By TUNDE BUSARI
Alongside two colleagues, my nearly two hours of a serious conversation with former President Olusegun Obasanjo inside his book-littered study in 2017 handed me the following lessons. First, wisdom. Two, intentionality. Three, humility. Four, attentiveness. Five, timeliness. Six, firmness. Let me grind number six only on assumption that the rest are easy to comprehend.
When Obasanjo felt our time was up, he raised an alarm, shouting “Mr Udoh, go and give my guests lunch.” In a jiffy, a man probably in his early 60s rushed down and immediately led us to the dining where already seated was Mrs Bola Obasanjo, that’s Baba’s wife, with whom we shared the table and devoured amala and egusi soup washed down with a bottle of water each.
I returned home and engaged myself in a comparative analysis; I attempted to match the Obasanjo I interviewed with that of whom I had read in the media and literatures. My conclusion wasn’t in variant to my long held judgement that Obasanjo is more than what we see and read.
For instance, among visitors waiting for him on our arrival in his hilltop residence were personalities public regarded and perhaps regard as Obasanjo’s fiercest enemies in their criticism and sometimes salvos to him. So, not all you read here and elsewhere you should swallow to make friends or lose friends. Perception is not a reality.
READ ALSO: Time for a general rollout of the African passport
Didn’t the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders travel to Abeokuta in December 2013 and hold a crucial meeting with Obasanjo and pose for photograph despite their political profile not in wedlock with that of their host? Didn’t President Bola Tinubu then an aspirant, also return to Abeokuta and pay homage in August 2022? These instances alone are enough a compass to guide analysts against playing to the gallery.
Last week, I read an article in which the writer wrote as though Obasanjo just snatched his girlfriend he imported from Brazil. The writer whitewashed Obasanjo and changed his name to Kenimani, that is, an extremely self-centred old man who sees no good thing in any other person except him and him alone. Wonderful.
Given the little I know about him, seeing Obasanjo in the Alaafin’s Palace last week brought to me a relief and sight of an end to this bi-polar ‘war’ between Oyo and Ile-Ife. Obasanjo must have been embarrassed, worried and had enough of the exchanges from the two sides. He may have also seen that fake AI generated visual featuring the Alaafin and Ooni in physical combat. What a sacrilege!
This particular eyesore must have made his journey to Oyo most inevitable, even though details of the visit is wrapped in silence. I think this is good against the grasshoppers impatiently waiting to feast on the outcome of the visit. Friends, before you rise and throw insults at Obasanjo, think twice. He has done what is expected of him as a leading son of Yoruba who would not be sipping wine while his race is being swept away by flood of self-destruction in ego, envy and hatred.
This brings me to how K1 bowed and sang Obasanjo’s praise at a recent function where Obasanjo was a special guest. K1, who had years ago, unsparingly tongue lashed Obasanjo, changed his lyrics and earned Obasanjo’s money. Who says Obj doesn’t spend money for musicians? This is yet another side of him unknown to many of us.
Finally, mind you, I’m not here to put a crown of an angel on the head of Obasanjo. I’m aware of his few flaws as contained in the following books: ‘Bitter-sweet: My life with Obasanjo’ by his first wife, Mrs Oluremi Obasanjo; ‘Not his will: The Awolowo-Obasanjo wager’ by Chief Ebenezer Babatope and ‘The Tragedy of Victory” by Brigadier-General Alabi Isama.
You read these three books very well, then you are tempted to punch him; you are tempted to hate Obasanjo and call him a wife beater, an arrogant, an opportunist and a greedy gut who wants to appropriate everything under the sun.
