WASHINGTON—(PSN)—Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called his father an individual with an egoistic craving for power and living a life where only low esteem thrive. In an 11 page letter to the former President, Iyabo who now resides in Boston, Massachusetts, called him a liar, manipulator and a two faced hypocrite.
Iyabo in her letter said she will never communicate with the former President again in her lifetime. Per Second News effort to get a response from President Olusegun Obasanjo who is presently in Milwaukee, in the State of Wisconsin in the United States for comments on Iyabo’s outburst, proved abortive, as he was in a state of shock and disbelief. Per Second News gathered from an aide of the former President with him in Milwaukee that Iyabo is aggrieved due to the fact that the former President has refused to endorse or support her plans to get an appointment with the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. According to him, “ It is unfortunate that Iyabo who was working and struggling in North Carolina, working in a Home Depot store, before Baba ensured she became a senator will now come out to attack the President because he didn’t support her ambition of becoming the NAFDAC DG”.
Full Text of Iyabo Obasanjo’s Letter to the former President
“It brings me no joy to have to write this but since you started this trend of open letters I thought I would follow suit since you don’t listen to anyone anyway. The only way to reach you may be to make the public aware of some things. As a child well brought up by my long-suffering mother in Yoruba tradition, I have been reluctant to tell the truth about you but as it seems you still continue to delude yourself about the kind of person you are and I think for posterity’s sake it is time to set the records straight. “I will return to the issue of my long-suffering mother later in this letter.
“Like most Nigerians, I believe there are very enormous issues currently plaguing the country but I was surely surprised that you will be the one to publish such a treatise. I remember clearly as if it was yesterday the
day I came over to Abuja from Abeokuta when I was Commissioner of Health in OgunState, specifically to ask you not to continue to pursue the third term issue. “I had tried to bring it up when your sycophantic aides were present and they brushed my comments aside and as usual you listened to their self-serving counsel. For you to accuse someone else of what you so obviously practiced yourself tells of your narcissistic megalomaniac
personality. Everyone around for even a few minutes knows that the only thing you respond to is praise and worship of you. People have learnt how to manipulate you by giving you what you crave. The only
ones that can’t and will not stroke your ego are family members who you universally treat like shit (sic) apart from the few who have learned to manipulate you like others.
“Before I continue, Nigerians are people who see conspiracy and self- service in everything because I think they believe everyone is like them. This letter is not in support of President Jonathan or APC or any other
group or person, but an outpouring from my soul to God. I don’t blame
you for the many atrocities you have been able to get away with,
Nigerians were your enablers every step of the way. People ultimately
get leaders that reflect them.
“Getting back to the story, I made sure your aides were not around and
brought up the issue, trying to deliver the presentation of the issue as I
had practiced it in my head. I started with the fact that we copied the
US constitution which has term limits of two terms for a President. As is
your usual manner, you didn’t allow me to finish my thought process
and listen to my point of view. Once I broached the subject you sat up
and said that the US had no term limits in the past but that it had been
introduced in the 1940s after the death of President Roosevelt, which is
true.
I wanted to say to you: when you copy something you also copy the
modifications based on the learning from the original; only a fool starts
from scratch and does not base his decisions on the learning of others.
In science, we use the modifications found by others long ago to the
most recent, as the basis of new findings; not going back to discover
and learn what others have learnt. Human knowledge and development
and civilization will not have progressed if each new generation and
society did not build on the knowledge of others before them.
The American constitution itself is based on several theories and
philosophies of governance available in the 18th century. Democracy
itself is a governance method started by the ancient Greeks. America’s
founding fathers used it with modifications based on what hadn’t
worked well for the ancient Greeks and on new theories since then.
“As usual in our conversations, I kept quiet because I know you well. You
weren’t going to change your mind based on my intervention as you had
already made up your mind on the persuasion of the minions working
for you who were ripping the country blind. When I spoke to you, your
outward attitude to the people of the country was that you were not
interested in the third term and that it was others pushing it. Your
statement to me that day proved to me that you were the brain behind
the third term debacle. It is therefore outrageous that you accuse the
current President of a similar two-facedness that you yourself used
against the people of the country.
“I was on a plane trip between Abuja and Lagos around the time of the
third term issue and I sat next to one of your sycophants on the plane.
He told me: “Only Obasanjo can rule Nigeria”. I replied: “God has not
created a country where only one person can rule. If only one person
can rule Nigeria then the whole Nigeria project is not a viable one, as it
will be a non-sustainable project”
“I don’t know how you came about Yar’Adua as the candidate for your
party as it was not my priority or job. Unlike you, I focus on the issues I
have been given responsibility over and not on the jobs of others. It was
the day of the PDP Presidential Campaign in Abeokuta during the state-
by-state tour of 2007 that Yar’Adua got sick and had to be flown abroad.
