Obasanjo writes
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THE WAY OUT : A CLARION CALL FOR
COALITION FOR NIGERIA MOVEMENT
Special Press Statement
By
President Olusegun Obasanjo——
Since we are still in the month of
January , it is appropriate to wish all
Nigerians Happy 2018 . I am
constrained to issue this special
statement at this time considering the
situation of the country . Some of you
may be asking , “ What has brought
about this special occasion of Obasanjo
issuing a Special Statement ?” You will
be right to ask such a question. But
there is a Yoruba saying that ‘ when
lice abound in your clothes, your
fingernails will never be dried of
blood ’. When I was in the village, to
make sure that lice die , you put them
between two fingernails and press
hard to ensure they die and they
always leave blood stains on the
fingernails. To ensure you do not have
blood on your fingernails, you have to
ensure that lice are not harboured
anywhere within your vicinity .
The lice of poor performance in
government – poverty , insecurity, poor
economic management, nepotism ,
gross dereliction of duty, condonation
of misdeed – if not outright
encouragement of it, lack of progress
and hope for the future, lack of
national cohesion and poor
management of internal political
dynamics and widening inequality –
are very much with us today . With
such lice of general and specific poor
performance and crying poverty with
us, our fingers will not be dry of
‘blood ’ .
Four years ago when my PDP card was
torn , I made it abundantly clear that I
quit partisan politics for aye but my
concern and interest in Nigeria, Africa
and indeed in humanity would not
wane. Ever since, I have adhered
strictly to that position. Since that
time, I have devoted quality time to
the issue of zero hunger as contained
in Goal No . 2 of the Sustainable
Development Goals of the UN . We have
set the target that Nigeria with the
participating States in the Zero
Hunger Forum should reach Zero
Hunger goal by 2025 – five years
earlier than the UN target date . I am
involved in the issue of education in
some States and generally in the issue
of youth empowerment and
employment. I am involved in all these
domestically and altruistically to give
hope and future to the seemingly
hopeless and those in despair . I
believe strongly that God has endowed
Nigeria so adequately that no Nigerian
should be either in want or in despair .
I believe in team work and
collaborative efforts. At the
international level, we have worked
with other world leaders to domicile
the apparatus for monitoring and
encouraging socio - economic progress
in Africa in our Presidential Library .
The purpose of Africa Progress Group ,
which is the new name assumed by
Africa Progress Panel (APP ), is to point
out where , when and what works need
to be done for the progress of Africa
separately and collectively by African
leaders and their development
partners. I have also gladly accepted
the invitation of the UN Secretary -
General to be a member of his
eighteen - member High - Level Board of
Advisers on Mediation. There are
other assignments I take up in other
fora for Africa and for the
international community . For Africa
to move forward , Nigeria must be one
of the anchor countries, if not the
leading anchor country . It means that
Nigeria must be good at home to be
good outside . No doubt , our situation
in the last decade or so had shown that
we are not good enough at home ;
hence we are invariably absent at the
table that we should be abroad .
All these led me to take the unusual
step of going against my own political
Party, PDP , in the last general election
to support the opposite side . I saw that
action as the best option for Nigeria .
As it has been revealed in the last
three years or so , that decision and the
subsequent collective decision of
Nigerians to vote for a change was the
right decision for the nation. For me,
there was nothing personal , it was all
in the best interest of Nigeria and ,
indeed, in the best interest of Africa
and humanity at large . Even the horse
rider then , with whom I maintain very
cordial , happy and social relationship
today has come to realise his mistakes
and regretted it publicly and I admire
his courage and forthrightness in this
regard. He has a role to play on the
side line for the good of Nigeria,
Africa and humanity and I will see
him as a partner in playing such a role
nationally and internationally , but not
as a horse rider in Nigeria again .
The situation that made Nigerians to
vote massively to get my brother
Jonathan off the horse is playing itself
out again . First , I thought I knew the
point where President Buhari is weak
and I spoke and wrote about it even
before Nigerians voted for him and I
also did vote for him because at that
time it was a matter of “ any option but
Jonathan” (aobj ). But my letter to
President Jonathan titled: “ Before It Is
Too Late ” was meant for him to act
before it was too late. He ignored it
and it was too late for him and those
who goaded him into ignoring the
voice of caution . I know that praise -
singers and hired attackers may be
raised up against me for verbal or
even physical attack but if I can
withstand undeserved imprisonment
and was ready to shed my blood by
standing for Nigeria , I will consider no
sacrifice too great to make for the
good of Nigeria at any time . No human
leader is expected to be personally
strong or self - sufficient in all aspects
of governance .
