Obasanjo’s Unstatesmanlike Stance on NNPC

Yemi Adegoke

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo recently, launched a scathing attack on the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the management of NNPC. The announcement of the rehabilitation and operationalisation of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries drew the ire of the former President. He was unsparing in his vitriolic attack going as far as invoking the spirit of the gods to reinforce his weighty allegations.

Since Obasanjo left office in 2007 at the expiration of his tenure and the failure of his desperate attempt to manipulate the constitution and transform into a life President, he has remained a permanent fixture in the country’s politics; cast in the mold of a statesman. The former President has from time to time, lampooned policies of government and brawled with various administrations that succeeded him and released damning letters to boot.

The high moral ground Obasanjo seeks to appropriate for himself in many of his political battles has so far remained an illusory pursuit because most of his incendiary commentaries were heavily weighted in politics. Yet, it is his inalienable right to aspire to be a respected statesman. After all, he loves our country immeasurably and has served it to the best of his ability. This rarified position of consequence and responsibility however demands the highest ethical standards; the pronouncement of a statesman matters, it carries weight and must in essence, be founded on facts and so accurate that each time he speaks, the society listens.  American scholar and historian, Dr. J. Rufus Fears posited that a statesman must possess four qualities: a bedrock of principles, a moral compass, a vision and the ability to build a consensus to achieve that vision. 

It is not for me to judge if the former President has measured up to these qualities. Nigerians are more than capable of making informed judgements. Of critical importance however is that as a democratically elected President between 1999 and 2007, Obasanjo inherited refineries that were in deplorable condition and had the opportunity to fix them. By in his own account as President, he sought external help to rehabilitate and manage the refineries but faced resistance.

In other words, he failed and handed over moribund refineries to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, his predecessor in office. A book entitled, ‘Too Good to Die: Third Term and the Myth of the Indispensable Man in Africa.’ authored by Prof. Chidi Odinkalu and Ayisha Osori sheds a penetrating shaft of light into the extent of the former President’s control of the NNPC as President and his failure to turn the refineries around for the benefit of the country.

According to the book, while serving as Minister of Petroleum Resources, Obasanjo ran the affairs of NNPC as a sole administrator; he never discussed the activities of the corporation with government officials until his last days in office.

 The authors averred that from 1999 to 2007, the former President made himself the Minister in full control of the country’s petroleum sector until January 2007 when he relinquished the position. The only official he had in a similar capacity was Edmund Daukoru, his Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy whom he later appointed Minister of State for Petroleum Resources in 2005.

The book further revealed that even in the twilight of his administration, Obasanjo secured approval for all his dealings as Petroleum Minister in one fell swoop during one of the last meetings of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

The authors wrote, “In one of the last working sessions of the cabinet in May 2007, Obasanjo required the cabinet to give retrospective approval to all the measures he had taken over the last eight years in which he acted as sole administrator of Nigeria’s oil industry.

“Cabinet duly obliged him after recording Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s objection. For this purpose, each Minister received his share of the documents they were required to approve in a Ghana-Must-Go bag.”

Seventeen years after he left office and after several years of failed promises, the Tinubu administration is succeeding where previous administrations failed. The Port Harcourt and Warri refineries in the last stages of full rehabilitation and are currently in operation. Obasanjo’s scathing statement to the contrary, has cast doubt on the veracity of government’s announcement and the validation by various regulators within the energy sector and journalists who toured both facilities. Instructively, NNPC, the company at the centre of this significant achievement and swirling controversy has invited the ex-President for on the inspection of both facilities whereupon Obasanjo refused this critical invitation which has the capacity to lay to rest, all the doubts raised about the current state of the refineries.

The country for good measure, is waiting with baited breath for the truth regarding the state of the refineries and it would be a profound mistake for Obasanjo to turn down the opportunity to expose what he believes to be government’s disingenuity on this important issue of both national and existential consequence. Words do matter and the words of a statesman carries a lot of weight and matter a lot more. Having disparaged the government on the issue of the refineries, a golden opportunity has presented itself in the form of the invitation by NNPC for him to nail the coffin of government by exposing the ‘lies’; Obasanjo’s refusal to face the truth, for that is what his swift rejection of the NNPC invitation represents is an anticlimax, an infamous meltdown of a frightened statesman. In the national interest, I urge him to accept the challenge from the NNPC; the stakes are incredibly high precisely because the health of our economy and the wellbeing of Nigerians depend on the workability of the refineries. For decades, the resuscitation of the refineries has remained a pipe dream which had brought extreme hardship on citizens, unleashed economic downturn and held in abeyance, the unfurling of the great Nigerian possibility.

The landmark achievement recorded by the current administration and the present management of the NNPC in bringing the refineries back to life is a significant movement forward in the nation’s quest for energy security. It has the transformative capacity to propel the country’s economy on the path of shared prosperity. By declining the invitation of NNPC over the minor issue of diplomatese or lack of it, the former President has exhibited unpardonable arrogance and total lack of appreciation of the significance of the moment and gravity of the issue in matter. Statesman hold themselves in subjection to the supremacy of the collective interest; they are not consumed by egoistical predilection. Several critical factors make Obasanjo’s tour of the refineries inevitable. His withering attack on the current administration and management of NNPC in the handling of the refineries revamp constitute the demarketing of the country and the portrayal of the country and its people in bad light if it comes to light that he lied.

The contract for the Warri refinery was awarded in 1975 before Obasanjo became Head of State but was commissioned in 1978 while he was in office. In the case of Kaduna refinery, the contract was awarded in 1977 and commissioned in 1980. So, the former President should have emotional attachment to the two refineries and to some extent, lay a measure of claim for their construction.

The revamp of the refineries should naturally provoke a sense of elation in him and not the pushback his unguarded utterances seem to suggest. By promoting needless controversy which his rejection of the invitation of NNPC has been interpreted to mean, Obasanjo is promoting the erroneous idea that since he failed to resuscitate the four ailing refineries, no other president will be able to do so.

NNPC has acted in good faith by extending this invitation him. The tour of the facilities is not a rocket science, it is a practical experience which will go a long way in bringing closure to contrived conspiracy theories.

As the matter stands now, Obasanjo urgently needs to re-live the Thomas experience. Thomas was a disciple of Jesus who doubted his resurrection and was convinced, only when Jesus appeared to him and other disciples and compelled him to put his fingers and hands on various parts of his body to feel the scars of his crucifixion.

This experience is imbued with redemptive quality; the refusal of the ex-president to honour this invitation will imperil and damage his legacy.  It is foolhardy to play footsie with the interest of a country. For too long, Obasanjo’s many unfinished battles have left the country in the throes of dissatisfaction. This time around, Nigerians should rise up with one voice to demand a level of responsibility from the former President so that our leaders, going forward, will subsequently speak from the standpoint of facts and not mischief. 

Adegoke, a public affairs commentator wrote in from Ikoyi, Lagos.

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