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In the early 1980s, Olusegun Obasanjo published the book, My Command: An Account of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970. It was one of the books that heralded what has turned out to be a prolific writing life for the former soldier who was to be elected President down the line. My Command was released a few years after Obasanjo dropped his uniform and ceased to be military head of the Nigerian state, having relinquished power in 1979 to a democratically-elected government.
My Command was a slim book in volume. What it lacked in size, however, it made up for, to some extent, in its content or, better still, the slant of the war narrative, a slant not a few people grumbled about and indeed knocked at. The issue was not so much about the events reported in the book as the prism from which events were seen. The book, as its title clearly stated, is an account of the Nigerian Civil War by the author, an undisputed active participant in the internecine conflict.
Obasanjo was of the Engineering Corps of the Nigerian Army. Destiny and perhaps not a little bit of personal effort placed him in various critical locations during the war and even in the immediate heady days before the outbreak of hostilities. The narrative in My Command reflected the author’s perspective.
In writing My Command or any of his other books, Obasanjo never claimed to be a trained historian nor an academic. He was a soldier, through and through. However, he has been something else too: a key participant in the tedious journey through the undulating route of Nigeria’s history. My Command was his story, his command. The book was not intended to be an official history of the Nigerian Civil War. Of course, it is not that.
A number of critical reactions to the book, however, took exception to the fact that the narrative was, essentially, history as the author wanted it, a reflection of his perspective and his alone, on a very sensitive national occurrence. The bone of contention for many of the critics of My Command was that the book placed Obasanjo, virtually, at the centre of critical junctures in the war, making him a hero at the end.
Obasanjo must have been perplexed at the slamming his book received from some quarters. When eventually he responded, it was quintessential Obasanjo. He was dismissive. He wondered what the fuss was all about. His response, though not exactly paraphrased here but captured in substance, was that his book was about his command during the war. He aptly titled it so. Anyone with a different view of events during the war should go and write about his own command. It was a deft justification and a pointed challenge.
Forty years after, in a different era, in a different circumstance and in a different type of war, still about the unsettled soul of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has found himself once more in the middle of another unnecessary uproar over what ought to be accepted as his personal decision. A personal expression of preference of a presidential candidate by the former President has once again become a source of curious headache for individuals who seem to argue, as it were, that Obasanjo is not entitled to his preferences.
The hullabaloo (yes!) in the camp of various political parties arising from Obasanjo’s recent endorsement of Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate for the February 25, 2023, election, is indeed astonishing. While a feeling of loss in the camp of the candidates that the former President overlooked can be understood, the attempt to pooh-pooh the endorsement or the stature of Obasanjo comes across as infantile and dishonest. If Obasanjo is of no political value or influence, as some have declared, what then is the whole noise all about? Sour grapes. Can’t a man express his preference again? Any individual or group with a different preference should come forth with their own endorsement, instead of resorting to name-calling.
A video clip showing candidate Muhammadu Buhari gloating in 2015 over the same Obasanjo endorsing him ahead of that year’s election is perhaps the best response to those in the same All Progressives Congress (APC) who are strenuously contending now that an endorsement from Obasanjo is worthless. In the video clip, an obviously elated Buhari emphasized the worth of the endorsement to him. An endorsement from Obasanjo, he said, was weighty because he was one Nigerian whose opinion was always sought on any critical issue affecting the future of the country. That was not a different Obasanjo.
It is against this backdrop that Professor Bolaji Akinyemi’s contribution to the public discourse on the import of Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi came across as very disappointing. Akinyemi dismissed Obasanjo as one of the problems of Nigeria and said the former President should just go and sit down. The comment was more of an effusion of sentiment than anything else. Unfortunately, when sentiment overtakes a man, profundity takes flight. The sudden discovery by Akinyemi that Obasanjo is one of the problems of Nigeria, who ought to disappear from public view, is, to be respectful, less than candid. When did he discover this? Post-2015 elections? In January 2023? Or when?
If truly Akinyemi is looking out for individuals who are the problems of Nigeria and who ought not be near public office or public positions of trust in the country, he should first appraise the presidential candidates on the podium before getting to non-contestants whose endorsement of candidates is a mere expression of personal preference.
In the present dire straits that Nigeria has found itself, a lot more light is expected from very senior citizens of Prof. Akinyemi’s profile. What integrity quotient, for instance, does the professor prescribe for individuals aspiring to the office of President in Nigeria? Picking and choosing when to prescribe wholesome values for the society has been a major pitfall of the Nigerian public intellectual.
The truth about Obasanjo, love him or hate him, is that, first, he does his homework diligently. Secondly, he is courageous. He is never lacking in the courage to publicly take a stand. He has done so again by endorsing Peter Obi. He gave detailed reasons behind the choice he made. Any person of stature who is inclined to another candidate should come forth boldly, endorse a preferred candidate and publicly embrace the character, antecedent and policies of such a choice.
Obasanjo is a man of tremendous influence and stature. In making the endorsement he has made, he spoke for himself. Let every other person of reckoning and influence who so desires stand up with conviction and speak for himself. Or be quiet.
Obasanjo did not endorse Obi on behalf of any group. He did so for himself. He proceeded, thereafter, to appeal to the youths of Nigeria and people of good will to rise above sentiment and objectively evaluate the candidates on key variables he outlined. Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi is not an excursion in parochial sentimentality. It was based on cold analysis of facts and profile. Calling Obasanjo names is not a position. Not that he gives a hoot.
