President Olusegun Obasanjo may have tried his best to govern Nigeria, but it wasn’t enough.  As he returns to his farm, this imperfect leader leaves behind a plethora of squandered opportunities.  In the end, he wasn’t so disappointing because I did not expect too much from him.

To Obasanjo’s credit, the handover of power May 29 to his chosen successor counts as the first civilian-to-civilian succession.  In a country plagued by military coups, this transition has been marred unfortunately by highly rigged elections. 

Given my limited expectations for him: 1) prevent another civil war, and 2) stop another military coup, Obasanjo wasn’t so bad!  If you are feeling disappointed it is probably because your expectations were too high!  Did you really expect him to, for instance, improve the economy?  Really?  On what basis? 

The man’s biggest claim to fame was being part of a military clique that stole power from the Nigerian people. He was a political thief, an armed robber, if you prefer!  Many years later, he still lives by the coup-maker’s creed: the brutish seizure of power!  Please don’t give yourselves unnecessary hypertension because a leopard refuses to change its spots!  Lower your expectations!  Don’t aim so high next time!

Under Obasanjo, no military coup occurred indeed.  Well, not the traditional type anyway.  In what may count as mini-coups, the former general resorted too frequently to emergency powers. Thankfully the National Assembly eventually saw through his guise in Ekiti and refused to renew that state of emergency.  Obasanjo has nonetheless worked hard to depoliticize the army to the point where soldiers may not intervene again (hopefully).  Besides, it would be much easier to just rig (or win) elections.

Obasanjo got lots of help though for the current pro-democracy climate.  Many Nigerians are fed up with military rule and would resist it (I hope).  Among them are retired and serving military officers.  After surviving Ibrahim Babangida’s regime, many of them suffered under Sani Abacha’s brutish rule (including Obasanjo himself).  He was released from jail by Abacha’s successor, Abdulsam Abubakar, who organized elections which Obasanjo supposedly ‘won’. 

The dying days of the military era revealed an exciting spectacle: Nigerian generals campaigning for democracy!  In the past, they had brutalized the people in their greedy grab for power.  There is nothing like personal experience to teach how dangerous it is to play with the fires of dictatorship!

Obasanjo’s presidency raised hopes for a better Nigeria.   He was supposed to counteract the national despondency and looming anarchy inflicted by prolonged military rule.  Eight years later, the mood of the nation is barely different.  In one respect at least, it is probably worse, although not entirely his fault.  The years of tyranny served to suppress separatist tendencies which revived under Obasanjo.  With greater freedoms under democracy, people can more openly express disaffection.

In the Niger-Delta, violence threatens the oil industry.  The impact of this conflict on global oil prices has increased the international spotlight on Nigeria.  Obasanjo has partially avoided a military solution there which is commendable.  This restraint ties in well with his role as a peace-keeper abroad. 

No single leader though could solve the Niger-Delta problem.  It demands contributions from the oil companies, other Nigerians, local leaders and the world at large.

Obasanjo’s ruling party interestingly has a policy of distributing key government positions among the country’s six geo-political zones.  This policy has partly placated some of the separatist tendencies.

In other areas, the man scored some unexpected points.  High on the list is debt reduction.  Another is his recruitment of quality personnel, one from the World Bank, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as Finance Minister. Yet another is the great progress in telecommunications.  A rarity in the past, cell phones are now commonplace. This growth is in a country where telephones were generally scarce. 

In the power supply sector sadly, Obasanjo failed to fulfill a promise to fix the perennial blackouts.  Electricity supply is so bad Nigerians refer to the Power Holding Company (PHC) as Please Hold Candle!

His overall economic reforms have failed to yield significant benefits for ordinary people. Healthcare is so bad, for instance, government officials still go abroad for routine medical care. Life has grown dramatically worse for many especially with the rise in violence: robberies and killings.  Even a Police Commissioner and the Federal Attorney-General/Minister of Justice were eliminated!  Who then is safe?

As for the judiciary, Obasanjo’s interaction with that branch of government has improved lately. But his violation of court orders prompted a former Chief Justice to lament not being able to order the president’s arrest!

Towards his tenure’s end, Obasanjo further soiled his record with an attempt to extend his second-term into a third-term presidency.  National tension rose to a crisis point until the Senate bravely rejected the move.  Wasting an opportunity to do right, he supervised fraudulent elections in April.  The mood of the nation afterwards has been much closer to mourning than jubilation.

Obasanjo’s preferred successor, Umaru Yar’Adua, may yet turn out to be a parting gift or a curse!  Who knows?  My recommendation meantime is: lower your expectations and work hard to fill in the gaps left by poor leadership.  If a Yar’Adua presidency succeeds, Obasanjo can claim some of the accolades.  Failure could condemn both men to a legacy of ignominy.  Yar’Adua though has a chance to do much better than his benefactor.  History awaits.

