Olusegun Obasanjo: Public Enemy Number 1

Wole Adejumo 

Call Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo Ebora Owu (the strange being of Owu) when he is within earshot, the response you are likely to get is “emi lo nke si yen” (that’s me). In some quarters, Obasanjo is seen as a reincarnation of Anlugbua, an ancestral Owu god.

In earlier times, especially before the wars that ravaged Yorubaland in the 18^th century, Owu people were known to be strong headed, highly unforgiving and vindictive, those were in the days of the common saying “a bi ‘mo l’Owu, o ni se ako ni abi abo. Ewo ni yio se omo nibe?” (a child is born in Owu, you are asking if it is male or female, which one will be a proper child?). Conscious efforts have been made to change those characteristic traits, hence the praise song, “ara Owu kii ran ‘ro, awi I menu kuro ni t’ Owu” (Owu people are not vengeful, they just never stop referring to issues). Incidentally, Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo, who hails from Olusomi Compound, Owu Totoro is not just an ambassador of Owu anywhere he goes, he is the Balogun of Owu Kingdom, a title last held by Balogun Akin-Olugbade. And as the Balogun, not only does Obasanjo carry all the traits of the typical Owu man, he is the most senior chief in the kingdom, coming after only the Olowu.

Nigerians in and outside the country have continually wondered about the role the former President will play in the Muhammadu Buhari government. Nigerians can’t wait to see if he would be tere to offer advice or not.

Before he became President, OBJ as Chief Obasanjo is fondly called, concentrated on his farm. As a retired General, he has his way of getting information within and outside Nigeria. Being privy to a coup plot nearly cost him his life at a point. But from prison, like the Biblical Joseph, Obasanjo came out and made history, becoming the first man to rule Nigeria as both a military Head of State and civilian President, a feat General Sani Abacha tried hard to achieve before he passed on in 1998.

As President, Obj stepped on a number of toes in his first term. As a result of the anti-corruption stand he took, his pal, Chief S.M Afolabi of Iree, who was a Minister, was one of the first scapegoats. That was when people began to know what Obasanjo was capable of doing. Honourable Maurice Ibekwe followed after and the Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun too paid the price.

Obasanjo’s long list of enemies back then included Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who as Governor of Lagos State created Local Development Council Areas. For defying the Federal Government to create the LCDAs, the Obasanjo administration withheld funds that should accrue to Lagos State.

Baba continued to make enemies for himself as his tenure progressed. Governors Orji Kalu, Joshua Dariye and Dipreye Alamieyesegha of Abia, Plateau and Bayelsa States were hounded by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). 

At a point, political opponents and allies saw an ambidextrous man in Obasanjo, he could neither be courted nor avoided. It became a fad that “once Obasanjo eats in your house, it is an ominous sign that your job is on the line”.  Chuba Okadigbo and Audu Ogbeh are examples and of course, President Jonathan. In the heat of the brouhaha generated by the infamous “open letter” to the President, Obasanjo, apparently feeling the Presidential Villa would be inappropriate to meet Dr. Jonathan “stalked” him and paid an unexpected visit to the hotel where the President lodged in Nairobi, Kenya where he had gone for a programme. They had breakfast together, only for Obj to return to Nigeria and fire another letter. Those who know Baba well had stated before his return to Nigeria that the war had only just begun. 

When one of the President's foster daughters got married, Obasanjo was there, he shook hands with the President and even posed for pictures with him as if all was well. 

Not many would dispute the fact that Obasanjo was instrumental to the ascension of Dr. Jonathan to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He supervised the process that produced Umar Yar’Adua as the President, even when he knew what ailed him.

When Jonathan became President, his long walk to the battlefield with Obasanjo started first with words of advice, after which the issue snowballed into letter writing.

Another person Obasanjo had issues with was his vice, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Taking Obasanjo serious was Atiku’s major undoing, a move many still refer to as “Turaki’s political suicide”. Obasanjo had begged Atiku hard to allow him run a second term in office and the latter agreed with the hope of contesting after serving out his eighth year as Vice President. Obasanjo however raised high voltage political barriers against Atiku’’s presidential dreams.

Like Atiku Abubakar, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, the then Governor of Ogun State tried to curb Obasanjo’s overpowering influence, a move that resulted in clashes. They sat together at several functions and even fed each other pieces of cake to ‘’show the world” that they had a cordial relationship but they never stopped throwing jabs at each other. On a certain occasion, after Governor Daniel had addressed the capacity crowd that gathered in a stadium in Abeokuta, Obasanjo as a father was handed the microphone and his first statement was “ti eeyan o ba kin se omo ale, to bar i baba e, a pon le” (if one is not a bastard, if he sees his father, he must accord him respect). Such is the love between the duo till date.

