The Obasanjo quaqmire : Why the Whining? 

I do not know the origin of the phrase "be careful what you ask for, because you might get it," but the present political situation in Nigeria underscores the unalloyed pertinence of it. In the days leading to the present contaminated democracy, everybody was Obasanjo's man and Obasanjo was everybody's man except in Yorubaland.

All the power brokers from all nooks and crannies of Nigeria except the Oodua States were rooting for him. From the Emirs in the North, the Obis in the East, retired "milito-kleptomaniacs," frustrated retired heads of state, phobic Abacha henchmen, hungry politicians hitherto displaced and banned by IBB, the AGIP (Any Government In Power) crowd, scared Babangida boys to the Yar'Adua Group among many others.

The scheming Northern oligarchy along with their military wing (active and retired) conspired with their minions in the South to defeat Chief Alex Ekweme and later Olu Falae (not that this writer has any confidence in either of them). Their plan and reasoning - the Yorubas have been denied a fair turn in MKO Abiola, "we will give them our man from their tribe and they will keep quiet. But our man will still do our bidding." By so doing they had hoped to continue their heinous stranglehold on the political destiny of Nigeria and Nigerians. Mainstream Igbo politicians bought into the scheme, some out of conviction and some out of vendetta against the South West mainstream politicians. The voices of reason and courage among them were ignored. Some of them were termed "efulefus" (apology to M.O. Ene of the Nigerianworld). Obasanjo became a sudden messiah. Otta became the new Bethlehem of Judea and the new Jerusalem. It became the new Mecca and Medina.

It was a bandwagon reminiscent of the 1983 "landslide victory" of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) that further plunged Nigeria into the dark alleys. Honest, sincere and concerned democrats who thought they knew what they were doing, dishonest and hypocritical adventurers in power, emergency millionaires turned emergency politicians, all were aboard the Obasanjo ship. Everywhere one turned, the picture was assailing. It was either Obasanjo or nothing. It was Obasanjo's way or no way at all. It was Obasanjo by all means. It was Obasanjo at all costs. You either had to take it or leave it.

Meanwhile, the Yorubas were being ridiculed as being too tribalistic. They were being accused of never wanting to work with others. They were called all the names in the world. Their principled argument that you could not possibly know a child more than his parent was derided. But with the benefits of hindsight, one could say that for once, the Afenifere leadership (a.k.a. Alliance for Democracy) got it right despite repeated embarrassing foibles that have hanged a question mark on their political management skills.

To cut the long story short, Obasanjo's ship berthed at the banks of Abuja. He alighted and walked into Aso Rock and was followed by the same crowd of pernicious political parasites. The Northern political kingmakers (?) with their military wing (active and retired) opened champagne and celebrated. The anti-Yoruba crowd who have had life long aversion for the South -West mainstream politicians opened their wine, danced and joked about them being in the opposition again. The minions of the Northern oligarchy in the West and other parts of the South were not left out of the celebration. They were in business again.

But before long, "like play, like play," Obasanjo began bearing his omnivorous political teeth, biting friends and foes alike. He seemed to believe in his mind that may be Nigeria could still survive if he could undertake few surgical operations. He confided in some people that it would not be business as usual, but his style was confounding. He asked T. Y. Danjuma to spearhead the purification of the military, while turning to Danjuma's sworn enemy, IBB's camp for his security adviser. He sacked Mohammadu Buhari and asked him to account for the Petroleum Trust Funds. He arrested some Abacha henchmen, charged them with murder and returned the rest to ministerial positions.

He reached out to those he once described as "tribal lords" in the West appointing their children into ministerial positions while he sent soldiers to pillage Odi village. For embarrassing Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 by demonstrating to the world that he has no support among the Yoruba, Obasanjo has since used the fedral might to destroy the mainstream Yoruba politicians. He has rigged them out of power and did it again in 2007. He instructed Mike Okiro to shoot every Yorubaman at sight in an effort to get rid of the OPC and endorsed the Bakassi Boys and the Arewa gangsters. When the bombs exploded in Lagos a predominantly Yoruba city, he arrogantly told them he did not have to be there, because he never cared about the Yoruba nation or its people. But when the plane crashed in Kano, a predominantly Hausa-Fulani city, he cancelled an international trip, rushed to the scene, prayed fervently like a "born again" that he is claiming to be and commiserated with them.

