Search African
Examiner
Examiner
..........................................................................................................................
....................
....................
.......................................
............
............
Need website? get 40% discount darr-concepts creative studios contact us:- admin@darrconcepts.com www.darrconcepts.com 443-904-1239 |
| Media Associates |
| Pointblank News.com Nwaokonaku.blogspot First Class Magazine huhuonline.com African Examiner Blog vinfish.blogspot.com |
Do you want to
contribute
ARTICLES to
African
Examiner? Click
HERE to Contact
us
contribute
ARTICLES to
African
Examiner? Click
HERE to Contact
us
*The Electoral
Fraudsters
*The Nigeria State
Looters
*Mess Made in Kenya
*Dishonourable
honourable
*African Beauty in
Ireland
*The birthday Lady
*HUASA Fashion
*Senegalese Night
*Golden Eaglets
Fraudsters
*The Nigeria State
Looters
*Mess Made in Kenya
*Dishonourable
honourable
*African Beauty in
Ireland
*The birthday Lady
*HUASA Fashion
*Senegalese Night
*Golden Eaglets
| www.grandcaregiver.com e-mail:-roslync @grandcaregiver.com 410-644-4994 |
| MAKE BIG BUCKS IN HOME CARE BUSINESS |
| Copyrights 2007 S.O &T Communications LLC, All Rights Reserved www.africanexaminer.com. Africanexaminer is an epublication of S.O & T Communication LLC, P.O. Box 11582 Baltimore, MD, 21229 USA |
Blog | Sports | Guest Book | Write 4 Us
design and maintain by darrconcepts creative studios
Need website? get 40% discount darr-concepts creative studios contact us:- admin@darrconcepts.com www.darrconcepts.com 443-904-1239 |
African Daily
Newspapers
THE GUARDIAN
THE STAR
THE SUB SAHARA
THE PUNCH
NIGERIA TRIBUNE
TIMES OF ZAMBIA
THE SUN
DAILY GRAPHICS
CAPE TIMES
THISDAY
MAIL & GUARDIAN
VANGUARD
DAILY INDEPENDENT
TELL
ACCRA MAIL
THE NEWS
Newspapers
THE GUARDIAN
THE STAR
THE SUB SAHARA
THE PUNCH
NIGERIA TRIBUNE
TIMES OF ZAMBIA
THE SUN
DAILY GRAPHICS
CAPE TIMES
THISDAY
MAIL & GUARDIAN
VANGUARD
DAILY INDEPENDENT
TELL
ACCRA MAIL
THE NEWS
| African-Examiner Photo Gallery |
________________________________________________________________________
Akintokunbo A. Adejumo
MSc, ACIH, MCMI
E-mail akinadejum@aol.com
MSc, ACIH, MCMI
E-mail akinadejum@aol.com
| Visit African Examiner... Blog | Sports | Guest Book | Write 4 Us |
| Advert your goods and services on African Examiner and reach out to customers world wide editor@africanexaminer.com |
| 443-904-1239 |
The Trials and Tribulations Of A Leader
akinadejum@aol.com
I felt the need to write this article because of what happened in London last week when ex-
President Olusegun Obasanjo came visiting to brief the world press on his peace mission
in Central Africa. Although I did not attend, I read and learnt that the briefing was marred
by protesters, mostly Nigerians, who do not feel Obasanjo is morally right to be accorded
such honour as overseeing and bringing about peace to another African country with
regards to his own dismal performance as President of Nigeria for eight tortuous, but
eventful years. Eggs and rotten tomatoes were allegedly thrown at him and I think he
finally got the message that he is not the most popular of Nigerian leaders. I had written
some time ago that Obasanjo was always fond of not taking responsibility for anything
(An Abject Abdication of Responsibility – www.nigeriavillagesquare.com 23.07.2008) I
have been proven right almost a year later.
During a subsequent interview with the BBC, he must have been exasperated by the
questions thrown mercilessly at him to explain himself on allegations of his government
being very corrupt, that he burst out “I’m Ready For Trial - (Nigerian Tribune, 20.03.2009).
