Olusegun Obasanjo: Happy 80th birthday to a titan

BY  any definition, consideration or yardstick in Africa, Chief Mathew Olusegun Okikiolu Aremu Obasanjo is one of the greatest African achievers still actively alive at this time. And without any iota of doubt, he will always be remembered as one of the most influential human beings of all time. By the grace of God, he will clock the age of 80 on Sunday the 5th of March 2017. Although, enigmatic, because a lot of people will have good things to say about him while others will run him down but this has never bothered him at any time. An example was was his usual calm reaction to sometimes scathing remarks that usually greeted books he authored starting with “My Command, This Animal Called Man, Not My Will and My Watch.

Coincidentally like me, he attended Owu Baptist Day School in the 40’s and Baptist Boys’ High School (BBHS), Abeokuta in early 50’s and he did excellently well in both places which in fact gave him the necessary impetus to rise to great heights in his lifetime. At Baptist Boys High School, he made his mark. First he was given scholarship by the Baptist Missionary along with  the current Olowu of Owu,His Royal Majesty, Oba Olusanya Adegboyega Dosunmu, CON and late Chief MKO Abiola. Of course, the scholarship was not free because one was bound to work for it. The three of them were actively engaged in clearing up the school dormitory and other chores everytime.

There and then, the young student Olusegun was elevated to serving as the school Librarian. Indeed, this was the finest hour of his school time where he developed the skills and ability  for self-study and concentration.. In no time, he gained his promotion to class V where he took the advantage of all that he read and studied. This library experience reinforced his endeavour to attempt and pass the school certificate examinations exceptionally well in one sitting. He did not proceed to Class V1 having passed the school certificate examinations.

Permit me here to recall one bright and beautiful day, he was coming from Afin Owu Hilltop Road in Abeokuta and I was on my way there when we met. After greeting each other, he stopped and said he would like to discuss his new ambition with me. On my enquiry, he revealed that he was about to travel to Sandhurst in the United Kingdom since his determination was to enlist in the Nigerian Military Force. I smiled and wished him good luck but inside me I felt this was a young man with a bright future but determined to commit suicide by joining the Army.

Who would have thought that the young boy who was determined at that early age to join the Army would now be celebrating his 80th birthday? He deserves all the encomiums that we can shower on him and in congratulating him for so many battles of life that he fought and won. Writing about Olusegun Obasanjo whether you like him or not you can not deny his tenacity for hard work which invariably earned him success in virtually all his endeavours in his life. Like many other indigenes of this historic city of Abeokuta, he benefitted a lot from training in self-discipline and integrity obtained from growing up in the villlages and Agbo-iles (family compounds) as well as from the famous (BBHS).

One of such home lessons from proverbs was ‘’whoever is not armed holding a sword should never ask who killed his father’’ that is “towo eni oba ti teku ida, aki beere iku topa baba eni’’. Obasanjo was clever in heeding the lessons of this proverb when after winning the 1999 elections he kept to his chest his intention of reorganising the Nigerian Armed Forces until he got to power. Nevertheless, it does not mean that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is without his own problems. In 1995, he was accused of plotting to overthrow the Government of the then General Sanni Abacha and eventually he was court marshalled and convicted by military tribunal to life imprisonment but after subsequent pleas from Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Jimmy Carter of USA the life imprisonment was committed to fifteen years imprisonment. but after the death of General Abacha, he was released.

At this junction, the Nigerian Bar Association had to intervene and that was when I was serving as chairman of the Association’s Human Right Committee. We opposed life imprisonment without allowing for appeal to the court marshal. Obasanjo was released after the death of Sani Abacha. The rest is now part of history. Obasanjo today, stands tall will humility and pride, having etched his name in the Nigerian hall of fame and the annals of world history.

In conclusion let me join numerous others worldwide to say happy birthday and many happy returns.

• Ajibola is a former judge of the World Court at The Hague.