Less than four months after leaving office, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s hope for a favourable mention by history is fast evaporating, as many of his former friends turn up their noses at his legacy. Right from 2004 when he became National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), courtesy of ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo’s political designs, Dr. Ahmadu Ali never hid his desire to repay his benefactor. And for long, Ali, who replaced Audu Ogbeh in controversial circumstances, strove to do just that, always offering spirited defence for the former President’s policies, actions and utterances. Early last year, at the peak of Obasanjo’s tenure elongation plot, Ali damned the widespread public opposition to the plot by boldly expressing his support for the planned extension.
“I, as an individual, a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on three occasions from 1979, I came to the conclusion that the Liquefied Natural Gas project will never work in Nigeria. Obasanjo came in, in 1999, from the flop he left it in 1979, he picked up. Now, we are exporting Liquefied Natural Gas as an additional income to the nation. But we are going to produce the largest in the world. Now, for goodness sake, if you can have a government that can do that and all the debts that we and our great grandchildren would have been owing the white man had been cancelled under this government, we need more of that government for the nation to move forward,” Ali told Daily Sun.
Ali’s claim was promptly challenged by Professor Tam David-West, former Petroleum and Energy Minister, who gave the credit to former military ruler, General Muhammadu Buhari. “Indeed, my letter of appointment as Minister of Petroleum and Energy/Chairman NNPC Board of Directors on 18 January, 1984 listed three priority assignments for me in the order: 1. The LNG Project. 2. The Petrochemical Project. 3. Re-organisation of the NNPC. I, of course, still have the letter signed by General Buhari himself…General Buhari made the NLNG Project one of his topmost priority projects. On 1 March, 1985, I inaugurated the LNG Working Committee. Mr. Gamaliel O. Onosode, a very distinguished Nigerian, scholar, seasoned administrator, successful entrepreneur with solid ethical commitment, Shagari’s Minister of Finance, was appointed Chairman of the LNG Working Committee. The details of his appointment as Chairman and my role is recounted in his biography,” David-West wrote.
With or without the possibility of a challenge to his claims, Ali is unlikely to swoon over Obasanjo that way, again. In simple language, the PDP Chairman appears to have eyes for someone else: Umar Musa Yar’Adua, the new president installed by Obasanjo.
Signs of a switch in affection have already manifested. Less than two months after Obasanjo left office, Ali delivered a stinging criticism of the former president, whom he once claimed was ‘anointed by God’.
The occasion was his investiture as an honorary fellow of the Economics Institute, held at the PDP National Secretariat, where he condemned some of Obasanjo’s economic policies like the sale of Federal Government colleges, removal of subsidy on agriculture and the fire sale of government property and corporations.
“… I don’t see why Federal Government colleges should be sold. I don’t also see why certain things that are of national security should be sold. But we have not sold everything yet, so maybe at one point we must designate certain things for purpose of national security,” he said. The next day’s headlines were unlikely to have amused Obasanjo, now Chairman of the PDP Board Of Trustees (BOT). Daily Sun screamed: “Ali Slams Obasanjo’s Policies.” Vanguard opted for the slightly wordier “Ali, PDP Chairman, Blasts Obasanjo,” while THISDAY chose “Ali Condemns Obasanjo’s Reforms.”
But a day after the media reports, Ali recanted. Speaking through John Odey, then PDP National Publicity Secretary, Ali said he did not fault the blanket privatisation of national institutions, but spoke on the need to preserve the national institutions such as Federal Government colleges.
However, not many were taken in by the revised version of his statement. They contended that national heritage could not have meant only Federal Government colleges, but must include symbolic monuments like the National Theatre in Lagos or the official residence of the Inspector-General of Police. Even if Ali’s disagreement was limited to the sale of colleges, observers contended and, with some justification, he still criticised Obasanjo.
