JOBNR-Jonathan, OBJ meet over breakfast in Kenya

My view-I have argued severally that our press must learn to give less attention to certain issues. Unnecessary attention given to some issues make them seem over blown. Getting involved in politicians war may some times be like getting involved in a husband and wife querell. Issues, if there is any at all, some times only exist on the pages of newspapers. Like some one once argued, 'our press tell us there is a war going on, but this men are dining and eating in secret and In fact, sharing our money in private. I think that some times the press have some of them paid by those in government just to distract the people' he concluded. I sincerely don't know anything about this allegation, but I think some issues are, some times given unnecessary attention and by extension over stretched. 

The report

President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday had a breakfast meeting in Nairobi, Kenya amidst the raging controversy over the letter written by Obasanjo to the President.

The duo was among African leaders that attended the 50th Independence Anniversary celebration of Kenya.

Prior to the event, which was held at the Safaricom Stadium in Kasarani, Nairobi, Obasanjo paid an early morning visit to Jonathan. The former president visited Jonathan at the Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi where they had a private breakfast together.

Obasanjo’s visit took everybody by surprise and the former leader left shortly afterwards.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, in his reaction to Obasanjo’s scathing letter, called on other leaders to speak up now to save the nation from break up.

The former Vice President said although he was not competent to speak on Obasanjo’s letter to President Jonathan because he was not privy to the communication, it was expedient for leaders consulted by the former President before the publication of the letter to intervene and reduce the tension created by the weighty allegations.

In a statement issued by his media office in Abuja, Atiku said that just like every other Nigerian, he was worried about the allegations and that those elders mentioned by Obasanjo had a moral duty to add their voices to the issue.

According to Atiku, the allegations were too disturbing to be treated with apathy by any political stakeholder like him.

He said at a moment of national anxiety or uncertainty, leaders across the country should rise to the occasion and reassure fellow Nigerians about the future.

Atiku explained that at a time the rest of the world was looking at Nigeria as a beacon of hope for stability, the content of Obasanjo’s letter should be urgently addressed by former leaders and elders.

The former Vice President said with the attention of Nigerians focused on the 2015 elections, there was the urgent need to reassure Nigerians.

“Our priorities for Nigeria are forging lasting solutions to our chronic unemployment, providing safety and security for all, and vastly improving our failing education systems. President Jonathan’s government has consistently failed to address these critical concerns.

“That said, it is on record that I have firmly fought for a democracy where the voters choose their future leaders, not political party bosses.

“If the incumbent President insists on continuing to destroy his own party with vindictive internal wars and thinks his record of rising youth unemployment, never-ending violence, corruption and scandals is worthy of another term, then he is welcome to run. We are confident Nigerians will exercise their democratic right to choose new leadership in 2015,” he said.

The former Vice President said with the attention of Nigerians focused on the 2015 elections, there was the urgent need to reassure Nigerians.

Atiku explained that the President was free to run his government without interference, but said sometimes even sitting Presidents needed outside constructive interventions to move the country forward.

Also commenting, the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC said President Jonathan’s administration has not assassinated anybody in the country, noting that Ijaw people detest taking people’s lives.

It denied allegations contained in Obasanjo’s letter, claiming that Jonathan government was training snipers to kill perceived political opponents.

President of IYC, Udengs Eradiri, who spoke with journalists yesterday in Yenagoa, described Obasanjo’s letter as unfortunate and was capable of heating up the polity.

He said: “Obasanjo is one of the respected statesmen in the country. They are in the best position to sit down and resolve issues. The manner in which he presented the issues could be inimical to society, if not properly managed could create more harm than good. He raised issues of training snipers to kill people .Goodluck as an Ijaw man we know does not kill; he is not in his attitude to kill. This kind of statement is worrisome.

“This regime has not killed anybody. As Ijaw people we do not take pleasure in taking other people’s lives. We are not happy that this letter that could have been a private one of the President is now in the public domain. At their level we thought it should have been a private discourse especially in the person of Obasanjo.”

The IYC President affirmed that Jonathan would contest the 2015 election, adding that Ijaw people were solidly behind him because he had the constitutional power to seek a second term of office.

“Because of the agitations in the Niger Delta that was why Obasanjo decided that Jonathan should contest election in 2007.

“The people of this region have said there is a constitutional provision for two terms which the past President also enjoys. One term is too short to repair the damage done in the country. For us as Ijaw people, Jonathan is contesting the election. For us as IYC, we are putting our hands together to mobilise other Nigerians to support us based on the achievements of Jonathan,” he added.

