I had written some time ago that ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo was guilty of not taking responsibility for anything (An Abject Abdication of Responsibility – www.nigeriavillagesquare.com 23.07.2008) I have been proven right almost a year later, with his now famous self-righteous and indignant response to BBC’s Hard Talk interview  where he was visibly angry and exasperated by the questions thrown mercilessly at him to explain himself on allegations of his government’s, and himself being very corrupt.

In a way, I really feel sorry for Obasanjo, because he will go down in history as a leader who refused to take responsibility for his actions or inactions; a man who abdicated his responsibility for 140 million people; a man who, despite any experience, intelligence and education he might possess, refused to acknowledge that as a leader of a people, he MUST assume responsibility for them. If he is shy of being responsible, or does not want that onus imposed on him, he should never have tried to be a leader. Even if it turns out that Obasanjo was not personally corrupt, he is still guilty of not acknowledging that he was, for eight years, responsible for his people, their lives, their sufferings, their hopes, their security, their well-being and their overall governance in all its ramifications.

There goes his quest to be regarded as a Statesman out of the window. Neither will he ever be regarded as a great leader of his people. This is a waste of a lifetime and lost opportunity to redeem himself.

However, we must accept one thing from his utterances, and this is something every one of us will be guilty of: I do not expect anybody, any leader of any country, to go in front of the world press and admit to being corrupt. Unless such person has a gun pointed at him or her. That is a fact.

My issue with Obasanjo then is his abject abdication of responsibility and refusal to take the blame, as a good and great leader should do. If he himself was not corrupt and members of his family, his party, his government and even ordinary Nigerians were corrupt, then, as the leader, he was corrupt. In his interview, he practically admitted that people in his government were corrupt, but tried desperately to absolve himself of any blame. This in itself was corruption, because he knew about their complicity in the corrupt practices and murderous games that they were involved in, and he never took adequate action. This is not simply a matter of passing the buck, but totally refusing to be accountable.

There are different kinds of responsibility, and I will only mention those apropos to this issue.

Collective responsibility is a concept or doctrine, according to which individuals are to be held responsible for other people's actions by tolerating, ignoring, or harboring them, without actively collaborating in these actions.

Moral responsibility can refer to two different but related things. First, a person has 'moral responsibility' for a situation if that person has an obligation to ensure that something happens. Second, a person has moral responsibility for a situation when it would be correct to morally praise or blame that person for the situation. People who have moral responsibility for an action are usually called moral agents. Agents are creatures that are capable of reflecting on their situation, forming intentions about how they will act, and then carrying out that action.

Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an entity whether it is a government, corporation, organization or individual has a responsibility to society but this responsibility can be "negative." In that it is a responsibility to refrain from acting (resistance stance) or it can be "positive," meaning there is a responsibility to act (proactive stance).

The synonyms of responsibility include accountability, answerability, burden, liability, duty, conscientiousness.

A leader must always take responsibility; otherwise, he’s not a leader. This is the bottom line. I have already written about his culpability (The Trials and Tribulations Of A Leader – several publications, 21 march 2009), so there is no need to mention this again, except to reaffirm Obasanjo’s culpability.

No matter how ex-President Obasanjo tried to absolve himself of corruption, and therefore, responsibility, there are some posers for him:

Where did he get the billions he used to build his University, library and mansion in Otta library and his properties all over the country? And as the president, the universities and indeed the education sector in Nigeria were starved of funding during his tenure, so much so that it is no longer considered a right move by many parents to send their children to Nigerian educational institutions.

Where did the $16 billion power supply fund disappear to? $16 billion and eight years later, where is the light? Obasanjo was going all over the country commissioning several bogus power projects (and other projects in other sectors) estimated in billions of dollars, and yet, Nigerians are suffering from lack of electricity, which is a number one factor holding the development of the country back every day.

What happened to billions spent on road construction and rehabilitations? Even his erstwhile Minister for Roads, the wily Tony Anenih, said recently that being allocated 300 billion naira for roads is one thing, getting the allocation is another matter or something to that effect. What about the billions that now seems to have been carted away by the Chinese for the railway extension and modernisation project?

It was widely reported that when Obasanjo came out of Abacha’s prison, he had just N20, 000 in both cash and assets (His ex-Vice President alleged this). Eight years later, he was owning and selling off everything that Nigeria has, yet he can be bold enough to tell Nigerians and the world that he is not corrupt. Obasanjo Farms is one of the biggest in Nigeria today, with prime farmlands in various states of the federation, yet all the state-owned agricultural farms combined are so unproductive that they cannot feed Nigerians.

