[ 2011-08-21 ]

My regrets on OBJ –IBB
Though the war of words between Nigeria's former
rulers, General Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim
Babangida had left the nation gasping for breath,
we may not have seen the last of the verbal
missiles. Ex-military President Babangida, through
his spokesman, Kassim Afegbua, is still smarting
from the many ways Obasanjo betrayed him in his
eight years in office. Below are excerpts from
what he told the Sunday Sun.

Yes, IBB regrets supporting Obasanjo
Looking back now, it was obviously not the right
step. In his eight years in office, the revenue
that accrued to the nation surpassed what Nigeria
ever received in all the years between 1960 and
1999. Under Obasanjo, the annual budget moved into
the trillion digits. He had budgets that went all
the way up to N2trillion but what has the country
got to show for it?

There was no impact on the standard of living of
Nigerians. The indices are there. Every Nigerian
has seen and read of the Obasanjo years of wastage
and plundering. We have all seen the can of worms
open at the power sector probe. We are seeing the
rot coming out at the privatization probe.

Let it be understood that IBB is not fighting
Obasanjo. We are just stating the facts as
everyone knows it . The point of departure is on
issues. While General Babangida was in government,
Obasanjo was his greatest critic and IBB took it
all in his stride.

He never failed to accord the former President his
due respect. He cultivated him in the ways of the
military. That was the summary of what IBB said in
his interview, that he managed poverty and
achieved success while someone managed affluence
and achieved failure. Everybody can see that. This
fight is not about bad blood but about issues of
performance as it affects Nigerians.

Nigerians have suffered for too long and IBB has
been silent for too long, taking all the bashing.
He has been out of government for 18 years, why
focus on him when Obasanjo was the one in charge
of the trillions and he's been out of office
barely four years ago. This is about facts
everybody can see and we will never again allow
history to be stood on its head by OBJ.

So in retrospect, there is reason for IBB to
regret supporting Obasanjo to be president. The
only good thing that came out of Obasanjo's
administration was that he kept the country
together, and that in the first instance was the
major reason why IBB supported his coming to
power.

Zoning
The problem with Obasanjo is that he likes to
shift blame, unlike IBB who thinks the hallmark of
leadership is ability to take responsibility for
all your actions. Obasanjo will never own up to
his ills and foibles. The issue here is why should
anybody pay good with evil. IBB was Obasanjo's
benefactor and that is an all time factor that the
former president ought to always consider.

Third term
When the issue of the third term project was
brought up, General Babangida told the former
President why he could not be party to it and the
duo both know why and I believe they have ways of
resolving their issues. However, everybody knows
that Obasanjo is an unforgiving person. He is
still nursing grudges

….And retired Generals step in
Meanwhile, Sunday Sun reliably learnt that some
concerned Generals are trying to make peace
between the warring former rulers. Meetings were
held on Thursday and Friday in Abuja to ensure the
retired Generals sheath their swords.

'The meetings are being coordinated by a few
retired generals. They believe the verbal war has
a potential to degenerate into something dangerous
to the polity. They are reaching out to the
loyalists and followers of both IBB and OBJ. The
two generals have also been contacted' ,SSaid our
source

Source - NBF News

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