Former president Olusegun Obasanjo turned 82 on Tuesday and declared that he would not cease bashing the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari until the administration begins to do the right things needed to be done.
Obasanjo said he has held the mantle of leadership of Nigeria longer than any past or present leader, advising those pressuring him to give up criticising Buhari to also tell the President to run the country the right way.
The ex – Head of States made this known in his remarks at a ceremony marking his 82nd birthday within the sprawling Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
The elder statesman and Ebora Owu spoke in reaction to comments by the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, during the ceremony that he should leave President Buhari alone to concentrate on the onerous business of governance.
Oba Gbadebo had while speaking during a public lecture organised by the Center For Human Security and Dialogue, an arm of the OOPL, to mark Obasanjo’s birthday, pleaded with the ex – President to relax his criticism of Buhari’s government, reminding him that Buhari was his(Alake) boss in the military.
“You all know that I was an officer under General Buhari so each time Obasanjo criticises my boss, I always stand to say my senior (OBJ), please leave the President alone! At 82, baba is still fighting on, please fight less and be a consultant to everybody,” Oba Gbadebo had said
But responding, Obasanjo urged Egba monarch to tell his boss (Buhari) to do the right thing in the way he governs the country lest he keeps getting bashing from him.
Obasanjo who noted that he was also a boss to President Buhari, said there was nothing personal in all his criticism of the president.
Nothing that governments in African continent have no alternative to democracy, the Octogenarian emphatically stated that criticisms and “saying the other side” of any government’s policies are part of the beauties of democracy.
Obasanjo said: “I believe that Africa has no alternative to democracy, good governance and development, growth and progress of our economy. We have none and if that is not happening in any country, those who keep quiet about it are accomplices to the crime.
“You see, in a democracy, you criticize a policy of government because it is not a family affair. Even if it is my brother that is there and he is not doing what I think he should do, he must be criticised. That is what democracy is all about: criticisms; saying the other side.
“So, if I say anybody in government in Nigeria or any government for that matter is not doing well, let that government prove that he is doing well. So, Kabiyesi, your boss, Buhari; there is nothing personal between me and him. Just as he is your boss, I am also his boss with due respect.
“The point is that I have being in that position longer than any Nigerian could ever be there. That is the truth because if any Nigerian comes in now and have two terms, he will not have almost four (4) years of military rule.
“I have been there longer than any Nigerian will ever be there. So, when I say something, I know what I am talking about. So, Kabiyesi, anytime you say ‘leave my boss alone’; I agree, he is your boss, but I am also his boss. So, you might also ask your boss to leave his boss alone or do what is right that his boss wants him to do.”