House of Representatives member, Mr. Daniel Ofongo, who represents Southern Ijaw federal constituency of Bayelsa State, bares his mind to Adamu Abuh on the recent letter by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan, faulting the notion in certain quarters that the Ijaw are the major beneficiaries of the present administration.

ON the letter written by Obasanjo to President Jonathan.

  If it is not borne out of mischief or if there is no hidden agenda in it, there is nothing wrong in a former president writing a letter to the present president. 

  What I want to say, looking at the heading of the letter, ‘Before it is too late’, is that the statement itself is pregnant (with meaning). Before it is too late, on what, or about what?

  Then if you look at the content of the letter — if it is with good intentions, there is no problem. But Obasanjo wrote the letter as if he was advising President Jonathan but he went ahead to make statements that are very, very inciting.

  For instance, the issue of training snipers and putting 1,000 political opponents on political checklist to be killed or whatever he means — that alone is very, very incisive because for somebody who does not know, they (Obasanjo) said political opponents.

  So, does it mean that as a sitting president, you will not have opposition? No. There is no politician who does not have opposition. But everybody believes that the only way an opposition can unseat a public officer is through the ballots.

  It is either you win the person through elections or the person wins you during election. But coming out to say that people, 1,000 political opponents — are being penciled for elimination, I think that statement is not correct.

  He (Obasanjo) said it’s an allegation. Then, if you go on, he said, “If it is true.” So, Obasanjo knows it is an allegation. Okay, he should have told us who are the people that made the allegation. He’s unable to explain it. Yet, he’s still asking if it true. What does he mean by, “If it true?”

  He knew that it was not true before he made this kind of spurious statement in a letter. That is to tell you that his intentions are not genuine at all. He pretends to be advising Mr. President, yet he knows what he is doing. That’s why he started it with the heading, ‘Before it is too late’. Nobody knows what Obasanjo means.

While Obasanjo raised grave concerns in his letter, there seems to be a play down on the message and more of focusing on the messenger; why?

  Well, I wouldn’t say it should be wished away. Of course, he has made a statement. I am not even looking at Obasanjo but his intention; that’s the most important thing. He was in the leadership of this country for eight years (as a civilian president). Let’s keep his years as a military ruler after the demise of Gen. Murtala Muhammed aside.

  Now, in those years he stayed in office, what did he do about some of these concerns he raised? I want to ask a very important question.

  If Obasanjo had laid good foundations before Yar’Adua came in and then Jonathan, let him mention those areas where he laid good foundations, where things were working and then Jonathan came and things started going bad, things started retrogressing.

  We all know that before Goodluck Jonathan came to assume office as president of this country, Nigeria had even gone so bad. There was military rule in this country for over 20/30 years and we are all here.

  We know that there are people who had been Heads of State in this country, who introduced, institutionalised and encouraged corruption. Our refineries were working but they are no longer working. The roads, at least were working, but they have all gone bad. Our railways were working and they all went bad.

  The same applies to our airports; things started going bad until Jonathan came to put them right. Are they trying to tell us that it was when Jonathan assumed office that things became so bad? No.

Obasanjo also alleged that there are hawks around the president who are ill-advising him; do you have a contrary view?

  My reaction to it is that he knows those hawks. According to him, he said that some of them were with him (Obasanjo as president). So, assuming President Jonathan doesn’t know about it, why couldn’t he (Obasanjo) call the president if he had good intention to advise him?

  You see, you cannot say you are advising somebody and then you make it an open letter. If it is an open letter, come out with your real intentions.

  Those hawks he said were with him and now are around Jonathan, let him mention them to him (Jonathan) just as he (Obasanjo) could mention about the snipers. Why can’t he mention them? He should if he has good intentions.

Is Obasanjo’s action part of a gang-up against a purported Jonathan second term ambition?

  It is obvious that it is a gang-up against the second term ambition. Well, constitutionally, the president has a right to contest for a second term in office.

