Obasanjo and I are now friends to ensure ‘equity, justice and one Nigeria’
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Afenifere leader Ayo Adebanjo says he and former President Olusegun Obasanjo have become good friends because of their mutual support for Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi.
Last week, Obasanjo, Adebanjo, Obi and others paid a condolence visit to the family of late Aviation Minister Mbazulike Amechi who died on 1 November at the age of 93.
“What unites us is Nigeria. All the time I disagreed with him (Obasanjo), there was no personal issue.
“It was on this issue of Nigeria and we agree it should be better. We all agreed that Obi is the man. That is why we are friends. And that was what we made clear to the people of the East,” Adebanjo told The PUNCH after the event.
“It was the question of Nigeria and we were able to demonstrate the importance of Obi’s victory in the [coming] election. Even people who do not agree on things agree on this one.”
Adebanjo described the Muhammadu Buhari administration as the “worst” in Nigeria in the past two decades.
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Obasanjo at the event had made a veiled reference to the agreement between himself and Adebanjo on the need to support Obi for President.
“What I believe and what I believe that Chief Ayo Adebanjo believes is not ethnic, sectional or religious, it is Nigeria and Nigerians,” he said, per Vanguard.
“When I go out and people thank me, I say, ‘What are you thanking me for?’ and I tell them, ‘Please, stop thanking me. Why should you be thanking me?
“I believe in equity, justice and one Nigeria. I have shed my blood for this country. I have gone to prison for this country, so what are you going to frighten or threaten me with?
“The only thing that my senior brother (pointing to Adebanjo) hasn’t done is that he hasn’t shed his blood, but he has gone to prison. Let us leave it at that.”
Adebanjo told him, “You have not shed your blood, you only attempted to, because you are still alive,” a remark that drew laughter from him and the audience.
“What of the blood I shed at the war front? I can show you where it hit me and nearly touched the wrong place,” Obasanjo said, pointed to his private part. His response was also greeted with laughter.
“The problem we have right now is not ethnic, it’s national. For me, the first thing that is important in a leader is character.
“The problem we have had over the years is that we don’t have leaders who have the right type of character for which they should be entrusted with a leadership role.
“So, if I put my finger on anything or anybody, it is because comparing one with another, I see that there is merit that would be of benefit.”