The MKO Abiola Stadium was already filled with people by 9am when I
drove by (and) we had told people based on the campaign schedule that
the rally would start at noon.
At 11 am I headed for the stadium on foot; it was a short walk as there
were so many cars already parked in and out. As I walked on with two
other people, we saw crowds of people leaving the stadium. I recognized
some of them as politicians and I asked them why people were leaving.
They said the Presidential candidate had died. I was alarmed and
shocked. I walked back home and received a call from a friend in Lagos
who said the same and added that he had died in the plane carrying him
abroad for treatment and that the plane was on its way to Katsina to
bury him.
I called you, and told you the information and that the stadium was
already half-empty. You told me to go to the stadium and tell the people
on the podium to announce that the Presidential candidate had taken ill
that morning but the rest of the team, including you and the Vice-
Presidential candidate would arrive shortly. I did as I was told, but even
the people on the podium at first didn’t make the announcement
because they thought it was true that Yar’Adua had died. I had to take
the microphone and make the announcement myself. It did little good.
People kept trooping out of the stadium. Your team didn’t arrive until
4pm and by this time we had just a sprinkling of people left.
That evening after the disaster of a rally, you said you had insisted that
the Presidential candidate fly to Germany for a check-up although you
said he only had a cold. I asked why would anyone fly to Germany to
treat a cold? And you said “I would rather die than have the man die at
this time.” I thought of this profound statement as things later unfolded
against me. Then I thought it a stupid statement but as usual I kept
quiet, little did I know how your machinations for a person would be
used against me. When Yar’Adua eventually died, you stayed alive, I
would have expected you to jump into his grave.
I left Nigeria in 1989 right after youth service to study in the US and I
visited in 1994 for a week and didn’t visit again until your inauguration
in 1999. In between, you had been arrested by Abacha and jailed. We,
your children, had no one who stood with us. Stella famously went
around collecting money on your behalf but we had no one. We
survived. I was the only one of the children working then as a post-
doctoral fellow when I got the call from a friend informing me of your
arrest.
A week before your arrest, you had called me from Denmark and I had
told you that you should be careful that the government was very
offended by some of your statements and actions and may be planning
to arrest or kill you as was occurring to many at the time. The source of
my information was my mother who, agitated, had called me, saying I
should warn you as this was the rumour in the country. As usual you
brushed aside my comments, shouting on the phone that they cannot
try anything and you will do and say as you please. The consequence of
your bravado is history.
We, your family, have borne the brunt of your direct cruelty and also
suffered the consequences of your stupidity but got none of the benefits
of your successes. Of course, anyone around you knows how little
respect you have for your children.
You think our existence on earth is about you. By the way, how many
are we? 19, 20, 21? Do you even know? In the last five years, how many
of these children have you spoken to? How many grandchildren do you
have and when did you last see each of them? As President you would
listen to advice of people that never finished high school who would say
anything to keep having access to you so as to make money over your
children who loved you and genuinely wished you well.
“At your first inauguration in 1999, I and my brothers and sisters told
you we were coming from the US. As is usual with you, you made no
arrangements for our trip, instead our mom organized to meet each of
us and provided accommodation. At the actual swearing-in at Eagle
Square, the others decided to watch it on TV. Instead I went to the
square and I was pushed and tossed by the crowd.
I managed to get in front of the crowd where I waved and shouted at
you as you and General Abdulsalam Abubakar walked past to go back to
the VIP seating area. I saw you mouth ‘my daughter’ to General
Abdullahi who was the one who pulled me out of the crowd and gave me
a seat. As I looked around I saw Stella and Stella’s family prominently
seated but none of your children. I am sure General Abdullahi would
remember this incident and I am eternally grateful to him.
Getting back to my mother, I still remember your beating her up
continually when we were kids. What kids can forget that kind of
violence against their mother? Your maltreatment of women is
legendary. Many of your women have come out to denounce you in
public but since your madness is also part of the madness of the
society, it is the women that are usually ignored and mistreated. Of
course, you are the great pretender, making people believe you have a
good family life and a good relationship with your children but once in
a while your pretence gets cracked.
When Gbenga gave a ride to help someone he didn’t know but saw was in
need and the person betrayed his trust by tapping his candid response
on the issues going on between you and your then vice-president, Atiku
Abubakar, you had your aides go on air and denounce the boy before
you even spoke to him to find out what happened. What kind of father
does that? Your atrocities to some of my other siblings I will let them
tell in their own due time or never if they choose.
Some of the details of our life are public but the people choose to
ignore it and pretended we enjoyed some largesse when you were
President.
