7 Powerful Excerpts From Olusegun Obasanjo's Newly Released Book

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has launched his autobiography, titled ‘My Watch’.

The book, which contains several national issues from past to present, was launched at the Lagos Country club Ikeja, Lagos, Tuesday, December 9.

Below are 7 excerpts from ‘My Watch’.

1.  “I remember that in 1978 or 1979 Chief Awolowo visited me while I was military head of state and shared with me how he would always stay at home to attend to the work at hand and only make a private visit to the UK once a year for health reasons if he became president of Nigeria.”

2. “I made it clear to the chief that once he became president of Nigeria, he could have no private visit to anywhere as such. Wherever he would be, he would be on duty, and the totality of his life would be public. I jokingly added that the only privacy he might lay claim to would be when he was at home with Mama Chief H.I.D., and that even then his security staff would be on twenty-four-hour duty.”

3. “The unprepared and unplanned transition from Yar’Adua to Jonathan was a more difficult exercise in some respects. One reason was the ‘cloak and dagger’ manner in which Yar’Adua’s illness was handled. The illness of a President cannot be regarded as private. His health has implications for the security and wellbeing of the nation. For the president and those around him to have attempted strenuously to keep the fact of the severity of his illness from public smacks of ignorance of the enormity of what the job entails and the level of provinciality of their understanding, attitude, and approach.”

4. “Do not believe the president’s words, but should only his actions. The president seems to display the habit of pretending to have no knowledge of the very things he sanctions.”

5. “The news was fairly well-circulated that an elder statesman who formed a close relationship with President Jonathan very early in his presidency came to the conclusion, after six months, that the president has not got what it takes to lead. It was the same elder statesman who reportedly tried to jolt the president into action by telling him that there were five president in Nigeria, and these were his wife the first lady, Diezani, Oduah, Ngozi and the president himself, and that he was the weakest of the five.”

6. “I understand the president tried to make excuses for everyone, but President Jonathan is not too weak to be able to butter his bread and, if necessary, to engage the services of Satan to achieve his self-centered interests on the altar of all else.”

7. “The longest period that I have met one-on-one with the president was for one hour and ten minutes. That whole time, the president talked about nothing that was in the interest of Nigeria; instead he kept pointing out his supposed enemies and various matters that would not serve his interests. I could not stop myself from blurting out: “Mr President, no Nigerian should be your enemy. You have to be like rain falling on good and bad people alike. With that experience, I was not surprised that the president went dancing twenty-four hours after the Nyanya explosion.”

Source: http://ynaija.com/dont-believe-the-presidents-words-only-his-actions-7-notable-excerpts-from-objs-book/