I knew President Buhari before he
became President and said that he is
weak in the knowledge and
understanding of the economy but I
thought that he could make use of good
Nigerians in that area that could help .
Although , I know that you cannot give
what you don ’t have and that economy
does not obey military order . You have
to give it what it takes in the short- ,
medium - and long - term . Then , it
would move. I know his weakness in
understanding and playing in the
foreign affairs sector and again , there
are many Nigerians that could be used
in that area as well . They have
knowledge and experience that could
be deployed for the good of Nigeria .
There were serious allegations of
round- tripping against some inner
caucus of the Presidency which would
seem to have been condoned. I
wonder if such actions do not amount
to corruption and financial crime ,
then what is it? Culture of condonation
and turning blind eye will cover up
rather than clean up . And going to
justice must be with clean hands .
I thought President Buhari would fight
corruption and insurgency and he
must be given some credit for his
achievement so far in these two areas
although it is not yet uhuru!
The herdsmen / crop farmers issue is
being wittingly or unwittingly allowed
to turn sour and messy . It is no credit
to the Federal Government that the
herdsmen rampage continues with
careless abandon and without finding
an effective solution to it. And it is a
sad symptom of insensitivity and
callousness that some Governors , a day
after 73 victims were being buried in
a mass grave in Benue State without
condolence, were jubilantly endorsing
President Buhari for a second term !
The timing was most unfortunate . The
issue of herdsmen / crop farmers
dichotomy should not be left on the
political platform of blame game ; the
Federal Government must take the
lead in bringing about solution that
protects life and properties of
herdsmen and crop farmers alike and
for them to live amicably in the same
community.
But there are three other areas where
President Buhari has come out more
glaringly than most of us thought we
knew about him. One is nepotic
deployment bordering on clannishness
and inability to bring discipline to
bear on errant members of his nepotic
court. This has grave consequences on
performance of his government to the
detriment of the nation. It would
appear that national interest was
being sacrificed on the altar of nepotic
interest. What does one make of a case
like that of Maina: collusion ,
condonation , ineptitude,
incompetence, dereliction of
responsibility or kinship and
friendship on the part of those who
should have taken visible and
deterrent disciplinary action ? How
many similar cases are buried, ignored
or covered up and not yet in the glare
of the media and the public ? The
second is his poor understanding of
the dynamics of internal politics . This
has led to wittingly or unwittingly
making the nation more divided and
inequality has widened and become
more pronounced. It also has effect on
general national security . The third is
passing the buck. For instance ,
blaming the Governor of the Central
Bank for devaluation of the naira by
70 % or so and blaming past
governments for it, is to say the least ,
not accepting one’ s own responsibility .
Let nobody deceive us, economy feeds
on politics and because our politics is
depressing, our economy is even more
depressing today . If things were good ,
President Buhari would not need to
come in . He was voted to fix things
that were bad and not engage in the
blame game . Our Constitution is very
clear, one of the cardinal
responsibilities of the President is the
management of the economy of which
the value of the naira forms an
integral part . Kinship and friendship
that place responsibility for
governance in the hands of the
unelected can only be deleterious to
good government and to the nation.
President Buhari’ s illness called for the
sympathy , understanding, prayer and
patience from every sane Nigerian. It
is part of our culture . Most Nigerians
prayed for him while he was away
sick in London for over hundred days
and he gave his Deputy sufficient
leeway to carry on in his absence . We
all thanked God for President Buhari
for coming back reasonably hale and
hearty and progressing well in his
recovery. But whatever may be the
state of President Buhari’ s health
today , he should neither over- push his
luck nor over - tax the patience and
tolerance of Nigerians for him, no
matter what his self- serving , so - called
advisers, who would claim that they
love him more than God loves him and
that without him, there would be no
Nigeria say . President Buhari needs a
dignified and honourable dismount
from the horse. He needs to have time
to reflect, refurbish physically and
recoup and after appropriate rest,
once again , join the stock of Nigerian
leaders whose experience, influence ,
wisdom and outreach can be deployed
on the side line for the good of the
country . His place in history is already
assured. Without impaired health and
strain of age , running the affairs of
Nigeria is a 25 / 7 affair , not 24 / 7 .
