Nigeria’s former military ruler (from February 14, 1976-1979) and elected President (1999-2007), Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has castigated the current leader, Muhammadu Buhari, who like him, ruled as a dictator (from December 31, 1983 to August 27, 1985) and elected President in 2015 for “bringing hardship on Nigerians”,, “running ineffective economic policies,” and causing a high number of “crippled businesses.”
The first lesson I learnt in my military training is to never reinforce failure. What we have now is failure. Never you reinforce failure. Let failure be failure.
Obasanjo who failed in a multi-pronged quest for an unprecedented 3rd-term as President (see/search USAfrica and USAfricaonline.com news index) told a delegation of the New Nigeria group (led by Chima Anyaso) that it will be foolish and counter-productive for Nigerians “to reinforce failure by re-electing ineffective and incompetent government in 2019…. The truth is this: When you have an ineffective and incompetent government, we are all victims. And don’t let anybody deceive you. Those of you who are in business, your business could have been better today if we have a competent and effective and performing government.”
He continued: “As I said, stop giving excuses; we met challenges. If there were no challenges, then we wouldn’t need you to come.”
“You came in because you know there were challenges and then giving us excuse that you have many challenges, that is why you haven’ t achieved results.
“And then you still want to go [for re-election]…. And if you do not see what you should see, you will then be a victim of what you don’t like, because it’ s only when you see what you should see and you do what you should do that you put away what you do not like.
“You see, I have publicly said and I mean it, that as a party, neither PDP nor APC can get us there as they have been. Never mind about reforms and apology and all that.”
Obasanjo was a key power broker who supported Buhari of the APC and abandoned his PDP then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. Several retired army Generals and civic leaders are expressing their disappointment with the current leader.
Buhari has faced trailer-loads of problems, as he has with many members of his team exposed their relative inadequacies across various sectors of government.
Buhari contested and won under the banner of the APC, a party and presidency stifled by its naked instinct for nepotism, regional impunity, ideological sectarianism, punitive engagements as standard instruments of governance and self-defeating insularity.
Lest we forget, Obasanjo became President under the umbrella of the corruption-ridden confederacy of financial locusts called the PDP.
Evidently, the battle for Nigeria’s 2019 elections has started, almost…. By Chido Nwangwu, Founder & Publisher of USAfricaonline.com, CLASSmagazine and USAfrica magazine, appears occasionally as an analyst on CNN International, SKYnews (London). He is the author of the soon-to-be-released 2018 book, MANDELA & ACHEBE: Leadership, Identity and Footprints of Greatness. ISBN 978-0-9893970-0-1
