A Word Of Advice For OBJ, IBB

It is an age long adage that when two elephants fight, it is the grasses and trees that suffer the consequences. The same thing applies when husband and wife are fighting in the presence of their children. You could imagine what would be the children’s evaluation of  their parents’ ugly behaviour. What legacy of emulation are they leaving behind for them? In fact, they will be embarrassed, ashamed and confused.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (OBJ) and Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), two retired army Generals who had ruled this country as Heads of State and President, recently engaged each other in a cold war of words. The two leaders exhibited imperfect leadership traits by calling each other fools and some unprintable names.

With their wealth of experience, the two leaders ought to be the ones counselling the new breed polticians on how to move the nation forward. No doubt, they are notable figures both nationally and internationally. So, whatever aspersions they cast on  each other have direct consequences on the image of the country.

Some commentators have evaluated and condemned the OBJ and IBB’s use of words against themselves. Babangida fired the first salvo by condemning Obasanjo’s regime for allegedly squandering $16 billion without adequate power generation in the country for eight years he ruled. The question is this: Could IBB have done better if he had had a second chance like Obasanjo? What about the $12 billion Gulf Oil money spent (or is it wasted?) during his eight years regime?

Obasanjo, on the other hand, did not count his teeth with his tongues before he fired back. He literally called IBB a fool at 70 on his 70th birthday. The question is, why should these two elderstatesmen descend so low as to wash their dirty linen in the public? IBB should have concentrated on his 70th birthday ceremony rather than engaging his superior in a verbal war.

Obasanjo too, should have played the elderly by ignoring IBB’s remarks. The divide and cut usage of derogatory assertions on personality traits by these two elderstatesmen is uncalled for, embarrassing and amounts to a national shame.

Without mincing words, both leaders at one time or the other had left some footprints while in government. And now that they are advancing in age, it is expected that they put their wealth of experience to bear on the development of the nation, rather than raining insults and counter-insults on each other.

It is puzzling to imagine a scenario where such elderly Nigerians are fighting, instead of proffering solution to Nigeria’s problems.

Obasanjo and Babangida should therefore bury their political hatchets and concentrate on how to assist the administration of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan succeed.

Ideally, all the national leaders who are still alive, are supposed to serve as sources of knowledge where the present leaders and others coming behind should derive wealth of experience.

Therefore, exchange of derogative and destructive words on one another would not help the nation that is already polarized along ethnic lines.

For sometimes now, Nigeria has been hunted by a group of madmen who call themselves Boko Haram. They are, on daily basis, posing threats to lives and properties. In the same vein, hunger and poverty have been the companions of many Nigerians. These, among others, have given Nigeria a bad reputation among the comity of nations. Why can’t Obasanjo and Babangida who are members of the ruling party concentrate their energies on how to solve these problems?

And what about the minimum wage that many state governments are foot-dragging to pay? As members of the Council of States, the two elderstatemen would have done better if they had prevailed on these governors to pay the N18,000 minimum wage rather than dissipating their energies on something that would not bring smiles to the faces of their compatriots.

Now that the two appear to have sheathed their swords, I hope they would let bye-gone to be bye-gone.

Ominyanwa writes from Port Harcourt.

Goddy Ominyanwa