Iyabo Obasanjo's Letter To Her Father by

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 poo (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 silly 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.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/iyabo-
obasanjo-writes-father-says-dear-daddy-dont-nigeria/