President Goodluck Jonathan, former President, Olusegun
Obasanjo has himself come under verbal fire.
Chief Obasanjo has received a letter of his own, and from
none other than his daughter, Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello.
In an 11 page letter, the former senator describes her father as
a "liar, manipulator and a two-faced hypocrite".
Senator Iyabo Obasanjo in a letter to her father accused him
of having an egoistic craving for power and living a life
where only men of low esteem and intellect thrive.
In the 11-page letter dated December 16, 2013 exclusively
obtained by Vanguard, Iyabo accused her father of
orchestrating a third term for himself as president, cruelty to
family members, abandonment of children and grandchildren,
and also, a legendary reputation of maltreatment of women.
Iyabo who forswore further political engagements in Nigeria
denied any political motive for her missive, and described
Nigeria as a country where her father and his ilk have helped
to create a situation where smart, capable people bend down
to imbeciles to survive. She particularly noted her experience
as chairman of the Senate Committee on Health when she led
the committee on a retreat appropriated for in the budget only
for her to be prosecuted for it.
Iyabo, first child of the former president, started the letter
titled, Open Letter to my Father with a 4th century Chinese
proverb by Mencius which states: "The great man is he who
does not lose his child's heart."
Her letter:
"It brings me no joy to have to write this but since you started
this trend of open letters I thought I would follow suit since
you don't listen to anyone anyway. The only way to reach
you may be to make the public aware of some things. As a
child well brought up by my long-suffering mother in Yoruba
tradition, I have been reluctant to tell the truth about you but
as it seems you still continue to delude yourself about the kind
of person you are and I think for posterity's sake it is time to
set the records straight.
"I will return to the issue of my long-suffering mother later in
this letter.
"Like most Nigerians, I believe there are very enormous
issues currently plaguing the country but I was surely
surprised that you will be the one to publish such a treatise. I
remember clearly as if it was yesterday the day I came over to
Abuja from Abeokuta when I was Commissioner of Health in
Ogun State, specifically to ask you not to continue to pursue
the third term issue.
"I had tried to bring it up when your sycophantic aides were
present and they brushed my comments aside and as usual
you listened to their self-serving counsel. For you to accuse
someone else of what you so obviously practiced yourself
tells of your narcissistic megalomaniac personality. Everyone
around for even a few minutes knows that the only thing you
respond to is praise and worship of you. People have learnt
how to manipulate you by giving you what you crave. The
only ones that can't and will not stroke your ego are family
members who you universally treat like shit (sic) apart from
the few who have learned to manipulate you like others.
"Before I continue, Nigerians are people who see conspiracy
and self-service in everything because I think they believe
everyone is like them. This letter is not in support of President
Jonathan or APC or any other group or person, but an
outpouring from my soul to God. I don't blame you for the
many atrocities you have been able to get away with,
Nigerians were your enablers every step of the way. People
ultimately get leaders that reflect them.
"Getting back to the story, I made sure your aides were not
around and brought up the issue, trying to deliver the
presentation of the issue as I had practiced it in my head. I
started with the fact that we copied the US constitution which
has term limits of two terms for a President. As is your usual
manner, you didn't allow me to finish my thought process and
listen to my point of view. Once I broached the subject you
sat up and said that the US had no term limits in the past but
that it had been introduced in the 1940s after the death of
President Roosevelt, which is true.
I wanted to say to you: when you copy something you also
copy the modifications based on the learning from the
original; only a fool starts from scratch and does not base his
decisions on the learning of others. In science, we use the
modifications found by others long ago to the most recent, as
the basis of new findings; not going back to discover and
learn what others have learnt. Human knowledge and
development and civilization will not have progressed if each
new generation and society did not build on the knowledge of
others before them.
The American constitution itself is based on several theories
and philosophies of governance available in the 18th century.
Democracy itself is a governance method started by the
ancient Greeks. America's founding fathers used it with
modifications based on what hadn't worked well for the
ancient Greeks and on new theories since then.
"As usual in our conversations, I kept quiet because I know
you well. You weren't going to change your mind based on
my intervention as you had already made up your mind on the
persuasion of the minions working for you who were ripping
the country blind. When I spoke to you, your outward attitude
to the people of the country was that you were not interested
in the third term and that it was others pushing it. Your
statement to me that day proved to me that you were the brain
behind the third term debacle. It is therefore outrageous that
you accuse the current President of a similar two-facedness
that you yourself used against the people of the country.