I thus would like to comment on some of the issues thrown up by him, and I have
therefore broken them down as he was reported to have answered some questions and
tried to draw my own opinions from the ex-President’s answers.
“FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday vehemently declared that he was
not corrupt and that he was ready to face trial if found culpable of corruption”.
My views and opinions on this outburst by our former president is that we should take him
up on his offer to subject himself to a probe. He has thrown down the gauntlet to the
authorities. And in fairness to him and to Nigerians, let Obasanjo prove to the world that
he himself, personally, was not corrupt. It is the least he could do or say under the
circumstances.
Was it just righteous indignation or was he being sincere? History and posterity surely will
be the best judge of him. At the risk of sounding sanctimonious and being accused of
being in support of Obasanjo, I have always been of the conviction that on the balance of
probability, Obasanjo might not have been personally corrupt in the sense that he was
dipping his hands in the treasury, however, there are three issues that made him culpable
and which as a leader, he cannot absolve himself of:
One is that as the elected and recognised head of the nation, it was his absolute and
moral responsibility to ensure that his government was not corrupt; that the people he had
around him either as Ministers, Aides, legislature, and judiciary and even the state and
local government executives were not corrupt. The buck should always stop at his desk.
He has to be help responsible for anything that goes wrong. A leader is always held
responsible for the actions of his followers. Right now, we are seeing the fall-out from his
eight-year administration (many ex-governors from his party are known to have looted their
states’ treasuries; power probes, scandals upon scandals, etc) that has even led a leader
as knowingly corrupt as Babangida to be labelling Obasanjo’s administration as worse
than his own in terms of corruption. Even the Abacha clan are saying the same thing.
Secondly, the fact that Obasanjo imposed Umar Yar ‘Adua on the country cannot be
denied. This in itself is political corruption. Obasanjo supervised the most unfair elections
in the history of Nigeria, both in 2003 and 2007. It is on record and we are also seeing the
fallout, with governors, new and existing forced out of office now and again. This is a blot
on any good intentions he might have. Also linked with this political corruption was
Obasanjo’s attempt to get a Third Term in office, against the rules of the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He heated up the polity so much with this ill-thought, ill-
advised idea, that it was a wonder the country did not break up.
Third, he had eight long years to turn this country around, despite the fact that previous
military regimes had virtually ruined the country. When he was elected, he swore before
God and Man to do his best for Nigeria and Nigerians; eight years later, Nigerians
discovered they had been had, nothing changed for them, yet Obasanjo’s acolytes and
followers had become billionaires. Obasanjo failed to take action against the corrupt
excesses of his favourites (or maybe his errand boys and girls) like Peter Odili (Obasanjo
almost allowed him to become the President of this country), James Ibori (the
consummate thief is now a power behind the ruling party and the Presidency itself), Andy
Uba, Lamidi Adedibu, Tony Anenih, Bode George, and many other party officials and
executives. He allowed Chief Adedibu to virtually bring Ibadan and Oyo State to their
knees. These are all political corruption of the highest order. And OBJ was responsible
and culpable.
Culpability descends from the Latin concept of fault (culpa), which is still found today in
the phrase mea culpa (literally, "my own fault"). In explanations and predictions of human
action and inaction, culpability is a measure of the degree to which an agent, such as a
person, can be held morally or legally responsible. Culpability is defined as deserving of
blame or censure as being wrong, evil, improper, or injurious.
From a legal perspective, culpability describes the degree of one's blameworthiness in the
commission of a crime or offense. Except for strict liability crimes, the type and severity
of punishment often follow the degree of culpability.
Legal definitions (Wikipedia) of culpability are:A person acts intentionally with respect to a
material element of an offence when:
if the element involves the nature of his conduct or a result thereof, it is his conscious
object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result; and
if the element involves the attendant circumstances, he is aware of the existence of such
circumstances or he believes or hopes that they exist.