I only appeal to brother Buhari to
consider a deserved rest at this point
in time and at this age . I continue to
wish him robust health to enjoy his
retirement from active public service .
President Buhari does not necessarily
need to heed my advice . But whether
or not he heeds it, Nigeria needs to
move on and move forward .
I have had occasion in the past to say
that the two main political parties –
APC and PDP – were wobbling. I must
reiterate that nothing has happened to
convince me otherwise. If anything , I
am reinforced in my conviction. The
recent show of PDP must give grave
and great concern to lovers of Nigeria .
To claim , as has been credited to the
chief kingmaker of PDP , that for
procuring the Supreme Court
judgement for his faction of the Party,
he must dictate the tune all the way
and this is indeed fraught with
danger . If neither APC nor PDP is a
worthy horse to ride to lead Nigeria at
this crucial and critical time, what
then do we do? Remember Farooq
Kperogi, an Associate Professor at the
Kennesaw State University , Georgia ,
United States , calls it “ a cruel Hobson’s
choice ; it’s like a choice between six
and half a dozen , between evil and
evil. Any selection or deflection would
be a distinction without a difference. ”
We cannot just sit down lamenting
and wringing our hands desperately
and hopelessly.
I believe the situation we are in today
is akin to what and where we were in
at the beginning of this democratic
dispensation in 1999. The nation was
tottering . People became hopeless and
saw no bright future in the horizon. It
was all a dark cloud politically ,
economically and socially . The price of
oil at that time was nine dollars per
barrel and we had a debt overhang of
about $ 35 billion. Most people were
confused with lack of direction in the
country . One of the factors that saved
the situation was a near government
of national unity that was put in place
to navigate us through the dark cloud .
We had almost all hands on deck . We
used people at home and from the
diaspora and we navigated through
the dark cloud of those days . At that
time, most people were hopelessly
groping in the dark. They saw no
choice , neither in the left nor in the
right , and yet we were not bereft of
people at home and from the diaspora
that could come together to make
Nigeria truly a land flowing with milk
and honey. Where we are is a matter
of choice but we can choose differently
to make a necessary and desirable
change , once again .
Wherever I go , I hear Nigerians
complaining, murmuring in anguish
and anger . But our anger should not
be like the anger of the cripple . We
can collectively save ourselves from
the position we find ourselves . It will
not come through self - pity, fruitless
complaint or protest but through
constructive and positive engagement
and collective action for the good of
our nation and ourselves and our
children and their children . We need
moral re - armament and engaging
togetherness of people of like- mind
and goodwill to come solidly together
to lift Nigeria up . This is no time for
trading blames or embarking on futile
argument and neither should we
accept untenable excuses for non -
performance. Let us accept that the
present administration has done what
it can do to the limit of its ability ,
aptitude and understanding. Let the
administration and its political party
platform agree with the rest of us that
what they have done and what they
are capable of doing is not good
enough for us. They have given as best
as they have and as best as they can
give . Nigeria deserves and urgently
needs better than what they have
given or what we know they are
capable of giving . To ask them to give
more will be unrealistic and will only
sentence Nigeria to a prison term of
four years if not destroy it beyond the
possibility of an early recovery and
substantial growth . Einstein made it
clear to us that doing the same thing
and expecting a different result is the
height of folly . Already, Nigerians are
committing suicide for the unbearable
socio - economic situation they find
themselves in . And yet Nigerians love
life. We must not continue to reinforce
failure and hope that all will be well .
It is self - deceit and self- defeat and
another aspect of folly .
What has emerged from the opposition
has shown no better promise from
their antecedents . As the leader of that
Party for eight years as President of
Nigeria, I can categorically say there is
nothing to write home about in their
new team . We have only one choice
left to take us out of Egypt to the
promised land. And that is the
coalition of the concerned and the
willing – ready for positive and drastic
change , progress and involvement .
Change that will give hope and future
to all our youth and dignity and full
participation to all our women. Our
youth should be empowered to deploy
their ability to learn , innovate and
work energetically at ideas and
concepts in which they can make their
own original inputs . Youth must be
part of the action today and not
relegated to leadership of tomorrow
which may never come . Change that
will mean enhancement of living
standard and progress for all. A
situation where the elected will
accountably govern and every
Nigerian will have equal opportunity
not based on kinship and friendship
but based on free citizenship.
