There have been numerous known attempts to physically kill Olusegun
Obasanjo. There have also been innumerable attempts by haters to
politically annihilate the man who is widely acknowledged as the
luckiest Nigerian ever
. Penultimate Saturday his legacy was further
entrenched when a commentator at his birthday described him as the best
president Nigeria has ever had.
Obasanjo escaped the fallouts of the January 1966 military putsch
organised by his buddy, Chukwuma Nzeogwu and further survived by the
whiskers, the pogrom that broke out in the North following the July 1966
counter-coup.
Obasanjo went on to lead a successful military campaign during the
civil war. The narrative of his trials and triumphs during the war years
is well chronicled in his book, My Command.
The story of how Obasanjo escaped death in February 1976 when Bukar
Dimka and his fellow bandits struck also consolidates the claim of his
latch on luck at critical times.
Such luck and God’s grace were also with him 20 years later when Gen.
Sanni Abacha and his coterie of conspirators weaved the wildest scheme
against Obasanjo and his former deputy, Shehu Musa Yar‘adua. Obasanjo
survived Abacha so that when Nigeria came to the crossroads after
Abacha, the principalities that run Nigeria from their hill tops
beckoned on Obasanjo to take over leadership.
Returning to power in 1999, Obasanjo became the object of a different
kind of assassination; to wit, the plots of political assassination.
Several attempts were launched by interested political actors against
him with one of the most rehearsed being the famed Mandela Option. That
was the plot allegedly schemed by sympathisers of Atiku Abubakar to
lure Obasanjo to retire after his first term just as Nelson Mandela did
in South Africa.
That plot failed with disastrous consequences for its schemers
including some aides of Atiku who were sent out of the villa; and for
some governors who had to go through the eye of a needle before getting
the second term ticket of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP.
If the plot by foes to politically asphyxiate President Obasanjo
through a single term failed, then why not destroy him by giving him a
third term? That perhaps proved to be the most lethal political bomb
that got to Obasanjo, soiling his moral and political ascendancy over
many of his political foes.
Remarkably, President Obasanjo continues to brush that incident
aside, with the claim that he never asked anyone for a third term. That
indeed is almost a fact.
As one senator who collected the N50 million cash for third term vote
and was an ally of the president told your correspondent, Obasanjo
never discussed it with them.
However, the body language spoke differently. Indeed, what befell
those who betrayed or failed to deliver the third term project was
indicative of the language. Among the victims were Senator Ibrahim
Mantu, Chief Tony Anenih and by extension his godson, Senator Ifeanyi
Ararume who lost a lifelong ambition to govern Imo State.
It is remarkable these days that many of those who opposed
Third-Term, including some Northern leaders have come to regret their
action. One of such Northern anti-third strategists confided recently
that giving Obasanjo a third term may have been better given the trail
of ill-luck that has followed his successors in office. They equally
appreciate that none has ruled Nigeria with the kind of zeal and fibre
shown by the man from Owu.
Obasanjo’s successes and the seeds he planted, including the debt
opt-out, the power sector revolution, the sale of the refineries, the
kick-starting of the rail modernisation projects among others were
subsequently botched by political and ethnic marauders that shadowed the
Umaru Yar‘adua presidential villa.
The jury is still out on whether Nigeria could have been exporting
refined petroleum today if the Yar‘adua government had not cancelled the
sale of the Port Harcourt Refinery to Aliko Dangote. Or whether the
power situation would have been better if the political witch-hunt by
the House of Representatives against the power project had not been
launched?
Last Saturday as Obasanjo opened his presidential library it was an
opportunity to celebrate the serial survivor. ‘Everyone’ was there
including politicians like Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and his
predecessor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwanso who would ordinarily not attend
the same function. Even a long time Obasanjo foe like Otunba Gbenga
Daniel was there serving as an usher for VIPs.
Of course, it was understandable that some like Buruji Kashamu would
abstain given the alleged presence of United States agents guarding
American citizens at the occasion! Certainly, Obasanjo cannot have it
all.
After this correspondent slipped through the tight security cordon,
his jaw almost collapsed as he saw someone that looked like Iyabo
Obasanjo! As he took a second look and assured himself that the lady in
view was certainly not Iyabo, your correspondent beat a retreat; no one
should remind President Obasanjo, the best president Nigeria ever had
that he has certainly not been the best of fathers!
