“Jonathan replies Obasanjo”. Really! Did he?

Before it is obfuscated, one of the loudest statements President Olusegun Obasanjo made in his December 2 letter, covering about one third of it, is that any attempt by Jonathan to extend his rule “will be fatally and morally flawed”. Sadly, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan doesn’t think so and his reply to OBJ’s letter has […]

Before it is obfuscated, one of the loudest statements President Olusegun Obasanjo made in his December 2 letter, covering about one third of it, is that any attempt by Jonathan to extend his rule “will be fatally and morally flawed”. Sadly, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan doesn’t think so and his reply to OBJ’s letter has done nothing to allay fears that he is not interested in the presidency beyond his current mandate or that the 2015 election will be any better than those before it.
Today, our freedom of political choice is increasingly being circumscribed by a desperate administration intent on prolonging its lifespan. Already, the rude and shameless suggestion by none other than Ike Ekweremadu, the Deputy Senate President, that the mandate of this administration be extended by two years has emphatically been rejected and it is doubtful if he and his sponsors will have the nerves to bring it to the Senate in 2014. As it is, by the time the upper house reconvenes, Ekweremadu and his principals will be fighting the political battles of their lives to retain their privileged positions. The presidential repudiation of Rotimi Amaechi’s leadership of the Nigerian Governors Forum – elected by 19 colleagues and the criminal plot to impeach him – the disruption of Governors meeting in Government House, Sokoto and again in Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso’s house in Abuja, the election in Anambra, the advertised arrest of the Lamido sons and harassment of Kano legislators, the emergency in Adamawa, etc., all constitute undemocratic attempts to silence political opponents ahead of 2015.
While accusing, OBJ of digging dirt, GEJ also dug up his own, confirming that he is indeed a clone of his Godfather even as he screams in his letter: I did not start corruption, I inherited it. I’m not the original inept leader, I learnt from you. Insecurity predates my administration. I’m helpless, etc. To prove that “high corruption” is not his preserve, GEJ’s letter to OBJ referred to Siemens and Halliburton bribery scandals and the “story of questionable waivers of signature bonuses between 2000 and 2007” known to have occurred under the watch of the former president. Shouldn’t GEJ summon courage to investigate those scandals and punish those responsible? OBJ may be corrupt, but he would never have sat down at cabinet meetings with the likes of Diezani Alison-Madueke, Bala Muhammed, Stella Oduah, Bello Adoke, Godson Orubebe and Segun Aganga.
OBJ says in his letter: “And those who prop you up as  of,  and  for  ‘Ijaw  nation’  are  not  your  friends  genuinely,  not  friends  of Nigeria  nor  friends  of  ‘Ijaw  nation’,  they  tout  about.    To  allow  or  tacitly encourage  people of ‘Ijaw nation’ to throw insults  on  other  Nigerians from other  parts of  the  country  and threaten fire and brimstone to  protect  your interest  as  an  Ijaw  man  is  myopic  and  your  not  openly  quieting  them  is even  more  unfortunate”. In fairness to IBB, (and I’m never his fan) when the late Alhaji Mahmud Attah warned that Northerners would resist Southern attempt to subvert the regime, Admiral Aikhomu was immediately instructed to reject the notion that their government was beholden to any region. Promptly the IBB junta dismissed Attah’s utterances and told Nigerians: we are not a Northern government, we are a National government. That was a dictatorship, how much more should be expected from an elected government? Again, OBJ, rightfully warns: “Also  declaring that  one section of  the  country voted for  you  as if  you  got  no  votes  from other sections can  only  be  an  unnecessary  talk, to  put it  mildly”. Does anyone recall that when some Ohaneze leaders visited him at the Aso Villa in 2012 or so, GEJ tactlessly said he was well aware that the votes he got from the North were those cast by the Igbos?
OBJ’s letter is considered a security risk only because it personally accuses GEJ “of deceit, deception, dishonesty, incompetence, clannishness, divisiveness and insincerity, amongst other ills”. OBJ threatens GEJ, something is at stake; but Asari Dokubo threatens Nigeria (If Jonathan is not re-elected, Nigeria will cease to be) nothing is at stake. Is it the lot of the OBJ generation to defend our freedom in its hour of maximum danger?
Miffed by the current misfor-tunes of the ruling party, OBJ suggests that this emanated from the willingness of GEJ to trade off the chances of the candidates of his party in return for support for his own 2015 ambition as well as his refusal to listen to his influential party men. OBJ has calculated that PDP cannot win the next election, much less one flagged by Jonathan. So, OBJ tells President Jonathan: watch where the wind blows, it is against your sail. Unfortunately, Jonathan doesn’t get it, and depending upon the manner the All Progressives Congress (APC) comes to power, PDP stalwarts will be demystified and probably punished for their misdeeds while in power. On his part, OBJ, reading the developments correctly and playing the national card, could be spared by a victorious APC government. But the unyielding Jonathan wing, when finally crushed, will be disgraced and one by one their monumental scandals exposed.
The GEJ directive that security agencies and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) should investigate rights violations alleged by OBJ is a non-starter. What has GEJ done with the previous NHRC report regarding the Baga massacre? Or the Ribadu report on the well known cesspit of corruption called NNPC, the Sheikh Lemu report on post-election violence, the NDDC report, the Stella Oduah report and so on and so forth?