A Yoruba socio-cultural group, Oodua Development Initiative, ODI, has berated former President Olusegun Obasanjo for describing President Goodluck Jonathan’s performance in office as below average.
The patron of the group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said when Obasanjo had the chance, first, as military head of state for two years and then democratically elected president for eight years, he mismanaged the golden opportunity to turn around the nation’s fortunes.
According to Odumakin, under Obasanjo, Nigeria was adjudged the most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International.
He also maintained that most of the problems currently bedeviling the Jonathan administration first started rearing their ugly heads during the Obasanjo administration.
He, therefore, warned the former president to rather than criticize the present administration, bury his head in shame as he lacked the moral standing to evaluate it.
He said, “We believe the evaluation is the continuation of a vendetta against Jonathan. When he reported that Jonathan’s performance was below average. It is important to let Nigeria know that there is no patriot in the country that will not admit that Nigeria is facing challenges.
“But Obasanjo cannot be the conscience of the nation, he cannot be the man to be pointing fingers at others when we know his scorecards. He was a military leader for three years and a democratically elected President for eight years.
“We all know that it was under Obasanjo that Nigeria was voted the most corrupt country on earth. We had the Siemen scandal, the Haliburton scandal, the National Identity Card scandal. So, Obasanjo must explain to Nigerians how a man who came out of prison with N20, 000 is now a very rich man with universities and libraries”.
Odumakin maintained that Obasanjo was not a democratic leader, adding that his administration, governors were dubiously removed including former governors Joshua Dariye of Plateau and Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo State.
He also recalled that it was under Obasanjo that the Odi massacre occurred in Bayelsa State where hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed.
In the area of insecurity, he said, “Have you forgotten that the seed of Boko Haram was sown during the time of Obasanjo when some governors started to introduce Sharia rule and Obasanjo looked the other way?”
