The Olugbon of Orile-Igbon in Oyo State, Oba Francis Alao, has tacked former President Olusegun Obasanjo over a recent statement he made.
The monarch’s statement comes days after Obasanjo declared on Friday that most Nigerian political leaders of this dispensation were not morally upright and should be behind bars.
Obasanjo insisted that the country would not progress towards achieving its goals unless leaders and citizens embraced what he termed “moral rearmament.”
The former President spoke in Abeokuta when he received six members of the House of Representatives, who are co-sponsors of bills proposing a single six-year term, rotation of the Presidency between the North and South, and rotation of governorship slots among the three senatorial districts of each of the 36 states.
“Our main problem is ourselves. Whether we adopt a single term of six years or two terms of four years, if we maintain the same mentality and approach, nothing will change.
“The real issue is ourselves. Yes, the system needs rethinking, but the character of people in government must change. With all due respect, many in government should currently be behind bars or on the gallows,”,” Obasanjo had submitted.
However, taking the former President on on Sunday, Oba Alao, in a statement made available to PMParrot, said Obasanjo could not, for any reason, claim to be a saint.
The monarch said though he aligned with Obasanjo’s position, the former President should lead by example “by submitting himself for incarceration as a leader of this generation of the so-called corrupt people. There is no way he can exclude himself.”
Oba Alao claimed that during Obasanjo’s tenure as President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, the administration spent billions of United States dollars to fix the country’s power supply challenges, “yet there is nothing to show for it.
“So, excluding himself from those he described as corrupt leaders is nothing but grandstanding since Chief Obasanjo cannot wash his hands clean of all activities that brought Nigeria to this undesirable state. Doing so will amount to a pot calling the kettle black.
“Chief Obasanjo should stop parading himself all over the world as a saint when he is one of the leaders that steered the ship of Nigeria from 1976 to date. He is inclusive of the 90 per cent of Nigerian leaders that should be in prison for corruption.
“Let him go and surrender himself before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as an example. Nigerians should be watchful of Chief Obasanjo.”
The monarch, who is also the Vice Chairman, Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, said in Obasanjo’s eight-year tenure, “he failed to reconstruct Lagos-Abeokuta and Lagos-Ibadan roads, leaving them as death traps for motorists.
“In his eight-year tenure, he failed to reconstruct Lagos-Abeokuta and Lagos-Ibadan roads, leaving them as death traps for motorists.
“Nigerians will continue to be grateful to his successors – former President Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari – for fixing Lagos-Ibadan expressway which had sent many citizens to early grave before their tenures.
“The Lagos-Abeokuta road is still in such a deplorable condition, attracting curses from users daily.
“Indiscipline is also part of corruption. He has shown deficit in Yoruba culture in some of the ways he handled issues. The former president should go and re-learn culture and stop teaching us what to do in Nigeria.”
Packaged by Alice Egbedele
