FEATURE ARTICLE

Temple Chima UbochiFriday, December 8, 2017
[email protected]
Bonn, Germany

OLUSEGUN OBASANJO AT IT AGAIN

Of all the stratagems, to know when to quit is the best (Chinese Proverb)

The only thing worse than a liar is a liar that's also a hypocrite (Tennessee Williams)

Oh, the worst of all tragedies is not to die young, but, to live until I am seventy-five and yet not ever truly to have lived (Martin Luther King Jr.)

There is no reason, after spending US$13.2billion, as it were, we are still talking about 3,500 megawatts. In Brazil, they spent only 12billion dollars and they have 12,000 megawatts of electricity; so why can't we have the same? (Former Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Power, Hon Godwin Ndudi Elumelu)

basanjo always courts controversy; he always speaks out of both sides of his mouth. Imagine a man who ruled Nigeria for eleven good years combined - as a head of state and a president, saying, in mid November: "Give us electricity and we'll build Africa". Olusegun Obasanjo made this statement as the chairman of the Brenthurst Foundation, in conjunction with Greg Mills, the Foundation's director. They are co-authors of the recent Making Africa Work: A Handbook for Economic Success (Read the complete story below).

Who was Obasanjo addressing here? I don't know. Was he talking to Buhari? Then, he can forget it, because that man can't get anything good done. Obasanjo ruled Nigeria and didn't fix the electricity problem, and now he wants somebody else to sort out what he didn't do. Now that he's out of power, he knows how to make Africa work, and he thinks writing books is one of them. Why didn't he apply those theories in solving Nigeria's problems when he was in power?

Olusegun Obasanjo is one of the few lucky Nigerians; infact the history of Nigeria will be incomplete without the inclusion of Obasanjo in it. Twice, fate propelled him to the leadership position of Nigeria, even when he least expected it. Fact is that Obasanjo is the Fulani feudal lords' favorite from the south, and that was the reason they chose him, twice, to lead the country. The puzzle here is that while the north trusts or loves Obasanjo, there's no love lost between him and his own people - most Yorubas hate him with a passion.

Obasanjo is a lesson; and to understand who he has been, and how lucky he has been in life, we need to start from the civil war time. Colonel Benjamin Adekunle (Black Scorpion), as the commander of the Third Marine Division, was one of the three war commanders of the Nigerian Army then. Infact, the Third Marine Division played the biggest role, more than the other two Divisions, in stopping the actualization of Biafra. Without the sea blockade carried out by Adekunle's Marine Division, nothing would have stopped Biafra then. But, few months before the end of the war, Colonel Obasanjo was drafted to replace Benjamin Adekunle as the Commander of the Third Marine Division. And as fate would have it, Biafra was surrendered to Obasanjo. You can see how things work: Adekunle fought the war, but Obasanjo, who contributed only a little, reaped the glory of ending the war and accepting Biafra back into Nigeria.

On July 29, 1975, General Gowon was overthrown while attending an OAU Summit in Kampala, Uganda, and Brigadier Muritala Mohammed took over as the head of state, while Brigadier Obasanjo became his deputy. From nowhere, Obasanjo became the number two man. Then, on February 13, 1976, there was an abortive coup attempt, and while Muritala Mohammed was being killed when his car was ambushed in traffic, at Obalende, Ikoyi, Lagos, on his way to work, Obasanjo who was also marked for elimination, by the coup plotters, was saved by an early morning visit of Joseph Oluyemi Bajowa, then a Colonel. That visit prevented Obasanjo from leaving his house early; otherwise he would have been killed by the plotters. This eventually led to a case of mistaken identity in which Colonel Raymond Dumuje of the Army Ordnance Corps got a dose of the hot lead specifically reserved for Obasanjo.

The Freedom Online wrote that the soldiers, who laid ambush for Obasanjo, mistakenly pounced on Dumuje, shot and wounded him. Obasanjo was also saved by his ADC. Lt. Omowa, whom he had ordered the previous day to go to the office ahead of him and tell his visitors that he would be slightly late due to the appointment he had with Bajowa. Omowa rushed in after five minutes to inform his boss that he could not get to the office as instructed. He narrated how he saw Muhammed's body in his car, saying there was pandemonium all over Lagos. Initially, Obasanjo did not believe him, but when it eventually dawned on him that the worst had happened, survival instincts prevailed. He knew his life was in danger and it would be useless and foolhardy to wait for the coup plotters at home or run into them by going to the office. "Armed with his telephone book, a pen and a pistol, he jumped into a small car", and eventually ended up in the house of Chief Saliudeen Bolaji Bakare.

