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“To be truly positive in the eyes of some, you have to risk appearing negative in the eyes of others.”
—Criss Jami Killosophy
By Omoniyi Salaudeen
When a roll is called of heroes of Nigeria, former President Olusegun Obasanjo will surely answer aye. And rightly so! Besides the singular honour of being the longest serving leader the country has ever produced since independence, he is also one of the architects of this structurally and inherently defective edifice. So, only he and his cohorts knew the reason the Republican constitution that gave autonomy to regional governments was suspended and substituted with a quasi-unitary system otherwise known as federal structure.
Further, as a former military Head of State as well as civilian president lately, he gave the best of what he had to offer. In and out of government, he has always shown his preparedness to make any sacrifice that would sustain the unity of the country. With a toga of rabid nationalism, he remains irrevocably committed to the oneness of the Nigerian project.
One thing that particularly stands him out among the pantheon of heroes is his prodigious capacity for mischief-making or penchant for controversy. This time around, he took a shot at the people of the Niger Delta.
Using the auspicious occasion of a peace and security parley convened by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa, he lashed out at the people of the oil-rich region for their agitation for resource control. He did so to the consternation of the National Secretary of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Ebipamowei Wodu, who represented the Ijaw Leader, Edwin Clark, at the forum.
According to an account of the scenario that played out, the former president had visited Clark at his Asokoro residence in Abuja to ask after his well-being and also engaged him in a discussion that bothered on some national issues before he made his way to the event without showing any resentment to the agitation of the people of the Niger Delta for resource control.
But on getting to the Summit, the Owu contrarian took a detour and descended heavily on the Niger Delta people, insisting that oil mineral found in the region belongs to Nigeria.
In the ensuing verbal war, the two statesmen literally threw caution to the wind, throwing hard knocks at each other. In his first salvo contained in an open letter entitled: ‘My disappointment over your unprovoked outburst against the people of the Niger Delta region’, Clark described Obasanjo’s outburst as unstatesmanly and a demonstration of double standards over resource control in the country.
It reads in part: “Like I stated, in the course of our conversations, Your Excellency did not mention to me of any grievance you have against the Niger Delta region. So, it was a rude shock to me watching videos, both on conventional media and social media, where Your Excellency, displayed what I will like to describe as unstatesmanly attitude on your outburst, hitting the table with your hands that the oil found in the Niger Delta region does not belong to the people of the Niger Delta.
“With all due respect, Your Excellency, your outburst towards your fellow participants in a Summit, to which everyone present was invited, is to say the least, disappointing, when you displayed a hate attitude against the people of the oil-producing states in Nigeria. You openly interjected both Engr. Wodu and Mr. O’Mac Emakpore, each time they tried to speak.”
Trust Owu-born General for his proficiency in the art of letter writing, his sharp and caustic response followed immediately. He gave it back to the zealous Ijaw Leader in a full measure.
In a letter dated December 28, 2021, entitled – “My response to the open letter by Clark,” he wrote: “I have never shown any anger, distraught with Niger Delta region nor any part of Nigeria. Some of the languages you have deployed to describe me in your letter are offensive, uncouth and I totally and completely reject them, I am not inconsistent, hypocritical, unstatesman, and nor am I anybody’s lackey.
“You use your own yardstick to judge others. I hope you think and adjust. Negotiation achieves better results than dictation. Revolution for sea-change may rarely happen and then we may continue to languish in frustration and regret with dire judgment in posterity.”
He then put a caveat: “No territory in Nigeria, including the minerals found therein belongs to the area of location and this remains so until the federation is dissolved.”
The unrestrained verbal vituperation between the two elder statesmen is not too surprising given the sensitive nature of the issue involved.
What appears to be an aberration to the African culture and tradition is this seeming attitude of elders dancing almost naked at the market square.
History does not change, but perceptions do change. Since the junta rule; of which Obasanjo was a major player, altered the 1963 Constitution in favour of the present quasi-unitary system, agitation for resource control has always been at the heart of instability that has held down the growth and development of the country.
And it is not unexpected that Obasanjo would do anything to canvass support for that imposition. Given another opportunity to govern, he would rather strengthen the power at the centre than allowing devolution which is now the in-thing among evolving democracies around the world. While his tenure lasted, he enjoyed profane use of power and ruled with iron fist. Such would be impossible in a true federal structure, he knows.
At a point in time when the agitation for resource control championed by the then governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha got to a crecendo, he deployed political solution to douse the tension by assigning oil blocs to the agitating states, knowing full well that the matter could turn against the Federal Government at the Supreme Court.
And until the controversy is finally laid to rest by the court of competent jurisdiction, tongues would continue to wag over the right of ownership of resource domiciled at the various state levels.
Obasanjo was in this country when the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in its hypocrisy adopted double standards of according Zamfara State the right to mine gold in its domain, while at the same time sustained the determined effort to control oil exploration in the Niger Delta region. What did he do? Nothing. What is good for the geese, they say, is also good for the gander.
Chief Olusegun Mathew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as an elected president from 1999 to 2007. For his strong character, he remains the most visible leader in the political arena, while also maintaining international respectability. But he has penchant for rabble-rousing.