A person acts knowingly with respect to a material element of an offense when:
if the element involves the nature of his conduct or the attendant circumstances, he is
aware that his conduct is of that nature or that such circumstances exist; and
if the element involves a result of his conduct, he is aware that it is practically certain that
his conduct will cause such a result.
A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he
consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element
exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that,
considering the nature and intent of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to
him, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a
reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation.
A person acts negligently with respect to a material element of an offense when he should
be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will
result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the actor's
failure to perceive it, considering the nature and intent of his conduct and the
circumstances known to him, involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a
reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation.
In short:A person causes a result purposely/intentionally if the result is his/her goal in
doing the action that causes it, A person causes a result knowingly if he/she knows that
the result is virtually certain to occur from the action he/she undertakes,
A person causes a result recklessly if he/she is aware of and disregards a substantial and
unjustifiable risk of the result occurring from the action, and
A person causes a result negligently if there is a substantial and unjustifiable risk he/she
is unaware of but very much should be aware of.
The first two types of culpability are each a subset of the following. Thus if someone acts
purposely, they also act knowingly. If someone acts knowingly, they also act recklessly.
With these legal definitions, Obasanjo cannot possibly absolve himself of any corrupt
practices committed during his tenure, by his Government, by his Ministers, by his party
chiefs and supporters, by his Governors, whether they belong to his party or not, because
he knew, or should know, all that was going on within his country. He was the
Commander-In-Chief after all, and he must be held responsible for their actions.
“Chief Obasanjo, who was answering questions on the British Broadcasting Corporation
interview programme Hard Talk, said he is the only former president in Nigeria that has
ever been investigated by the two anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria”.
Here I will agree with the Balogun of Otta. Why should Obasanjo be the only former
President of Nigeria being investigated? What about Babangida? What about
Abdulsalaam? Even what about the shameless Earnest Shonekan? And if we are going to
investigate past presidents, why not all former Governors, both military and civilians? I
acknowledge that investigating all these will pose logistical and resource problems e.g.
lost and stale evidence, manpower, etc, but if we are going to crucify Obasanjo, then we
must also crucify former heads of state like Babangida and Abdulsalaam. Unfortunately,
Abacha was disposed of, but at least we knew what he did.
This is my take on this issue. Obasanjo must not be singled out for investigation,
prosecution or whatever. Babangida and Abdulsalaam must be brought to justice too.
Maybe even as far back as Jack Gowon, Shehu Shagari and Buhari. At least to prove
which of them was not corrupt.
We all know impractical these exercises will be and the futility of it, so let us forget it and
let God and history be these people’s judge.
Describing BBC Stephen Sackur’s allegation that he was a corrupt leader as an insult,
said “when you allege you must have facts.” He stated that it was under his government
that three ministers and a senate leader were arrested and prosecuted for corruption:
“What else do you want?” Obasanjo queries.
I disagree with Obasanjo on this issue. In eight years of flagrant corruption, which he must
not say he was not aware, to bring only three ministers, a senate leader, one police chief,
two or three governors arrested and prosecuted can hardly be counted as phenomenal
success, can it? Three ministers and a senate leader in eight years, when up to 36
governors, 40-something ministers and hundreds of top civil servants and Board
chairpersons, government agencies like Customs, NNPC, PHCN, NDDC were actively
salting away billions of our money, not to talk of hundreds of local government
Chairpersons and others? And even after prosecution, these thieves got away with very
light sentences which were no more than slaps on the wrist. No, OBJ, we want more!
“What else do we want”, you asked? Indeed, Sir, that simply was not enough, and even
then, those that you mentioned were only the tips of the iceberg. How much did they steal
and were recovered compared to what their ilk walking around free today stole?
OBJ, Nigerians want justice, prosecutions, prison sentences, and even probably the death
penalty for some of these thieves, who have made the lives of their fellow countrymen a
living hell on earth. Nigerians want examples made of them to deter others permanently
so that they know government money is not meant for government house. To make them
know that they MUST be working for us, and not stealing from our collective, God-given
wealth, and condemning us to poverty, disease, hunger, helplessness and death.