With the death of Muritala Mohammed, Obasanjo was reluctant to take over as the head of state but was encouraged by TY Danjuma, who then refused the deputy post that was eventually given to Shehu Musa Yar'Adua. Obasanjo organized a flawed election and handed over power to civilians in 1979. Obasanjo then went into farming, but just as he misruled Nigeria from 1976 to 1979, he ran his farm "aground" also.

During Abacha's era, Obasanjo was constantly criticizing the dictator, who then turned around to accuse him, Obasanjo, of planning a coup against him. Consequently, he was arrested, tried and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment which Abacha later reduced to 15 years. The sudden death of Abacha made Obasanjo to spend only 3 years, three months and three days in prison. When he came out, he was "poor", but the Fulani feudal lords, through his military colleagues, rehabilitated him in 1998, and helped in imposing him as the Nigerian president, and he ruled for eight years. The Obasanjo who was "wretched", in 1998, left office, in 2007, as one of the richest Africans: His farm is now one of the biggest in Africa, and he has opened more farms in many other parts of Nigeria and in some other African countries; his Hilltop Mansion in Abeokuta is a cynosure of all eyes; he has now a world class university and a secondary school etc. To say it in the least most simple way, Obasanjo amassed his wealth through corruption. He was the president cum petroleum minister for eight years, and accounted to no one.

The point is that Obasanjo ruled Nigeria for 11 years combined out of the 57 years it has being independent - 3 as a military head of state, and 8 as a civilian president, and no other Nigerian has ruled the country for so long. He had the chance to fix most of Nigeria's problems including electricity, but he sabotaged it. Obasanjo, who's talking here, is one of the reasons Nigeria cannot produce sufficient electricity. So, who's he trying to deceive?

The Chronicle reported that a new report by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has revealed how over N11 trillion meant to provide regular electricity supply was allegedly squandered under the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.

According to the report, "The total estimated financial loss to Nigeria from corruption in the electricity sector starting from the return to democracy in 1999 to date is over Eleven Trillion Naira (N11 Trillion Naira). This represents public funds, private equity and social investment (or divestments) in the power sector. It is estimated that may reach over Twenty Trillion Naira (N20 Trillion Naira) in the next decade given the rate of Government investment and funding in the power sector amidst dwindling fortune and recurrent revenue shortfalls."

The 65 pages report launched, few months ago, at the Westtown Hotels, Lagos, is titled: From Darkness to Darkness: How Nigerians are Paying the Price for Corruption in the Electricity Sector. The report presented to the media by Yemi Oke, Ass. Professor, Energy/Electricity Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, discloses that "the country has lost more megawatts in the post-privatisation era due to corruption, impunity, among other social challenges reflected in the report."

The report shows that, "The much-publicized power sector reforms in Nigeria under the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 is yet to yield desired and/or anticipated fruits largely due to corruption and impunity of perpetrators, regulatory lapses and policy inconsistencies. Ordinary Nigerians continue to pay the price for corruption in the electricity sector-staying in darkness, but still made to pay crazy electricity bills."

Part of the report reads: "The Obasanjo's administration spent $10 billion on NIPP with no results in terms of increase in power generation. $13.278, 937,409.94 was expended on the power sector in eight years while unfunded commitments amounted to $12 billion. The Federal Government then budgeted a whopping N16 billion for the various reforms under Liyel Imoke (2003 to 2007) which went down the drains as it failed to generate the needed amount of electricity or meet the set goals. Imoke was alleged to have personally collected the sum of $7.8 million for the execution of the contract for the construction of the Jos-Yola Transmission Line, which was never executed. There were documented/reported allegations of corruption against Imoke that fizzled-out shortly thereafter."

