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David Jemibewon, a retired general and a former Minister of Police Affairs has gone down memory lane to recall how Nigeria’s ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo sensationally ruined his dream book launch in an inhuman manner he would never forget.

He has also told a pathetic anecdote about how his brother died mysteriously this year through snakebite and how General Ibrahim Babangida showed how “humane” a former President of Nigeria can be.
Jemibewon’s memoir titled ‘The Combatant in Government’ was to be launched at the Officer’s Mess in Ibadan but a day to the launch, the then military head of state, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo suddenly cancelled the book launch with no explanation to the author.

An angry Jemibewon still carrying the wounds of the aborted book launch many years after describes Obasanjo as a man who enjoys inflicting pain on people, particularly those close to him.
“Obasanjo probably enjoys or derives some enjoyment when he thinks somebody is injured,” he told the Saturday Sun exclusively in Lagos.

He added: “The closer you are to him, the more he knows you, the more he derives enjoyment for that injury. That’s the way I would put it.”

It is better to allow Jemibewon who himself survived a critical motor accident in year 2000 to tell his stories, portraying the two leaders whom fate imposed on Nigeria—twice in case of Obasanjo. Hear the testimonies on Obasanjo and Babangida straight from the mouth of a man who should know:

On Obasanjo
“In 1976, I was appointed a governor in Ibadan. In 1978, I left office and I wrote a book, The Combatant in Government. And I decided to launch the book. But before launching the book, I sent a copy to Gen. Obasanjo who was then military head of state and to one or two other people. The foreword was written by General Danjuma who was an important pillar in that military government. And I made Prof. Ayodele, the then Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar the chairman of the launch. I decided to launch it at the Officer’s Mess in Ibadan. A day to the launch of the book, without any communication to me, Obasanjo as military head of state, took a decision to cancel the launch.
“And he didn’t tell me. But of course, one has friends who hinted me. So the launch didn’t take place. Ordinarily, it would have been neater, if I was called and told that the book was not going to be launched and probably told why. Maybe, it is possible that sometimes Obasanjo probably enjoys or derives some enjoyment when he thinks somebody is injured. If that is so, then it means, it doesn’t matter who it is, or maybe, the closer you are to him, the more he knows you, the more he derives enjoyment for that injury. That’s the way I would put it.”

Did Jemibewon ever ask why Obasanjo cancelled the book launch?
“It wasn’t necessary. By virtue of his position, he had used his position, so what am I asking him for? I didn’t consider it necessary. Yes, he was my senior in the military. And that is why sometimes applying force is not the best thing. No sensible person applies force on all occasions in the military. If you do that, your soldiers can in fact revolt. As a person who is leading others, there are times you could use persuasion, there are times you could use reasonable force and there are times you could in fact almost appeal. It is all these put together that brings out a good leader. So, there was no point asking him further why he cancelled the book launch.”

How would Jemibewon compare Obasanjo’s leadership style with that of Gen. Babangida?
“Now let me tell you a story. I lost my junior brother. From my mum, we are four. I am the first born of my parents. I have twins following me but one survived and the other died at birth. The one that survived died in October 2005. The one that follows him died on May 25, this year in a mysterious manner through snakebite. And having spent three days in the hospital, he died. The point I am driving at is that Gen. Babangida came to my village in Kabba, to come and show his sympathy. He phoned to ask where I was and I said I was in the village. He said he was coming and I said he didn’t need to come. I thanked him but he said, if not even for me, but for my mum. That his own brother too died and it is only him and his sister left. So he drove five hours plus from Minna to my village on a Sunday. Babangida is a humane person. And I am not in anyway exaggerating. You never saw Babangida quarrel with anybody throughout his military career. And perhaps, his humane nature is what affected his regime, where people who had the opportunity misused the opportunity or abused the opportunity. Because you have a person who is so humane, who didn’t want to hurt anybody and people took advantage of that. I think the difference (between Obasanjo and IBB) is clear.”

