A group of concerned Ogun
indigenes has berated the Governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, for allegedly
underrating former President Olusegun Obasanjo during his visit to President Muhammadu
Buhari.
The indigenes, under the aegis of
Ogun Concerned Progressives, said Abiodun goofed for not acknowledging Obasanjo
as one of the great indigenes of Ogun State who had played important roles in
the development of Nigeria; saying posterity and history would not forgive the
governor.
Abiodun had on Tuesday, July 30,
led a delegation of 62 Ogun indigenes on a ‘thank-you’ visit to President
Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja for conferring the highest honour of the Grand
Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) on the presumed winner of the annulled
June 12, 1993 presidential election, late Chief MKO Abiola, who is a son of
Ogun State.
In his speech at the gathering
with President Buhari, Abiodun listed out Ogun State’s past and living heroes
and heroines, who he said played critical roles before, during and after the
nation’s independence.
He mentioned the likes of Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, Rev’d Ransome Kuti, Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome Kuti, Professor
Wole Soyinka, Professor Olikoye Kuti, Dr. Beeko Kuti and Sen. Olabiyi
Durojaiye.
Others listed in his speech
included: Chief Segun Osoba, Chief Earnest Sonekan, Chief Olabisi Onabanjo, Pa.
Anthony Asiwaju and Chief Biyi Afonja.
However, the Concerned Ogun
Progressives, in a statement signed by Olusegun Showunmi, expressed
dissatisfaction that Obasanjo’s name was missing on the list of Ogun heroes,
describing Abiodun as a hypocrite and an unserious child who seems not to
remember his father’s name.
“It baffles us to note that a
governor, who is still standing on one leg, could, even before finding his
feet, allow his handlers to make him seem like an unserious child that cannot
even remember the name of his father. Or how else can one explain the omission
of the name of our father, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, from the list of
Ogun State indigenes, who have made and have continued to make invaluable
contributions and sacrifice for the Nigerian nation, by a man who says he is
fit to lead a state as great as Ogun?” he stated.
Showunmi, who described the visit
as a jamboree to waste Ogun state resources, recalled how Obasanjo was jailed
and almost killed by the then Head of State, late Major Gen. Sanni Abacha, for
standing against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election.
He also noted that Obasanjo
played major roles in fighting for the nation during the civil war; adding that
Gov. Abiodun attempted to rewrite or falsify Nigeria’s contemporary history
because of ‘pointless politics’.
“One cannot forget in a hurry
that Obasanjo himself went to jail and even escaped death by a hair’s breadth
in the hands of the goons of the late head of state, General Sani Abacha, over
his attempt to find a way for the nation out of the logjam that resulted from
the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. He still bears the
scars of the inhuman treatment he was subjected to while in prison.
“How then would anyone, who is
not acting in bad taste to massage the egos of some benefactors, choose to side
step the most eminent son of Africa, living? This, definitely, is the
Governor’s first needless major goof,” the statement read.
Showunmi submitted that the
“unwarranted omission of Obasanjo’ s name was deliberate in order to “discount
or discountenance Obasanjo’s contributions” to the nation.
“As citizens of Ogun State, we
reiterate that for anyone, especially in the mould of the governor to choose,
on such an occasion, to discount or discountenance Obasanjo’s invaluable
contributions to nation-building is, to say the least, to do a great disservice
to the country itself, the current and future generations.”
He added that “Those who decided
to be sycophantic in the presence of President Buhari at the Presidential
Villa, Abuja, over an issue they should have been dispassionate and unbiased
about, should have known that the President, who has always acknowledged
Obasanjo as his boss, would be discerning enough to see, through their antics,
that they are confirmed hypocrites that will do the same to him when the table
turns. We are sure that posterity and history would not forgive them for this
travesty of justice.”
The statement maintained that
“Obasanjo is a statesman and an eminent international figure, whose image would
remain larger than life in the arena of global politics, regardless of whatever
negative picture of his anyone tries to paint locally, now and forever.”
“His prominent place in the
history of the Nigerian nation, the struggle for freedom and peace in Africa
cannot be denied or extirpated by anyone, no matter how hard they try. He
remains a living legend.”
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