Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that most of the
letters he wrote in the past were not out of selfish interest
He added that he didn’t know where he always summoned the
courage to write letters to people in power to express his views about any
issue.
Obasanjo disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at the
launching of a book written by Muskiliu Mojeed, titled, “The Letterman: Inside
the ‘Secret’ Letters of former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo.”
He revealed that the Premium Times editor did not seek his
permission to write the book, but admitted that he did an excellent job.
His words: “He did not take my permission to write this book
and until last Monday, I really didn’t know that he was writing a book when he
brought me two copies. I read the book, I was completely flabbergasted by the
amount of work that he has someone writing the book.
“So, I was torn between what I should do and what I should
not do. One, he didn’t tell me before he wrote a book but he has done an
excellent job. I found this book amazingly good.”
The former President said he had to adjust his schedule
while away in Ethiopia to be able to attend the public presentation of the
book.
Obasanjo added: “There are many things that Muskiliu said
that I have forgotten and he dug them up, he presented them. When I read some
of the letters, I marveled.
“The reason why I don’t often give interviews, for me,
journalists are like a nagging wife who has children for you. You have to
tolerate them because whatever you do if it has not been reported, it has not
been done. But you have to watch how you interact with them, because they will
bring what will annoy you, they will ask questions that will put you off. But
Muskiliu has one advantage, since he has been interacting with me for a long
time, has learnt to tolerate him and he has learnt to tolerate me, so we
tolerate each other.
“I believe very much in letter writing, and I don’t believe
letter writing is out of date because you have to communicate and how else do
you communicate? Except you will sit down, in a relaxed atmosphere, you have
something to convey and you put it down plainly, clearly and pass it to
somebody with whom you want to communicate. And I don’t see any substitute for
that
“Letter writing is also an art. You must be very careful in
the choice of your language so as to convey what you really want to
communicate, unmistakably, directly and depending on what you want to put into
it. But your letter must be such that it is relevant, realistic and it is
purposeful and goes to the point to address the issue you want to address
succinctly and clearly. It must also stand the test of time.”
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