Obasanjo's sinking ship

By

Harry Nwana
 

I watched the late night TV broadcast to "my people" by the President on the eve of the planned strike of Thursday the 9th of October. I saw a different Obasanjo, heard a lousy speech, and received an unpersuasive message. Nothing could be more lamentable. The language was not only uninspiring, it was counter productive. The negotiating group wisely decided on the advice of Governor Tinubu to ignore and not respond to it.

As a concerned Nigeria, we owe it as a patriotic duty to tell Obasanjo that his leadership style has not been exalting and that the need for change has become very urgent. I move around a little bit and engage in a lot of conversations with a lot of people in, and outside this country. I belong to a number of social clubs and groups. I have a wide range of friends and associates. In recent months, I have noted that, in which ever group I have found myself; whenever Obasanjo’s name comes up in discussions, feelings of disgust and despair descend on virtually all discussants.

Almost everybody present wants to air his or her disapproval of his leadership mien. It is resentment all the way and no kind word. Generally, people have shouted themselves hoax wondering aloud how Nigeria got herself into the Obasanjo leadership quagmire. It gets worse by the day to the extent that I have had to ask myself whether I am always in the wrong company or talk with the wrong people. Why have I not found myself in a more Obasanjo friendly group? If something is not seriously wrong with me, and I do not think it is, then it must be safe to conclude that Obasanjo has fast lost his allure as a leader and should give thought to bow to go about recovering his 1999 popularity rating. I have never seen a more often castigated head of the Nigerian state, not even when Buhari and Idiagbon held sway than the present one. His obvious altruism notwithstanding, a leader should always know the level of popularity he enjoys. Popularity is an important ingredient for survival in an elective office.

A good politician and leader succeeds on his popularity. That is why the last elections should have been allowed to take its normal course in order that a candidate’s true popularity was ascertained. Rigging gave us wrong ratings. Obasanjo keeps telling the people about his vision, his intentions and his endeavours. He cannot attain those goals without carrying the people with him. It will not matter how unselfish he may think he is, he needs the co-operation and understanding of the people he rules even before he takes the first step. And because he is behaving as if he knows it all, and has all it takes to lead, not just cattle but human beings, he will hardly consult, thus walking every now and again into avoidable trouble. A leader should be as close to his people as possible not see them as zombie, fit only for leading by the nose. Obasanjo is as close to the common man as he wants to be and has a few sycophants urging him on with praise commentaries. Similar situations have brought many world leaders down and will certainly bring Obasanjo down unless he discards his dictatorial tendencies. His image makers have a lot of work to do as his appearance in that last broadcast was not cheering and what he had to say was politically self destroying.

Deregulating the down stream oil sector is in itself not an obnoxious proposition. But like every thing Obasanjo, he had to choose the wrong time to come out with the right product. Whoever advised him that October 1st, when Nigerians were supposed to be celebrating the 43rd anniversary of independence, was an appropriate date for launching the down stream oil sector deregulation does not mean him well. He is a saboteur. Besides, Obasanjo should have known that if he had consulted the National Assembly, the NLC and the civil society he would have achieved more than he hoped for. He would have lost nothing if he did Obasanjo being fully aware of a valid agreement which put fuel price at 34 per litre should never have aided or abetted its breech by oil marketers nationwide while he turned a blind eye to the transgressions.

Obasanjo was aware that a strike would take place one good week or so ahead of Thursday the 9th of October, but waited till late in the night of Wednesday to make a show-of-concern broadcast, not to appeal for dialogue, but to caution and intimidate. That broadcast was not conciliatory and therefore was a failed mission. The most singular message it conveyed was that Obasanjo viewed Adams Oshiomole as a political threat and adversary who should limit his activities to issues only. Obasanjo left me with the impression that were Oshiomole out of the way, he as head of state would have had no trouble forcing the bitter pill down the throat of the civil populace. What that means is that having rendered all the political parties including his own, impotent, Adam Oshiomole was the only obstacle to his achieving a much desired dictatorship. Aren’t we lucky?

Friends of Obasanjo should rally round him now to save him from an impending total loss of grip of the people. That leak from the top is no longer in drops. It is pouring and must be plugged or the ship will sink. Obasanjo is not performing well and the people are progressively feeling the weight, pain and inconvenience of this bad leadership. This is made worse by the fact that his mandate, which should have come from the people in April may not have been so after all. The smiles on the faces of Nigerians are no longer there. If he cannot bring those smiles back, he will be well advised to step aside. If he cannot operate within the framework of democratic guidelines, he should throw in the towel and quit. We will not deny him acknowledgement for his good efforts while in office.

Nov 2003