  If Obasanjo said that Mr. President had agreement to run for only one term, well, that we didn’t know. The president had come out to say he had not that kind of agreement with anybody.

  Even the president had challenged the aggrieved PDP governors, who made those statements, asking, ‘Where is the agreement I had with you people? If there is any document I signed to that effect, bring it and let us see.’

  Mind you, this same Obasanjo, who ruled this country for eight years, even wanted a third term by trying to influence the National Assembly to amend the Constitution, to enable him contest for a third term, but he failed.

  Now, this is a genuine case where a sitting president has the right, based on the existing Constitution, to contest a second term. And he (Obasanjo) is going against it. I know that whatever thing he meant, it is a gang-up!

How would you assess the call by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) for the impeachment of Jonathan?

  That call is unnecessary because the APC cannot just get up and say that the National Assembly should commence impeachment process on the president based on a letter written by Obasanjo.

  As I noted earlier on the issue of snipers, Obasanjo in the letter said it’s an allegation. So, this is something that is unfounded and yet the APC is hanging on it.

  Let me remind you that this same APC came up with a statement, saying there was massive unemployment, insecurity everywhere; so many issues and said that it seemed the government of the day had lost direction, to which the Presidency replied and said it (statement) amounted to a treasonable felony.

  Well, considering APC’s statement, whether you call it unemployment, corruption or whatever, is it Goodluck Jonathan that brought or introduced corruption in this country? The dilapidated state of infrastructure in this country, was it Jonathan that made it so?

  Let’s face it. If all the successive administrations had been employing youth, employable youth, graduates and non-graduates; if they had been employing them, would this number have risen up to this level?

  That is to tell you it’s a systemic failure, right from the beginning ever before Goodluck Jonathan assumed office.

  If for a given year, they said, for instance, 1,000 graduates were supposed to be employed and over the years, they were being employed by other administrations before Jonathan’s, then you would have blamed Jonathan for not creating employment opportunities.

  But Obasanjo or the APC, who equally have members who had been leaders in the country, either as state governors or had occupied one prominent position or the other; if they had not been able to do these things before now, why would they pack the whole thing and put on the President Jonathan’s head?

  Yes, Jonathan is a sitting president, and he is fighting to see the best for Nigerians. I think they should allow him to see the best he can do so long as he remains the president of this country.

  Why can’t APC wait? They said they are very formidable; they are strong. The only way political parties take over power from an existing government is through the ballot. It is not by inciting the public through spurious allegations. So, the APC should wait and contest elections.

How would you react to the allegation President Jonathan has been pursuing an ethnic agenda to the detriment of national unity?

  The statement is wrong because even though President Jonathan comes from the minority area, being an Ijaw man, the Ijaw people alone did not vote into office; every Nigerian voted him into office.

  It is people, like former President Obasanjo, who do not mean well for the Ijaw nation, that pick out Ijaw ethnic nationality to say that President Jonathan will be the last Ijaw president.

  As I am concerned, every Nigerian, irrespective of their tribe or religion, has the right to contest for any elective position. Everybody has the right to vote and be voted for.

  If today God has made it for Jonathan to be in office, we are all involved, including former President Obasanjo who played a key role (in the process). But mind you, Obasanjo has one vote, so does every other Nigerian. And it is those votes that brought Jonathan into office.

  Therefore, to say that Jonathan’s presidency has been reduced to an Ijaw thing is not true. As we speak, Jonathan has supporters across every ethnic nationality, and every religious group from the North to the South, from the East to the West.

  Till date, he has his support base. So, for somebody to feel that you have issues with somebody whom you feel is your beneficiary, I don’t think the best is to come to the public and start making this kind of statement.

  Those making the statement are the people trying to bring ethnic or tribal sentiments into it. President Jonathan has never, for one day, acted as a president that is for the Ijaws only. He has never and I know he will never do that!

Source: Guardian