Admit you are part of Nigeria’s problem – Akande. As he tells Obasanjo to admit responsibility
In recent months, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has been outspoken and critical of the current economic situation of the country, lashing out on the president’s ineptitude.
However, Obasanjo’s criticisms of the present administration have caught the eyes of concerned Nigerians, including the veteran journalist, who has berated the former president by asking him to admit own responsibility in the economic crises rocking the country.
On Tuesday, Laolu Akande, former presidential aide, called on chief Olusegum Obasanjo to accept his own role in the current situation of the country and told the former president to issue a public apology.
The renowned journalist made this declaration during Sunrise Daily−a Morning programme on Channels Television.
It can be recalled, earlier, that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo had called for total overhaul of the electoral system, proposing urgent axing of the current Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman Mahmood Yakubu and other officials.
Obasanjo made this statement amidst his lecture during the glamorous Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum held at Yale University, United States, where Obasanjo apparently stated that Nigeria is a “failed State.’
Reacting to Obasanjo’s claims, Akando dissected into Obasanjo’s three times as the head of the country−Military Head of States: 1976-1979, 1999-2003, 2003-2007−and posited that by some of Obasanjo’s ill-actions, he also constituted to the systemic problems Nigeria is currently faced with.
“President [Olusugun] Obasanjo is a statesman, a patriot. I don’t think anyone can deny that he loves the country. He has fought a war. So, we have to give him his due credit for that.
”But to the extent that President Obasanjo actually has been president for three times, he basically had three terms and there’s nobody that has had that experience – 11 years altogether, to that extend he must take responsibility for the state of the nation where the country is today if he were to be honest.
“If former President Obasanjo were to be honest, he should be telling us that ‘Look, I share in the responsibility of where Nigeria is in today’. That way, people will take him serious.
“Because, a lot of things that we are sorting out today, Obasanjo is part of the problem. And, it’s difficult for any honest analysis to ignore that. Is it the question of corruption?
“It’s under Obasanjo that they brought cash to the National Assembly. We can’t forget how much he corralled state governors and businessmen to fund his Presidential Library, some of them with state funds.
“So, Obasanjo cannot talk about corruption. So, he should take responsibility. If he is not willing to do that, he should please keep silent.”
The veteran journalist also noted that while Obasanjo has called Nigeria a ‘failed states,’ none of other heads of States has done the same.
The former aide who is a host of a bi-weekly programme, inside Sources with Laolu Akande, on Channels Television, stressed that political leadership is just not Nigeria’s problem today, but also “systemic moral decay.”
“I think there’s a major systemic problem that I have been reflecting over. It’s not just the political leadership. There is fundamental problem with the political leadership.
“We don’t have leaders who really are committed to the public good. But, part of the problem for that is because they also come out of a system that is losing its moral values.
“What has to happen in Nigeria now is for politicians and non-politicians to be involved. Non-politicians must take active role. Don’t let us allow politicians to turn it only into an issue for getting elected.
“The politicians will weaponise all these issues so that they can win the next election. And I think that’s what President Obasanjo is trying to do.”
Akande accused Obasanjo of nursing bitterness and bad blood against President Bola Tinubu which can be traced back to past political altercation.
We can recall that during the pair’s political bout, Obasanjo controversially and illegally withheld local government allocation from Lagos State during Tinubu’s tenure as the governor, against a Supreme Court ruling.
“Part of the problem is that Obasanjo, it will seem, has personal vendetta against [incumbent President Bola] Tinubu. And everybody knows it. And I can give you examples.
“Obasanjo was the one that refused to pay local government allocations for
Lagos state when Tinubu was Governor even after the Supreme Court said it’s illegal to hold the funds.
He noted, “Obasanjo left office not making the payments. Obasanjo violated the ruling of the Supreme Court.”
Akande also recalled mischievous political ploy by Obasanjo in 2003 when he staged electoral malpractices to gain control of South-West, abandoning Tinubu as the only governor, within the region, to withstand the political attack.
“In 2003, when Obasanjo raided South-West, with his electoral malpractices, it was only Tinubu that was able to hold down fire to fire. So, there is a personal vendetta between Tinubu and Obasanjo.
” This his [Obasanjo’s] lecture should have been said when he ought to have attended the Council of State meeting. A statesman like him should make the point in the Council of State meeting.
“Obasanjo is fighting his own personal vendetta against President Tinubu.
Nigerians should not be fooled. The only thing that Obasanjo can do now is to tell us ‘I own up for my own part.”
The journalist said that Obasanjo should publicly apologise to all Nigerians for his role in the country’s challenges.
He said, “If Obasanjo or anyone gets on the pulpit to pontificate, we are going to question their moral basis. And I’m saying that Obasanjo does not have the moral basis to go against Tinubu.
“All the things that he said which are true, he perpetuated them too when he was in power. There is nothing that he said that he did not perpetuate when he was in government.”
“Obasanjo owes Nigerians an apology. He owes us to say ‘I was part of these problems’.
“Why do you think Babangida is keeping quiet? Why do you think Abdulsalami is keeping quiet? They are doing so because they don’t want to take what Obasanjo is taking.
“He must own up to his irresponsibility when he was president. It’s the right thing and we must not ask for less as a people.”
In conclusion, Akande said, “Obasanjo must own up to his past mistakes. It’s the first step towards genuine accountability and healing for Nigeria.”
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s role in nation-building remain a contentious matter. Some describe as a patriot whose significant contribution to development and growth of the nation cannot be overlooked, while some other say his administration catalyzed many systemic problems faced by the country.
Admit You Are Part Of Nigeria’s Problem – Akande. Admit You Are Part Of Nigeria’s Problem – Akande
