The book, My Watch – Political and Public Affairs is the second of a three-volume autobiography of President Olusegun Obasanjo during his days as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999-2007), where he explicitly gave account of his experiences on governance, politics and public affairs; based on some core persons in his cabinet. One of them is the Vice President, Atiku Abubakar (1999-2007).
It is believed that the former President had a very good knowledge of his vice, due to the political fraternity, working relationship and mutual interest they had, with Obasanjo who is well trained to be detailed and articulate as a military personnel. All details given about his vice, Atiku Abubakar in the book is reliable enough to be held onto for Nigerians and the whole world to know the latter’s kind of person.
The vice president according to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has the executive functions to participate in all cabinet meetings and, by statute, membership in the National Security Council, the National Defence Council, Federal Executive Council, and the Chairman of National Economic Council. The relative power of the Nigerian vice president’s office also depends upon the duties delegated by the president. Atiku functioning in this capacity and Obasanjo delegating some duties to him exposed him to let out his characters which Obasanjo summarized in this book.
The consequences of having a President with the character trait described by Olusegun Obasanjo in his book is perilous to the Nigerian nation. The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar is the personality described by Olusegun Obasanjo in pages 31 and 32 in the book and it’s as follows;
“…What I did not know, which came up glaringly later, was his parental background which was somewhat shadowy, his propensity to corruption, his tendency to disloyalty, his inability to stay and stick to the truth all the time, a propensity for poor judgment, his belief and reliance on marabouts, his lack of transparency. His trust in money to buy his way out on all issues and his readiness to sacrifice morality, integrity, propriety truth and national interest for self and selfish interest”.
Excerpt 1: “…his parental background which was somewhat shadowy” – Obasanjo put it out clearly here that Atiku’s parental background is unreal and illusionary, that means he has a poor upbringing. A poor upbringing for a growing child will affect his/her moral system in adulthood, it will therefore be disastrous for Nigerians to have such person as President.
Excerpt 2: “…his propensity to corruption” – Corruption simply means the perversion of morality and integrity. Corruption is the foundational reason for Nigeria’s most suffered woes, it is the reason for inequality, bad/inadequate infrastructure, unemployment, crisis/war, poor investment, poverty etc.
Can a personality who is described with this trait be trusted as President to wield all executive powers? Having a President with this kind of trait will only frustrate the corruption fight of the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The popularly alleged flying of dollars during the primary election that produced Atiku Abubakar as People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate is an affirmation of how corrupt he is.
Excerpt 3: “…his tendency to disloyalty” – Atiku has false attitudes against his obligations and allegiances as Vice President according to Obasanjo, such disloyal President will be lagging in fulfilling the obligation of protecting the lives and properties of the citizens.
Excerpt 4: “…his inability to stay and stick to the truth all the time” – In arriving at a Nigeria of our dreams, we need a President who has the ability and temerity to stand against all odds for the truth at all times, not one wavering in such attitude as described by Obasanjo.
Excerpt 5: “…a propensity for poor judgment” – Nigerians can’t afford to have a President with poor sense of judgement as her Commander in Chief. This will lead to disbelief by the citizenry and can lead into crisis and unrest.
Excerpt 6: “…his belief and reliance on marabouts” – Believing and relying on marabout is a sign of desperation in weilding political power. If indeed one is coming to serve selflessly, it is needless to be desperate. Desperation translates to having a hidden agenda which is selfish and can be harmful to the populace. Atiku’s kind of participation in political activities are all because he wants to be President affirms Obasanjo’s position on this.
Excerpt 7: “…his lack of transparency” – Having a President who lacks transparency as part of the most important qualities of leadership will demean our practice of democracy, hence retrogression. It means governance in Nigeria will be run as occult and will plunge us into backwardness and darkness.
Excerpt 8: “…His trust in money to buy his way out on all issues” – One with this kind of attitude can put Nigeria on sale unproductively. This will deepen corruption amongst all institutions and persons in all facet.
Excerpt 9: “…and his readiness to sacrifice morality, integrity, propriety truth and national interest for self and selfish interest” – This last excerpt has actually encapsulated all points raised afore. Sacrificing propriety truth means altering the standard in which things ought to be done for personal gain.
It is forbidden we have a President that will destabilize and alter the functionality of government boards, departments, agencies, parastatals and institutions for self and selfish interest against the benefit of the populace.
Obasanjo who is the President that began the 4th Republic of Nigeria must be taken seriously for all he said in his book as he is very aware of the implications before writing and publishing.
– Julius Olushola Abel
