Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter of condolence to the governor, family and people of Ondo state on the demise of Senator Burnji Kashamu is against the grain of such occasions in Nigeria. Obasanjo was direct in drawing attention to the unpalatable aspects of the deceased.
Senator Kashamu was embodied in drug trafficking allegations and fought a length and multiple jurisdictions fight against extradition to the US to face drug lord allegations. He won these fights. He sought and obtained political power by being elected a senator and an abortive attempt at being governor of Ondo state.
Abba Kyari was another political appointee who held sway with huge and unacceptable political power. He was a dejure head of government and used his power to consolidate power within a very small parochial sector of the country. When he died of covid 19, his obituary was from who is who in Nigeria and elsewhere. His existence politically was detrimental to the development and enhancement of our political and democratic experiment. He created a chokehold on our economic and political lives. Nobody had the current presence of mind of Obasanjo to call bull on the flow of nonsense on the demise of Kyari.
Hence Nigeria is a great country and has done great things for its population. The country is safe and an economic hub in its region. The potentials of the country is being realised. The various strands of the economy are on full blast.
Of course, one would have taken leave of one’s senses, beliefs and reality of the country.
The first paragraph would be a reality if you read the obituary of any departed Nigeria leader. When a leader dies, his or her (usually, his) obituary would state without fear of contradiction on their great contributions to the country. One then have to ask, if these people contributed as their obituaries state, where is that country as I fail to see, hear or live in that country.
As they say, the beautiful ones are not yet born and therefore we could not have been blessed with the actions and contributions of these departed leaders.
Our tradition is that the evil deeds of our departed are buried with the departed and their good deeds are sang from high heavens. Unfortunately, there are no good deeds as evident from the state of the nation.
We cheat ourselves of our path to correction and set path to righteousness. We must ask questions of the departed and swear at their souls for putting the nation on the path to current ruins.
When General Muraita Mohammed died we wrote his obituary of praises and neglected to mention his poor military skills leading to war crimes and carnage of his troops during the civil war.
When Col. Emeka Ojukwu died, no mention of his failure to prepare for the war he fostered on his people. His obituary was on his personal history of linage, education and leadership of his people.
When Samuel Ogbemudia died, his obituary was glowing on how he developed Midwest, Bendel state nothing about his dismissal with ignominy from the Nigerian Army for gross corruption.
When General Buhari departs I am certain his obituary will mention how after Prophet Muhammad, he was the next gift from Allah neglecting to mention his northern bias and failed leadership to steer the nation to higher grounds.
When General Babagida departs all the usual praise singers will trout out their usual songs about how he was probably the best leader since sliced bread. This will be without the benefit of his murderous, corrupt and much lamented structural adjustment program imposed and financial ruin of all of Nigeria. His failed political roadmap for our country.
Our obituary advertisements for our leaders are all flowing with their alleged contributions to this failed nation. One needs a microscope to find the long standing effects on the nation and its people by these leaders.
We must have history and be true to our history otherwise we are a people not anchored to solid ground upon which we raise. A people without history are merely drifting in the wind as we currently are.
History must be thought in our schools and hopefully not from our rose tinted obituary advertisements.
Centre for Nigeria Progress 