The gods are angry with Obasanjo
I have been following the news of a family with trepidation but loving it. It is between an influential father and his estrange son. The latter had accused his father of the most heinous crime on earth – incest. The son, a wounded lion, alleged in a court affidavit in the lingering divorce that his own father had sexual relationship with his wife. This son did not stop at that as he also accused the father of his wife of the same offence – incest. This is a tragedy but it may not appear as such to some of those involved, especially the accused who may have believed that, such abomination is part of power game.
I must confess that I am quite enjoying the comedy of this dysfunctional family to the maximum. I know I am sounding like a sadist, but the truth is this: I have lost human compassion for Nigerian looterulers. There is no day in which I failed to wish them bad omen. I want them to suffer like they have made me suffered. I want them to feel the consequences of their idiotic pleasures. I do not want them dead but to die before their death; to be stripped naked in the market, but unfortunately they are shameless.
The story that Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigerian emperor, slept with his son's wife may or may not be true. As far as I am concerned, I want to believe it. I want to believe it so that I will have taken a pound of flesh. I want to believe it so that I will have been justified in my criticism of Obasanjo as a man who had long lost his senses. Even if the story was fabricated by his son, Gbenga, I have no doubts that Obasanjo is capable of such abomination. A man who raped his motherland can as well be stoically mean to sleep with his son's daughter. For him, it's part of being powerful; it's part of being god. It's part of being the "father of modern Nigeria".
For Obasanjo's son to have accused him of incest means one thing: theirs is a dysfunctional family. Perhaps this is the reason the man was/is so mean to Nigeria and its people with his cruel policies. Upon all his pretence that everything is well with him, Nigerians can now see that here is one man who is very sad. Here is one man who could not even manage his family talk less of a country. The accusation has also proved another thing: the man is dying a slow death.
Obasanjo must reap the fruit of his labour. The man has directly or indirectly destroyed Nigeria with his knavery intent. Induction and deduction reasoning or inference emotion point to him in every matter that has destroyed Nigeria and its people. Destruction of standard education; inability to restore electricity to Nigeria culminating in Obasanjo, Imoka §10 billion scandal ala Yar’Adua’s disclosure – among other things. Obasanjo's travails started the moment he jealously and greedily accepted to be president after the killing of MKO Abiola, the acclaimed winner of 1993 elections which was widely described as "free and fair".
Tell me, what other way for a Yoruba man to die alive than his own son to accuse him of incest. It may be acceptable among other tribes but not the Yoruba people. Hum, Remi Oyeyemi who has been claiming that Obasanjo is not Yoruba, may have been right all along. Even bastards are forbidden to engage in such unpardonable offence. Suppose the accusation is true, what will then happen to Obasanjo since the Yoruba normally ostracize and socially sanction incest participants? Even in the biblical book of Leviticus, incest carried a death penalty.
But we are in a new era. Incest to some people may not be as serious as some of us are taking it. Obasanjo may eventually escape capital punishment. Gosh, I have already pronounced this man guilty. Anyway, this man is a survival. I bet nothing will happen thereafter. The man would use his connection to bury it under the dry grass. The traditional chiefs would soon settle the matter without our knowledge. Perhaps Obasanjo's action is for ritual purpose. It might be in due process for him to live longer and forever more. I won't be surprised if later on his daughter, Iyabo Bello, also decided to tell her own story.
Something about Obasanjo is puzzling. This man has achieved what could be described as greatness, yet he appears to be a failure. He could be described as a very lucky man, yet he seems to be one of the unluckiest man alive. The irony of his life should be of great interest to the historians as well as anthropologists. They should help us solve the puzzle. They should help us find why a son would accuse his father, especially an influential father of not even adultery but incest. They should help us further by telling us why God or gods have chosen such man over others. They must not relent on their efforts until they amuse and enlighten us how this man escaped Abacha's lunatic killing instinct.
I violently believe Obasanjo is reaping the whirlwind of his own pool. The man has played with the blood of many innocent Nigerians – through war and misplaced priorities. In his attempt to destroy other notable Nigerians, especially his kinsmen, Obasanjo was/is blinded with clandestine ego of destruction. He is even willing to destroy the gods in order for him to become the god. Obasanjo has no respect for Christianity yet he carries bible from morning till night. He went further to ridicule the religion by studying theology after his rounds of abomination.
Obasanjo has apparently been living for history, and thus let this overwhelm his perspective about certain things. He wants to live forever because he passionately believes it is his destiny to achieve this feat. His undoing, if you ask me, stems from the fact that he is ready to achieve this goal by all means. Obasanjo has forgotten that Ikuogun nii pa akikanju, iku odi nii pa omuwe, iku efun nii pa lekeleke. He probably believes he is a super human who can offend the gods and go scot-free. But no one can escape the wrath of the gods.
I completely disagree with Atiku Abubakar, ex-vice president, who affirmed that Obasanjo’s personal problems must remain personal to him and not subjected to political permutations. I suppose Atiku is indirectly pleading on behalf of himself. Since Obasanjo is Nigeria, whatever he does is for public consumption, including this incest allegation. And I repeat, I am enjoying it like I enjoyed the roforofo fight between the two. Hopefully we have not heard the last about this dysfunctional family.
Nigerians have seen that Gbenga Obasanjo is a wounded lion otherwise he would have kept the secret secret. If there was love lost between the father and the son, I am quite sure they would have jointly sent away the woman at the centre of it all. Meanwhile this woman, Moji Obasanjo (nee Onabanjo), has not denied the allegation that she slept with her father-in-law and her own father. Whereas she has been talking about how much she would get from the divorce. Do I hear you saying birds of the same feather flock together? The lesson, not everything that glitters is gold.
As for Gbenga, he should know that lying against the gods carries maximum penalty. If the allegation is true however, this young man has obviously destroyed the “father of modern Nigeria” single-handed. The gods may have sent him to avenge the drought in the land caused by a man who had every opportunity to become an elder statesman but lost it due to his wayward behaviour. Even though Obasanjo has been a survival, this incestuous allegation may finally ruin an already ruined reputation. Well done, Gbenga Obasanjo.
Hakeem Babalola
mysmallvoice@yahoo.com