I'm sure the Ooni would have been uncomfortable and perhaps tried to stop him...but trust Baba...lol Former President Olusegun Obasanjo prostrated for the Ooni of Ife during his visit to the monarch's palace earlier yesterday

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo visited President Buhari in Aso Rock today November 10th. Obasanjo arrived the presidential villa at about 12 noon and went straight to the banquet hall where he had a closed door meeting with Buhari. He refused to speak with state house correspondents after their meeting.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described those agitating for the creation of Biafra state as miscreants. Obasanjo said this in an interview with Sahara reporters

“This is a fake agitation. You people make a mountain out of a molehill. These are boys who want to take people unaware and get money out of them in the name of Biafra. These are the people you should ignore, I don’t talk about Biafra. (Philip) Effiong came and said Biafra ceased to exist and since that day, Biafra has ceased to exist. We absorbed those we should absorb both into the civil service and into the military.

Even those we didn’t absorb, who we initially regarded as being retired without benefits, later on we even gave them their benefits. Abandoned houses were returned. Within 10 years of the end of our Civil War, an Igbo man became the vice-president of our country. It took the Americans 100 years before they got to that point. So, what are you talking about? They have held all the ministerial positions existing in this country. We have Igbo as the Governor of Central Bank, Igbo has headed many parastatals in this country. That’s why these miscreants should be ignored. They want to get money and they go round and say, ‘We are still being victimised. We are still being treated badly in Nigeria,’ so that they can take money from people.” he said

The former president has released a statement confirming that his car had an issue yesterday while traveling from Abeokuta to Lagos. In the statement signed by his press secretary, Vitalis Ortese, Obasanjo said the Tyre of the car he was traveling in burst while it was on top speed 
                          
"The Office of His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR wishes to clarify that, H.E. President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR is hale, hearty and away in Abidjan Cote Ivoire, where he is observing the Presidential Elections holding in that country. The office also wishes to confirm, that yesterday Saturday, October 24, 2015, H.E. President Olusegun Obasanjo was indeed involved in an incident on the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway, after Sagamu roundabout, while he was on his way to join in the celebrations of the 80th birthday anniversary of Chief Kessington Adebutu in Tinubu Methodist Church Lagos. The vehicle, he was traveling in suffered a burst left tire at the rear and swerved several times but did not hit any curb or any car in front or behind until it did an 180-degree turn and faced where it was coming from, and he had to change vehicles. President Olusegun Obasanjo wishes to convey his deep appreciation to all those, who by way of calls, personal messages and prayers, and indeed members of the general public, who have shown overwhelming concern about his welfare. Signed Vitalis Ortese"

Former president, Olusegun Obasanjo has proffered solutions on how Nigeria could win the insurgency war against Boko Haram. Obasanjo spoke in an exclusive interview in Kenya where he attended the Africa Governance, Leadership and Management Convention organised by the Kenya Institute of Management.

He said military might alone cannot win the war against terrorism. He advised government to deal with genuine issues of socio-economic development which has created the fertile ground for domestic terrorism to thrive.

The former president also spoke on an array of issues in Nigeria ranging from President Buhari’s government, his choice of ministers to Nigeria’s 55 independence and how he felt when a court restrained him from publishing his autobiography titled ‘My Watch’, among others. Excerpts Below:

Your Excellency what is your take on President Buhari’s government so far?

Well it is too early for us to be making statements about the performance of President Buhari. He came with good intentions and so far he is on the right track and we should be praying for him and be helping him to remain on the right track, but I think little down the road people may then be looking at how has he performed. But for now he’s been there for four months: let’s help him to follow his own programme and succeed. What he said he will do, he has been doing them. He is dealing with the issue of Boko Haram; he is dealing with the issue of corruption, he said he will do that; he is giving Nigeria a new image and Nigeria is now being seen at the table in the international arena. I think those are good things and we should be encouraging him to keep on doing that so that for us as Nigerians we see a new Nigeria not only internally but other people see a new image of Nigeria.

What about his choice of ministers; what do you think about that?

Well he has chosen his ministers; for me they are no surprises. He has to pay some political debt and I think some of the people he has chosen was meant to pay political debt and that is understandable in party political life. I think what will matter more is the kind of leadership he himself gives because some ministers who would normally have behaved badly if they will be caught by the head of government they will behave not badly but properly.

Looking back at your leadership, your tenure in office, what you would say was your legacy as the president of Nigeria?

Oh, one, the legacy that Nigeria remains a country; two, that I started democracy and it continues; three, that we were able to move from one regime to another regime and now we have been able to move to an opposition defeating the incumbent government. I think our democracy has come to stay and that is very important. There will be a number of other things that you need to do. There will always be challenges for government but once the basic and fundamental things are taken care of — today we have challenge of Boko Haram; it wasn’t there in my time as a challenge — but once the stability of government is assured — democracy and good governance, that is very important — all other challenges can be faced and be dealt with.