Democracy is sustained and measured
not by leaders doing extra- ordinary
things, (invariably , leaders fail to do
ordinary things very well ), but by
citizens rising up to do ordinary things
extra- ordinarily well . Our democracy ,
development and progress at this
juncture require ordinary citizens of
Nigeria to do the extra- ordinary things
of changing the course and direction
of our lackluster performance and
development . If leadership fails ,
citizens must not fail and there lies
the beauty and importance of
democracy . We are challenged by the
current situation ; we must neither
adopt spirit of cowardice nor timidity
let alone impotence but must be
sustained by courage, determination
and commitment to say and do and to
persist until we achieve upliftment for
Nigeria. Nothing ventured, nothing
gained and we believe that our
venturing will not be in vain. God of
Nigeria has endowed this country
adequately and our non- performance
cannot be blamed on God but on
leadership. God , who has given us
what we need and which is potentially
there, will give us leadership
enablement to actualize our
potentiality .
The development and modernization
of our country and society must be
anchored and sustained on dynamic
Nigerian culture , enduring values and
an enchanting Nigerian dream . We
must have abiding faith in our country
and its role and place within the
comity of nations . Today, Nigeria
needs all hands on deck . All hands of
men and women of goodwill must be
on deck . We need all hands to move
our country forward .
We need a Coalition for Nigeria , CN .
Such a Movement at this juncture
needs not be a political party but one
to which all well - meaning Nigerians
can belong. That Movement must be a
coalition for democracy , good
governance , social and economic well -
being and progress . Coalition to
salvage and redeem our country . You
can count me with such a Movement .
Last time, we asked, prayed and
worked for change and God granted
our request . This time , we must ask ,
pray and work for change with unity ,
security and progress . And God will
again grant us. Of course , nothing
should stop such a Movement from
satisfying conditions for fielding
candidates for elections. But if at any
stage the Movement wishes to
metamorphose into candidate -
sponsoring Movement for elections, I
will bow out of the Movement because
I will continue to maintain my non -
partisan position. Coalition for Nigeria
must have its headquarters in Abuja.
This Coalition for Nigeria will be a
Movement that will drive Nigeria up
and forward . It must have a pride of
place for all Nigerians , particularly for
our youth and our women. It is a
coalition of hope for all Nigerians for
speedy, quality and equal
development , security , unity ,
prosperity and progress . It is a
coalition to banish poverty , insecurity
and despair . Our country must not be
oblivious to concomitant danger
around, outside and ahead . Coalition
for Nigeria must be a Movement to
break new ground in building a united
country , a socially - cohesive and
moderately prosperous society with
equity , equality of opportunity, justice
and a dynamic and progressive
economy that is self- reliant and takes
active part in global division of labour
and international decision- making .
The Movement must work out the path
of development and the trajectory of
development in speed, quality and
equality in the short- medium - and
long - term for Nigeria on the basis of
sustainability , stability, predictability ,
credibility , security , cooperation and
prosperity with diminishing
inequality. What is called for is love ,
commitment and interest in our
country , not in self, friends and
kinship alone but particularly love ,
compassion and interest in the poor,
underprivileged and downtrodden . It
is our human duty and responsibility
so to do. Failure to do this will amount
to a sin against God and a crime
against humanity .
Some may ask, what does Obasanjo
want again ? Obasanjo has wanted
nothing other than the best for Nigeria
and Nigerians and he will continue to
want nothing less . And if we have the
best, we will be contented whether
where we live is described as palaces
or huts by others and we will always
give thanks to God.
I, therefore, will gladly join such a
Movement when one is established as
Coalition for Nigeria, CN , taking
Nigeria to the height God has created it
to be . From now on , the Nigeria eagle
must continue to soar and fly high.
CN , as a Movement , will be new,
green, transparent and must remain
clean and always active, selflessly so .
Members must be ready to make
sacrifice for the nation and pay the
price of being pioneers and good
Nigerians for our country to play the
God- assigned role for itself , for its
neighbours, for its sub - region of West
Africa, for its continent and for
humanity in general . For me , the
strength and sustainable success of CN
will derive largely from the strong
commitment of a population that is
constantly mobilized to the rallying
platform of the fact that going forward
together is our best option for building
a nation that will occupy its deserved
place in the global community . May
God continue to lead , guide and
protect us. Amen.
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