Don’t ask me why. But somehow, I liken pictures emerging from Aso Rock these days, to a television screen.

In a period of my childhood, I did bask in the illusionary imagination that the television camera was very much like the human eyes. I thought it captured all that the eyes could picture in real life scenes. “All it takes” I thought to myself, “was to look deeper and farther into and beyond the edges of the television screen.” I was sure the picture on the screen continued further through the edges. As time went on though, I woke up to the reality that what you get on the television screen does not surpass what you see. And what you see is definitely not all there is to the captured scene.

In every political environment, it is an agreed axiom that the mass media are the eyes of the system. What we know, visualize, hear and see in still and motion pictures is what the media capture and filter through to the consuming masses. Definitely and regrettably too, that is never all there is to the capture-worthy scenes.

Today, we know that there is a government in Nigeria – controversial or not in terms of electoral legitimacy – that is headed by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. We do know that the government has Ministers that were appointed by the President and screened by the legislature.

Public irritation has not been left wanting in recent times in the wake of strange and somewhat outlandish behavior on the part of one of such Ministers. Even die-hard supporters of the administration are hardly able to conceal their difficulties in convincingly defending the conduct of the said Minister. Many thought the solution was easy. Fire the Minister.

Beyond the scene however, insiders draw malignant smiles across their lips when the doors are closed. They utter no public comment but they know deep in their hearts that the President hardly has the power to sack many of his ministers. They know the horse-trading that brought such ministers to power. They know too well that the President submitted the names of such ministers to the legislature and that they are never truly his own appointees. They know too well what turmoil would erupt if the President took any public step in the direction of utilizing his constitutional powers.

All that reminds me of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. I will dare make comments for which I will always remain crucified in the eyes and minds of fanatics and those that I have now come to coin as “Pseudo-intellectuals”. I will dare opine with a very strong caveat that Olusegun Obasanjo is indeed, the best President in very many fields that Nigeria has had in its recent history. Before elaborating on this, I will first take steps to explain the caveat and fall back right on track.

If Olusegun Obasanjo did not amass so much dubious and questionable wealth in a very short time (owning universities, alleged questionable interests in chains of commercial enterprises, chains of farms etc.), his fight against corruption (selective or not) – even though still unprecedented in Nigeria’s history – would have earned him a place in our imaginary hall of fame. If he did not engage in selling off government properties in the spirit of nepotism and favoritism, his liberal approach to the restructuring of the Nigerian economy would have been a single act of laudable scientific experiment. If Olusegun Obasanjo was not linked – justified or not – to atrocious and tormenting death squads for the elimination of uncomfortable political opponents, he would today, have been standing out under the fierce protection of the masses that would not turn a blind eye to unjustified persecution. Then, there was all that vendetta and hero-worshipping spirit of godfatherism that trailed the chain of laughable impeachment of governors no matter how deserving the victims were, of their predicaments.

The reason Olusegun Obasanjo will be the dreaded ghost that will continue to haunt Umaru Musa Yar’Adua all the way through his Presidency however, is precisely the flamboyance and the love for action on the part of the former. The former President understood too well after a honeymooning period of grace, that rulership would make no headway in Nigeria as long as the government is badly tied to the whims and caprices of sponsoring interest groups. It is indeed, his audacity and bold commitment to turning his back on lifeline sponsors of his own existence and survival that earned him the vast number of irreconcilable enemies that would rather see him in the gaols or in the coffin today. Indeed he had to bite the fingers that fed him to rule the country strictly on his own terms and that included taking on the overblown northern dominance of the political establishment. That precisely, was the true model of a crazy-headed character that Nigeria needed for successful governance under the given dispensation.

Unfortunately however, Olusegung Obasanjo does not meet the complete requirement for such a crazy-headed character. He lacks the necessary robustness of intellectual composure. Appearances on television in which abuses were rained on adversaries in the primitive boogeyman style often left analysts asking if the President ever had advisers or any sense of statesmanship. Out of office, the ex-President doesn’t even spare the present day of such unqualified utterances. Declaring the Master of all thugs in Oyo State as the father of the PDP and then this statement in defense of Onoalapo Soleye accused of corruption in the Wilbros scandal: "The Owus are not rogues. If any Owu son or daughter is found to be involved in any shoddy deal, then such child's paternity is in doubt" have often left me asking “what is wrong with Obasanjo?

Like him or hate him though, the man was a decisive leader and had a clear vision where to start solving the deeply entrenched problems of the ailing giant country.