"I was on a plane trip between Abuja and Lagos around the
time of the third term issue and I sat next to one of your
sycophants on the plane. He told me: "Only Obasanjo can
rule Nigeria". I replied: "God has not created a country where
only one person can rule. If only one person can rule Nigeria
then the whole Nigeria project is not a viable one, as it will
be a non-sustainable project"
"I don't know how you came about Yar'Adua as the
candidate for your party as it was not my priority or job.
Unlike you, I focus on the issues I have been given
responsibility over and not on the jobs of others. It was the
day of the PDP Presidential Campaign in Abeokuta during the
state-by-state tour of 2007 that Yar'Adua got sick and had to
be flown abroad. The MKO Abiola Stadium was already
filled with people by 9am when I drove by (and) we had told
people based on the campaign schedule that the rally would
start at noon.
At 11 am I headed for the stadium on foot; it was a short walk
as there were so many cars already parked in and out. As I
walked on with two other people, we saw crowds of people
leaving the stadium. I recognized some of them as politicians
and I asked them why people were leaving. They said the
Presidential candidate had died. I was alarmed and shocked. I
walked back home and received a call from a friend in Lagos
who said the same and added that he had died in the plane
carrying him abroad for treatment and that the plane was on
its way to Katsina to bury him.
I called you, and told you the information and that the
stadium was already half-empty. You told me to go to the
stadium and tell the people on the podium to announce that
the Presidential candidate had taken ill that morning but the
rest of the team, including you and the Vice-Presidential
candidate would arrive shortly. I did as I was told, but even
the people on the podium at first didn't make the announcement because they thought it was true that Yar'Adua
had died. I had to take the microphone and make the
announcement myself. It did little good. People kept trooping
out of the stadium. Your team didn't arrive until 4pm and by
this time we had just a sprinkling of people left.
That evening after the disaster of a rally, you said you had
insisted that the Presidential candidate fly to Germany for a
check-up although you said he only had a cold. I asked why
would anyone fly to Germany to treat a cold? And you said "I
would rather die than have the man die at this time." I thought
of this profound statement as things later unfolded against me.
Then I thought it a stupid statement but as usual I kept quiet,
little did I know how your machinations for a person would
be used against me. When Yar'Adua eventually died, you
stayed alive, I would have expected you to jump into his
grave.
A week before your arrest, you had called me from Denmark
and I had told you that you should be careful that the
government was very offended by some of your statements
and actions and may be planning to arrest or kill you as was
occurring to many at the time. The source of my information
was my mother who, agitated, had called me, saying I should
warn you as this was the rumour in the country. As usual you
brushed aside my comments, shouting on the phone that they
cannot try anything and you will do and say as you please.
The consequence of your bravado is history.
We, your family, have borne the brunt of your direct cruelty
and also suffered the consequences of your stupidity but got
none of the benefits of your successes. Of course, anyone
around you knows how little respect you have for your
children.
You think our existence on earth is about you. By the way,
how many are we? 19, 20, 21? Do you even know? In the last
five years, how many of these children have you spoken to?
How many grandchildren do you have and when did you last
see each of them? As President you would listen to advice of
people that never finished high school who would say
anything to keep having access to you so as to make money
over your children who loved you and genuinely wished you
well.
"At your first inauguration in 1999, I and my brothers and
sisters told you we were coming from the US. As is usual
with you, you made no arrangements for our trip, instead our
mom organized to meet each of us and provided
accommodation. At the actual swearing-in at Eagle Square,
the others decided to watch it on TV. Instead I went to the
square and I was pushed and tossed by the crowd.
I managed to get in front of the crowd where I waved and
shouted at you as you and General Abdulsalam Abubakar
walked past to go back to the VIP seating area. I saw you
mouth 'my daughter' to General Abdullahi who was the one
who pulled me out of the crowd and gave me a seat. As I
looked around I saw Stella and Stella's family prominently
seated but none of your children. I am sure General Abdullahi
would remember this incident and I am eternally grateful to
him.
Via: Vanguard
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