Aside from being accused of being corrupt, he has also been accused of being a killer. When he was the president, political assassinations (Bola Ige, Funsho Williams, etc,) prevailed everyday and not a single assassin was ever apprehended during his reign. Since he left office, Nigeria has not recorded any political assassinations. Can we ask Obasanjo why this is so?

Obasanjo’s transfer of power to Yar'Adua is the greatest corruption (political corruption) that he committed on Nigerians and humanity. Apparently, he does not realise that rigging elections is a corrupt practice, and a major corruption category. Political corruption is the use of governmental powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. (And Obasanjo and members of his family, government and party are guilty of this, if he does not realise it). An illegal act by an officeholder constitutes political corruption if the act is directly related to their official duties (guilty again). In short, in the political realm, corruption generally undermines democracy and good governance by flouting or even subverting formal processes. Corruption in elections and in legislative bodies reduces accountability and distorts representation in policymaking; corruption in the judiciary compromises the rule of law; and corruption in public administration results in the unfair provision of services. More generally, corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government as procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. At the same time, corruption undermines the legitimacy of government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance.

I hope Chief Obasanjo now knows that, with all the above, he will be pronounced guilty of corruption, because these are exactly what happened during his tenure in the highest position of the land and therefore he can no longer absolve himself of any responsibility. It is an inconvenient truth for him. For the rest of us, it is a convenient truth that must be told as it is.

As far as most Nigerians are concerned, Obasanjo was the head of a clique of unscrupulously corrupt individuals who have held the country down to its current deplorable affliction. His very poor stint at positively impacting on our lives when he had three rare chances informs our mindset.

Now that he has challenged Nigeria and the Yar'Adua government to directly probe him, we will wait with baited breath to see what President Yar'Adua would do, though I am 100% certain that nothing will ever happen.

The EFCC should also take him up on this challenge – again, perhaps this is another wishful thinking.

The truth? Let it be said always.

Akintokunbo Adejumo lives and works in London, UK.  A graduate of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (1979) and University of Manitoba, Canada (1985), he also writes on topical issues and has been published in newspapers and internet media including Nigeriaworld.com, Nigeria Today Online, Nigerians In America, Nigeria Village Square, Champions Newspaper, ChatAfrik.com, African News Switzerland, New Nigerian Politics, Gamji.com, Codewit.com, Nigerian Horizon.com, Nigerian Muse.com,  etc.

He is also the Coordinator of CHAMPIONS FOR NIGERIA, (www.championsfornigeria.org) an organisation devoted to celebrating genuine progress, excellence, commitment, selfless and unalloyed service to Nigeria and Nigerians; and the Chief Writer of African Entrepreneur LLC (http://africanceos.ning.com ) a US-based Nigerian-owned company that promotes Nigerian, African and black-owned businesses worldwide.

Robot  # 1 | 30.03.2009 11:48

My issue with Obasanjo then is his abject abdication of responsibility and refusal to take the blame, as a good and great leader should do. If he himself was not corrupt and members of his family, his party, his government and even ordinary Nigerians were corrupt, then, as the leader, he was corrupt. ...Read the full article.