The Chairman House Committee on Power in 2007, in the 6th House of Representatives, Godwin Ndudi Elumelu, told the Vanguard that powerful Nigerians in all walks life killed the power sector in the country, and Obasanjo was included. Elumelu added that a situation where government would spend $1.545billion on nine Gas Turbines when 18 of same equipment were bought for $404.million within a short period was evil and a rape of the nation's economy. Specifically, he said some top government functionaries were using their companies and cronies to corner contracts, which were never executed after huge sums of money, were collected. He cited the case of an unnamed ex-governor, who was a contractor of the IPP while serving as governor between 2007 and 2010.

Someone wrote that Hon Ndudi Elumelu probe panel indicted former President Obasanjo and others in a $16B power scam and since then nothing have been heard about the case. Since the almighty Buhari is said to be incorruptible and does not look at faces, it is worthwhile to suggest he takes another look at this panel's report. If Mr. clean wants to probe he should also extend the probe to the Pius Okigbo panel report on the $12billion gulf war oil windfall.

The Vanguard, in 2008, reported that in 2007, the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, announced to Nigerians that $16 billion have been invested into the power sector between April 1999 and June 2007 (when Obasanjo was the president) with no result, with the state of the country's electricity supply getting worse.

Then in January 2008, House passed a resolution mandating its Power and Steel Committee, headed by Godwin Ndudi Elumelu, to probe the power sector over the alleged $16 billion investment. The committee swiftly swung into action and opened investigation into the mess with a public hearing in March. That was followed with a marathon tour of project sites across the country to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of the stupendous claims made by the contractors handling the Independent Power Projects (IPP).

At last, the Elumelu committee submitted its report, which made some far-reaching recommendations that were uncomfortable to some powerful people in society. Though it was never debated on the floor of the House or made public, but investigation revealed that the Committee recommended the interrogation of some former and serving public officials by the country's anti-graft agencies for their roles in the power project contracts.

Among them are former President Olusegun Obasanjo; the then governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu; Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke; then governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof Charles Soludo; then Accountant General of the Federation and now Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo, among others. The Committee allegedly indicted the former boss of Power Holding Company of Nigeria ([PHCN) and Special Adviser to Obasanjo, Mr. Joseph Makoju, and recommended a mass purge in PHCN to enhance its performance, as well as a review of all the power projects in the country. Agagu and Imoke, both former ministers of Ministry of Power and Steel, according to the committee's findings, awarded contracts to non-existing firms, and must be made to account for their actions.

Obasanjo was involved in all major scandals in Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, and still nobody has charged him for any offence, and he goes about making noise. Apart from the Halliburton Scandal Obasanjo was involved in, Tayo Odunlami wrote in Sahara Reporters, on January 25, 2006, that The Obasanjo administration and its agents cheated Nigerians, people and government of Sao Tome and Principe over jointly prospected crude oil. What suddenly happened to the guarantee of transparency and sincerity by President Olusegun Obasanjo on the JDZ (Joint Development Zone)? On 31 May 2005, Obasanjo and his DRSTP (Democratic Republic of Sao Tome & Principe) counterpart, Fredrique de Menezes, were all grins at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Presidential Guest House, Abuja, after approving the award of five oil blocs in the JDZ second licensing round. Nine months after the charade, the grin on Menezes face has contorted into wrinkles, as the government and people, as well as American and Nigerian critics, now allege that the awards were one big farce that has grossly fleeced Sao Tome and Principe citizens and the Nigerian people.

Obasanjo is at his best, a hypocrite. Most of Nigeria's problems, including electricity, can be laid at Obasanjo's doorstep - he caused most of them. Apart from gaining personally from the rot in the power sector, he also failed to control the actions of his appointees who were having a field day in the sector. Obasanjo should know that Nigeria does not belong to him; the country gave him everything without a mutual reciprocation from him. It's now time for him to bow out; he has overstayed on the political stage, has stolen enough, and has wreaked enough havoc on Nigeria, so, he should go quietly without insulting our sensibilities anymore. That Nigeria has failed to achieve the emancipation of its citizens from the clutches of poverty, ignorance, disease and death is because it has Elder Statesmen such as Olusegun Obasanjo. No wonder that the world has left Nigeria behind in everything.

https://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2017/11/17/give-us-electricity-and-well-build-africa-by-olusegun-obasanjo-and-greg-mills/

TIT BITS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-YEvmWIP3w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6LhWbQthAI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA6QsecZ2jw&list=RDpA6QsecZ2jw&t=3

THE THANX IS ALL YOURS!!!

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