Ex president FORMER president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday, said his comments on
the state of the nation was not to badmouth anybody or run anybody down.
He explained that his criticisms was borne out of his genuine concern for the
country.
Obasanjo, a former chairman, Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), said this shortly after a closed-door meeting with five governors
of the party, who were on a visit to his Abeokuta country home.
The governors were Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Liyel Imoke (Cross Rivers),
Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa).
Akpabio and Aliyu arrived the Hilltop residence of the former president at
exactly 12.20 pm while Imoke, Yuguda and Lamido arrived some few minutes
later. The governors immediately went into a meeting which ended at 2.50 p.m.
Obasanjo, flanked by the governors, while briefing newsmen, appreciated them
for what he described as a special visit.
We had, in our online platform, www.tribune.com.ng, on Thursday morning,
exclusively reported that the governors would visit the former president to
find ways of appeasing him over the 2015 presidential election.
According to findings, the governors arrived at the decision to consult Obasanjo
at a meeting held at the Akwa Ibom House in Abuja, after an exhaustive
assessment of the chances of the party in the 2015 presidential race.
Though it was a closed door meeting, Nigerian Tribune gathered exclusively that
the former president restated his conviction that “Prince Buruji Kashamu
cannot be my leader.”
Obasanjo has, of recent, been openly attacking the person and performance of
President Jonathan, rating him below average in the performance index.
The presidency, while countering the stance of the former president, stressed
the long list of achievements recorded by President Jonathan, which it
described as the best ever in the country.
The governors, it was gathered exclusively, will be in Minna, the Niger State
capital, to also confer with General Ibrahim Babangida.
Speaking with newsmen after the visit, Chief Obasanjo told journalists that the
governors were concerned about the security and economic situations of the
country, hence their visit to him.
“First of all, I thanked my colleagues and my brothers who have decided to pay
me a special visit.They were concerned about what you may call the situation of
the nation, security, economy, among others.
“We have discussed most of the issues that I have raised in my own public
pronouncement in recent times, which is not to castigate, bad-mouth or to run
anybody down, but out of genuine concern for the situation of this country and
that is the same thing that has brought them and I want to thank them,” the
former president said.
He noted that the present situation of the country was not totally bad, adding
that the task to solve it could not be achieved by a single individual.
He explained that so many things could still be done to redeem the country’s
lost glory, saying it required courage and political will to address it.
“We look at these issues closely and very objectively and we came to the
conclusion that yes we have a bad situation but not irretrievably bad.
“Something can still be done and what is now required is the will and the
courage to do something when and how it needs to be done.
“We agreed on that and we also agreed that I appreciate their coming to me
because of the respect and honour they have for me. This task is not for one
man and it is not even a task for one group, it is a task that requires all hands
on deck and as they have said and as they have assured me, they would have
this type of consultation with other leaders, for the best of this our country,
as we have no alternative.
“The other day, somebody told me he knows NADECO route, I do not want to
follow NADECO. It is incumbent on us to do what is right. Men like them:
Yuguda, Akpabio, Aliyu the Chief Servant, Lamido and a very good one Imoke,
are colleagues with whom I have worked together.
“They will like to call themselves my sons and when you have a son like Lamido,
who is almost a foot taller than yourself, you must watch what you would say
and do,” he added.
When asked to comment on the economic situation of the country, the former
president said he was not scared about the fall in price of the crude oil, saying
the country could survive the situation if appropriate measures were taken at
the right time.
He said that the country had failed to remember “the raining days” when it
had surplus.
“I am never scared by anything, but I am concerned that firstly, when we had
surplus, we did not remember the raining day. Now that the raining day is
starring at us in the face, we must be honest and courageous enough to do
what is right, to let the nation know and then to take the steps that will put it
right as quick as possible.
“You do not need to be an oracle or a World Bank expert or an International
Monetary Fund (IMF) expert to know that our economy is not what it should be
and this is not the first time we would hear it, we have heard it in the past.
“Of course, when I came in 1999, the price of fuel was about $9 and we
realised that we have a problem. We even made budget that we could not fund,
but we realised that we are in a serious situation and we took steps.
Within two
to three years, we were able to sail through. The price of fuel started moving
up.
“Do not forget that there was a time during the Iraqi war, price of fuel rose
to $42 and then it came down to $9, the one that we have now, we do not
know when it would be bottom and at what price, but we can weather the storm
if we take measures when necessary,”the former president added.
Speaking on behalf of the visiting governors, Akpabio described Obasanjo as a
man respected and loved by all Nigerians, considering his contribution to the
development of the nation’s democracy.
He said their visit was out of respect they had for the two-time civilian
president and to consult with him on the state of the nation.
He called on all Nigerians to work together to tackle challenges confronting
the country, while promising that they would consult with other notable
leaders.
“If you notice, we are from the PDP extraction and we have decided that as
the party in power and the party that the country has a lot of confidence in
right from 1999, he played a key role in the emergence of the current
democracy and he is still playing that role both nationally and internationally.
“We decided that it is important for us to come and consult with him and to
tap from his wealth of wisdom. The intention here is that all Nigerians are
determined to reposition the country, we have no other country than Nigeria
and so, no matter the challenges we may face today, we must work together as
a team to redeem the situation.
“I want to thank our dear leader for receiving us and for what he said that
the situation is redeemable and that we must also consult other leaders and
work to ensure that the country is redeemed.”
Governor Aliyu, in his comment, said the purpose of the visit was to consult
with “oracle of leadership and politics.”
Aliyu said, “If you notice, all of us are his children, both administratively,
politically and in reality and we have come to consult with the oracle of
leadership and politics of this country and we have benefited tremendously with
our coming.
“You have heard him say we need also to consult with other people because all
of us must come together. The issue of Nigeria is beyond partisanship. We must
as Nigerians come together and put our nation in the right place.”
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