Also, on 8 September, Ali’s utterance, again, came under the headlights of media scrutiny. Addressing members of the PDP National Working Committee (NWC) in Abuja, Ali said: “We are celebrating a new dawn in the NWC. We had never had it so good in the past eight years.” Ali’s statement was construed, by the media, as suggesting that the party has become healthier under Yar’Adua than Obasanjo. Just as in the first instance, Ali was embarrassed by next the day’s headlines and denied hinting at what the media inferred. He denied comparing Obasanjo with Yar’Adua, saying: “Building on Obasanjo’s legacy, we expect improvement in all fields. It is usual for the press to make mischief out of my statements.”
Ali may plead media mischief as defence, but the row that broke out between the two men over the last PDP senatorial primaries in Delta State, sources said, has refused to go away. Ali is said to be angry over Obasanjo’s objection to his (Ali’s) imposition of his wife, Marian, as the party’s candidate for Delta North senatorial district of Delta State.
At a meeting between both men last February, Ali was said to have told Obasanjo that the party’s senatorial ticket for Ogun Central was given to Iyabo, the former president’s daughter, and that his wife should be treated the same way. Obasanjo, a source said, was incensed by Ali’s argument and walked him out of the Presidential Villa after telling him that Iyabo, now a senator, campaigned for votes and won the primaries. Ali’s wife, the former president said, did not contest the primaries. Obasanjo then ordered that the name of Chief Ned Nwoko be forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
In anger, Ali delayed appending his signature to the document that was supposed to be sent to INEC. Even after that, sources said, Ali ordered the issuance of a statement that said his wife was not dropped. Signed by Odey, the statement read: “In order to set the records straight and to clear all doubts, especially amongst our teeming supporters in the Delta North senatorial district, the PDP hereby declares that Dr. (Mrs.) Marian Ali, winner of the PDP primaries in the Delta North senatorial district, remains the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the general elections of April 2007. The relevant authorities of the PDP have at no time contemplated her replacement, neither have there been any application to INEC for the substitution of her name.” But Ali’s machinations turned out to be impotent, as he was a rank underdog in the contest of wills. Nwoko won the election, to which Ali’s wife has mounted a legal challenge.
Now, sources insist that the PDP chairman is minded to exploit Obasanjo’s inevitable disconnection from the main source of power–the presidency–to hit back, hence his brace of unflattering remarks on Obasanjo.
But Ali is by no means the only Obasanjo ally that is sore at the former president. In fact, a source informed this magazine that many of Obasanjo’s former ministers, advisers, aides, President Yar’Adua, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe who is Secretary to the Government of the Federation and other officials in the current dispensation are distraught over his politics, policies and his handling of the last elections. Also riled are traditional rulers and governors in the South-West, as well as Obasanjo’s overseas friends and allies.
The negative effects of Obasanjo’s politics, sources said, are mostly felt by aides, advisers and ministers, who had been promised appointments under the Yar’Adua administration. Their expectations were heightened when Yar’Adua announced, for continuity, that he would retain most of the people who worked with Obasanjo. And he was going to keep his word, said a source, until the former President decided otherwise, and at the last minute.
Those jilted at the altar were Malam Nasir el-Rufai, former Federal Capital Territory Minister; Frank Nweke jr., former Information Minister; Femi Fani-Kayode, former Minister of State in charge of Aviation; Bala Ka’oje, former Sports Minister; Akin Osuntokun, Obasanjo’s Political Adviser; and Uba Sani, Special Assistant on Public Communication.
Others were Professor (Mrs.) Dora Akunyili, Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control; Kashim Ibrahim, a Presidential Liaison Officer; Professor Julius Ihonvbere, an adviser; and Musiliu Obanikoro, Lagos State governorship candidate of the PDP in the last elections, among others.
When the struggle for ministerial positions began, said a PDP source, Obasanjo’s foot soldiers like Fani-Kayode, el-Rufai, Nweke, Ihonvbere, Sani and Osuntokun had been assured of appointments by the former President. So were Ka’oje and Akunyili. In fact, their names were on the list of ministerial nominees submitted by Obasanjo to Yar’Adua. At the last minute, however, their names were removed and replaced with some others.