On his daughter, Iyabo, who is being investigated for alleged corrupt practices, Chief
Obasanjo said she’s not been convicted. Asked if he will take responsibility for Iyabo,
Obasanjo said, “I beg your pardon, she is a 42-year-old woman and can take
responsibility for herself. You are insulting me, can you say that to a European leader?
Yes, Obasanjo could not legally be held responsible for his wayward daughter’s crimes.
Like he rightly said, that woman is a 42-year old woman, who is supposed to be in her
husband’s house (if she is) and not be dictated to by her father. However, Obasanjo can
always advise her. And this is where his paternal and moral irresponsibility comes in.
Today, at almost 53, I am still taking advice from my Mum, and if my father was alive, I
would still be deferring to him and taking his advice. Obasanjo could have done the same.
Iyabo took very great advantage of being the president’s daughter for eight ignoble years. If
her father had not been the president, I doubt if anybody would have heard of her. After all,
where was she all these years before she became a Senator? And instead of being
humble as a First Daughter, she was throwing her weight about, getting involved in
unwholesome corrupt practices and generally giving herself and family a bad name and
press. Is that a responsible or good daughter? However, I cannot pronounce judgement on
her, because each family to its own.
The problem remains that Iyabo has not been convicted despite admitting to many corrupt
practices. When will that ever happen? She is still in the Senate, attending parties all over
the place, and even being considered for the gubernatorial race in Ogun State come 2011.
(See my article “Iyabo Obasanjo is Not Guilty; We Are” www.nigeriansinamerica.com
06.01.2008 and www.nigeriavillagesquare.com 29.05.2008)
And Sir, you are very wrong on the issue of this kind of question being addressed to a
European leader. The freedom of the press and general Human Rights that exist in Europe
these days is such that journalists and even individuals can ask their leaders almost
anything. That is freedom and transparency for you. The leader now has the prerogative to
answer or not, truthfully or not, but we, the people, have a right to ask the leaders what
they are doing for us, about us and against us. Asking you if you are responsible for your
wayward daughter is quite in order. All you have to do is say No or Yes, or not answer at
all.
This is the way I see Obasanjo’s outburst and feeble defence. He still needs to convince
us that he was not corrupt – and believe me – that will be very difficult, but not impossible,
for him to do.
It really is very simple. For his own sake, I sincerely hope Obasanjo can, otherwise his
name will be vilified for centuries to come as the man whom God gave several chances to
deliver his people, but failed to take the rare opportunities that God gave him. That is a sin.
Akintokunbo Adejumo lives and works in London, UK. A graduate of the University of
Ibadan, Nigeria (1979) and University of Manitoba, Canada (1985), he also writes on
topical issues for newspapers and internet media including Nigeriaworld.com, Nigeria
Today Online, Nigerians In America, Nigeria Village Square, Champions Newspaper,
ChatAfrik.com, African News Switzerland, New Nigerian Politics, Gamji.com, Codewit.
com, etc.
He is also the Coordinator of CHAMPIONS FOR NIGERIA, (www.championsfornigeria.org) an organisation
devoted to celebrating genuine progress, excellence, commitment, selfless and unalloyed service to Nigeria
and Nigerians.
akinadejum@aol.com
I felt the need to write this article because of what happened in London last week when ex-
President Olusegun Obasanjo came visiting to brief the world press on his peace mission
in Central Africa. Although I did not attend, I read and learnt that the briefing was marred
by protesters, mostly Nigerians, who do not feel Obasanjo is morally right to be accorded
such honour as overseeing and bringing about peace to another African country with
regards to his own dismal performance as President of Nigeria for eight tortuous, but
eventful years. Eggs and rotten tomatoes were allegedly thrown at him and I think he
finally got the message that he is not the most popular of Nigerian leaders. I had written
some time ago that Obasanjo was always fond of not taking responsibility for anything
(An Abject Abdication of Responsibility – www.nigeriavillagesquare.com 23.07.2008) I
have been proven right almost a year later.
