Iyabo Obasanjo writes father, says: ‘Dear Daddy, you don’t own Nigeria

Iyabo Obasanjo writes father, says: ‘Dear
Daddy, you don’t own Nigeria
on december 18, 2013 at 2:04 am in headlines
By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
LAGOS — In what is turning out to be a season of
open letters, daughter of former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, Iyabo, has ruled out further
communication with her father till death, describing
him as a liar, manipulator, two-faced hypocrite
determined to foist on President Goodluck Jonathan
what no one would contemplate with him as
president.
Senator Iyabo Obasanjo in a letter to her father
accused him of having an egoistic craving for power
and living a life where only men of low esteem and
intellect thrive.
Olusegun Obasanjo and Iyabo Obasanjo
In the 11-page letter dated December 16, 2013
exclusively obtained by Vanguard, Iyabo accused
her father of orchestrating a third term for himself
as president, cruelty to family members,
abandonment of children and grandchildren, and
also, a legendary reputation of maltreatment of
women.
Iyabo who forswore further political engagements in
Nigeria denied any political motive for her missive,
and described Nigeria as a country where her father
and his ilk have helped to create a situation where
smart, capable people bend down to imbeciles to
survive. She particularly noted her experience as
chairman of the Senate Committee on Health when
she led the committee on a retreat appropriated for
in the budget only for her to be prosecuted for it.
Iyabo, first child of the former president, started the
letter titled, Open Letter to my Father with a 4th
century Chinese proverb by Mencius which states:
“The great man is he who does not lose his child’s
heart.”
Her letter:
“It brings me no joy to have to write this but since
you started this trend of open letters I thought I
would follow suit since you don’t listen to anyone
anyway. The only way to reach you may be to make
the public aware of some things. As a child well
brought up by my long-suffering mother in Yoruba
tradition, I have been reluctant to tell the truth about
you but as it seems you still continue to delude
yourself about the kind of person you are and I
think for posterity’s sake it is time to set the
records straight.
“I will return to the issue of my long-suffering
mother later in this letter.
“Like most Nigerians, I believe there are very
enormous issues currently plaguing the country but
I was surely surprised that you will be the one to
publish such a treatise. I remember clearly as if it
was yesterday the day I came over to Abuja from
Abeokuta when I was Commissioner of Health in
OgunState, specifically to ask you not to continue to
pursue the third term issue.
“I had tried to bring it up when your sycophantic
aides were present and they brushed my comments
aside and as usual you listened to their self-serving
counsel. For you to accuse someone else of what
you so obviously practiced yourself tells of your
narcissistic megalomaniac personality. Everyone
around for even a few minutes knows that the only
thing you respond to is praise and worship of you.
People have learnt how to manipulate you by giving
you what you crave. The only ones that can’t and
will not stroke your ego are family members who
you universally treat like shit (sic) apart from the
few who have learned to manipulate you like others.
“Before I continue, Nigerians are people who see
conspiracy and self-service in everything because
I think they believe everyone is like them. This
letter is not in support of President Jonathan or APC
or any other group or person, but an outpouring
from my soul to God. I don’t blame you for the many
atrocities you have been able to get away with,
Nigerians were your enablers every step of the way.
People ultimately get leaders that reflect them.
“Getting back to the story, I made sure your aides
were not around and brought up the issue, trying to
deliver the presentation of the issue as I had
practiced it in my head. I started with the fact that
we copied the US constitution which has term limits
of two terms for a President. As is your usual
manner, you didn’t allow me to finish my thought
process and listen to my point of view. Once I
broached the subject you sat up and said that the
US had no term limits in the past but that it had
been introduced in the 1940s after the death of
President Roosevelt, which is true.
I wanted to say to you: when you copy something
you also copy the modifications based on the
learning from the original; only a fool starts from
scratch and does not base his decisions on the
learning of others. In science, we use the
modifications found by others long ago to the most
recent, as the basis of new findings; not going back
to discover and learn what others have learnt.
Human knowledge and development and civilization
will not have progressed if each new generation and
society did not build on the knowledge of others
before them.
The American constitution itself is based on several
theories and philosophies of governance available in
the 18th century. Democracy itself is a governance
method started by the ancient Greeks. America’s
founding fathers used it with modifications based on
what hadn’t worked well for the ancient Greeks and
on new theories since then.
“As usual in our conversations, I kept quiet because
I know you well. You weren’t going to change your
mind based on my intervention as you had already
made up your mind on the persuasion of the
minions working for you who were ripping the
country blind. When I spoke to you, your outward
attitude to the people of the country was that you
were not interested in the third term and that it was
others pushing it. Your statement to me that day
proved to me that you were the brain behind the
third term debacle. It is therefore outrageous that
you accuse the current President of a similar two-
facedness that you yourself used against the people
of the country.
