By Dr. Ugoji Egbujo

Obasanjo has never had kind words for this government. He had asked Buhari to resign in 2019 when he supported Atiku. So the presidency should have disregarded the arrows in the letter and taught Nigerians how to react with maturity to unpalatable political endorsements.

The presidency could have engaged the endorsement on behalf of its party’s candidate. But Garba Shehu left principled politics for gutter snipping. When a presidential spokesman opts for crude mudslinging and backyard name calling, the presidency is thoroughly diminished.

Garba Shehu ridiculed the presidency. When Obasanjo was president , Garba Shehu was the vice president’s spokesman, a relatively anonymous staff in the presidency. Neither Atiku nor Buhari can engage Obasanjo in the  agbero  manner Garba Shehu chose to engage the endorsement. Garba should feel too small to jump on Obasanjo and describe him as morally squalid.

If he can’t feel his size, then he should rely on professional ethics to save him from disgracing the presidency. A sound presidential spokesman can defend a president without frothing insults like an  ‘ocho  passenger’. And while defending a president, a spokesperson must understand the social hierarchy and choose his words to reflect the sort of emotional intelligence we all want to inculcate in the youth.  

Tone matters. The presidency should espouse equanimity. That way it will show in practical terms that political discourse, free speech and tolerance must be promoted at all times. The presidency should be happy that a man like Obasanjo endorsed a candidate. It’s a confirmation of faith in the electoral process that the federal government is superintending. The presidency should commend statesmen who by their actions, seek to attract mass political participation.

Regrettably, after Garbs Shehu set the tone at Inflammatory, other political aspirants hurt by the endorsement formed a mob. Their supporters immediately forgot that their principals had a few months ago been to Ota to prostrate before Obasanjo to win the very endorsement they now sniff at as filthy.

Political intolerance took centre stage. Otherwise noble men, started throwing sand and mud. Political discourse is enriched when people air convictions and give reasons. Those reasons can be defeated with better reasons, not bile. A man who has begged another for an endorsement shouldn’t come to the public to describe the man whose endorsement he had sought as morally filthy after the endorsement is denied.  

  Before all the major candidates went to Ota to seek Obasanjo’s endorsement, they knew about Odi and the third term misadventure. Obasanjo is a known quantity. His marital journeys are also well known. Yet Olusegun Obasanjo is an  Iroko. A two-time president. He has ruled Nigeria longer than anyone else.

His influence reaches across the country. Unlike other regular politicians, Obasanjo’s support may not fetch more than a few votes for anyone running for the Nigerian presidency, but his endorsement enhances the legitimacy of any major candidate. Obasanjo has international gravitas. Obasanjo claims moral authority. His opponents label him an oversized power-hungry hypocrite.    

All the candidates wanted Obasanjo despite the warts now being described like fresh discoveries. Fate has been kind to Obasanjo. At almost 90, he is as lucid and agile as a 20-year-old. At significant turns in history, he stayed on the right side. Despite his personal shortcomings, he has espoused integrity and good governance and supported democracy. He isn’t by any measure a saint.

Many believe Obasanjo has been particularly lucky rather than virtuous. Yes, he flirted with the idea of Third term but now marches around as the beacon bearer of democracy. He removed governors from office illegally but now espouses the sanctity of the rule of law. While the moral complexity of Obasanjo attracts global acclaim from world leaders and local scorn from political opponents, Obasanjo remains an intriguing political oracle.

His endorsement cannot be immaculate. It need not be. Those who know Obasanjo say he can be great and petty simultaneously. While he will always seek the best for Nigeria, he is involuntarily desirous of remaining the only messiah. They say if another messiah should exist, then Obasanjo will prefer him not to be Yoruba.

They say Obsanjoo wants to remain the greatest Yoruba man, if he can’t be the greatest Nigerian. Obasanjo, it seems, can’t retire from politics and its limelight. That industriousness or restlessness is what many regard as insufferable meddlesomeness, which in the last eight years has birthed many provocative letters.