Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is not backing down yet on the criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying he would continue to criticise the administration until it gets things right.
Obasanjo, who endorsed Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the election, made this known in his remarks at a ceremony marking his 82nd birthday at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, saying there was nothing personal between him and Buhari.
While reacting to comments by the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, during the ceremony that he should leave President Buhari alone to concentrate on the onerous business of governance, Obasanjo, who said he had held the mantle of leadership of Nigeria longer than any past or present leader, advised those pressuring him to give up criticising Buhari to also tell the president to run the country the right way.
Oba Gbadebo had, while speaking during a public lecture organised by the Centre for Human Security and Dialogue, an arm of the OOPL, to mark Obasanjo’s birthday, pleaded with the ex-president to relax his criticism of Buhari’s government, reminding him that Buhari was his (Alake) boss in the military.
“You all know that I was an officer under General Buhari, so each time Obasanjo criticises my boss, I always stand to say my senior (OBJ), please, leave the president alone!
“At 82, baba is still fighting on, please fight less and be a consultant to everybody,” Oba Gbadebo had said.
But responding, Obasanjo urged the Egba monarch to tell his boss (Buhari) to do the right thing in the way he governed the country, lest he would keep getting bashing from him.
Obasanjo, who noted that he was also a boss to President Buhari, said there was nothing personal in all his criticism of the president.
According to him, constructive criticism of leaders was one of the beauties of democracy.
I believe that Africa has no alternative to democracy, good governance and development, growth and progress of our economy.
“We have none and if that is not happening in any country, those who keep quiet about it are accomplices to the crime.
“You see, in a democracy, you criticise a policy of government because it is not a family affair.
“Even if it is my brother that is there and he is not doing what I think he should do, he must be criticised. That is what democracy is all about: criticisms; saying the other side.
“So, if I say anybody in government in Nigeria or any government for that matter is not doing well, let that government prove that he is doing well.
“So, Kabiyesi, your boss, Buhari – there is nothing personal between me and him. Just as he is your boss, I am also his boss, with due respect.
“The point is that I have been in that position longer than any Nigerian could ever be there. That is the truth, because if any Nigerian comes in now and have two terms, he will not have almost four years of military rule.
“I have been there longer than any Nigerian will ever be there. So, when I say something, I know what I am talking about.
“So, Kabiyesi, anytime you say ‘leave my boss alone’; I agree, he is your boss, but I am also his boss. So, you might also ask your boss to leave his boss alone or do what is right that his boss wants him to do.”