(fredlintaz@yahoo.com)

Robot  Villager

# 1 var sbtitle5221=encodeURIComponent(Why Obasanj...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 27.05.2007 02:08

pappilo  Villager

# 2 'Yet another is the great progress in telecommunications. A rarity in the past, cell phones are now commonplace. This growth is in a country where telephones were generally scarce' Cell phones at the detriment of fixed line technology which is the backbone of telecommunications. We are talkng of better broadband in the near future because the dodgy satellite was launched. Do you know that fixed line technology is the main way to get broadband to consumers? Posted by pappilo| 27.05.2007 04:13

akuluouno  Villager

# 3 Futile effort at best and an ardous one at worst to beautify a frog by painting her lips with lipstick. :D:D:D Posted by akuluouno| 27.05.2007 04:46

Abraxas  Villager

# 4 Hi, folks! Come to think about it: General Sani Abacha, the architect of "Vision 2010" showed General Olusegun Obasanjo the light. Today, thanks to General Sani Abacha (GCFR), General Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo (GCFR) can also beat his chest and talk, even if incoherently, about "Vision 2020", when 9jeriya would be among the 20 top economies on this planet. These and other reasons are why General Sani Abacha is not too disappointing, you know. Muchas gracias. Don Ju8an-Carlos ABRAXAS (III) Posted by Abraxas| 27.05.2007 05:01

ithinkbetter  Villager

# 5 =pappilo;178611>'Yet another is the great progress in telecommunications. A rarity in the past, cell phones are now commonplace. This growth is in a country where telephones were generally scarce' Cell phones at the detriment of fixed line technology which is the backbone of telecommunications. We are talkng of better broadband in the near future because the dodgy satellite was launched. Do you know that fixed line technology is the main way to get broadband to consumers? ...tell them, my dear buroda...maybe mak them know we haven't done anything yet...! Posted by ithinkbetter| 27.05.2007 06:32

nero africanus  Villager

# 6 'Yet another is the great progress in telecommunications. A rarity in the past, cell phones are now commonplace. This growth is in a country where telephones were generally scarce' somalia without a central government in 16 years has gsm , yet nigerians are counting that as an achievement , poorer west african countries had gsm before nigeria and we are counting it as achievement , the next thing we shall hear is that payment of workers salaries is an achievement Posted by nero africanus| 27.05.2007 06:50

akuluouno  Villager

# 7 Dear Nero, Gbam. Payment of salaries :D Also the provision of Air, rain, Sunlight, Moonshine:D I think these are dividends of 99-07 democracy too. I thought our good Lord said inthe good book that he sends to both friends and foes alike. But in our space where some politicians play God, anything can happen. Was it not the latest continental clown in Gambia, Yahya Jammeh who claimed that he can cure HIV/Aids and went ahead to demonstrate the farce on the international media to the shame of Africa. :twisted: Posted by akuluouno| 27.05.2007 07:23

dele26  Villager

# 8 =akuluouno;178623>Dear Nero, Gbam. Payment of salaries :D Also the provision of Air, rain, Sunlight, Moonshine:D I think these are dividends of 99-07 democracy too. I thought our good Lord said inthe good book that he sends to both friends and foes alike. But in our space where some politicians play God, anything can happen. Was it not the latest continental clown in Gambia, Yahya Jammeh who claimed that he can cure HIV/Aids and went ahead to demonstrate the farce on the international media to the shame of Africa. :twisted: _________________________________________________________________________ akuluouno, What else do you expect from an African president whose highest qualification is GCE O'level and a pass in Biology? His Excellency Alhagi Dr. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh SECONDARY EDUCATION 1978 -1983 Gambia High School 1983 Passed General Certificate of Education (GCE 0' Level) with Credits in Geography, English, French, Biology and Physics. Also obtained passes in Chemistry and Oral English http://www.statehouse.gm/cv/biography.html Posted by dele26| 27.05.2007 11:16

dele26  Villager

# 9 president jammeh starts treatment for third batch of hiv/aids patients 17th April 2007: http://www.statehouse.gm/hiv-batch3_170407.htm akuluouno, You have started something interesting here. President Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh seems to be more saddled with the responsibility of passing the message to the western world that he can cure HIV/AIDS than ruling his people. Posted by dele26| 27.05.2007 11:30

ozoodoo  Villager

# 10 Fixed line technology indeed would have been a better option for the majority of our people in view of the considerably lower operating costs (rental and lower call rates). But fixed line technology wasnt good for the pockets (greed) of our parasitic elites Posted by ozoodoo| 27.05.2007 17:17

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