Obasanjo Under Serious Attack By Arewa For His Latest Letter On Security
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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has admitted that his generation has done enough harm to Nigeria, he, therefore urged Nigerian youths to remove them from power by making atmosphere uncomfortable for them.
According to him, his (Obasanjo’s) generation has perpetuated a lot of wrongs in Nigeria, so the youths must act to correct the reality rather than sit back and complain.
The ex-president spoke on Sunday in a virtual interview with academic and historian, Toyin Falola.
Obasanjo said, “You (youths) have everything going for you and I don’t want you to feel discouraged. Things are bad in Nigeria but I believe it is only for a short while because it depends on you.
“Whatever my generation might have done wrong –and I will be the first to admit that my generation has done a lot of wrongs, (but) it is for your generation to do it better.
“Don’t just sit down and complain. Sitting down and complaining will make you be on the same level and you have to get what I called critical mass of likeminded people who will be ready to say let us bring about the change. You can bring about the change if you get critical mass of people that are ready to slug it out.
“When people say when will these old hags go out of the way? I tell them they won’t go out of the way, you have to make them go out of the way. They won’t voluntarily go out of the way, you have to make it uncomfortable for them; I am not talking of violence but bringing pressure to bear to make it uncomfortable for them to go out of the way.”
Obasanjo also admitted knowing that former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was ill, but added that he had been certified medically fit before he emerged as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2007 general elections.
He said he got medical advice that Yar’Adua, who had a kidney transplant, was fit to run as President.
The former president was asked to respond to allegations of imposing the Late Yar’dua despite knowing his health status.
Obasanjo described the allegations as “absolute and total nonsense,” asking: “How? For the like of me… should I deliberately weaken the country that I fought for? The country of my birth. The country I want to be great.”
He said: “Let me tell you the story of Umaru Yar’Adua. I knew he was ill and before I put him forward, I asked for his medical report which he sent to me and I sent it to one of the best doctors of our time and a good friend of mine who died only last year, Professor Akinkugbe.
“I said look at it because it’s confidential and he said to me that from this report, this man has had a kidney transplant and it’s successful, he’s no longer under dialysis.
“And if you have a kidney transplant and it’s successful, it’s as good as if you didn’t have a kidney transplant at all. I accepted that and Umaru Yar’Adua contested within the party and he contested within the country and came up.
“In the process of the campaign, I remembered that he had to go for a medical checkup abroad and he was not around for a campaign here in Abeokuta.
“I called him because the rumour was that he had died. I called him on my telephone and put it on speaker. I said, ‘Umaru, are you dead or alive?’ and he said, ‘I’m not dead, I’m alive’.
“Within a couple of days, he came back and reported that he was checked up and he was well. That was the position of Umaru Yar’Adua. And if anybody in his right sense will think that what I’ve done in that position was not right, I leave him in the hands of God.”
Speaking on former President Jonathan, Obasanjo said after Yar’Adua’s emergence as candidate, the party was left with two choices: between Jonathan and Peter Odili.
He, however, said Jonathan was picked over Odili, who, had an alleged corruption case with the EFCC.
Obasanjo admitted that Jonathan was not a strong character compared to Odili.
“Goodluck Jonathan had all that was working for him. He was not a strong character as Peter Odili. I would admit that, but he was not a pushover,” he said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A JOURNEY OF A MILLION MILES
Now that political space in Nigeria is open and gaining momentum towards the Anambra State governorship election in 2021, Osun State in 2022 and the general elections in 2023, anyone who intends to be a participant in these elections need to start with a bold step now in order to finish well in victory.
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