“I was on a plane trip between Abuja and Lagos
around the time of the third term issue and I sat
next to one of your sycophants on the plane. He
told me: “Only Obasanjo can rule Nigeria”. I replied:
“God has not created a country where only one
person can rule. If only one person can rule Nigeria
then the whole Nigeria project is not a viable one,
as it will be a non-sustainable project”
“I don’t know how you came about Yar’Adua as the
candidate for your party as it was not my priority or
job. Unlike you, I focus on the issues I have been
given responsibility over and not on the jobs of
others. It was the day of the PDP Presidential
Campaign in Abeokuta during the state-by-state
tour of 2007 that Yar’Adua got sick and had to be
flown abroad. The MKO Abiola Stadium was already
filled with people by 9am when I drove by (and) we
had told people based on the campaign schedule
that the rally would start at noon.
At 11 am I headed for the stadium on foot; it was a
short walk as there were so many cars already
parked in and out. As I walked on with two other
people, we saw crowds of people leaving the
stadium. I recognized some of them as politicians
and I asked them why people were leaving. They
said the Presidential candidate had died. I was
alarmed and shocked. I walked back home and
received a call from a friend in Lagos who said the
same and added that he had died in the plane
carrying him abroad for treatment and that the
plane was on its way to Katsina to bury him.
I called you, and told you the information and that
the stadium was already half-empty. You told me to
go to the stadium and tell the people on the podium
to announce that the Presidential candidate had
taken ill that morning but the rest of the team,
including you and the Vice-Presidential candidate
would arrive shortly.  I did as I was told, but even
the people on the podium at first didn’t make the
announcement because they thought it was true
that Yar’Adua had died. I had to take the
microphone and make the announcement myself. It
did little good. People kept trooping out of the
stadium. Your team didn’t arrive until 4pm and by
this time we had just a sprinkling of people left.
That evening after the disaster of a rally, you said
you had insisted that the Presidential candidate fly
to Germany for a check-up although you said he
only had a cold. I asked why would anyone fly to
Germany to treat a cold?  And you said “I would
rather die than have the man die at this time.”  I
thought of this profound statement as things later
unfolded against me.  Then I thought it a stupid
statement but as usual I kept quiet, little did I know
how your machinations for a person would be used
against me. When Yar’Adua eventually died, you
stayed alive, I would have expected you to jump
into his grave.
I left Nigeria in 1989 right after youth service to
study in the US and I visited in 1994 for a week and
didn’t visit again until your inauguration in 1999. In
between, you had been arrested by Abacha and
jailed. We, your children, had no one who stood with
us. Stella famously went around collecting money
on your behalf but we had no one.  We survived. I
was the only one of the children working then as a
post-doctoral fellow when I got the call from a
friend informing me of your arrest.
A week before your arrest, you had called me from
Denmark and I had told you that you should be
careful that the government was very offended by
some of your statements and actions and may be
planning to arrest or kill you as was occurring to
many at the time. The source of my information
was my mother who, agitated, had called me,
saying I should warn you as this was the rumour in
the country. As usual you brushed aside my
comments, shouting on the phone that they cannot
try anything and you will do and say as you please.
The consequence of your bravado is history.
We, your family, have borne the brunt of your direct
cruelty and also suffered the consequences of your
stupidity but got none of the benefits of your
successes. Of course, anyone around you knows
how little respect you have for your children.
You think our existence on earth is about you. By
the way, how many are we? 19, 20, 21? Do you
even know? In the last five years, how many of
these children have you spoken to? How many
grandchildren do you have and when did you last
see each of them? As President you would listen to
advice of people that never finished high school who
would say anything to keep having access to you so
as to make money over your children who loved
you and genuinely wished you well.
“At your first inauguration in 1999, I and my
brothers and sisters told you we were coming from
the US. As is usual with you, you made no
arrangements for our trip, instead our mom
organized to meet each of us and provided
accommodation. At the actual swearing-in at Eagle
Square, the others decided to watch it on TV.
Instead I went to the square and I was pushed and
tossed by the crowd.
I managed to get in front of the crowd where I
waved and shouted at you as you and General
Abdulsalam Abubakar walked past to go back to the
VIP seating area. I saw you mouth ‘my daughter’ to
General Abdullahi who was the one who pulled me
out of the crowd and gave me a seat. As I looked
around I saw Stella and Stella’s family prominently
seated but none of your children. I am sure General
Abdullahi would remember this incident and I am
eternally grateful to him.
Click here for Continuation: Iyabo obasanjo writes
father: Calls him liar, manipulator, hypocrit