The presidency and OBJ’s disrespect

By Paul Isichie

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has never been known for good manners.  And he doesn’t care!  In fact, some say that Obasanjo takes pride in being crude or outrightly discourteous, particularly when he was President.  The problem is that Obasanjo does not seem to realize that he is no longer the President, even almost a year after the official expiration of his tenure.  Very often, he makes a huge mess of protocol to the embarrassment of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Chief Obasanjo was true to character at the dinner hosted by President Yar’Adua for out-going Executive Committee members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Sunday, 9th March, 2008, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.  Reports had it that on the occasion, Obasanjo breached protocol two or three times and had to be physically prevented by security men from joining the queue at the wrong points. 

Such discourteous behaviour may be pardoned for a man who knew nothing of civil conduct for the eight years he was in power, and who definitely needs intense debriefing to get back to law and order.  What is inexcusable – indeed, intolerable – is Obasanjo’s display of utter disrespect for the Presidency on the occasion marking the 10th Anniversary of the late Major-General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua on March 15, 2008.  According to ThisDay Newspaper of Sunday, March 16, 2008: - “When it was time for President Yar’Adua to speak, former President Obasanjo caused another stir.  He did not stand up when everyone stood up as a mark of honour for the office of the President.”

What explanation can there possibly be that all other eminent Nigerians and foreign dignitaries, including the visiting memorial lecturer, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda stood up, except Chief Olusegun Obasanjo? He didn’t fall sick at that critical moment; he wasn’t sleeping, and he wasn’t unconscious. Only God and Obasanjo know why he refused to stand up as a mark of honour for a country he claims to love more than the rest of us.

Couldn’t Obasanjo even stand up for the sake of Yar’ Adua, whom he anointed and fought, tooth and nail, to install as President? An obvious explanation that comes to mind is that Obasanjo could not stand up because he was in a trance, having finally realised that the Yar’Adua he envisaged and fought for during the Presidential elections was not the same Yar’ Adua now ruling Nigeria,  that the Yar’ Adua he had in mind had changed and was now an independent mind, reversing his policies and allowing the National Assembly to probe his administration; he has turned into a Yar’ Adua that would fold his arms and allow the rule of law to dislodge his (Obasanjo’s) loyalists from strategic positions one after the other.  Obasanjo’s source of disillusionment was that he thought that Yar’ Adua could be installed and used as a tool for personal interest.  He got it wrong.  Yar’ Adua is a man of his own, an intellectual and a politician of great craft.

There can be no doubt that Obasanjo couldn’t stand up for Nigeria at the occasion because he was still dazed by the outcome of the events that preceded the March 8 National Convention of the PDP.  How could his own Yar’ Adua listen to the so-called Governors Forum and reject Sam Egwu and Tunde Ogbeha?  In addition to all this, Obasanjo personal suggestion to President Yar’ Adua that either Chief Bernard Eze or Chief Ojo Maduekwe be made National Chairman of the PDP through the back-door, was flatly rejected by the President.

The most frustrating event for Obasanjo happened in the morning of the Convention when he went to the Villa to see the President.  He (Obasanjo) suggested that the Convention be postponed when news came that the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji (Dr.) Mohammed Kabir Usman, had passed on.   Obasanjo tried to convince President Yar’ Adua that the death of the Emir was a sufficient reason for postponing the Convention, and that all the party needed to do was to inform the States and Zones that Sam Egwu had been adopted as the Party’s consensus candidate.

Obasanjo thought that he had some charm that would work on President Yar’Adua.  It did not, as Yar’ Adua refused to accept his proposal, leaving Obasanjo very dejected and frustrated.  It was, in fact, gathered that, out of frustration, Obasanjo did not even want to attend the Convention, but was prevailed upon to do so as his absence would give the wrong signs.  Obasanjo had also planned to stay away from the 10th Anniversary of the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua’s death but found it inexplicable to do so, being the Chairman of the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Foundation.  So, although physically present, Obasanjo’s mind was not at the occasion, which explains why he couldn’t stand up as a mark of honour for Nigeria. 

Obasanjo’s frustration is understandable as his power structures continue to crumble one by one and influence continues to slip away from him.  Obasanjo must come to terms with the fact that his tenure as President is over and that someone else is now in charge.  Even the BOT Chairman, which is the only semblance of power in his hands, is being threatened with the recommendation by the Alex Ekwueme Reconciliation Committee that the position be reviewed.  Obasanjo knows very well that the Ekwueme Committee report is a reflection of the minds of the generality of the members of the PDP.  The implementation of the report can only be delayed but not wished away.

Obasnajo is a disgruntled man, and almost all Nigerians know that he does not forgive.  President Yar’Adua must, therefore, be careful in dealing with him.  There are dangers that Obasanjo’s frustrations may pile up to a point where he would become antagonistic to the Yar’Adua Administration.  Not standing up for the office of the President is an act of disrespect for Nigeria and a dangerous development. Although, former Presidents and other statesmen can play a useful role in our national development, they can only do so willingly and out of good intention.  Obasanjo has played his role in the service of Nigeria and it would appear to be in our collective interest if he goes on full retirement.

Isichie, a public affairs commentator, wrote from Lagos.