Today however, his successor is predominantly engaged in building up a personal powerhouse to guaranty him the role of a formidable player in the field of soaring godfathers. First, it was the tribal zoning of the Presidency that saw him in the role of a trump card played to outsmart Ibrahim Babangida and Abubakar Atiku. A godfather forced him down our throat (as far as I am concerned) in a laudable move that saved us the disaster of more monstrous evils. Once there as a President and locked in the tug of war between two factions, the personal smartness and sense of purpose of President Yar ‘Adua was to become the key to any significant impact he might make in taking the country forward. Political interest groups of various tribes and colors on one hand and the masses on the other hand that expected him to play a vital role in their own interest, make up two visible factions with subordinate internal classifications. In choosing between the two factions, the President has, as of today, visibly opted for the former.

Tied between the spells of these interest groups, the President is now lost in invisibility and inactivity. The credo being to tread very carefully to avoid hurting any major player. Latest at this point, it becomes clear and unmistakable that the claim of a President that was reluctant for the office that he now occupies, just does not hold.

Unsuspecting commentators and analysts like myself did erroneously capitalize on this one fact of reluctance for the Presidency to assume that Umaru Musa Yar’Adua would pursue Olusegun Obasanjo’s legacy on the economy by seeking to appease the masses with massive infrastructural projects to galvanize the support of the people’s constituency and thus making his way to becoming a formidable player without counting too much on the paralyzing spell of corrupt interest groups. After all, it is not the Presidency that matters most to him but the interest of the nation since he wasn’t so keen on power and the Presidency in the first place.

Today however, the result is clear. The President is engaging more in window-dressing policy reversal to appeal to specific interest groups. The President has visibly trimmed Ribadu’s daredevil wings in the EFCC’s courageous fight against corruption to avoid offending another interest group. The President is avoiding launching any meaningful investigation on how many past politicians amassed so much wealth within a short period of time to avoid offending another power base. He is overtly courting other power bases to forestall any negative court ruling on the legitimacy of his Presidency. The Presidency after all does now, mean pretty much to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. It is power. It is influence. It is fame all over the world. In the end, the losers are the masses. No work on infrastructure. Who knows who would end up being offended for not being awarded one contract or the other? It is simply Yar’Ado nothing as someone truly said.

At the end of the day, the bitter reality is being concealed from the public that the President is open to blackmail. From the right, from the left and from the center. While some Aondoakaas play the scapegoat in trying to create a safe passageway for some Iboris as a precedent for many others, the public knows very little how much leverage the Iboris and his like truly have and can exert on the government altogether. After all, rumors abound that many corrupt ex-governors contributed massively to the financially robust status of the President’s fraudulent election in return for assurances of safety from Nuhu Ribadu.

The risk is obvious. If the trend is not arrested and quickly reversed, we stand the risk of facing up to questions once again that will never be answered. We may see ourselves asking, “What happened to all that oil money?”

Foreign policy is coming up the agenda ladder at a steady and slow pace. Some say that it will see Nigeria further enslaved. The picture that meets the eyes does expose some remarkable influence by the Americans in helping build-up any form of international legitimacy for the government of Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. The extent of America’s influence on major players within the domestic scene however, is open to all speculations. It is also not far-fetched to imagine that such a remarkable influence if it exists on the home front, may be brought to bear on key figures of the judiciary sooner or later, if Umaru Musa Yar’Adua eventually turns out to be a man that the Americans can trust and count on, to safeguard their interest in any Africa, precisely Nigeria-bound project. In other words, the government is up against another interest group on the international scene. A perfect recipe for a government that can act in every other way but not in absolute selflessness.

The President’s dilemma is obvious. Even though an anti-Obasanjo tendency seems to be weighing stronger in pronouncements from the President’s camp these days, it is increasingly questionable if the President can truly afford to alienate any interest group particularly one that brought him to power, in his chosen path of political survival.

The President had a choice. He had the choice of damning all interest groups and doing things his own way. That would have been a continuation of the perceived and widely condemned obstinacy á la Obasanjo. It would have meant consolidating a political tradition of trimming the ugly wings of political interest groups and power brokers. As long as the policy implemented in the wake of such obstinacy is people-oriented and not inclusive of personal enrichment, there can hardly be any disposition toward public resentment. The choice was and still remains the President’s.

