Obj sees Oby as his daughter without confirming speculation of ethnic bigots
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Former Olusegun Obasanjo – nicknamed by the press as Obj, a sobriquet he gladly flaunted at his recent 85th birthday gig – says his former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, is like a daughter to him.
That, however, does not confirm he is the biological father of Oby, a speculation Obj’s detractors ran sometime ago, citing facial feature similarities between the two, on the falsehood that Obasanjo – who has 19 biological children – sired her in an affair with an Igbo woman when he fought in the civil war in the South East.
Femi Fani-Kayode, one of Bola Tinubu’s spokesmen, also alluded to the purported Igbo connection when he alleged last month that Obasanjo’s father was probably an Igbo man because of Obj’s support for Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi to ensure national equity and justice.
Obj’s latest remark in his felicitations on Oby’s 60th birthday may pour fuel on such speculations, considering Stella his late wife was also from the South East.
But Obj only said Oby is “like a daughter” to him, stressing her virtues include being intelligent, dynamic, reliable, and enterprising.
“Obiageli Ezekwesili is like a daughter to me. Even when she was a minister, I treated her the same way I treated my biological daughters,” Obasanjo said in a statement.
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Dynamic woman
“She was a dynamic young woman who is competent, reliable and very enterprising. As she, therefore, clocks 60 today, I cannot but thank God for her life, as I wish her more fulfilling and glorious years and decades ahead,” Obasanjo added, per Daily Post.
“Oby and I met through Transparency International, an initiative started by Peter Eigen, who had worked at the World Bank and saw the need for more integrity in the public arena.”
Obasanjo said it was “easy to warm up” with Ezekwesili due to her hard work and dedication to duty.