This punishing the innocent is part of Nigeria’s continuing sins against
God. While you were military head of state and lived in Dodan Barracks,
we stayed either with our mum in the two-bedroom apartment provided
for her by General Murtala Mohammed or with your relatives, Bose,
Yemisi and your sisters’ kids in the Boys Quarters of Dodan Barracks. At
QueensCollege, I remember being too ashamed to tell my wealthy
classmates from Queen’s College, Lagos we lived in the two room Boys
Quarters or in the two room flat on Lawrence Street.
No, we did not have privileged upbringing but our mother emphasized
education and that has been our salvation. Of my mother’s 6 children 4
have PhDs. Of the two without PhD, one has a Master’s and the other is
an engineer. They are no slouches. Education provided a way to make
our way in the world.
You are one of those petty people who think the progress and success of
another takes from you. You try to overshadow everyone around you,
before you and after you. You are the prototypical “Mr. Know it all”.
You’ve never said “I don’t know” on any topic, ever. Of course this
means you surround yourself with idiots who will agree with you on
anything and need you for financial gain and you need them for your
insatiable ego. This your attitude is a reflection of the country. It is not
certain which came first, your attitude seeping into the country’s psyche
or the country accepting your irresponsible behavior for so long.
Like you and your minions, it’s a symbiotic relationship. Nigeria has
descended into a hellish reality where smart, capable people to “survive”
and have their daily bread prostrate to imbeciles. Everybody trying to
pull everybody else down with greed and selfishness — the only traits
that gets you anywhere. Money must be had and money and power is
king. Even the supposed down-trodden agree with this.
Nigeria accused me of fraud with the Ministry of Health. As you yourself
know, both in Abeokuta and Abuja I lived in your houses as a Senator. In
Lagos, I stayed in my mum’s bungalow which she succeeded in getting
from you when you abandoned her with six children to live in Abeokuta
with Stella.
I borrowed against my four-year Senate salary to build the only house I
have anywhere in the world in Lagos. I rent out the house for income. I
don’t have much in terms of money but I am extremely happy. I tried to
contribute my part to the development of my country but the country
decided it didn’t need me. Like many educated Nigerians my age, there
are countries that actually value people doing their best to contribute to
society and as many of them have scattered all over the world so have
many of your children.
I can speak for myself and many of them; what they are running away
from is that they can’t even contribute effectively at the same time as
they have to deal with constant threats to their lives by miscreants the
society failed to educate; deal with lack of electricity and air pollution
resulting from each household generating its own electricity, and the
lack of quality healthcare or education and a total lack of sense of
responsibility of almost every person you meet. Your contribution to
this scenario cannot be overestimated.
You and your cronies mentioned in your letter have left the country
worse than you met it at your births in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Nigeria is
not the creation of any of you, and although you feel you own it and are
“Mr Nigeria” deciding whether the country stays together or not, and
who rules it; you don’t. Nigeria is solely the creation of the British. My
dear gone Grandmother whose burial you told people not to attend, was
not born a Nigerian but a proud Ijebu-Yoruba woman. Togetherness is a
choice and it must serve a purpose.
As for Nigerians thinking I have their money, when it was obvious I was
part of the Yar’Adua (government’s) anti-Obasanjo phenomenon that was
going on at the time. The Ministry of Health and international NGOs paid
for a retreat for the Senate Committee on Health. The House Committee
on Health was treated exactly the same way. The monies were given to
members as estacode and the rest used for accommodation, flights and
feeding. While the Senate was on the retreat in Ghana, the EFCC asked
the House Committee to return the monies they received for their
retreat and asked us in the Senate to return ours on our return which I
refused, as it was already used for the purpose it was earmarked for in
the budget that year which was to work on the National Health Bill.
The House Committee had not gone on their retreat. I did nothing
wrong and my colleagues and I on the retreat did our work
conscientiously. I asked the EFCC not to drag my colleagues into it and I
am proud I suffered alone. As is usual in a society where people who are
not progressive but take pleasure in the pain of others, most Nigerians
were happy, not looking at the facts of the matter, just the suffering of
an Obasanjo.
As the people that stole their millions are hailed by them the innocent is
punished. When the court case was thrown out because it lacked merit
even against the Minister, no newspaper carried the news. The wrongful
malicious prosecution of an Obasanjo was not something they wanted to
report; just her downfall. But it really wasn’t about me, it was about
right and wrong in society and every society gets the fruit of the seeds it
sows.
How do you think God will provide good leaders to such a people? God
helps those who help themselves. I have realized that as an Obasanjo I
am not entitled to work in Nigeria in any capacity. I am not entitled to
work in health which is my training, or in any field or anywhere in the
country or participate in any business. I have learnt this lesson well and
there are societies that actually think capable, well-educated people are
important to their society’s progress. Apparently, unless I am eating
from the dustbin, Nigerians and possibly you will not be satisfied. I
thank God it has not come to that based on God-given brains and brawn.