During a subsequent interview with the BBC, he must have been exasperated by the
questions thrown mercilessly at him to explain himself on allegations of his government
being very corrupt, that he burst out “I’m Ready For Trial - (Nigerian Tribune, 20.03.2009).
I thus would like to comment on some of the issues thrown up by him, and I have
therefore broken them down as he was reported to have answered some questions and
tried to draw my own opinions from the ex-President’s answers.
“FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday vehemently declared that he was
not corrupt and that he was ready to face trial if found culpable of corruption”.
My views and opinions on this outburst by our former president is that we should take him
up on his offer to subject himself to a probe. He has thrown down the gauntlet to the
authorities. And in fairness to him and to Nigerians, let Obasanjo prove to the world that
he himself, personally, was not corrupt. It is the least he could do or say under the
circumstances.
Was it just righteous indignation or was he being sincere? History and posterity surely will
be the best judge of him. At the risk of sounding sanctimonious and being accused of
being in support of Obasanjo, I have always been of the conviction that on the balance of
probability, Obasanjo might not have been personally corrupt in the sense that he was
dipping his hands in the treasury, however, there are three issues that made him culpable
and which as a leader, he cannot absolve himself of:
One is that as the elected and recognised head of the nation, it was his absolute and
moral responsibility to ensure that his government was not corrupt; that the people he had
around him either as Ministers, Aides, legislature, and judiciary and even the state and
local government executives were not corrupt. The buck should always stop at his desk.
He has to be help responsible for anything that goes wrong. A leader is always held
responsible for the actions of his followers. Right now, we are seeing the fall-out from his
eight-year administration (many ex-governors from his party are known to have looted their
states’ treasuries; power probes, scandals upon scandals, etc) that has even led a leader
as knowingly corrupt as Babangida to be labelling Obasanjo’s administration as worse
than his own in terms of corruption. Even the Abacha clan are saying the same thing.
Secondly, the fact that Obasanjo imposed Umar Yar ‘Adua on the country cannot be
denied. This in itself is political corruption. Obasanjo supervised the most unfair elections
in the history of Nigeria, both in 2003 and 2007. It is on record and we are also seeing the
fallout, with governors, new and existing forced out of office now and again. This is a blot
on any good intentions he might have. Also linked with this political corruption was
Obasanjo’s attempt to get a Third Term in office, against the rules of the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He heated up the polity so much with this ill-thought, ill-
advised idea, that it was a wonder the country did not break up.
Third, he had eight long years to turn this country around, despite the fact that previous
military regimes had virtually ruined the country. When he was elected, he swore before
God and Man to do his best for Nigeria and Nigerians; eight years later, Nigerians
discovered they had been had, nothing changed for them, yet Obasanjo’s acolytes and
followers had become billionaires. Obasanjo failed to take action against the corrupt
excesses of his favourites (or maybe his errand boys and girls) like Peter Odili (Obasanjo
almost allowed him to become the President of this country), James Ibori (the
consummate thief is now a power behind the ruling party and the Presidency itself), Andy
Uba, Lamidi Adedibu, Tony Anenih, Bode George, and many other party officials and
executives. He allowed Chief Adedibu to virtually bring Ibadan and Oyo State to their
knees. These are all political corruption of the highest order. And OBJ was responsible
and culpable.
Culpability descends from the Latin concept of fault (culpa), which is still found today in
the phrase mea culpa (literally, "my own fault"). In explanations and predictions of human
action and inaction, culpability is a measure of the degree to which an agent, such as a
person, can be held morally or legally responsible. Culpability is defined as deserving of
blame or censure as being wrong, evil, improper, or injurious.
From a legal perspective, culpability describes the degree of one's blameworthiness in the
commission of a crime or offense. Except for strict liability crimes, the type and severity
of punishment often follow the degree of culpability.
