most Nigerians, it was hell on earth. Those of us who are alive should thank God for His mercies, brace ourselves for the remaining few months of this administration and pray and work very hard for an immediate better future – future of liberation, restoration and great hope and expectation,” Obasanjo wrote.
He added that there were contestants going up and down the country and saying what they meant and what they did not mean as well as what they understood and what they did not.
“I believe that we need not be confused nor be gullible. Let us be cautious, not to be fooled again.”
He said he had interacted with the major contestants and what he found interesting was that one way or the other, many of them wanted to replicate what he did during his Presidency between 1999 and 2007 and probably take the country even beyond that. He said while this might be laudable, what they have failed to realise was that the Nigeria of today was no longer that of June 1999 when he took over as the nation has been dragged so down that it was barely recognisable from the one he took over 24 years ago.
In a direct indictment of the ‘Emi lo kan’ mantra, which is the unofficial campaign slogan of the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, Obasanjo said it was a wrong mentality and attitude to adopt when contesting for the presidency of the country as it smacked of a sense of entitlement.
”Let me say straight away that ‘Emi Lokan’ (My turn) and ‘I have paid my dues’ are one and the same thing and are wrong attitude and mentality for the leadership of Nigeria now. They cannot form the new pedestal to reinvent and to invest in a new Nigeria based on an All-Nigeria Government for the liberation and restoration of Nigeria. Such a government must have representation from all sectors of our national life – public, private, civil society, professional, labour, employers, and the diaspora. The solution should be in ‘we’ and ‘us’ and not in ‘me’ and ‘I’.”
In endorsing Obi, Obasanjo had this to say: “None of the contestants is a saint but when one compares their character, antecedents, their understanding, knowledge, discipline and vitality that they can bring to bear and the great efforts required to stay focused on the job particularly looking at where the country is today and with the experience on the job that I personally had, Peter Obi as a mentee has an edge. Others, like all of us, have what they can contribute to the new dispensation to liberation, restoration and salvaging of Nigeria collectively. One other important point to make about Peter is that he is a needle with a thread attached to it from North and South and he may not get lost.”
As expected, it was not Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi that has unsettled the camps of both Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party, PDP. His indictment of Tinubu and the Presidency has also unruffled not a few feathers. In fact, Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, issued a strongly-worded statement saying Obasanjo was envious of the sterling achievements of his principal; adding that Buhari is celebrated across Africa as an “anti-corruption champion”.
On their own part, the campaign handlers of Tinubu said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi was “worthless”. In a statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, the spokesperson of the team, Obasanjo was described as having no electoral goodwill.
“The endorsement is actually worthless because the former President does not possess any political goodwill or leverage anywhere in Nigeria to make anyone win a Councillorship election let alone win a Presidential election. He is a political paperweight,” Onanuga said.
Coming after Obasanjo’s was renowned Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark’s endorsement of Obi.
While they have been indignant, the fact is that the Tinubu group was more disappointed that Obasanjo eventually threw his weight behind Obi even more than Atiku. When Tinubu and his crew visited Obasanjo last year, the visit was massively celebrated in the media and some of his associates even issued statements announcing that the former president had endorsed Tinubu. This was debunked by Obasanjo. That was how much the Tinubu camp desperately wanted Obasanjo’s endorsement.
However, now that Obasanjo has endorsed Obi, the same endorsement they desperately craved has become worthless and Obasanjo suddenly has no goodwill value.
Harvard-trained public health expert and founder of the Alliance for New Nigeria, ANN, one of the newly-registered political parties, Dr. Jay Osi Samuels, in a telephone chat with THISDAY said the Tinubu camp was simply unhappy with the endorsement, adding that with what Obasanjo has done, it would encourage other former leaders, religious as well as opinion leaders and respected statesmen to come out and endorse Obi.
“Obasanjo has thrown the gauntlet. In the coming days and weeks, other leaders will come out and endorse Obi and that would change the game. Nigeria is back to where it was in 2014 when they were tired of PDP and just wanted a change. But now, we don’t want a change just for the sake of it. Nigerians are just tired of both APC and PDP and want another tendency. And it is like a movement that is set to shake so many people,” Samuels said.
While they attacked the former President, both Tinubu and Atiku camps would secretly wished he threw his weight behind any of them. And there lies the essence of the endorsement itself.