He tacitly approved the introduction of Sharia into some Northern States and even went to boast on the BBC that he slotted it into the 1979 Constitution. He increased the derivation percentage to 13, up from 3 that it was for the oil producing states but vigorously worked to frustrate their resource control agitation and plunged some of those states into debts. He declared war on poverty and more Nigerians became more deprived. He vowed to stamp out corruption and started by seizing his son's Mercedes Benz Jeep wondering how he got the money. He sacked his previous Chief Press Secretary who once hallucinated about ruling Ogun State for "fast fingers". He incurred the wrath of a Northern power broker for not allowing him to use the presidential jet for a weekend trip to Kano and told him "the Abacha times are over." Yet he allowed the “big guns” to loot without restraint while unleashing Ribadu on those that he did not like among them.

The North through the Arewa Consultative Council on daily basis tore Obasanjo apart because they were not satisfied with him. Governor Orji Kalu has been spearheading the anti-Obasanjo crowd from the East. But Obasanjo was the man Orji Kalu and his people described as the messiah. How come he is now a "Yoruba president" despite the fact that the Yoruba opposed him and refused to vote for him? It is shameless and dishonest to call Obasanjo a “Yoruba president” when the Yoruba staunchly opposed him. It is not the first time that the intellectual sentries of the Nigerian establishment would be hypocritical, shameless and dishonest.

The only people who can truly have guilt-free conscience in this mess that Nigeria has become are the mainstream Yoruba politicians who saw through Obasanjo. They advised against his imposition. They were ridiculed and called names. They were blackmailed and insulted. All the mainstream politicians of practically all the ethnic groups supported Obasanjo. They rooted for him. Obasanjo is their messenger. They imposed him on us. He was their "man know man" They believed they were dealing the final deathblow to the mainstream politicians in the West simply because Obasanjo collaborated to rob Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the second republic. Simply because Obasanjo hated the Great Awo, they loved Obasanjo to death. They would do anything and everything for him. So, why and what are the complaints about now? Is this the first time Obasanjo would supervise rigged elections? If it was not a big deal in 1979, why is it a big deal now? Afterall, is Obasanjo not their man?

Obasanjo for reasons best known to him has been unable to dance to their tunes, at least to their satisfaction. He has messed up Nigeria in a very classic manner. But whose fault is it? It is the fault of those who believe that the Yoruba must be punished for whatever reasons. “Eepa n’pa ara re, o ni oun npa’ja.” (The flea thinks it is  killing the dog when unwittingly, it is  killing itself). Please pardon my interpretation if is not good enough. But I am sure the message is clear enough.

Now, all of them are making noise. They are yelling on top of their voices. They are lamenting their fate. They are on the roof tops. They are in market places. They are whining like babies. They are protesting. Now Obasanjo is sending out troops to keep them silent. He is sending his police after them. I hate to say it serves all of them right. It is amazing how much damage someone can inflict on him or herself while trying to engage in vendetta against others. How could any one not foresee this tragedy? Leopards never change their spots. Obasanjo was not new to Nigeria. But all of them did not care. Their vendetta against the Yoruba nation blinded them. This is one of the tragedies of Nigeria. In a Yoruba nation, Olusegun Obasanjo would not amount to much. At best, he would be a persona non grata.

Well, instead of a soft delicious fishmeal, Obasanjo turned to an "unchewable" cow bone in their lungs. If they have a solution to his quagmire, good luck to them. If not, that is their headache for now. They asked for him and they got him. Chikena! O pari! Okwu agugor!

One thing I know is that this will still not serve as a lesson for those planning to do another round of gang up. This is because it is intrinsic to the foundation of Nigeria because of our mutual suspicions. It is why Nigeria will eventually break up when we have our fill. It is Nigeria’s destiny. 

This article is a revised version of a previous article published five years ago under the title “The Obasanjo Quagmire.”