...The state is just as criminal as the man, and there’s nothing he did, that they aren’t doing today....What Buhari has done, is to privatize corruption, and only the unaware and the complicit beneficiaries are clapping in applause.“Eebu alo ni ti Ahun, abo ni ti Ana eh”. I heard my grandparents and several Yoruba elders use this proverbial saying, multiple times in my youth. For the benefit of the readers who aren’t able to speak the Yoruba language, or who speaks the language without the benefit of an appreciation of our idioms, I shall offer a transcreation. At some point in the narrative.
Obasanjo in my opinion, is a petty thief with a big ego. I have an entire chapter devoted to the man and his larcenous ways in my tomes, in my opinion, apart from the racist Lord Frederick Lugard, nobody is more responsible for the failure of the Nigerian state, than the hypocrite of Owu, and whilst few are more conscious of the judgment of history, Aremu’s presumption that he has the capacity to write his own history, borders on insanity.
As I have written elsewhere, Obasanjo’s chief legacy, is the emergence of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as the president of Nigeria. In spite of his many disingenuous and fraudulent attempts at denying his protege, GEJ, remains the apogee of Obasanjo’s achievements as the builder of the moribund Nigerian state. It is to the credit of Obasanjo, that his decision to abandon his protege, was essentially the beginning of the end of Jonathan’s reign. But I digress.
Obasanjo knows Buhari better than anyone of the several gullible megaphones trumpeting the corrupt saint of Daura, the association goes back over 50 years. Obasanjo knew at the time he found common purpose with the reincarnated Awolowo, the alaafin of Bordillon, that Buhari might very well come after him, but his ego, the motivation behind his every exertions, blinded him to the truth he knew, Jonathan must be disgraced out of office by fair or foul means.
Buhari can make all the noise in the world about Obasanjo’s corruption. His Inspector- General of Politics can dust up any number of cold case files, the Buharist propaganda machine can abuse and malign Obasanjo all they like, but Buhari will never dare to touch Obasanjo. All na politics.
Is Obasanjo guilty of the several charges being laid against him? Undoubtedly. He is probably the single most responsible person for the failings of the Nigerian state. But Buhari was not unaware of these crimes, when the man was being feted, courted, wined, and dined. Obasanjo’s current travails are merely payback for his current refusal to support the Buhari 2nd term agenda.
Now for the transcreation. The tortoise stole from his in-law’s farm overnight, and was caught in the act. In anger and retribution, the in-law tied him up, and made a spectacle of him. Those heading to the farm in the morning ridiculed the tortoise and properly labeled him as the thief he was, and the tortoise was the butt of the jokes. As the people returned from farms by evening time, the tortoise’s fate, attracted a different view, the new sentiment was, about the harshness of the treatment he was receiving, and the perceived wickedness of his inlaw. If he would deal so harshly with his brother in-law, how then would he deal with a thief unrelated to him?
If Buhari would prosecute Obasanjo for his many crimes, I will be the first to shout eureka! But I know that Buhari lacks the moral courage to dare, and I am getting increasingly turned off by the impotent lynch mob baying in self flagellation at the wily Ebora of Owu. I am even more disappointed to see men who should know better, getting caught up in the circus.
Is Obasanjo a thief? Yes he is. Is Obasanjo complicit in the murder of Ige et al, I am happy to bet on it. Will the Nigerian state, as currently lead and constituted, ever touch him? Wake me up when they dare. The state is just as criminal as the man, and there’s nothing he did, that they aren’t doing today. What Buhari has done, is to privatize corruption, and only the unaware and the complicit beneficiaries are clapping in applause.
We shall be returning from the farm soon.
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Author: Dele Farotimi
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| Dele Farotimi |
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