2023, OBJ New Year letter and endorsement of Obi

 

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is reputed for letter writing. His New Year Day letter didn’t take many by surprise, however, his endorsement of the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, has continued to generate comments from different quarters, TOPE SUNDAY writes.

On January 1, when many were celebrating the New Year, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is reputed for letter writing, wrote another one. This time, the letter titled: “My Appeal To All Nigerians Particularly Young Nigerians,” was on the 2023 general elections.

Obasanjo, who endorsed Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, asked Nigerians to vote and elect him in the February election.

The letter writer

President Obasanjo’s love for letter writing has never been in doubt. However, a recently published book: ‘The Letterman’ by the Editor-in-Chief of Premium Times, Musikilu Mojeed, brought to limelight Obasanjo’s letter-writing skill.

The 466-page book chronicled Obasanjo’s ‘secret’ letters.

Obasanjo had written letters to Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Margaret Thatcher of Great Britain, Jimmy Carter of the United States of America, his then Commander-in-Chief and Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, who was his superior officers in the army, Presidents Umaru Musa Yar ‘Adua, Goodluck Jonathan, Ibrahim Babangida and  Muhammadu Buhari, among others.

“I believe in letter writing because you have to communicate. I don’t see any substitute for it. I believe very much in letter writing and I don’t think it is outdated. It is an art and has done great things in the history of great countries,” Obasanjo stated at the public unveiling of the book in Abuja in December 2022.

Letter to Yar’Adua

In July 2007, the former president had written a letter to his successor, the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, titled: Vision 2020 and Yar’Adua’s Wrong Steps. In the letter, he was critical of the late Yar’Adua’s position on the importation of cement into Nigeria.

Also in another letter dated April 26, 2009, and titled: ‘An Open Letter to President Yar’Adua’ Obasanjo accused his successor of turning against Nigerians by seizing their travel documents.

The letter read in part: “I demand, Mr. President, that you direct your officials to stop tapping my phone line. I use this medium to request GLOBACOM to look into the issue where my phone line number 08055024356 has been tapped and correct this situation without delay. As I conclude, Mr. President, permit me to report you to Nigerians and friends of Nigeria.

“Fellow Nigerians, the government of Yar’Adua has turned against us the people. He has resorted to seizing of travelling documents of Nigerians and working to blacklist Nigerians with germane messages for the nation.”

Letter to GEJ

Similarly, in a letter dated December 2, 2013, and titled: “Before It Is Too Late’ but leaked to the media on December 11, 2013, Obasanjo,  accused President Goodluck Jonathan of driving the country to the precipice and allowing deceit, corruption, and mutual distrust to tear at the fabric of the nation.

In the 18-page letter the former president said he was writing following President Jonathan’s failure to act or acknowledge earlier letters.

Obasanjo accused Jonathan of decimating the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following his insistence on a second term against earlier agreement to one term in office.

…PMB not left out

President Muhammadu Buhari has also had his fair share of correspondents for the former president.

In January 2019, Obasanjo in an open letter to President Buhari accused him of plotting to rig the general elections and urged him to put into practice the lessons from deceased Military Head of State, General Sani Abacha.

New Year letter

The former president, while endorsing Obi in the New Year letter said none of the presidential candidates was a saint, however, when compared to the knowledge, discipline, and what they can offer, Obi had an edge over others.

“None of the contestants is a saint but when one compares their character, antecedent, understanding, knowledge, discipline, and vitality that they can bring to bear and the great efforts required to stay focused on the job, particularly looking at where the country is today and with the experience on the job that I personally had, Peter Obi as a mentee has an edge.

“Others like all of us have what they can contribute to the new dispensation to liberation, restoration, and salvaging of Nigeria collectively. One other important point to make about Peter is that he is a needle with thread attached to it from North and South and he may not get lost.

“In other words, he has people who can pull his ears, if and when necessary. Needless to say that he has a young and able running mate with a clean track record of achievement both in public and private life,” his letter read in part.

Reactions

As expected Obasanjo’s endorsement of the LP candidate didn’t go down well with other presidential candidates and their parties as well as other Nigerians.

For University Lecturer, Kunle Olowojolu, the former president was entitled to his opinion, as declared that Obsabjo’s endorsement of the LP candidate may not translate to electoral victory.

Olowojolu, who is of the Department of Political Science, Federal University Oye Ekiti, told our correspondent that: “Obasanjo is entitled to his own opinion on any national matter. However, Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi may not translate to victory for Peter Obi. In 2019, Obasanjo endorsed Atiku but he lost the election to the incumbent President Buhari.

“Additionally, can we say that Obasanjo has electoral value in the existing political structures across the federation?

“In all honesty, Obasanjo’s influence on the political climate of Nigeria has declined drastically. Obasanjo’s frequent letters have not yielded positive results. In fact, nobody takes him seriously again.”

Endorsement not surprising – Don

Conversely, another lecturer in the Department of Political Science, Federal University Oye Ekiti, Mr. Oluwafemi Fayomi, said Obasanjo’s endorsement of Peter Obi was to consolidate the LP candidate’s strong base.

He said: “OBJ surely has his reasons for endorsing Obi which can be seen from different political perspectives; Firstly, OBJ is an elder statesman and known for always preaching the unity of Nigeria.

“OBJ was a beneficiary of zoning in 1999 and may be seen supporting the southeast geographical zone because the zone has yet to produce any elected president in the history of the country. Obi enjoys this sentiment.

“Charging the youth to vote for Obi is just a way of tapping into the strength and mantra of Obi who has youths as his potential voting bloc and selling point. The former president is only trying to further consolidate the seeming strong base of Peter Obi.

“Secondly, Obi remains the only candidate among the front runners in the good book of OBJ. The two have never had a serious political face-off except for the manipulation of Obi’s Guber race in 2007 to favour Chris Ngige who was later removed by the Court of Appeal following the upheld of the Anambra state governorship election petition tribunal ruling.

“This endorsement may be expected with OBJ previously defaming Atiku in his book, describing him with various unprintable words, also recently positing that Atiku was a major error he committed in life that might have ended his life.

“OBJ has always used every opportunity he gets to remind the media of his rough relationship with Atiku which makes it highly unlikely to endorse him.

“Tinubu on the other hand has always been a strong gladiator in the southwest that has formed a bi-polar power with OBJ and also considering their face-off when both were president and governor respectively which seemed irreconcilable makes the endorsement of Tinubu highly unlikely from the former president.

“Lastly, OBJ has been known for always adopting open letters to address issues or situations in the country that are not palatable to him. Although it often gets swept away with time with little or no effect, the reason for te ineffective OBJ’s letters is not far fetch in Nigeria’s politics because the opposition is very weak with his opinion usually countered with the threat of allegations against his regime with a N16 billion electricity corruption resuscitated to counter his last open letter.

“Strong opposition would have done well to channel the points outlined in OBJ’s letters to demand better policies from the regime in power but have failed to follow up.”

Will Obasanjo’s endorsement of Obi and his latest charge to Nigerian youths in his latest letter translate to electoral fortunes for the candidate? Only time will tell.