13 important things Obasanjo said in December 2013 letter to Jonathan

(Endowed Blogs.)

In December 2013, former president Olusegun Obasanjo wrote an 18-page letter to then incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan on the failings of his administration.

In the letter, Obasanjo accused Jonathan of training a killer squad for the 2015 elections and putting 1000 political opponents on a watch list.

Below are 13 important things Obasanjo said in the 18-page letter:

1. “…Everything must be done to guard, protect and defend our fledgling democracy, nourish it and prevent bloodshed.”
2. “Allegation of keeping over 1000 people on political watch list rather than criminal or security watch list and training snipers and other armed personnel secretly and clandestinely acquiring weapons to match for political purposes like Abacha and training them where Abacha trained his own killers, if it is true, it cannot augur well for the initiator, the government and the people of Nigeria.”
3. “Democratic politics admits and is permissible of supporters and opponents. When the consequences come, those who have wrongly advised you will not be there to help carry the can. Egypt must teach some lesson.”
4. “Assisting criminals to evade justice cannot be part of the job of the presidency. Or, as it is viewed in some quarters, is he being recruited to do for you want he had done for Abacha in the past. Hopefully, he should have learned his lesson. Let us continue watch.”
5. “We must move away from advertently or inadvertently dividing the country along weak seams of North-South and Christian-Muslim.”
6. “Nothing should be done to allow the country to degenerate into economic dormancy, stagnation or retrogression.”
7. “Nigeria should be in a position to take advantage of the present favourable international interest to invest in Africa – an opportunity that will not be open for too long.”
8. “It has been proved that no group — ethnic, linguistic, religious or geographical location — has monopoly of materials for leadership of our country.”
9. “I want nothing from you personally except that you should run the affairs of Nigeria not only to make Nigeria good, but to make Nigeria great for which I have always pleaded with you and I will always do so. And it is yet to be done for most Nigerians to see.”
10. “You must hold yourself most significantly responsible for what happens or fails to happen in Nigeria and in any case most others will hold you responsible and God who put you there will surely hold you responsible, and accountable.”
11. “Our duties, responsibilities and obligations to our country as citizens and, indeed, as leaders must go side by side with our rights and demands.”
12. “Whether one talks of the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta, the underlying causes of which have not been adequately addressed, if addressed at all, kidnapping, piracy and abductions and armed robberies which rather than abate are on the increase and Boko Haram which requires carrot and stick approach to lay its ghost to rest, the general security situation cannot be described as comforting.”
13. “Mr. President, the most important qualification for your present position is your being a Nigerian. Whatever else you may be besides being a Nigerian is only secondary for this purpose.”

Goodluck Jonathan eventually lost the 2015 elections to main opponent and current president, Muhammadu Buhari.