THIRD TERM FOE OBASANJO

[Igwe M.O.P]

If you believe in destiny or pre-destination,
then you have another evidence to confirm
and validate your belief. Among the blizzard of
evidences that you could point to is the story
of Olusegun Obasanjo, an Owu-Abeokuta lad,
born poor, nit-witted at birth and not too
pleasant looking. Though rugged at school, his
colleagues at the Baptist Boys’ High School
Abeokuta in the middle fifties describe him as a
semi-dullard, an abysmally below average
student.
Indeed, if there was any student at the
Baptist School that the teachers could
associate with greatness, it was never to be
Obasanjo. And when he enlisted into the army
in 1958 after failing in his final year exams
(Cambridge), it was no surprise to anyone
because, at the time, the army was the last
resort for the never-do-wells.  But, wait for it;
destiny had a mission for Obasanjo.  As if
ambition was mocking the useful toil of those
brilliant students who came out of the Baptist
school with distinction, Obasanjo became the
chosen candidate of destiny.  The rejected
stone became the cornerstone. The last
became the first for Obasanjo is today the
greatest name that has ever emerged from
Abeokuta, and perhaps from Nigeria.
Why Nigeria?  Yes, Obasanjo is the only
civilian president of Nigeria right from
independence in 1960 who has ruled for three
terms.  What he could not get from the front
door, he is now getting through the backdoor.
Check the list: Azikiwe-Balewa regime was
truncated in its second term; Shagari-Ekwueme
regime was also truncated at the dawn of its
second term; the third republic was aborted;
and Obasanjo mounted the saddle for the
Fourth Republic in 1999 and has been ruling till
now. He has been running a disguised third
term with Yar ’dua and now more openly with
Goodluck Jonathan.
One paradox about destiny is that it must run
its full course despite the obstacles and
hindrances that stand on the way. Destiny
could only be delayed, but it must have its
way. Consider the twist of fate between
Benjamin Adekunle ( the black scorpion), who
commanded the 3rd Commando Division of the
Nigerian Army for the greater part of the war,
and captured Port Harcourt from the air, only
for  Obasanjo to come in few months to the
end of the war to take the glory of the gallant
exploits of that Division. His name was later to
enter into the archives as the one to whom
Biafra tendered its instrument of surrender.
Today, history puts Obasanjo at the front row
far above Adekunle.
Consider another twist of fate. On hearing
that Colonel Dimka’s bullets had snuffed life out
of the illustrious soldier, Mur’tala Muhammed, in
that fatal morning of February 1976, Obasanjo
ran for safety and hid himself in a house at
Ikoyi, Lagos.  He was still in hiding when the
decision to make him the new Head of State
and Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces was
taken. He was later to write that it was not his
will at the time to be Nigeria’s number one
citizen. Yet, he held on for three good years,
and had the honourable priviledge of being the
first military leader to hand over to a
democratically elected president in 1979.
For this singular act, Obasanjo was admitted
into the hall of fame as a respectable global
citizen. For the next 17 years, he enjoyed this
status until he crossed path with Sani Abacha
who put him away in prison for three years.
Here, destiny still followed his anointed one,
and Obasanjo was to emerge from prison,
emaciated and repentant, to be Nigeria’s third
civilian leader. Against the wish of his Yoruba
ethnic group, the power brokers and the ruling
class, simply thrust power into his palms. After
driving Nigeria for the constitutional two terms
of eight years, Obasanjo got drunk in the
aphrodisiac of power and desperately desired
for a third term. Nigerians stopped him. The
National Assembly finally buried that dream or
so it seemed. But, his chi was made for third
term.  Obasanjo’s destiny is to rule for three
terms, and he is doing that successfully.
Today, he is quietly, clandestinely and
craftily executing his third term agenda. When
Nigerians blocked him from the front door, he
tactically withdrew and meticulously went
through the backdoor. Destiny is immutable
and, like water, it must find its way.  And
without living in Aso Rock with a retinue of
aides, without being directed by protocol,
without answering Mr. President and shielded
by all the paraphernalia of power, Obasanjo is
ruling Nigeria from a distance.   Right from Otta
Farms, he is calling the shots for Nigeria.
Indeed, Obasanjo tried to continue his third
term agenda with Yar’dua, but was thoroughly
checkmated by the forces behind the ailing
president like James Ibori.  To prove his
independent-mindedness, Yar ’dua at the
inception of his regime in 2007 quickly reversed
most of Obasanjo ’s actions like the sale of the
nation’s three refineries to a consortium.
Yar’Adua also re-shaped the anti-graft crusade
by ensuring that the EFCC follow the rule of
law. In fact, Yar ’Adua   was a bit too difficult to
manipulate.
But now Obasanjo’s third term agenda is
running its full course under the Acting
President.  Jonathan is the godson of
Obasanjo. Remember that it was Obasanjo
that handpicked him for the office of the Vice
President against the ambition of people like
Peter Odili, Victor Attah and James Ibori.  The
trios were the front liners in the campaign for
the office of the VP. Odili ’s Port-Harcourt, at a
point, became a Mecca of sort for all persons
seeking financial mobilization, and the oil money
was there to be spent.  Obasanjo shocked the
world when he picked a relatively naïve
politician from the Creeks to the world stage as
the VP.  Remember also that it was Obasanjo
that orchestrated the contrived impeachment
against Alamieyeseigha, using the EFCC that
threw Jonathan up to supplant his boss as the
Governor of Bayelsa State.
Though he played from a distance, the
process of transmutation of Jonathan to Acting
President had the imprint of Obasanjo. After
being check-mated in his effort to use the
Governor ’s Forum to initiate the moves for the
transition of Jonathan to Acting President,  he
found a ready instrument in the  Soyinka and
Bakare-led campaign for Good Governance,
and coordinated both the local and
international logistics that saw to the success
of the Enough is Enough campaigns that put
the National Assembly on their toes. Obasanjo
fired the last shot when, after visiting Saudi
Arabia, he openly called on Yar ’Adua to
formally resign.
Now, with Jonathan on the saddle, Obasanjo
is the de facto Head of State. Jonathan is
being remote-controlled from Otta Farms. For a
start, the constitution of the Advisory Council
had the blessing of Obasanjo. He also
personally chose all the South West Ministers
presently in Jonathan ’s cabinet. Like he did
before, he is directing his son on how well to
use the EFCC – as an instrument of political
witch-hunt.
Indeed, no matter the public grumblings and
disaffection, no matter that he is a failed
leader; nobody can hold back the hand of the
clock. Obasanjo ’s   destiny must be fulfilled.


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