Speaking in Kano on Saturday, the veteran politician described Obasanjo’s letter as ill-intentioned just to mobilise the people against the President.
His words: “Chief Obasanjo, as former President, must have a special way or channel of reaching and discussing with the President in any matter he wanted on earth, but he did not do this. He rather took his letter to the international media before the President could read it.”
According to the septuagenarian, if it was in those primitive days, some soldiers would have attempted to truncate this nascent democracy of ours as a result of this mobilising letter, adding that over 80 per cent of all the issues Obasanjo was demonising Jonathan with were committed and perfected under Obasanjo’s eight years rule from 1999 to 2007.
Yakassai argued that no one could point at many reasonable, tangible or intangible things Obasanjo did, adding that probably what the former President meant by carrot and stick game was his Ogoni and Zaki Biam annihilation of innocent citizens, a war crime that was overlooked by many Nigerians.
He likened Obasanjo’s action to events that led to Muhammadu Buhari taking over power from President Shehu Shagari in the Second Republic. According to him, towards the beginning of Shagari’s second term in 1983, there was a terrible oil glut that brought down the price of crude oil almost to rock bottom, and Saudi Arabia, the greatest oil-producer/exporter in the world, had to seek loans to finance her budget because there was financial crisis across the world.
Over here in Nigeria, he continued, the opposition and their media politicised such an international financial meltdown and heaped the whole blame on the NPN and Shagari. In the end, the soldiers who were waiting on the wings to steal any chance zeroed in and took over the government.
Yakassai , who believes that Nigerians are much wiser now and so should know who is saying what and why, advised Nigerian leaders and elder statesmen to refrain from passing judgement on rumour-based allegations, warning that “those who live in glass houses should not throw stones”.
Reacting, Nura Manu, a strong member of Kwankwasiyya group, a political ideology of Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, said Obasanjo said the minds of many Nigerians.
He argued that “Jonathan is pushing the country to a breaking point. This should not be allowed to continue. Since Jonathan came to power, nothing has changed and the political situation is deteriorating steadily.”
For Manu, the corruption level in the country has gone to a frightening level, that Nigerians can now boldly issue or give you a receipt for bribery.
Source: Daily Independent
No comments:
Post a Comment