Now, said a source, the feeling among them is that Obasanjo did not appreciate the service they rendered for him, especially in the fight against his deputy, Atiku Abubakar. A particularly bitter member of this crowd is said to be Ibrahim, who was the PDP governorship candidate in Borno State. He was said to have spent about N500million on his bid, but eventually lost to Ali Modu Sheriff of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). Ali, said sources, was supported by Obasanjo against Ibrahim, to whom Obasanjo made an unfulfilled promise of a ministerial appointment in 2003 after losing the governorship election. After losing his last bid, Ibrahim was nominated by Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, but was opposed by Obasanjo. Osuntokun’s case is similar to Ibrahim’s. The former political adviser and Obasanjo zealot was disqualified by the PDP, on the former President’s orders, from contesting the governorship primaries in Ekiti State. To soften the blow of disqualification, Obasanjo promised him a ministerial position which failed to materialise.
Also seething is a former minister from the North. Gutted by Obasanjo’s refusal to assist him return to the cabinet, the former minister was said to have complained to the Chief of Staff to Yar’Adua, General Mohammed Abdullahi, about his treatment by the former President.
Abdullahi, who served Obasanjo in the same position, was said to have told the former minister that even Yar’Adua is disappointed by many actions of Obasanjo. The aggrieved former minister was told that Obasanjo would have stopped many more from becoming ministers if not for Yar’Adua, who put his foot down. One of those who, at the last minute, escaped being chopped down by Obasanjo is Dr. Aliyu Moddibo, now Minister for the Federal Capital Territory.
Obasanjo, sources said, told Yar’Adua to drop him, but the President said Modibbo had served the party well and deserved his compensation. But it was a different story for Musiliu Obanikoro, PDP governorship candidate in Lagos State. Obanikoro, until a few weeks ago, said a party source, saw himself as a minister-in-waiting after Obasanjo nominated him as a replacement for Bode Agusto, who flunked the Senate ministerial screening. About two weeks ago, Obasanjo was said to have called Obanikoro to congratulate him on his nomination. Two days later, the former President also called to pray for him. But the same day, Obasanjo was said to have withdrawn his assent after he was pressured by Chief Olabode George, PDP Deputy National Chairman (South), with whom Obanikoro has been feuding. George, who met Obasanjo in Ota, was said to have wept and convinced the former President that giving Obanikoro the ministerial slot for Lagos State will offer him the ammunition to fight his political foes.
Another Obasanjo associate galled by the former president’s politics is Chief Tony Anenih, whose ambition of remaining the chairman of the PDP BOT was consumed by the flame of Obasanjo’s plot to remain in power while out of office.
The two men have a recent history of animosity, caused by Anenih’s decision to support Odion Ugbesia for the Edo State governorship primaries against Obasanjo’s candidate, Professor Osarhiemen Osunbor. Ugbesia was eventually banned from contesting. The two men would again lock horns over the choice of the senate president. Anenih preferred George Akume, former Benue State governor, and mobilised to get him elected. Obasanjo’s choice was David Mark, an active voice in the third term project.
Again, Obasanjo trumped Anenih. But more was to come, when last July, Obasanjo cut short his vacation in Jamaica to fashion a scheme that ejected Anenih from his influential seat as the Chairman, PDP BOT. Anenih, no slouch himself, was dethroned by a juggernaut, a few days after the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) had affirmed that he remained chairman of the BOT. No explanation was given, other than the party was complying with provisions of its amended constitution which stipulates that only a former president or former national chairman of the party could aspire to the chairmanship of the BOT. The amended constitution also gives the BOT chairman enormous powers to discipline any party member. Since his ouster, the normally taciturn Anenih has privately sulked like a child refused a treat.
While Obasanjo may enjoy the comfort of not being publicly attacked by those he jilted, Yar’Adua, his protege, has not offered him such a luxury. Last month, at a welcome party organised for him by the old boys of his alma mater, Baptist Boys’ High School, Abeokuta, Obasanjo said: “A lot of what we have done will be continued because they are in the best interest of the nation. They are in the best interest of this country. A lot of them, with few or without adjustment, will be retained.” Obasanjo’s statement was evidently directed at his economic reform policies, which he gleefully advertised as the pillars of his eight-year rule.