Legal definitions (Wikipedia) of culpability are:A person acts intentionally with respect to a
material element of an offence when:
if the element involves the nature of his conduct or a result thereof, it is his conscious
object to engage in conduct of that nature or to cause such a result; and
if the element involves the attendant circumstances, he is aware of the existence of such
circumstances or he believes or hopes that they exist.
A person acts knowingly with respect to a material element of an offense when:
if the element involves the nature of his conduct or the attendant circumstances, he is
aware that his conduct is of that nature or that such circumstances exist; and
if the element involves a result of his conduct, he is aware that it is practically certain that
his conduct will cause such a result.
A person acts recklessly with respect to a material element of an offense when he
consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element
exists or will result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that,
considering the nature and intent of the actor's conduct and the circumstances known to
him, its disregard involves a gross deviation from the standard of conduct that a
reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation.
A person acts negligently with respect to a material element of an offense when he should
be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the material element exists or will
result from his conduct. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the actor's
failure to perceive it, considering the nature and intent of his conduct and the
circumstances known to him, involves a gross deviation from the standard of care that a
reasonable person would observe in the actor's situation.
In short:A person causes a result purposely/intentionally if the result is his/her goal in
doing the action that causes it, A person causes a result knowingly if he/she knows that
the result is virtually certain to occur from the action he/she undertakes,
A person causes a result recklessly if he/she is aware of and disregards a substantial and
unjustifiable risk of the result occurring from the action, and
A person causes a result negligently if there is a substantial and unjustifiable risk he/she
is unaware of but very much should be aware of.
The first two types of culpability are each a subset of the following. Thus if someone acts
purposely, they also act knowingly. If someone acts knowingly, they also act recklessly.
With these legal definitions, Obasanjo cannot possibly absolve himself of any corrupt
practices committed during his tenure, by his Government, by his Ministers, by his party
chiefs and supporters, by his Governors, whether they belong to his party or not, because
he knew, or should know, all that was going on within his country. He was the
Commander-In-Chief after all, and he must be held responsible for their actions.
“Chief Obasanjo, who was answering questions on the British Broadcasting Corporation
interview programme Hard Talk, said he is the only former president in Nigeria that has
ever been investigated by the two anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria”.
Here I will agree with the Balogun of Otta. Why should Obasanjo be the only former
President of Nigeria being investigated? What about Babangida? What about
Abdulsalaam? Even what about the shameless Earnest Shonekan? And if we are going to
investigate past presidents, why not all former Governors, both military and civilians? I
acknowledge that investigating all these will pose logistical and resource problems e.g.
lost and stale evidence, manpower, etc, but if we are going to crucify Obasanjo, then we
must also crucify former heads of state like Babangida and Abdulsalaam. Unfortunately,
Abacha was disposed of, but at least we knew what he did.
This is my take on this issue. Obasanjo must not be singled out for investigation,
prosecution or whatever. Babangida and Abdulsalaam must be brought to justice too.
Maybe even as far back as Jack Gowon, Shehu Shagari and Buhari. At least to prove
which of them was not corrupt.
We all know impractical these exercises will be and the futility of it, so let us forget it and
let God and history be these people’s judge.
Describing BBC Stephen Sackur’s allegation that he was a corrupt leader as an insult,
said “when you allege you must have facts.” He stated that it was under his government
that three ministers and a senate leader were arrested and prosecuted for corruption:
“What else do you want?” Obasanjo queries.
I disagree with Obasanjo on this issue. In eight years of flagrant corruption, which he must
not say he was not aware, to bring only three ministers, a senate leader, one police chief,
two or three governors arrested and prosecuted can hardly be counted as phenomenal
success, can it? Three ministers and a senate leader in eight years, when up to 36
governors, 40-something ministers and hundreds of top civil servants and Board
chairpersons, government agencies like Customs, NNPC, PHCN, NDDC were actively
salting away billions of our money, not to talk of hundreds of local government
Chairpersons and others? And even after prosecution, these thieves got away with very
light sentences which were no more than slaps on the wrist. No, OBJ, we want more!