When I left Nigeria in 1989 for graduate studies in America, you
promised to pay my school fees and no living expenses. This you did and
I am grateful for because, working in the kitchen and then the library at
University of California, Davis and later, working on the IT desk and
later as a Teaching Assistant at Cornell gave me valuable work ethics for
life. I wouldn’t have it any other way. As a black woman in the early
21st century, I have achieved much and done more than most. My wish
is that black girls all over the world will have the capacity to create
their lives, make mistakes, learn from it and move ahead.
Moving back to Nigeria, thinking I wanted to serve was obviously a grave
mistake but one brought about by the tragic incident of April 20, 2003.
This was the day five people were shot dead in my car. The mother of
the children was an acquaintance I had met only one day before the
incident.
We had attended the same high school and university but she was there
ten years earlier than I. She had also studied public health in the UK as I
had in the US. It was these coincidences that made us connect on our
first meeting and then she decided to visit on the Saturday of the
election of 2003 when the incident occurred. I am scarred for life by
that incident and I know the mother was too as we both looked back to
see two men on each side of my car shooting.
I understand her trauma and her behaviour since then can be judged
from that. Nigeria is a nasty place that pushes people to lose their
compass. I participated in the campaigns leading to the elections that
day, more because this was my first experience of electoral process in
Nigeria. Growing up there were no elections and I was too young in the
1979 and 1983 elections. It was interesting to see democracy at work.
When Gbenga Daniel who I campaigned for offered me a job, I probably
would have declined it, if not for the memory of the dead.
I felt I had to engage in making the country progress and to avoid such
incidences in the future. I don’t need to tell you or anyone what kind of
governor and person Gbenga Daniel is. As usual when I found out, you
would not listen to my opinion but found out for yourself. I also
campaigned for Amosun for the Senate in 2003. I have had some
wonderful Nigerians do good to me, I will never forget the then Minister
of Women Affairs, who saw me talking in the crowd at a campaign event
and was alarmed and said “bad things can happen to you out there, I will
give you one of the orderlies assigned to my office to follow you”. This
was the police man that died in my car that day. I never really thought
bad things would happen to me, I moved around freely in society until
that shooting scarred me and I accepted a police detail. I was constantly
scared for my life after that.
You called me after your vengeful letter as usual, looking out for
yourself and thinking you will bribe me by saying the APC will use me
for the Senate. Do you really know me and what I want out of life?
Anyone that knows me knows I am done with anything political or
otherwise in Nigeria. I have so much to do and think to make this world
a better place than to waste it on fighting with idiots over a political
post that does no good to society. That letter you wrote to the
President, would you have tolerated such a letter as a sitting President?
Don’t do to others what you will not allow to be done to you. The only
thing I was using that was yours was the house in Abuja where I left my
things when I left the country. I eventually rented it out so that the
place would not fall apart but as usual you want to take that as well. You
can’t have it without explaining to Nigerians how you came about the
house?
As I said earlier, this is not about politics but my frustration with you as
a father and a human being. I am not involved with what is currently
going on in Nigeria, I don’t talk to any Nigerian other than friends on
social basis. I am not involved with any political groups or affiliation.
You mentioned Governor Osoba when you spoke to me, yes I was
walking down the street of Cambridge, Massachussets a few months ago,
when I looked up and saw him reading a map trying to cross the street.
I greeted him warmly and offered to give him a ride to where he was
going. This I did not do because I wanted anything from him politically
but because that is how I was raised by my mother to treat an adult
who I really had no ill-will towards. Some said he was part of the people
that manipulated the elections for me to lose in 2011. I don’t have any
ill-will to him for that because I think they did me a favour and
someone has to win and lose.
I had told you I wasn’t going to run in 2011 but you manipulated me to
run; that was my mistake. Losing was a blessing. As usual you wanted me
to run for your self-serving purpose to perpetuate your name in the
political realm and as the liar that you are, you later denied that it was
you who wanted me to run in 2011.
In 2003 I ran because I wanted to and I thought getting to the central
government I will be able to contribute more to improving lives and
working on legislation that impacts the country. I found that nothing
gets done; every public official in Nigeria is working for himself and no
one really is serving the public or the country.
The whole system, including the public themselves want oppressors, not
people working for their collective progress. When no one is planning
the future of a country, such a country can have no future. I won’t be
your legacy, let your legacy be Nigeria in the fractured state you created
because, it was always your way or the highway.
This is the end of my communication with you for life. I pray Nigeria
survives your continual intervention in its affairs.
Sincerely,
Iyabo Obasanjo, DVM, PhD
Massachusetts,
USA.
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