So what would you say was the most difficult task you handled while you were in office?

I think power, because we didn’t have money. For the first three, four years I did not have money to put into power like I would have wanted to, and the oil companies I tried to encourage them but they didn’t see the point of view that I was pressing, and by the time we had money we were going into power in the way that I would want to see us going into it. We started the foundation and the successor government held back for almost two and a half years and that has had adverse effect on the energy or power in Nigeria. But it is an issue that of course is tied up with all aspect of infrastructure: But power has a source of energy to drive the economy, to drive even the social life to make for the welfare and wellbeing of the people is very crucial.

Nigeria recently celebrated 55 years since independence; what makes you proud of being a Nigerian?

When Nigeria became independent both our colonial masters and some Nigerians said that Nigeria was a geographical expression that will not last but we have lasted for 55 years and we are going strong. We have had ups and down, maybe a little bit more ups than down, but I believe we are also learning from our experiences, some mistakes unintentional some maybe intentional by leaders. We are also improving in the quality of leadership at every level and quantum of leadership. Today, if we have to talk about leaders in Nigeria at the national level, you will not be zeroing on only one or two; we have about half a dozen you will zero on. That’s not bad. There was a time when there will only be two you will be talking about; now you will be talking about half a dozen. So that is also very important, that in all walks of life we are increasing and improving in leadership, in governance, in management. We are not there yet. We are not there yet, but we are making progress.

Your book, My Watch, was banned from Nigeria; how did that make you feel?

I won’t say it was banned; it was the machination of one who is more of a criminal than anything else. He got the support of a judge and the judge reversed himself and said he had been misinformed and misadvised by the one who brought the case before him. But it has made the book more popular. You know when you write a book you want people to read it and the more popular a book is the more people want to buy and read it. So for me as an author or a writer I want whatever I write to be read, and people are reading and then the temporary stop put on it also wet the appetite of people who want to read. Now people are reading it that we are printing it in large quantities so that the price can be reduced and it can be within the reach of school children.

Nigeria is dealing with the issue of Boko Haram, so what are your thoughts about it in terms of managing this?

Boko Haram is a matter of socio-economic development, but for domestic terrorism to have hold of the people they must tie it up to something, and they tie it up to some form of religious agitation. So what do I see? I see a situation where first of all the government must have the upper hand militarily, then after you have had the upper hand militarily you have to deal with the genuine issues of socio-economic development. And I believe that if that is well-handled such issues will disappear.

How do you see the future Africa?

I see an Africa in in 20-25 years from now will be more integrated; will be more democratic; will be better governed. I believe that 20-25 years from now there will be no sit-tight African leader. They will have either parliamentary or presidential — whatever term they have — either they are voted out, if its parliamentary, and then they go out, or if its presidential they will have limit to the number of terms they can use. I see Africa loyally opening itself more and more for private investment from every corner of the world. I see Africa becoming a food basket of the world.

Do African countries need national airlines?

No, we should have one big airline for Africa. We have Kenyan Airlines probably not making much, but Nigerian Airlines I closed it down because it was shameful thing. What they call Air Afrique which was for francophone West Africa closed down. I don’t think the South African Airways is making roaring profit. The way I see it is that 20-25 year down the road there would be probably 4-5 major airlines down the world. The Americans for obvious reasons will have one; Europe will have one; China will have one; maybe Asia will have one; maybe the Middle East with the resources they have now will have one. Now Africa will not be able to have one, so how do we fit into thing if we are looking ahead? What should be our thinking? Maybe we should now think of an Africa regional airline that will be affiliated or associated with one of these world airlines.

Culled from Naij

                                        

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president of Nigeria has said that Nigeria will win the war against Boko Haram the same way the country defeated Biafra secessionist during the civil war.

The civil war which occurred from 1967 to 1970 was an attempt by some states to break away from Nigeria and establish an independent Biafra state.

According to Daily Trust, the former president expressed optimism that the country would put an end to the insurgency. He said this on Monday, October 12 after briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on his delegation’s mission to study Columbia’s efforts in the fight against the country’s largest rebel group, FARC.

Obasanjo said it was not until every Boko Haram fighter had died before the country could claim to have defeated the insurgency. Rather, Boko Haram could be considered defeated as soon as the army had the upper hand and other measures had been put in place

                                                    

Obasanjo said: “Oh yes. If we won the civil war, we can win this one. But like the Columbian said, we are not waiting until we kill off every insurgent to say we have won. I believe that once the military has the upper hand, other measures that have to be taken will be put in place. There will be measures of socio-economic development, education, employment. All that has to go into the process of eventually winning the war and saying here is Uhuru”.

He also said that the three month target that the president gave to the army to defeat the insurgency would help them to have a focus.