Robot  Villager

# 1 var sbtitle7293=encodeURIComponent(Umaru Musa ...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 18.12.2007 15:59

Son of the Delta  Villager

# 2 It can not be debated.Obasanjo is the worst Nigerian leader and he will remain the worst. All your efforts to sugar coat him will fail. Posted by Son of the Delta| 18.12.2007 16:56

Magic  Villager

# 3 F.L, As much as I agree with you about Obasanjo being the best we have had so far, I am so disappointed with him that if anyone quotes me, I will curse him and Obasanjo. This guy had the opportunity to do so much and bring the poor in the Country together, North and South. Yet he blew it because he has this exaggerated ego that tripped him. So do not be surprise if I curse you even for telling the truth. Obasanjo na *******! OK, Obasanjo na son of a b@t&t Posted by Magic| 18.12.2007 17:21

Zanubia Wolf  Villager

# 4 8 (Eight) Years of President Obasanjo's Leadership can be summarized in one word: Unfortunate. Posted by Zanubia Wolf| 18.12.2007 17:44

NWANZA  Villager

# 5 =Zanubia Wolf;4294973812>8 (Eight) Years of President Obasanjo's Leadership can be summarized in one word: Unfortunate. You should have used your whip on him in 2004, when the unfortunate got into him. I guess it is too late now, but we should not let Yar'Adua get away with nothing. I wll go get me a KOBOKO for that mallam to stop him from listening to IBB, RIMI, and GOWON. Posted by NWANZA| 18.12.2007 17:59

hellofadude  Villager

# 6 what a perversely irritating article... where contradictions abound, clearly lacking insight into the extremely complicated dynamics of politcs inn modern nigeria... Only an obviously green, pseudo-analyst would begin an article by claiming OBJ is the best president in Nigerias history in one paragraph and then in the very next paragraph list a number of attrocities commited by OBJ which, by any stretch of the imagination far outweights the excesses of even the worst of them (Abatcha). And then use the word caveat as justification for that historical foley, and then accuse us all of being pseudo-intellectual?? what a joke!! My friend if you wanta crazy headed character to govern (rule) you why dont you go to live in burma under that military regime.. It sounds like you'll be most comfortable down there.. If you had any idea of how power works you would not have considered that a man who has been in power for 6 months is open to blackmail and then use ibori as an example.. The simple fact is the President had already forseen Iboris demise and had shut him out 3 weeks ago when he refused to see him... Simple. The man now understands that his ultimate weapon is the sanctity of the office of the President of the Federal Republic. His Mantra of Rule of Law is not just something he plucked out of the air... infact the more I think about it the more i come to respect yaradua brilliance.. His Rule of law matra achieves two things.. admittedly slowly.. but the longer it is allowed to settle the harder it is to get rid of... Rule of Law achieves two things.. 1) It means getting rid of him will not be easy... it must follow due process 2) It brings about the silent revolution.... that revolution is what has resulted in Ibori being docked! In Nigeria "due process" and "rule of law" have become fashionable.. The masses are slowly starting to realise their power.. and that is Yaraduas game plan.. He will not be seen to go after anyone.. he is far too smart for that or maybe just descent.. His dealiest weapon (and is he using it) is to give power to the people.. That is the nemesis of the OBJs and the IBBs etc.. The poeple can see that one of the bigger men can be touched... (Ibori), its inevitable they will push higher to see how far they can go.. For OBJ and co it is just a matter of time.. and when the time comes, Yaradua will simply turn his back... Why? He is President.. and he can afford to.. That is what being President is about... espiecially in a country that appreciates "rule of law" and "due process..." How do you claim his policy reversals are mere window dressing? The guy is thinking for himself... reversing the sale of government houses sold by OBJ is the smart and right thing because those houses are too close to aso rock and OBJs plan was to have his men close to the seat of power for ever.. but thats not the way it should be... The privatisation policy that went mad under OBJ with plans to privatise everything including universities and schools was just mad! OBJ had cronies and ill qualified advisers hence such really extreme and senseless policies. That was the characterisation of the core of his presidency.. it had nothing to do with merit. Your article is full of inconsistencies, infact you've got it all wrong.. your analysis is lacks depth and basically you've.... cocked up; to use an expression.. Look Ibori is in the duck.. he is finished.. no more magic... it is people like you that pepertuate a stereotype abou untouchable big men... you should know better.. is it until they show you his dead body that you will know he is finished? Just as the body of your article is way off mark so is your conclusion and i quote "The President had a choice. He had the choice of damning all interest groups and doing things his own way. That would have been a continuation of the perceived and widely condemned obstinacy á la Obasanjo. It would have meant consolidating a political tradition of trimming the ugly wings of political interest groups and power brokers." I would suggest he is doing things his own way and not OBJs way.. to think everyone who comes to power must be a dictator like OBJ is merely naive wouldnt you say...? And he is implementing people oriented policies... My opinion is his problem, his real and only problem is not all the interest groups, the OBJs, IBBs, Atiku's etc.. Yaradua biggest problem is Legitimacy... And I am of little doubt he is tactical enough to abandon all these so-called big men to achieve that.. His first real test will be if the senate refuse to ratify the Bakassi agreement. and If it calls on the government to reclaim bakassi by every means possible.. because that is the only thing they can do.. (taking into consideration the Nigerian factor).. A country in which its peoples consider themselves to be one will immediately declare war in a situation like the bakassi one.. it is a huge anomaly that must be corrected to really forge a viable Nigerian state. I think this will be yaradua first real test.. if and only if the senate decide they cannot in all good conscience just cede away bakassi. Posted by hellofadude| 18.12.2007 19:06