How does Jemibewon see Nigeria today post-Obasanjo?
“In 1998-99, a lot of us had vision. Or we imagined a vision where post-military, this country would progress gradually. One would have wished there was a total break with the military. My preferred candidate for that top position in the PDP was Ekwueme. I voiced it out but unfortunately, it didn’t work that way, although nobody knows what would have happened if he were the one that ruled Nigeria instead of Obasanjo.
“The aim of the founders of PDP was that it should be an all-embracing party of various opinions and attempt for the first time to have the principal political figures in the three major ethnic groups in this country—the East, West and North. And so every effort was made to realise this. Chief S.B. Awoniyi played a great role with the support of many, many others, including traditional rulers. Now, this party was born, and in fact, it was in Lagos here that the name PDP was arrived at and the emblem umbrella was arrived at. And it was at that meeting it became obvious that the West was pulling out. But even at that meeting at MUSON Centre, a chair was left empty and they said that chair was for the West. Late Bola Ige was to be the chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee. Because they pulled out, Solomon Lar was sent to persuade them but they didn’t come back. I was a member of that committee but we never sat for even a minute. I got there, but because my chairman (Bola Ige) was not there, I got back home.
“About 12 midday, a phone came to me and it was an instruction from Ekwueme that I should come and meet them there. When I got there, they said I should take over the chairmanship of the Constitution Drafting Committee. I felt it was a very big task, because I wasn’t the most experienced lawyer and with my military background, I thought it was a big challenge. It was an honour, but a big challenge. Some great people rose up to give me support. One of them is the late Chuba Okadigbo. This is just to let you know that I know the inner working of the brains behind PDP. And most of the meetings that were held I was present.
“The vision we had for the party, government and the country, have all evaporated. If you take note, there was an all-politicians conference at Eko Le Meridien at which Dr. Ekwueme was made the chairman but the meeting was abruptly disrupted during Abacha’s regime. It was the aim behind these meetings that was carried to PDP. The idea was to let all the politicians, all the brains in this country come together and move this country forward. Today, the situation is almost more complex than 1999.
In fact, at that time, I recommend in my interviews that those who became president should serve just one term of four years, so that the thing can go round all the geopolitical zones. That would be 24 years. And we regard these 24 years a transitional period. Personally, I would not like to support the idea of rotation but any method that would bring peace, progress is the best choice. After that, we can then do a proper democratic practice and see who the whole country would say, that is the man we want. I am not using the word best. Because in politics really, what you get, particularly by the Nigerian way, is not necessarily the best. But if all of us decide it, then if the man gets there and doesn’t perform, we can also use the same machinery to remove him. But today, the situation is more complex.
“I know during Babangida’s era, he made the effort to control party politics such that you had two major parties with very positive objectives. That is to say you either believe in this or that. And if you believe in neither, you stay out. There is easy control by that. Even in 1999, we didn’t have more than five parties. We had APP, PDP and AD. These were the three major parties. Again, it was a pointer to a bright future political development. Today, with the number of parties in this country, there is no sanity.
“The initial hope, the initial vision, the initial objective of the PDP seems to have been lost. The founding fathers of the PDP did not imagine that what is happening today would happen. And so, there was no kind of anticipated remedy against Obasanjo having a tight grip on the party. After the convention in Jos where the party’s presidential candidate emerged, leading to the national election and now party winning the presidency, I think PDP made one serious error and I want to believe that all other things that followed, followed as a result of that initial error.
And incidentally, I echoed it when there was a seminar to which states recommended three people each out of which ministerial appointees were to be selected. And I think what I consider as an error is that immediately the party produced the president and the president was sworn in and he took control of governance, the machinery of the party ought to have immediately been democratised. But it did not take place. And so, those in office for the party, who should have run the party, distinct from government, did not want to leave office, and so they aided and ensured that the party machinery was not democratised through constitutional procedure of election. Don’t forget that the chairman of the party was not elected, the secretary of the party was not elected, all members of the party executive not elected. I think that was where the first mistake was made. Till today, there has been no proper election into the executive of the party.”

How does he see the emergence of Yar’Adua as President?
“What is important is what he does. He is there. We must accept that. By whatever method, he is the president. And so all we can do is to wish him well. And the manner of his own method of administration is what would endear him to the Nigerian people or what may not endear him.”

Does he think Obasanjo has come out of politics richer or poorer?
“Is he really out of politics? Do you mean coming out of office or politics? If you say office, I would think he has come out richer. But then, I need to put a rider. I also want to believe that anybody who has that opportunity would come out richer. By that I mean he could be richer intellectually, richer in experience, richer in the knowledge of Nigeria and Nigerians, richer in the knowledge of the world, because he had the opportunity to interact and then you can also talk of the economic side. There is no doubt, he is out richer. And indeed anybody who is there would be out richer. But it depends on what angle.”

Did Obasanjo practise what he preached in the area of corruption?
“To be honest, I don’t want to work on speculation. I have no evidence that he either practised or he did not practise what he preached.”

How does he see the arrest of former governors on corruption charges?
“I have been troubled in my mind, not just of the governors. Let’s start from the way some people have been picked up for purported corruption, starting with the former Inspector General of police, Tafa Balogun, handcuffed. I felt distressed. By that handcuffing, it is not just Tafa that went through the disgrace. I think the entire Nigeria psychologically went through disgrace. He was the head of the police. And before he was handcuffed, he was performing the job few months before. The head of the Nigeria police handcuffed. I would have wished it was done differently and still achieve the same objective. So also the governor of Bayelsa State. Because you had children lining up the street sometimes, carrying the national flag when they say the governor is coming on visit. And just few days after, the same governor is in handcuffs. I don’t think anybody at that level with the security around him could easily disappear outside this country. The handcuffing I thought we could have done without. So in respect of the situation of the governors now, I think there is an improvement in the sense that they were taken to court. In other words, it would appear they want to adopt due process. They have been remanded in prison which is a different thing but at least being charged to court, it would appear due process is being followed. But again, since the governors are no more governors and the offences alleged against them were committed when they had immunity, now the immunity is no more there, if they actually committed the crime for which they are charged, then they have to go through due process.”