Though Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State claims to have forgiven all those involved in his 2005 impeachment, it is obvious that Obasanjo is not one of those he forgave.  Back In 2010, they traded insults at the thanksgiving organized by Prince Oyinlola after he left office as Governor of Osun State. That was the last time booth men saw eye to eye.

Incidentally, after he was elected in 2003, Fayose was Obasanjo’s ‘beloved son’. Ekiti was one of the very few states Obasanjo toured twice in one year to commission projects on the invitation of the Governor. Some sources disclosed that one of the main things that drove a wedge between them was Fayose’s comments about the Third Term plan which ended up being leaked to Obasanjo.

Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, a former Governor of Oyo State too will not forget Obasanjo in a hurry. His stand about the Third Term agenda pitched him against Obasanjo, who allegedly empowered his political foes against him. Ladoja spent 11 months of his 4-year term in exile after he was impeached by 18 out of 32 legislators.

While the former President battled enemies, real and perceived across the country, the row between him and his daughter, Iyabo degenerated and became a subject of public discourse when the latter wrote a stinker of an open letter to him. Iyabo’s brother, Gbenga too had issues with Baba. He details of the fight are rather sordid, with allegations that the old man was romantically involved with Gbenga’s wife at a time.

Between Obasanjo and former military President, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, it was a war of the Generals. Their subordinates had to wade in when they described each other as “foot at 70”. For reasons best known to them, they made up; though it is believed in some quarters that the reconciliation is only on paper. Both are actually known to be very calculative.

Another General who has dared Obasanjo lately is Godwin Alabi-Isama who served as the Chief of Staff to the famed “Black Scorpion”, Col. Benjamin Adekunle during the Civil War. Alabi-Isama was actively involved at the Atlantic Theater where the 3 Marine Commando fought.

Having stayed out of the country for some years, on turning 70, Brigadier General Alabi-Isama, a proud old student of Ibadan Boys’ High School returned home and was dazed after reading the Obasanjo authored book, My Command.  

An obviously infuriated Alabi-Isama wrote his own account of the war in The Tragedy of Victory, a book of over 600 pages, complete with maps and detailed description of war strategies. Apart from a detailed account of how Col. Benjamin Adekunle derailed, Alabi-Isama explained how he and Alani-Akinrinade, who also retired as a General ensured that Obasanjo was brought in to replace Adekunle as the Commanding Officer of the 3 Marine Commando Division. He also countered most of the claims Obasnjo made in his book, going to the extent of painting the former Head of State as an “absentee commander”.

Alabi-Isama alleged that Obasanjo “got lost” in the front on one occasion and on another, he went in search of phantom ammunition. He went as far as pointing out that when Biafra actually surrendered, Obasanjo, who was the commander was not on ground.

But Obasanjo in his typical element can hardly ever be boxed into a corner. He put up another historical piece, My Watch. He took time to bash Alabi-Isama heavily, casting aspersions on his personality and even his parentage. In the new book, Obasanjo described Isama as a soldier who could be in bed with a woman and radio his commander and say he was pursuing rebels. He even said Isama was the only officer he ever played squash with the cheated on the court by counting more points for himself.  He said Isama enlisted in the army as a northerner, thinking that would give him an advantage but when it failed, he claimed Ibadan and later the Delta region.

Of course, Alabi replied sharply. He warned Obasanjo about mentioning his parentage. Alabi painted the picture of someone who knows more than he is letting out. Isama referred Obasanjo to the picture taken during the wedding with Mrs. Remi Obasanjo his first wife. He pointed out that only the bride’s parents took the picture, thereby insinuating that the former President might not know who his parents are or were. He went on to explain that he only played squash with Obasanjo only once and that Obasanjo is not the type that can beat him in any game. He reminded that he was a sports instructor and that he is still fit as against Obasanjo whose pot belly “became a butt of joke among officers”.

Chief Obasanjo’s battle with Senator-elect, Buruji Kashamu is one many people can’t wait to see how it would end. Kashamu was a political godson of sort to Obasanjo until they fell out and the latter refused to remain in a party where “a wanted drug baron would be the leader”. Kashamu is one of the few people in Ogun State who have dared Obasanjo. He got a court injunction to stop the sales of My Watch. A move that many read as an indication that the war between the duo may not end soon.

As the drama unfolds, Kashamu, who is being hounded by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA has asked repeatedly why Obasanjo took him in years ago while the former President too has dared Kashamu to step on American soil if indeed he is not a wanted criminal.  

Whether one likes it or not, Obasanjo has become an institution of sort in Nigeria. Apart from being a one-man power bloc, very few people can claim to be able to fight as dirty as he can. He knows when to fire and when Obasanjo calls a truce, as an opponent, the best thing to do is to keep one’s eyes open.