Eradiri, however observed that Obasanjo’s name was greeted with mixed feelings when it was mentioned in Ijaw land, especially the 1999 invasion of Odi community in Kolokuma/ Opokuma local government.

According to him, the soldiers’ invasion and destruction of the once bubbling community caused a carnage that is still lingering in the minds of its indigenes.

“We are not in the business of disrespecting elders. But, when elders begin to put our future on the balance, some of us will question. The Nigerian project is working we do not expect things to happen overnight. The President needs support and needed the support of people like Obasanjo. How far have the G7 Governors faired in the home states? The conflict they are having within their party, Obasanjo knows how to handle some of these issues if he is willing to move this country forward to resolve the crisis in the PDP,” he said

The IYC President admitted that corruption had eaten deep into the fabric of this nation, stressing that Jonathan came and met a dead system.

“It is a difficult task to turn the tide over night. Take a look at the civil service and see what is going on there. For me I think the national dialogue is the way forward. Every ethnic nationality must come together so that we discuss the business called Nigeria. Even those who are more corrupt than the President are throwing the tantrums at the President. If you are going to equity why not go to equity with good hands. We observed the corrupt issues that transpired in the National Assembly,” he explained.

“Issues of corruption have become a recurring decimal in the country. All the International Oil Companies, IOCs, and their contractors are neck deep in illegal bunkering. The federal government spends N7.5million to repair each vandalized hole in an oil pipeline. Let us go back and investigate all the contractors and the oil companies. The sabotage that is going on in the oil industry is part of corruption,” he added.

But, the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Tony Anenih kept sealed lips yesterday over the letter.

Anenih did not respond when State House correspondents asked for his comment on the matter.

When Anenih emerged from the office of Vice President Namadi Sambo after a brief meeting, the PDP stalwart declined comments as his aide shielded him into his waiting vehicle.

Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode said the end of the President Jonathan administration has come based on the letter.

Fani-Kayode said: “OBJ has finally closed GEJ’s chapter with his letter. Jonathan is finished- mark my words. Abati should shut up and let his boss speak for himself on this one.

“The Ebora Owu has spoken and the issues that he has raised are too serious to be ignored or to be responded to with amateurish and cheeky insults and slurs from a mere staff of the Presidency.

“The President should find the courage to personally answer the charges and address the message rather than get his aides to attack the messenger. As Baba said, Jonathan is ‘bleeding Nigeria to death’. It is time for change.

National Publicity Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, CPC and now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Rotimi Fashakin, said: “They are already bombing themselves. The letter is something that came out of deep frustration on the part of the former President.

“You would understand where President Obasanjo was coming from. He staked everything to put Jonathan in power and felt that some dividends would accrue to him from the Jonathan presidency, but unfortunately, the reverse was the case.

“There were many better persons that could have stepped into the presidency in 2007, better than the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and Jonathan.

“Obasanjo thought he would have his third term by ruling by proxy from Ota through his stoogies, but Jonathan has not proven to be a willing servant.

“What happened was that Jonathan had succeeded in uprooting Obasanjo’s erstwhile acolytes in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Unfortunately, Jonathan is leading the country to the precipice and it is a matter of time before we fall over.

“The letter shows how precarious the Nigerian situation is. Jonathan is more or less like the king of Otuoke in Aso Rock rather than the President of Nigeria.”

The National Chairman of the United Progressive Party, UPP, Chekwas Okorie, in his reaction said because so many issues were raised by Obasanjo, he would not be in a haste to react to it, adding that issues raised by the former president are very serious and can affect the corporate existence of Nigeria if not properly handled.

He said: “Because so many issues are involved, I am not going to hastily react on the letter. However the issues raised by the former president are very serious and could affect the corporate existence of Nigeria if not properly handled.”

The Secretary General of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, Chief Willy Ezugwu, on his part said Obasanjo cannot absolve himself of the nation’s problems, given his role in the emergence of Jonathan on the national scene.

His words: “Obasanjo is a hypocrite, he caused it. He knew what he did; he brought them to the national level under corruption. Is it because Jonathan is not allowing him (Obasanjo) to control the Presidency that has made him to open up? We all know how the companies belonging to Nigeria were sold during his time. All our leaders have failed us; it did not start from Jonathan.” - See more at: http://thebusinessdispatch.com/jonathan-obj-meet-over-breakfast-in-kenya/#sthash.f4sDiYVA.dpuf