Former presidential aide Laolu Akande on Tuesday called on former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to accept part of responsibility for Nigeria’s situation and issue a public apology to the nation.
The veteran journalist made this known while appearing as a guest on Sunrise Daily, a program on Channels Television.
Recall that Chief Obasanjo called for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s electoral process, emphasizing the urgent need for the dismissal of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmood Yakubu and other officials at all levels during a recent lecture delivered at the prestigious Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum held at Yale University in the United States. Obasanjo also said at the lecture that it is glaring that Nigeria is a failed state.
Akande’s remarks delve into the legacy of Obasanjo’s three times in office, from 1976-79, 1999-2003 & 2003 to 2007 and argued that by some of his actions and inactions, he also did contributed to the systemic problems the country faces today.
“President [Olusugun] Obasanjo is a stateman, a patriot. I don’t think anyone can deny that he loves the country. He has fought a war. So, we have to give him his due credit for that. But to the extent that President Obasanjo actually has been president for three times, he basically had three terms and there’s nobody that has had that experience – 11 years altogether, to that extend he must take responsibility for the state of the nation where the country is today if he were to be honest.
“If former President Obasanjo were to be honest, he should be telling us that ‘Look, I share in the responsibility of where Nigeria is in today’. That way, people will take him serious.
“Because, a lot of things that we are sorting out today, Obasanjo is part of the problem. And, it’s difficult for any honest analysis to ignore that. Is it the question of corruption? It’s under Obasanjo that they brought cash to the National Assembly. We can’t forget how much he corralled state governors and businessmen to fund his Presidential Library, some of them with state funds. So, Obasanjo cannot talk about corruption. So, he should take responsibility. If he is not willing to do that, he should please keep silent.”
Akande noted that other former heads of State are keeping silent for the most part and none of them have called Nigeria a failed state.
The former aide who hosts the bi-weekly programme Inside Sources with Laolu Akande emphasized that Nigeria’s problems are not limited to political leadership but extend to systemic moral decay.
“I think there’s a major systemic problem that I have been reflecting over. It’s not just the political leadership. There is fundamental problem with the political leadership. We don’t have leaders who really are committed to the public good. But, part of the problem for that is because they also come out of a system that is losing its moral values.
“What has to happen in Nigeria now is for politicians and non-politicians to be involved. Non-politicians must take active role. Don’t let us allow politicians to turn it only into an issue for getting elected. The politicians will weaponise all these issues so that they can win the next election. And I think that’s what President Obasanjo is trying to do.”
Akande accused Obasanjo of harboring a personal vendetta against President Bola Tinubu, rooted in past political battles. He highlighted the controversial withholding of local government allocations from Lagos State during Tinubu’s tenure as governor, even after a Supreme Court ruling declared it illegal.
“Part of the problem is that Obasanjo, it will seem, has personal vendetta against [incumbent President Bola] Tinubu. And everybody knows it. And I can give you examples. Obasanjo was the one that refused to pay local government allocations for Lagos state when Tinubu was Governor even after the Supreme Court said it’s illegal to hold the funds.
“Obasanjo left office not making the payments. Obasanjo violated the ruling of the Supreme Court,” he noted.
He also recalled the 2003 elections, where Obasanjo allegedly employed electoral malpractices to wrest control of the South-West, leaving Tinubu as the sole governor to withstand the onslaught.
“In 2003, when Obasanjo raided South-West, with his electoral malpractices, it was only Tinubu that was able to hold down fire to fire. So, there is a personal vendetta between Tinubu and Obasanjo.
” This his [Obasanjo’s] lecture should have been said when he ought to have attended the Council of State meeting. A statesman like him should make the point in the Council of State meeting. Obasanjo is fighting his own personal vendetta against President Tinubu. Nigerians should not be fooled. The only thing that Obasanjo can do now is to tell us ‘I own up for my own part.“
The former aide insisted that Obasanjo owes Nigerians an apology for his role in the country’s decline. He noted, “If Obasanjo or anyone gets on the pulpit to pontificate, we are going to question their moral basis. And I’m saying that Obasanjo does not have the moral basis to go against Tinubu.
“All the things that he said which are true, he perpetuated them too when he was in power. There is nothing that he said that he did not perpetuate when he was in government.”
“Obasanjo owes Nigerians an apology. He owes us to say ‘I was part of these problems’. Why do you think Babangida is keeping quiet? Why do you think Abdulsalami is keepting quiet? They are doing so because they don’t want to take what Obasanjo is taking. He must own up to his irresponsibility when he was president. It’s the right thing and we must not ask for less as a people.”
“Obasanjo must own up to his past mistakes. It’s the first step towards genuine accountability and healing for Nigeria,” Akande concluded.
Obasanjo’s legacy remains a contentious issue in Nigerian political discourse. While some regard him as a patriot who contributed significantly to nation-building, others, believe his administration laid the foundation for many of the systemic problems plaguing the country today.