But as it turned out, the former President was wildly optimistic, as Yar’Adua has opted for outright repudiation rather than the adjustment hoped for. The first casualties of Yar’Adua’s axe were billionaire businessmen, Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola, whose controversial purchase of the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries in the dying days of the Obasanjo era was revoked on the back of strident public protests. As though that was not enough, the Yar’Adua government announced, through the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, that it would build new refineries “to stop perennial importation of fuel and resolve the lingering scarcity of petroleum products in the country.”
It was a wounding announcement, given Obasanjo’s almost religious conviction that the building and maintenance of refineries should be left in the hands of the private sector, a situation that has yielded a policy of fuel importation and relentless price hikes. The revocation of the sale of refineries drew huge public applause, which had hardly petered out before the government announced its readiness to review the sale of various government assets to determine if they were undervalued or not. These include Ajaokuta Steel Complex, Egbin Thermal Power Plant, Onigbolo Cement Company, National Arts Theatre, Tafawa Balewa Square, LPG depots and solid mineral sites, all of which were sold by Obasanjo’s government in one day–17 May.
What Obasanjo has made of the dramatic changes is yet unclear. But there are ample evidences that the former leader’s influence is sliding, despite his position as the Chairman of PDP’s BOT. “These policy reversals or modifications are strange for two reasons. First, the new president belongs to the same party as the former president, who supposedly is the life leader of their party. So one would not normally expect such dramatic changes in policies within such a short time if only to avoid embarrassment for the individual and the party,” argued Segun Gbadegesin, a columnist.
Also instructive is the speed at which the 100 per cent increase in Value Added Tax was reversed and the hike in the prices of petroleum products was halved by Yar’Adua. On the eve of his departure from power, Obasanjo had announced a hike in VAT as well as an increase in the pump prices of petroleum products.
Yar’Adua further chiselled off his predecessor’s reputation by releasing the N10billion due to local councils in Lagos State. The money was seized by Obasanjo, following the creation of additional councils by the administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Though the Supreme Court ordered the release of the money, Obasanjo ignored the ruling. Yar’Adua has also provided other hints of readiness to abolish the culture of impunity bequeathed by Obasanjo. This is evidenced by the new president’s order to the Inspector-General of Police and the Solicitor-General to immediately effect the Supreme Court order returning Governor Peter Obi to power in Anambra State. Yar’Adua’s directive, in consonance with the court ruling, ended the illegal 16-day rule of PDP’s Andy Uba, Obasanjo’s Senior Special Assistant on Domestic Matters.
A similar attitude has been demonstrated in the war against corruption, another signature of the Obasanjo administration. Already, the new government has advertised its determination to ensure that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent and Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) are no longer used as the instruments of witch-hunt they were under Obasanjo.
One week was all it took for Obasanjo to have a first-hand experience of life outside power. Travelling in the ever- chaotic Lagos traffic to keep an appointment in pursuance of his orientation at the National Open University of Nigeria on 7 June, the former president who was moving without a convoy or siren, was stranded for over two and half hours.
Incidentally, the story of his ordeal on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway was told by Obasanjo himself. “On my way to Lagos this morning, everywhere was almost flooded. It took me two and half hours to get to the house of one octogenarian in the city. I had thought I would get there by 6.30 am or quarter to seven and later get to somewhere else for other appointments,” Obasanjo remarked at a reception held in his honour in Abeokuta.
Last Thursday, yet another evidence of Yar’Adua’s desire to unhinge Obasanjo was served. This came in the shape of a presidential directive to the Federal Ministry of Health to re-examine the National Health Policy with a view to correcting its defects.
Yar’Adua issued the directive after he was presented with the report of the Presidential Task Force On Primary Health Care Centre Deductions, which listed the assignment of responsibility for primary health care to local governments as one of the defects.
Given that local councils have the least resources, Yar’Adua said it was a mistake to have burdened them with the responsibility for the primary health care, on which about 80per cent of Nigerians depend.
The President also added that the findings of the task force on deductions at source from local government allocations, to build comprehensive primary health care centres, will be forwarded to state governors. He described such deductions as illegal and ordered a halt to them.
