Since he emerged on the nations consciousness after successfully receiving the battle of surrender of the failed Biafra secession bid from the late Colonel Phillip Effiong,who took over from Biafra war leader,Odumegwu Ojukwu, he has sort of seen himself as the only good and perfect gift from God for Nigeria.
Though, he mellowed under the late General Murtala Muhammed as head of state between 1975 and 1976,his style ,carriage and attitude shows all the while he loved to be in charge.
Indeed,he in charge he really was when Murtala kicked the bucket through no fault of his but circumstances.
Unfortunately, same circumstances that made him survive a 30 -months civil war made him fell to the fire power of mutinous soldiers led by the late Bukar Sukar Dimka. The rest is history.
General Obasanjos avowed ‘indispensability’ to Nigerias leadership assumed a public dimension when he kick started his assessment of leaders who succeeded him commenced in August 1985 through his now famous art of Letter writting.
Back then in 1985, he had accused then government of General Muhammadu Buhari and Tunde Idiagbon of parceling up the country into political ruling group,economic and military dominating groups.
In the Ibadan lecture, he put down Buharis regime and three weeks later,a palace coup saw the back of Buhari.
Curiously,arrival of General Ibrahim Babangidas regime which he tactically endorsed, got the same tongue lashing from him when he accused the gap- toothed general of solely destroying the nations values and everything good in sight.
Since then,the only project or perhaps government that escaped Obasanjos tongue lashing and clothe of incompetence was the one headed by President Olusegun Obasanjo who came from prison to rule through providence and Gods grace in 1999.
But then, he attempted to rubbish the grace with a third- term project which even his pets inside his Ota farm and Aso rock abode couldn’t deny.
Today,Obasanjos know- all attitude has seen the back of two governments after him but Buharis who learnt how to contain him in spite of ‘excesses’ from his infantry boss.
Beside,the heads of states..military and civilian, who succumb to Obasanjos whip, Bola Ahmed Tinubu who was Lagos state Governor between 1999 and 2003 escaped his hurricane in 2003 . He was the last man standing among his South West peers .
Tinubu remains the only civilian to have wore the same trouser and shoes with the infantry general but didn’t get knocked down.
He not only escaped unhurt, he also became a President of Yoruba extraction in Obasanjos life time -a possibility ,he never wished would happen in his life time by his actions, pronouncements and attitudes.
Today, the latest ‘war’ and tirade he launched against ‘erring’ traditional rulers who crossed his line should not surprise those who knew his antics and self- conferred messianic role in Nigeria.
If the traditional rulers from native Oyo state where value and culture took it’s root from failed to bow to Obasanjos pre- eminence, they are better reminded that when a child is beaten, like Tinubu and voters did to Obasanjo and his god son Obi, “they should know that the whip he suffered would land on their head very soon.
It was a delayed transferred aggression after youths refused his call for a protest to annul Tinubus election as President.
The public calling him names for putting down Royal father’s should also know that as a Balogun of his native Owu, the only war he can fight now is at the royal court where he has native arsenal to ‘shoot’,his arrows without being questioned.
For the next four years Obasanjos ‘eagle’eye at watching others falter would be reserved for President Bola’ Tinubu who twice have defeated Obasanjo in a battle of wit which nobody especially in his Yorubaland has done before him.
Tinubu did same even at the imperial of his power when he joined forces with others to frustrate his third term bid having previously fought him to a standstill for witholding Lagos council funds two years before he left power in 2007.
Obasanjos constant nagging is better appreciated and contained if he is treated like a woman who after falling out of favour from her husband,is blaming her in laws.
His foibles is better regarded as more of attention seeking than anything else .
Stirring the hosts nest has been his tool for getting the attention of Nigerians whenever he so desire.
Northern Power Mongers:
There is no doubt the fact that Tinubus holiday from criticism of his government is over from all sections of Nigeria who belief he has not done well for them.
Strangely but not surprising, is the cry of Yorubanisation of the nations economy by Tinubu in his appointments in the economic sector.
While nobody has faulted the competency of his choices, yet the usual selfish claims and ego trip of opportunistic politicians has reared its head again.
For now, it is an open fact that Tinubus choice of giving four key ministries with their eight senior and junior ministers to the North is both strategic and sensible.
As the region mostly plaqued by insecurity,choosing the two Defence ministers from the region is akin to asking them to defend their people.
What is made of such position is left to their occupiers.
As for Education,the North remains the most educationally backward region in the country and if the two ministers could not evolve policies that would change the narrative,then you ask yourself what interest is the Arewa Economic Forum is defending if not personal interest of it’s key members who have always cultivated ‘juicy’ positions for personal gains.
Yes,it is arguable if the North is not the food basket of the country .
If so, why are leaders from the region not full of praise for a President who appointed their two sons to help them maintain the lead over other regions in the job of feeding the nation with it’s economic advantages.?
Afterall,during the ethnic clash between ethnic ‘soldiers’ of the North against the foot soldiers of Sunday Igboho,the North made good it’s promise by restricting trailers of foodstuff from crossing to the South though with loses incurred by the individual traders and farmers.
With two ministers to direct affairs in agriculture,what other means is more important that using agriculture ministry to wipe out pervasive poverty from the North.
Today, in spite of Buharis Fulanis domination of key sectors of the economy as did former President Goodluck Jonathan between 2009 -2015, appointing two competent men of Northern extraction as ministers of Health is key to the wiping out of deadly diseases ravaging the poor peasants . It is apparent the pervasive diseases contributed to making the region the proverbial poverty capital of the country.
Perhaps, by this appointment,Tinubu is telling the Northern elite to accept responsibility for future failure to arrest the pervasive poverty, hunger and want in a region which elite has ruled Nigeria for 45 years out of the nations 63 years of independence.
As for Tinubu, his appointment of known competent men and women to man key ministries like Finance,Maritime, Central Bank of Nigeria,CBN,Revenue, Oil and Gas is to put to test the capacity of the appointees and by so doing generate and mobilise resources needed in other sectors to salvage the country.
Without funding as he did with generating more to lift Lagos economy from the bootstrap it is near impossible to develop other sectors.
It is not a joke or coincidence that Lagos became the sixth largest economy in Africa.
It is financial creativeness and genuity not much of thinking outside the box.
Competency is key and yours truly believe that if Buhari had appointed most of his Ministers and advisers based on their competency and not religious or ethnic bigotry,Nigerias situation would have been better.
Crying marginalisation by the Northern elite is akin to promoting selfish agenda since most of their compatriots who have held such sensitive juicy positions in the past but never used such to solve myriad of socio- economic problems plaguing the region.
For Hakeem Baba Ahmed, brother to Dati Ahmed,vice presidential candidate of Labour Party’s Peter Obi, a decision to serve and not to stand by and complain of marginalisation when his thoughts could be put in the service of those he claimed to be representing is reasonable and stands to be justified.
David Umahi of the strategic Works Ministry also have a task to ensure that the serious ecological and infrastructural decay in his South East is also brought to the fore and federal government’s needed attention.
By so doing, the needs of his people who have over the years cry of marginalisation even when Jonathan,one of their own was in power would be addressed.
Umahi,while considering national interest in his actions as Federal Minister, also has a task to ensure fairness in the distribution of infrastructural facilities as a Nigerian minister.
Nigeria just had another opportunity to get things right with the appointment of square pegs in square holes by this regime for a renewed future.
The Ministers have no reason to fail the tasks before them and their Headmaster nothwithstanding.
