That headline was a head-turner

In the fast-emerging Abuja traffic this past Thursday, as I made my way out of Transcorp Hilton, a newspaper seller appeared from the shadows and thrust a pack of magazines straight into my face.
I can’t really recall the name of the magazine since I was on the move. But the headline I saw almost made me hit the car in front of me. It wasn’t exactly this way, but I can recall seeing something like: Obasanjo plots against Buhari.
I’m trying to convince myself that it was one of those headlines meant to sell the paper without much regards to facts. But what if it is true that the old war general is already tired of his partner in patriotism!
However, it would be interesting to know how and why, so quickly, the former president has become tired of his adopted political messiah. I recall that as President for eight years, Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari were not the best of friends.
However, it is interesting to note that both Obasanjo and Buhari are the only two Nigerians to have served as heads of state twice.
Obasanjo was the first to become a military head of state and voluntarily retired in 1979. He handed over power to Shehu Shagari; a democratically-elected president.
Buhari engineered the sack of Shagari four years and three months later and took over power. He brought the nation under the crushing might of military dictatorship. Everybody was a demon. Only those in uniform were saints.
On August 27, 1985, Buhari was sacked by his comrade-in-arms, Ibrahim Babangida, and his co-adventurers.
So, while Obasanjo retired into international diplomacy, writing books and gaining recognition worldwide, Buhari was forced into silence.
Both of them were farmers. It is not clear what has happened to Obasanjo’s farm; but we all know that Buhari’s cows are still multiplying.
Then in 1999, Obasanjo became an elected president. Before then, he had been condemned to death by the brutal administration of the late Sani Abacha. He was accused of planning a fictitious coup to sack the man whose demonic style of governance was legendary.
In fact, it has been said that Obasanjo and others fingered in the phantom coup were billed to have their death sentences confirmed on the day Abacha died. That was really the finger of God at work. The man who was condemned to die became the next president of Nigeria through a democratic process.
For eight years, he governed Nigeria with the strong hand of a military general; but under the Constitution. He even tried to have a third term. Everything was done by his political jobbers and spin doctors to actualise that unguarded ambition; but it failed.
What Obasanjo did next was to ensure that his Deputy, Atiku Abubakar, who spearheaded the death of third term, did not succeed him. He fought Atiku to a stand-still; and like everything Obasanjo, he had his way.
To further cement his authority, he went ahead to hand-pick a successor; the late Umaru Yar’Adua.
On taking office, Yar’Adua decided to pull down most of the structures put in place by Obasanjo in a bid to free himself from the political grip of the old war horse.
Unfortunately, he died before completing his tenure. His Deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, who was equally handpicked by Obasanjo, succeeded him.
Before completing his boss’ tenure, Jonathan came under fire from both his party and some political heavyweights from the North who did not want him to seek election as president.
Again, Obasanjo stepped him and rescued his boy from the hawks. One thing led to another, and Jonathan was cleared to contest. He did, and won.
If Obasanjo thought he was going to control the Ogbia zoologist from his Ota Farm, he must have miscalculated. The honeymoon did not last beyond the euphoria of the wedding.
After about a year, Jonathan decided to put his foot down and call the shots as the elected president that he was. That did not go down well with Obasanjo. He started doing what generals do best: fight back with all the might he could muster.
Jonathan became so distracted that it took him the next one year to realise that he needed to muster some presidential courage and initiate projects that would thrust him into the next election. But it was getting late in the day.
In 2015, Jonathan was voted out of office. The he made that historic phone call to Buhari, congratulating him for his victory at the poll.
Meanwhile, having fallen out with Jonathan, Obasanjo quickly aligned with Buhari. He publicly had his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) membership card torn as though he was tearing Jonathan’s kingdom into shreds.
It the end, Buhari won the election; and Obasanjo became a distant kingmaker.
So, these two men have something in common. My concern, however, is that Obasanjo’s candidate has never been a successful president. From Yar’Adua to Jonathan, and now Buhari, the story is likely to be the same. Whoever he supports has always ended up as a not-very-successful president.
While it is too early in the day to judge Buhari, we can only hope that Obasanjo will make a mistake this time around; by supporting someone who will make a difference; someone he will not distract and confuse.
We also hope that the headline in that magazine is wrong both in fact and in judgment. If not, the present fight against corruption may soon be made to cover the period from 1999 to 2015.
Watch my lips.