Outside government and political circles, many have also delivered unflattering assessment of the Obasanjo years. Recently, Rilwan Akiolu, the Oba of Lagos, poured vitriol on the former President, describing him as a despot.
The Lagos monarch, who spoke during a visit by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Luka Yusuf, said: “It is only now that we have a civilian president that we have started noticing purely civil attitude in governance. The former president was 100 per cent in military practice in his governance and I am not afraid to say it anywhere because I have come in contact face to face with him and I know his reaction to many issues. Now, we are beginning to see what is coming out from governance, otherwise how can a president who is supposed to be a democrat say: ‘Your governor is too stubborn. Any little thing, he goes to court. He can win in the court. What if I make the condition to make the enforcement of the court decision impossible?’ These were words he said and we have said we will not accept that in Lagos.”
In Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, the former president’s name also appears to be bad news. Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade 1, the new traditional ruler of the city, recently shot barbs at Obasanjo. The traditional ruler accused Obasanjo of giving protection to Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, the controversial Ibadan politician, who is widely blamed for the various political crises in the state. Adedibu, an Ibadan high chief, is thought to be the target of the new monarch’s directive that Ibadan chiefs should quit partisan politics immediately.
Obasanjo recently visited Ibadan to commission the refurbished Mapo Hall. Before the commissioning ceremony, Obasanjo had paid a visit to the Olubadan, during which he tactically defended the involvement of Adedibu in partisan politics.
Oba Odulana was said to have maintained that his decision to bar Adedibu and other high chiefs from partisan politics was irreversible.
At Mapo Hall, Obasanjo said: “When I got to Olubadan, I told him there are two things involved in politics. All of us practise politics, unlike other professions where you have to attend schools and obtain certificates. Before you can be recognised as a lawyer or doctor, you have to get your certificate. But in politics, people who are involved in it get more enlightened as they progress. Like a judge who has spent many years, his experience increases. As politicians grow older, there must be a proper succession programme so that the experience acquired can be passed on to the next generation.”
Oba Odulana, who was expected to give the royal address, shunned the event, and it was Adedibu who spoke during the period earmarked for the Olubadan’s address.
The event was also given a wide berth by the Ibadan elite. The influential Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), whose President, Chief Yusuf Akande, was to give the historical background of the hall, criticised the decision of the government to invite Obasanjo to commission Mapo Hall. The group argued that the hall, the symbol of Ibadanland, should have been commissioned by Yar’Adua, his representative or the Olubadan of Ibadan.
In the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State, a group of indigenes is also striving to ensure that nothing reminds them of Obasanjo. The group, which calls itself Concerned Indigenes of Oke-Ogun, is opposed to the suggestion that the former president be immortalised in the area. The suggestion was made by Chief Bamidele Dada, an Oke-Ogun man, who reckons that Obasanjo deserves recognition for rehabilitating roads in the area, as well as establishing a pilot irrigation scheme and a post office. But the group insisted that the area remains neglected, despite the fact that Dada served as a junior minister under Obasanjo. However, Dada described those opposed to his suggestions as members of the opposition, who see nothing good in anyone who does not belong to their political platform.
Again, late last week in Ibadan, Obasanjo was the target of friends and associates of the late Chief Bola Ige.
Speaking at the former Attorney-General’s posthumous 77th birthday, Professor Segun Gbadegesin, guest lecturer at the occasion, described Obasanjo as a comma in Yoruba life. “He is not even a semi-colon, not to talk of a full stop. Obasanjo should not feature in our lives.” That, unsurprisingly was the dominant view at the event, which attracted the cream of Yoruba leaders.
To show that the crowd around Obasanjo has thinned out considerably, while returning from Ghana a fortnight ago, he was accompanied by just one man, thought to be a security operative. That day, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, there was neither the customary posse of top-ranking government officials nor the crowd of big-time politicians, who once hailed him as the ‘father of modern Nigeria’.
