A former wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Taiwo has spoken about the Buhari’s govt. and her ex-husband getting involved in politics. Here are excerpts fro the interview she had with the Punch.
But the former President has been in the news from time to time, especially with the formation of the Coalition for Nigeria Movement…
(Cuts in…) He cannot be troubled with this one, and that is what I’m saying about the duality of his character. I don’t think he’s the right person to be talking about the Coalition for Nigeria Movement, but I want to appeal to him to please use his coalition to unite the whole nation and his family. Daddy Obasanjo should let God use him to bring a peaceful change into this nation and his own family. However, I think that coalition should metamorphose into coalition for restoration of peace, reconciliation, unity and oneness, to bring everybody together because Nigeria is so divided now. People are traumatised and that is why many people are abusing President Muhammadu Buhari. I like to use this medium to appeal to Nigerians not to abuse the President. He’s human and he’s liable to make mistakes. What Chief Obasanjo and Buhari need to do is to come together because they have a lot in common. They are both very powerful and they have great influence in this nation. They have both served as military Heads of State and civilian presidents. I don’t think this nation should be going through this trauma, but truth is that Nigerians are going through the worst kind of suffering at this time, even though it’s not his doing. I think we should all find a way of helping him out of office so he could go and rest. The Almighty God is forever in the business of answering prayers. He will answer the prayers of many of us in this nation that are saying we don’t want him for second term.
Are you saying he shouldn’t recontest?
God forbid. I’m saying it loud and clear without fear. He should just go back to Katsina. I’m praying to God that as He (God) aborted the third term plan of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, God should also abort his re-election bid for 2019. I respect the two of them, but they should stay out of power. Whoever is coming should be someone who would treat us well and remove the hardship. As a president, you are like an executive prisoner because you don’t see what is happening. Chief Obasanjo is now out of office, so his eyes are wide open now. I love President Buhari, but I don’t want him to contest. When he goes back to Katsina, I would love to go with my children and grandchildren to visit him in Daura. In a nation of over 150 million people, both of them have ruled under two different dispensations, and I think the electoral process should be reviewed so that we would have only one term, because it’s enough for anyone who has a plan. Chief Lateef Jakande spent only one term in office as governor of Lagos State, but look at the wonders he performed. So, anyone that cannot do it in one term should leave peacefully. We need fresh hands and we need to abolish this do or die mentality. I’m not a hypocrite. I love him and I don’t want people to be insulting him, but I don’t want him again. We need a fresh person that can be corrected, a unifying figure who is not divisive or tribalistic. God has been very good to President Buhari; he was a Petroleum Minister, military Head of State and now he’s the incumbent President. He should not be in the league of those desperate to do a second term at all cost because I want him to be another Nelson Mandela; to leave an enduring legacy of love, unity, humility, forgiveness and selflessness that succeeding generations can learn from. I also have an advice for the government as regards the herdsmen and Boko Haram crises; I feel they should look for the sponsors and call them into a dialogue. Nigeria needs peace. Specifically on the herdsmen crisis, I believe modern ranching presents an investment opportunity and a way out of the crisis.