Nigeria: Obasanjo's Pathetic Finger-Pointing

Leadership (Abuja)

EDITORIAL

The declaration by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that Nigeria was "jinxed and cursed" and that "we should all go to hell" can only be explained as a Freudian slip by one of those who have kept Nigeria underdeveloped. Indeed, there is a sense in which it could be argued that any country that had the misfortune of being governed by a hypocrite like Obasanjo for a total of 11 years must truly be jinxed. As president, Obasanjo superintended over a period of bounty when oil sold for more than $140 per barrel compared to about $25 under the previous military regime. Obasanjo wasted Nigeria's opportunity to re-invent itself, devoting his energy more to hunting down his political opponents and feathering his own nest.

Obasanjo is, to date, the first and only president who launched his presidential library project as a serving president with huge donations from state governments and government contractors. Although he likes to describe himself as clean, his conduct shows the opposite. There are still cases stuck in the files of the EFCC concerning Obasanjo's aides who were alleged to have collected fat bribes. Most of the problems confronting the country today are a direct fallout of Obasanjo's hypocrisy and duplicity. It was Obasanjo who swore that Umaru Yar'Adua was healthy enough to be president and proceeded to impose the man on his party and the country only to backtrack later and position himself in the vanguard of those calling on the terminally ill Yar'Adua to abdicate.

Perhaps Obasanjo is flattered that some of the despotic regimes in Africa continue to invite him as an election observer. But Nigerians can never forget that Obasanjo presided over the most heinous electoral heist in the history of the country when he so rigged the 2003 elections that he scored more votes in Ogun State than the population of the state.

The former president's condemnation of the younger generation of politicians is even more hypocritical. For a maximum ruler who did not mentor young elements who worked with him but rather encouraged a cult of Babacracy, the former president should not be taken seriously. He may indulge in self-congratulations, but deep down he knows he has failed Nigeria and wasted all the opportunities he had to make this country a better place. It is the lot of people like him to spend the rest of their days in regret.

Nigerians should be spared the private grief of a failed leader. Obasanjo is not better than others of his generation whose only fort is hypocrisy. History will not record him as a hero. The only favour he can do his countrymen and women is to stop fouling the air with his malodorous self-glorification.