That former President Olusegun Obasanjo is coming out for the second time in three months to criticise President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, according to observers, shows that any semblance of friendship between the two Generals has collapsed irretrievably.
OBJ: The first lesson I learnt in my military training is, never reinforce failure. What we have now is failure. Never you reinforce failure
This contrasts sharply with how Obasanjo, in the wake of the 2015 presidential election, praised Buhari to high heavens, at a time the ex-President was sorely displeased with the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. Obasanjo as at that time, was one of the few leading Nigerians that sold the candidacy of Buhari to Nigerians.
In one of his descriptions of Buhari then, Obasanjo said Muhammadu Buhari had all the experience to fix the various problems facing the country, saying that he (Buhari) was not a novice in the acts of governance.
“He is not a green horn. We had both worked together in administering when I was military Head of State, and we did it well. Nigerians need to exercise patience because what has been destroyed in eight years cannot be re-built in a day. Let’s give him time. Let’s pray for him and let’s cooperate with him. We are all concerned about the present situation of Nigeria,” he had said.
But to the utmost surprise of all, the relationship between the duo became sour when Obasanjo perceived that Buhari had no solution to Nigeria’s problems, and wrote him an open letter to lambast him, saying he should not dream of contesting for another term.
Three months after criticising Buhari’s performance in office, Obasanjo had, again, advised Nigerians not to vote for a ‘failed government’ in 2019.
Obasanjo, during a visit to his Ogun State home by ‘New Nigeria 2019 Group’, called on all not to re-elect Buhari’s government, “that is full of excuses for underperforming.”
He said it would be imprudent for Nigerians to reinforce failure by re-electing the APC and Buhari in 2019.
He lambasted the APC-led Federal Government for allegedly bringing hardship on Nigerians and running an ineffective economic policy, which he said, crippled businesses and caused economic woes in the country.
He said, “The truth is this: when you have an ineffective and incompetent government, we are all victims. And don’t let anybody deceive you. The first lesson I learnt in my military training is, never reinforce failure. What we have now is failure. Never you reinforce failure. Let failure be failure. And if you do not see what you should see, you will then be a victim of what you don’t like, because it’s only when you see what you should see and you do what you should do that you put away what you do not like. And if you don’t see what you should see and you don’t do what you should do, you will be a victim of what you don’t like.”
OBJ also condemned his former ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, and asked Nigerians not to accept the opposition party’s recent apology, saying, “Both APC and PDP cannot salvage Nigeria.”
He added, “But this time, for us to make it, we need all hands on deck. You see, I have publicly said, and I mean it, that as a party, neither PDP nor APC can get us there as they have failed. Never mind about reforms and apology and all that.
“And yet, we have to get there. I asked one of the foundation members of the PDP when we started, was it a grassroots party? He said it was an elitist party. Really, we have never had the so-called grassroots party.”
But swiftly, the Presidency responded, saying the current administration would not join issues with the former President over his comments.
The President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, who responded to Obasanjo’s comments in a telephone interview on Channels Television, said the assessment was not new.
“Already, the statement issued a few months ago by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, in response to the earlier criticism made against the government by Obasanjo had adequately addressed the issues raised.”
He maintained that the APC-led Federal Government would keep making reference to the failures of the past administration with a view to guiding against such mistakes in the future.
BUHARI’S AIDE: The statement issued few months ago by the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, in response to the earlier criticism made against the government by Obasanjo had adequately addressed the issues raised
According to Adesina, the Buhari administration has successfully tackled mismanagement of the nation’s economy, as Nigeria now has more savings in its foreign reserve than ever before.
