Speaking at the palace of the Owa Obokun of Ijeshaland, where he was conferred with the chieftaincy title of Baba Oba of Ijeshaland, on Friday December 7th 2007, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo said he served the country to the best of his ability, and had no regrets over his actions during his eight-year tenure in office. He noted that it was impossible to please everybody but in the intervening period it has become clear that he was not able to satisfy the financial desires of his favoured daughter, the not-so-honourable Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, whose relationship with Austrian firm M. Schneider GMBH and Co., is now the source of legal dispute and has attracted much negative public comment, and official scrutiny.
M. Schneider GMBH and Co., in August, 2007, petitioned the Presidency and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) accusing Mrs. Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello of sharp practices. The claim is that while still a commissioner in Ogun State, she travelled to Austria to sign contract papers for the floating of M. Schneider Energy, which bid for and won, power project contracts during the Obasanjo administration, claiming to be Mrs. Damilola Akinlawon. The firm further alleges that the contract was packaged by Prince Albert Awofisayo of VAMED Engineering Limited with Akiya Nig. Limited, a company allegedly owned by Obasanjo-Bello and one of her siblings.
The aspects of the contract deal, which border on illegality relate to the allegation that Mrs. Obasanjo-Bello broke the law by impersonating one Mrs. Damilola Akinlawon and breached the Code of Conduct rule by engaging in active business practice as a public officer. Section 1 of the Code of Conduct states that a public officer shall not put himself in a position where his personal interest conflicts with his duties and responsibilities and, Section 2(b) clearly states that except where he is not employed on full time basis, a public officer shall not engage or participate in the management or running of any private business, profession, except farming.
The rot in the former first family family is further exposed very publicly in the divorce petition filed by the first son Gbenga Obasanjo, who has claimed that the former President on several occasions slept with his wife, who was so obviously also, his daughter-in-law. Gbenga Obasanjo expresses serious concern as to the paternity of the children born in the course of the marriage. It may be that persistent rumors regarding the relationship between the former President and several of his former female ministers cannot be publicly substantiated, but the character of a man is quite rightly called into question when his first son finds it necessary to make such allegations public.
The claims by Gbenga Obasanjo and his estranged wife, as well as the ‘Iyabogate’ affair, make it clear that relations and quite possible those who found their way into the former President’s bed (or family) did profit handsomely from government patronage. These revelations while not new for many with their ears open in Abuja, demonstrate the personal inconsistency of the ever moralising Obasanjo who has just recently completed an Open University course in Christian Theology. It may be that hypocrisy is an integral part of public life in Nigeria, but incest in the Presidential household surely plumbs the depths.
The former President, has a controlling interest in a university and remains in situ as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party. He continues to fight for relevance in deciding the future direction of the party and the preservation of his discredited legacy. It seems that there is a notable failure in our society with regard to the effective sanctioning of elders and prominent persons who so brazenly violate the trust reposed in them. It ought to be a thing of shame to the people of Ijeshaland (and all other places that freely dish out titles with little regard as to character of recipients) that one of their traditional title holders is a person whose very own household seems riddled with the vices that have brought the country to its knees. The Owa Obokun, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, who received Obasanjo in his palace, noted that the hallmark of leadership was selfless service, which he said Obasanjo gave the country. I trust his opinion remains unchanged.