“The president must give a target. When you give somebody a target, you give him something to aspire to, giving him an objective. Target is not cast in stone. I believe that if you are talking of getting the upper hand, gradually, we are getting the upper hand.
“We are not there yet, but we are getting close. And once we are getting upper hand, we move on and do other things.”

He also explained his reason for visiting the president

                                              

“I’ve come to see the president for two reasons. The first one is the one you’ve just seen. I brought a delegation of those of us who visited Columbia last year under the auspices of a foundation which I’m the chairman…We went to Columbia to see how the Columbian authorities were handling the issue of insurgency which had been with them for more than 50 years. As a result of that visit and the experience we had, a book was produced and I said to them that it would be interesting for us in Nigeria to learn as much as we can learn from the experience of Columbia.
“The second aspect of my visit was the work that both the president and the ECOWAS gave me in Guinea Bissau. The last time, we were able to resolve all the issues of getting a new Prime Minister. This time, we had also been able to resolve the issue of now forming a government.”

He added that he was enjoying his retirement.

“I am enjoying it wonderfully well. Otherwise, I will not be here with you.”

                                           

President Buhari sent Olusegun Obasanjo to Guinea Bissau to resolve the political apprehension that was going on in the country. The move was considered a way to strengthen Nigeria’s foreign policy in Africa.

Despite what some people's said about Chief Obasanjo for absent himself from the independence celebrations yesterday, he still celebrating the 55th independence of our great Nation Nigeria with family and friends. 

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has claimed that he left in the national treasury over N287bn, made up of $2bn, £100m and N10bn in cash and property, being the loot recovered from the late dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.

According to Obasanjo, the funds were paid into the treasury through the Central Bank of Nigeria before he handed over power to the late Umar Musa Yar’Auda on May 29, 2007.

Obasanjo’s disclosure was contained in the Vol. II of his memoir, My Watch and reviewed by Punch.

He said, “In total, by the time I left government in May 2007, over $2bn and £100m had been recovered from the Abacha family abroad, and well over N10bn in cash and properties locally. All were paid to the public treasury through the Central Bank.

“Enrico (Monfrini, a Swiss lawyer) told me by the time I left government that if he continued to get support for his work, there was still about $1bn he believed he could still recover from the Abacha family and cronies.”

The Ota farmer further claimed that there was a time he got a report that £3m cash was seized from an agent of the late military dictator by customs officials at an airport in UK and that the British authorities asked the Nigerian government to prove ownership of the money.

“I went to London to have a meeting on another important issue with (former British Prime Minister) Tony Blair and I took the opportunity to raise the issue of the £3m, using the Yoruba anecdote of the thief who stole palm oil from the ceiling cupboard by getting somebody to help him so as not to spill the red palm oil on himself or the floor. The man who assisted became an accomplice. Tony got the message and the £3m was released to Nigeria the following day,” Obasanjo stated 

 (Sources from DAILY POST)

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed concerned over the unfolding political situation in Guinea Bissau following the dismissal of the Prime Minister, Mr Domingos Pereira, and his cabinet by President Jose Mario Vaz.

This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Friday by the president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina.

It stated that Buhari had already sent former President Olusegun Obasanjo as his Special Envoy to mediate and help find a solution to the crisis brewing in that country.

According to the statement, Buhari’s peace mission is in demonstration of true African solidarity and brotherhood.

The statement maintained that Obasanjo had embarked on the first leg of his mission by consulting with the current Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, President Macky Sall of Senegal in Dakar on Thursday.

“It is regrettable that while Chief Obasanjo was still consulting with President Sall, President Jose Mario Vaz of Guinea Bissau proceeded to appoint and swear-in a new Prime Minister in the person of Mr Baciro Dja, a development that has worsened the political situation in his country.’’

Buhari appealed for calm and called on the leadership in Guinea Bissau to exercise utmost restraint and ensure the maintenance of law and order as efforts continue to resolve the current crisis.

The president, particularly, urged the leadership in Guinea Bissau, including the military, to ensure respect for constitutional order, sanctity of life and safety of citizens.

He also enjoined them to avoid taking any further action that could threaten the fragile democratic institutions recently established in the country.

NAN

The truth is that Tonto DIkeh’s husband, Oladunni Olakunle Churchill is related to former president Olusegun Obasanjo but not his direct son. Oladunni Churchill is Chief Obasanjo’s brother’s son, but Tonto was right to have called him her father in-law, because in Yorubaland, he is truly her baba oko.

The duo didn’t just meet, as Churchill had asked Tonto out while she was dating Michael Awujoola (Malivelihood), waved him aside but did not totally ignore him.

Churchill was brought up in Lagos. He is the chairman of Big Churchill Haven Limited and also the CEO of BigChurch Entertainment, located on Awolowo road, Ikoyi. Big Churchill Haven Limited is an IT & SOLUTION (software management) company.

Churchill was once married to a lady named Bimbo Coker, but the two have since gone their separate ways.