Onari  Villager

# 7 What a contradictory article...trying to call OBJ the Best leader and in the same article the author mentioned all the parameters to measure best leader , OBJ clearly failed in all. I will be happy if the Nigeria people will have a closure to the OBJ years...because it is sad eight locust years. Posted by Onari| 18.12.2007 19:38

Omowa2  Villager

# 8 Fellow Nigerians and villagers, Is it too late in life to learn new tricks? I blame the quality of education we all were given. As products of neo-colonialism, we see ONLY black and white and feel that is the ONLY way to see the world. My brothers and sisters there, is nothing totally evil and nothing totally bad. What this writer has done is to bring out some unintended good sides of General Aremu Obasanjo, a man who is unable to understand the complexity of leadership. If you are not too upset with the lack of progress, stability, and unity in Nigeria you can begin to pay closer attention to how Yar'adua is ruling the country and his style evolving. Did you read how this matured writer explained why it is difficult to sack a Minister you did not appoint in the first place? When will we understand that we have a ruling elite made up of interest groups. They are all property owners who must protect their loot at all cost. Listen to Danjuma, the failed farmer, gripe about Obasanjo just because he lost out in deals. When the going was good did he raise his voice? Rumors have it that any time Obj raised his voice in the days of IBB, the response from IBB was that they should please go give him (Obj) what ever he has been denied. The lesson is that our leaders have no reason to trust critics. At the same time, the civil society are busy looking for what to eat and are ready to sing praises of any international donor with a bag of funds. Don't rich-people understand that majority of us read events as if they are episodes and are that each of these events are unconnected? It is a great pity that we do not have our own leaders who can educate us on the internal workings of government. At worst we have reports in newspapers without analysis, at best we have flawed analysis that cannot be linked to coherent actions. Our nation is failing because we do not have thinkers who can (re)shape our ideas about how the world far removed from us works. All that satisfies our emotions is the simple reasoning. Just make them happy...Obasanjo is a fool, he is the most incompetent leader...bla blabla and these adults will be unable to ask WHY will a black man with a rich store of indigenous knowledge fail as beautifully as he has failed. Just in case you do not know, Obj was very prepared for the job. Go read the proceedings of the African Leadership forum and come back here to tell me he was not prepared. He knew what to do and wanted to do it but....I am unable to complete that statement. Omowa2 Posted by Omowa2| 18.12.2007 22:03

NWANZA  Villager

# 9 =Onari;4294973841>What a contradictory article...trying to call OBJ the Best leader and in the same article the author mentioned all the parameters to measure best leader , OBJ clearly failed in all. I will be happy if the Nigeria people will have a closure to the OBJ years...because it is sad eight locust years. I thought he made a mistake and forgot to add " could have" or "would have" been the best president. Mr. Frisky did not disappoint with the flip flops on fuzzy imaginative dabble/babble. I wanted to ignore him, but since shots are being fired, he better skip like a frisky cat! Posted by NWANZA| 19.12.2007 02:52

denker  Villager

# 10 ...nothing totally evil Omowa2, my dear,...if i had carnal-knowledged/raped your wife direct before your very korokoro eyes on your matrimonial/nuptial bed and went on decapitating her, what'll be a right definition of dis humane act of mine by your humble self...:confused1dats exactly what dat Chap(Obj.) did to Nigerians!..he raped and beheaded them..!directionless is everywhere..:mad: Obasanjo is EVIL...totally EVIL..period! Posted by denker| 19.12.2007 04:01

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