Agidimolaja  # 2 | 31.03.2009 05:15

It was downright frightful to hear Tokunbo piling up proof after proof against former President Olu Obasanjo,and to know,while one was longing to defend him,that there was no disputing the truth of some of what he said. My knowledge of the odds and the circumstances in this case of Obj roused my spirit and made me to put on a bold face and to hold on to my prior position that, afterall,it was not entirely Obj's fault. Sadly enough, our social critics and mere fast talkers pronounced him guilty without telling people what were responsible for his failure. I urged our people as I always do,that when we judge,let us judge with fairness. The circuntances in Obj's case have fatally misled so many people and led them away in wrong path. Like Tokunbo,I also really feel so sorry for Obj who was made King over us when in truth, he was neither prepared nor willing to be King.It happened to him in 1976 and it happened again in 1999. Not only that Obj was unprepared and unwilling to be Nigeria's leader,he was quite unqualified to lead a complex country like Nigeria.He should have been left alone as a good soldier that he was. But since Nigeria is a country where we never cherish the best nor look out for the best, anything is just ok with us. Since 1960 till today, most of our leaders did not come close to being the best. We were told in 1999 that North wanted to placate Southwest for the injustice of June 12,1993 and that was why Obj was picked. I cried, foul! If the North wanted to placate us,was Obj the best to come out of Southwest? The answer is NO! Why did the North nominate for us? We of Sothwest rejected Obj by not voting for him then,yet,his Kingmakers forced him on the nation. Nigeria is not a serious country. Obj was then out, fresh from jailhouse. A man who did not ever dream of coming out alive after his friend was already killed but who by chance escaped because his captor died{?}. This is a man who apart from barking military orders had no democratic ruling skill except to "follow follow". This is a man whose mental capability was not examined by any Medical Doctor after his release from jailhouse. Yet,he was dragged forward to ascend the throne of leadership by the cabal that is holding Nigeria as hostage. I remained standing with my opinion that only people with unsound mind expected Obj to perform any wonder in terms of nation building and in repairing past damages. I'm still of the opinion that those who were asking Obj why he did not do this why he did not do that are just pure stupid folks who cannot put two plus two together and get four. How did you expect him to lead successfully when he was hand picked by noted crooks and nation wreckers?How can he do well,when all those that gathered around him were notable rogues? Since Obj really did not know how to do the leadership job offered him,those who supposed to help him out were just busy misleading him and stealing from the treasury in such grand style. Can Obj stop their thieving hands?NO! In a way,they were more powerful than him,more educated and more clever. Shagari was not stealing but he was surrounded by certified thieves and he could not stop them because in Nigeria politics,that is the rule of the game. Obj may be radical,rugged,bully etc due to his military background but those he was dealing with were more tactical,and more sophisticated hence all the money that was budgeted for electricity{huge as it was}fled into private pockets just as that for the roads and other infrastructures fled away. Obj knew those who sat upon the money.Yes,he did.But can he bring them to justice?No! He cannot. He established EFCC when things were going just too bad so as to curb the excessiveness. Only few rogues who could not pose any danger to him were selectively rounded up.Good though,but that was as far as he could go then. But,see what Yaradua did. When he came to power,he quickly do away with Ribadu and then installed coached lamed duck who set free those rogues just to rubbish Obj as he and his mates from the North jointly installed Sharia to scare Obj or to narrow him down. As for frequent assasinations during Obj's era,trust me,Obj was not involved .To the best of my knowledge,that was the work of certain mischief workers whose plan was also to rubbish Obj. Some of those killed were from the Sothwest.Was Obj killing his own people? I doubt it. And why has the killings stopped after Obj left office should tell us that the killers knew what they were sent to do. Obj may possibly know the killers of Bola Ige,but can he talk? O ti o! In fairness to Obj,the fact that he brought back to life, his farm that almost died cannot be tabled as an evidence of corruption. As a retired Army General and former Head of State, is he not supposed to have pensions in addition to his personal savings? Has Obj no friends,children,relatives who could have raised substantial amount of money for him with which he could rehabilitate his farm? Are there no people he at one time aided or those who benefited from him somehow as it is common everywhere? Can any or all of those people come to his aid in times of need? It is quite possible. I don't know how Obj became super rich as alleged.But how rich is he,we were never told.All that we have been hearing is that he is super rich.How and what does he worth? Obj made his own mistakes.The Library and the University he built are gross mistakes.He shouldn't have done that. His 2003 stampede of Southwest is still a crime against one's homeland.His looking the other way while Adedibu was ravaging Oyo State was an abomination. Having allowed himself to be tricked by faceless enemy into the idea of third term was the lowest he descended as a former Army General who is supposed to know better. Did he install Yaradua as President? His fingerprints remained quite visible in the excercise. Remember that he two was installed and when he was dubiously installed in 1999,Nigerians were not shouting as they are doing today over Yaradua's installation. If Obj did not install Yaradua,the North that was already shouting at the rooftop for power to be returned to the North and who already was threatening fire and brimestones if power is not handed back to them would have installed someone of their own choice,possibly worst than Yaradua. Obj, weak as ever when it comes to taking a tough decision made do on his "promise" to his Kingmakers by grooming,sponsoring and installing the junior brother of his late deputy/friend. I agreed to it that Obj failed as President.Yes,he did.But that was what he was programmed to do -fail. He failed because he had no required skill with which to lead a complex nation.He failed because he was totally unprepared for the job,no home-work done.Hefailed because he did not know the difference between democratic goverance and military dictatorship.He failed because those who were supposed to be working with him were working against him.He failed because those who are in charge of Nigeria and who are still holding Nigeria as hostage does not want Nigeria to progress.They prefered looting,sharing and praise-singing to economic bouyancy. They prefered status quo to progress and freedom. Obj did not fail because he was a corrupt President, but because corrupt people did not give his government any breathing space. Instead of pelting Obj and painting him with horror paintbrush day in and out,our great concern should be how to set ourselves free from the firm grip of primitive cabal.How are we going to set ourself free from the jaws of barbaric cabal must be our immediate goal. How is Nigeria going to be able to conduct free and fair elections wherby the people can vote and elect competent leaders should be our top priority,not throwing eggs and tomatoes?