Outside Nigeria, Obasanjo’s friends seem to have decided to let him stew in his own juice; they are yet to offer a defence for his legacy which keeps drawing lacerating comments. Notable among these is Andrew Young, a former US Ambassador to the United Nations, and his sidekick, Carlton Masters. Both men founded Goodworks International, a firm that lobbies the United States government on behalf of Nigeria. Under Obasanjo, Goodworks International enjoyed a multi-million dollar lobbying contract with the Nigeria government. There were also speculations that Young and Masters had their fingers in other economic pies, especially in the oil and telecommunications sectors.
The last time Young spoke about Obasanjo was to suggest the former president as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Since then, however, Obasanjo’s reputation has been attacked by notable Americans like Herman J. Cohen, former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; and Jean Herskovits, a popular Africanist. In an article published in some US newspapers last February, Cohen described Obasanjo as unworthy of a Nobel Peace Prize, for which Young was promoting him. “Some of his friends have nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Unfortunately, Obasanjo’s role in Nigeria’s internal affairs has been far less laudable. His energy policies have done little to alleviate Nigeria’s crushing poverty and social unrest. Moreover, as Obasanjo enters the final months of his second four-year term, he is subverting his country’s fragile democracy in order to prolong his personal power. Obasanjo began to monopolise power from the day he entered office in 1999. He kept the oil portfolio for himself so that he could use Nigeria’s vast oil wealth for political ends. All politicians were beholden to him for money. He established an anti-corruption commission. But the record shows that his friends were exempt and his enemies were investigated whether or not they had dirt on their hands,” Cohen wrote at the peak of the third term saga. Curiously, there was no response from Young.
Cohen’s missile was followed by that of Jean Herskovits, a research professor of History at the State University of New York, Purchase. Titled “Foul Play”, the article assessed the last elections in Nigeria and delivered a disapproving verdict. “According to international and domestic observers alike, the process was deeply flawed. It was unclear until just days before each election–for state offices on April 14 and for the presidency and the National Assembly on April 21–who the final candidates would be. On election day, the names of some contenders who had been reinstated by the courts were not on the ballots. The elections themselves were disastrous, with even more rigging and violence than during the previous presidential election, in 2003, when stolen ballot boxes and bogus vote counts marred the polling. All told, there were some 700 violent election-related incidents between November and March, among them the assassinations of two gubernatorial front-runners,” Herskovits wrote. As in the first instance, there was no response from Young.
But Obasanjo has been responding in his own way, desperately striving to keep his head above the heap of criticisms threatening to bury him. At the 2007 Ogun State Awards ceremony held last month, the former President compared himself with Jesus Christ. “Not many people are recognised for whatever they rendered in their lifetime. You remember Jesus, who went about doing good? What did he get at the end? He was crucified for nothing other than doing good,” he said. The former President has also returned to the classroom, at the National Open University (NOUN), to study for a diploma in Theology. That decision has kept him in the news, as journalists followed him when he recently wrote exams. Obasanjo seems to be delighted with the media interest in his new pursuit. “This media, you know, will never leave me alone because anybody who wants to sell his paper must write something about Obasanjo,” he said proudly. He is also hoping to keep himself in public consciousness when his library in Abeokuta is completed.
These days, Obasanjo seems to have acquired a big appetite for opulence, a stark contrast to his carefully constructed Spartan profile. An evidence of this is the jet he now travels with. Though it is widely believed to be owned by Dangote, speculations are rife that Obasanjo owns it. A few months ago, when he was going to Jamaica, he requested a jet from the Federal Government, which agreed to provide him with one. However, he left before the jet was made available, in one supposedly owned by Dangote. Curiously, Dangote, the presumed owner of the plane, travels on commercial flights.
For now, the strongest plank Obasanjo is standing on is his position as Chairman, PDP BOT. Through that, he retains considerable influence on party affairs, as evidenced by his intervention in the contract scandal involving Patricia Etteh, Speaker, House of Representatives. But even that influence may soon be whittled down. A source told TheNEWS that there are plans to amend the PDP constitution at the party’s next convention, in a way that would drain the office of the BOT Chairman of some of its powers. In the event of that, even those who still revere the former president may come to revile him–and without any untoward consequences.
By Bamidele Johnson
The News
Monday, September 17, 2007