“What else do we want”, you asked? Indeed, Sir, that simply was not enough, and even
then, those that you mentioned were only the tips of the iceberg. How much did they steal
and were recovered compared to what their ilk walking around free today stole?
OBJ, Nigerians want justice, prosecutions, prison sentences, and even probably the death
penalty for some of these thieves, who have made the lives of their fellow countrymen a
living hell on earth. Nigerians want examples made of them to deter others permanently
so that they know government money is not meant for government house. To make them
know that they MUST be working for us, and not stealing from our collective, God-given
wealth, and condemning us to poverty, disease, hunger, helplessness and death.
On his daughter, Iyabo, who is being investigated for alleged corrupt practices, Chief
Obasanjo said she’s not been convicted. Asked if he will take responsibility for Iyabo,
Obasanjo said, “I beg your pardon, she is a 42-year-old woman and can take
responsibility for herself. You are insulting me, can you say that to a European leader?
Yes, Obasanjo could not legally be held responsible for his wayward daughter’s crimes.
Like he rightly said, that woman is a 42-year old woman, who is supposed to be in her
husband’s house (if she is) and not be dictated to by her father. However, Obasanjo can
always advise her. And this is where his paternal and moral irresponsibility comes in.
Today, at almost 53, I am still taking advice from my Mum, and if my father was alive, I
would still be deferring to him and taking his advice. Obasanjo could have done the same.
Iyabo took very great advantage of being the president’s daughter for eight ignoble years. If
her father had not been the president, I doubt if anybody would have heard of her. After all,
where was she all these years before she became a Senator? And instead of being
humble as a First Daughter, she was throwing her weight about, getting involved in
unwholesome corrupt practices and generally giving herself and family a bad name and
press. Is that a responsible or good daughter? However, I cannot pronounce judgement on
her, because each family to its own.
The problem remains that Iyabo has not been convicted despite admitting to many corrupt
practices. When will that ever happen? She is still in the Senate, attending parties all over
the place, and even being considered for the gubernatorial race in Ogun State come 2011.
(See my article “Iyabo Obasanjo is Not Guilty; We Are” www.nigeriansinamerica.com
06.01.2008 and www.nigeriavillagesquare.com 29.05.2008)
And Sir, you are very wrong on the issue of this kind of question being addressed to a
European leader. The freedom of the press and general Human Rights that exist in Europe
these days is such that journalists and even individuals can ask their leaders almost
anything. That is freedom and transparency for you. The leader now has the prerogative to
answer or not, truthfully or not, but we, the people, have a right to ask the leaders what
they are doing for us, about us and against us. Asking you if you are responsible for your
wayward daughter is quite in order. All you have to do is say No or Yes, or not answer at
all.
This is the way I see Obasanjo’s outburst and feeble defence. He still needs to convince
us that he was not corrupt – and believe me – that will be very difficult, but not impossible,
for him to do.
It really is very simple. For his own sake, I sincerely hope Obasanjo can, otherwise his
name will be vilified for centuries to come as the man whom God gave several chances to
deliver his people, but failed to take the rare opportunities that God gave him. That is a sin.
Akintokunbo Adejumo lives and works in London, UK. A graduate of the University of
Ibadan, Nigeria (1979) and University of Manitoba, Canada (1985), he also writes on
topical issues for newspapers and internet media including Nigeriaworld.com, Nigeria
Today Online, Nigerians In America, Nigeria Village Square, Champions Newspaper,
ChatAfrik.com, African News Switzerland, New Nigerian Politics, Gamji.com, Codewit.
com, etc.
He is also the Coordinator of CHAMPIONS FOR NIGERIA, (www.championsfornigeria.org) an organisation
devoted to celebrating genuine progress, excellence, commitment, selfless and unalloyed service to Nigeria
and Nigerians.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Other Articles from Akintokunbo Adejumo