In this interview with SEGUN OLUWAGBILE
and TUNDE ODESOLA, former President Olusegun Obasanjo bares his mind on
pro-Biafra agitations, Boko Haram war deadline, among other issues
You have some less privileged children you sponsor. Why don’t you make your philanthropic gestures public?
My bible says, what your right hand
does, your left hand must not know. Why should I do good and shout it?
Even in Yoruba tradition when you do that, there is no blessing of God
in it for you anymore.
What motivates you to do this? I remember you adopted one kid, Nzikak Udom, among several others.
There are millions of people suffering,
particularly in the area of education; if you can lift one up, you lift a
lot of people up. Nzikak is special. Nzikak Udom is studying Economics
in the university. He will soon become a pillar in his family and the
society eventually. He too will lift people when he comes of age. It is
only a foolish man that says, ‘If not for me, my friend wouldn’t have
eaten yesterday’. I have a lot of adopted kids.
Is this attitude to life a result of your upbringing?
Nobody is an island unto himself. What I
am is partly my DNA, partly my culture, partly my upbringing, partly my
school, partly my church, partly my peers, partly my friends, partly
the books I read, partly the profession I chose.
Who are your friends?
I have a very few of them. My friends in
Nigeria include the likes of Akin Mabogunje, Joe Irukwu, Ahmed Joda,
Christopher Kolade, Alex Okoro, Adamu Ciroma, Obafemi Olopade, Onaolapo
Soleye.
As one of the leading soldiers
that participated in bringing an end to the Biafra war, how do you feel
about the fresh agitation for Biafra?
Fake agitation; you people make a
mountain out of a molehill. These are boys who want to take people
unawares and get money out of them in the name of Biafra. These are
people you should ignore, I don’t talk about Biafra. (Philip) Effiong
came and said Biafra ceased to exist and since that day, Biafra has
ceased to exist.
Were there some promises the Nigerian state made to the Igbo nation which were not fulfilled?
Not as far as Biafra is concerned. We
absorbed those we should absorb both into the civil service and into the
military. Even those we didn’t absorb, who we initially regarded as
being retired without benefit, later on we even gave them their
benefits. Abandoned houses were returned. Within 10 years of the end of
the civil war, an Igbo man became the vice-president of our country. It
took the Americans 100 years before they got to that point. So, what are
you talking about? They have held different ministerial positions
existing in this country. We have Igbo as the Governor of Central Bank,
Igbo has headed many parastatals in this country. That’s why these
miscreants should be ignored. They want to get money and they go round
and say, ‘We are still being victimised. We are still being treated
badly in Nigeria,’ so that they can take money from people.
Don’t you think that Igbo leaders are not speaking against this phenomenon?
I won’t blame the Igbo leaders. I will
ignore them (the agitators). The Igbo leaders that I’ve talked about, I
mean the ones I’ve mentioned; Joe Irukwu won’t go out and do that type
of thing, and many of them. The people who are doing this are the same
people you will find in 419, they are the same people you will find in
drugs. This (pro-Biafra agitation) is another source of money for them
as far as they are concerned.
What’s your view about the Boko Haram war deadline?
I’ve talked about that. You have to have
an objective, otherwise, if you say go, and you don’t an objective… An
objective is not cast in concrete. Look, I want you to finish a job in
two days though you know it could take probably four or five days, but
you must give an objective. I believe that what the President will get
and which he knows he can get, is that he can get the upper hand; the
military will get the upper hand over Boko Haram and of course, I think
we are working towards that. But we will not get the end of Boko Haram
in three months or in six months. And even when you get the upper hand
militarily, you have to do what you have to do – the socio-economic
aspect.
While you were away from the
country, your friend, Prof. Wole Soyinka, inaugurated a book in which he
called you a child of circumstance…
(Talking in Yoruba: Se o so be?) Meaning: Did he say so?
He even said he won’t eat any food you give him without you eating from the food first…
(Continues in Yoruba: Mi o mo o.) Enhehn? I don’t know.
Obasanjo rises and walks out of his study
Why are the two of you always quarrelling?
‘Kini wahala yin?’ meaning: What is your problem?
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