Reforms that don’t
guarantee food for the masses are useless – Moji Obasanjo
By RAZAQ BAMIDELE
Thursday,
January 11, 2007
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•Moji Obasanjo
Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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Major Mojisola Adekunle-Obasanjo, presidential candidate
of the Masses Movement of Nigeria, (MMN) in 2003, has again
been given a renewed mandate to fly the party’s flag
in this presidential election.
In a comprehensive interview with Daily Sun at her party’s
headquarters in Lagos recently, the retired army officer-turned-politician
took a critical look at the reform programmes of President
Olusegun Obasanjo and gave it a thumbs down.
According to her, any reform that fails to put food on the
table of the masses should be considered anti-people.
She spoke on other issues of national interest, including
the constitution, INEC and the upcoming elections.
Venture into politics
My joining politics had to do with divine direction. God called
me to go out and take the leadership mantle of the downtrodden
masses of this country. It is a special assignment from the
Lord.
Before then, I was a solider to the core. I have all along
been honest and transparent. I don’t know how to double
speak. I am not cunning. If I tell you something is white,
you will definitely meet it as such. I won’t tell you
something today and you get there to meet a different thing.
Since I joined active politics, nothing has changed. It is
in my blood. It is part of my DNA. It can’t change.
And any of my children who inherit it would still behave the
same way, I mean honesty and transparency, which I inherited
from my forefathers.
All along, I have been my brother’s keeper. I have been
taking care of the masses. I have been looking after them.
For instance, I founded the Masses Consumers Trust, a co-operative
outfit that takes care of the masses as well as the Masses
Movement of Nigeria, also a non-governmental organization,
which ultimately metamorphosed into a political party in the
same name.
We came together to see how we could form a co-operative outfit
that would see to the welfare of the masses before the vision
came that I should join politics. We started with acquiring
land, legally, for our members to engage in farming as well
as use part of the land to build small houses to serve as
their accommodation. That was what we were doing in Ijoko
area, Ota, Ogun State, where the then military administrator,
Col. Sam Ewang gave us one square kilometres of land. And
that was how we took care of our registered members. The monthly
dues then was just N20 per individual and there were some
of our members on the farm before somebody came to claim ownership
of the land. He took the government to court, harassed us
with thugs and sent hired assassins after me. I took up the
gauntlet and chased out his assassins. The land is still there.
Along the line, I got the vision to go into housing scheme
for the benefit of our teeming members. To this end, we started
the Isheri-Olofin, Meiran, and Amikanle projects in these
areas. The programme was not easy to pursue because majority
of our members are illiterate, and their preoccupation was
just to go to the market and do their trade, mostly engaging
in simple things like pepper and oranges. We have been jack-of-all-trades
and master of all for the sake of the masses.
Masses Movement of Nigeria (MMN)
As at March 2002, I was getting God’s messages. Then
during the 2002 Easter, God said if there was any publication
for the registration of political movement, I should go and
put up application. Initially, my reaction was that of confusion,
because I thought that as an NGO, we were already carrying
out God’s bidding.
I was a bit apprehensive because I did not believe in the
Nigerian political system and I had no confidence in the Nigerian
politicians. In fact, at that time, I was not interested in
any elective post.
When I got the divine message from God, I told the masses.
We always discussed whatever messages we got from visions
or dreams. The masses were excited over it and they said we
should keep on watching events.
I think it was shortly after Easter that we saw it in the
papers that those interested in registering political parties
should apply. That was how I called the masses again and they
gave their support to the idea and we set about registering
one of the two NGOs we ran then as a political movement.
2003 election
Besides the fact that we were registered just about three
months to the 2003 general election, we could not have made
much impact because we were not experienced sufficiently to
win any serious election.
We just thought that, if I could offer to contest as a presidential
candidate for the MMN, people would then be aware that we
were on ground. We would have succeeded in registering our
presence. That was our intention. We were not expecting to
win, honestly.
Ironically and interestingly, that was the period that the
elite and the masses chose to give me serious tongue lashing
that almost discouraged me. The moment I showed interest to
contest against Mr. President, people started calling me all
sorts of names. They said, I was not happy because Obasanjo
did not pick me as his first lady. They said I was trying
to plan a coup to overthrow my husband. They said I was the
most useless woman on earth. I was just looking at them and
laughing.
People called me names and I knew they did not see what prompted
me to contest against my husband. I want to believe people
have now seen what I saw then.
I foresaw that both Obasanjo and the PDP would betray God
and the masses of this country. After an interview I granted
to one of the dailies, ended up in Kirikiri. I was a guest
of the State Security Service (SSS), for sometime. There was
nothing people did not try against me. They even sent assassins
after me, but nobody can kill who God has not destined for
death.
MMN and this year’s general election
Now, we are fully prepared. We have gained experience. Although
everybody, including foreigners that monitored 2003 elections,
knew that the elections were massively rigged we put up advertisement
in newspapers congratulating both the losers and those who
claimed to have won.
We did that to teach a lesson that politics should be viewed
as sports where somebody would win while somebody else would
lose. In our own case, we know there would still be another
time. It would therefore give those who have lost more energy
to prepare more for the battle ahead.
We did not bother to go to court over the outcome of the election
because we believed that was how God wanted it. For 2007,
we are fully prepared than we were in 2003.
INEC and 2007 election
There is something I always tell people. I don’t judge
human beings. If there is apprehension, we’d better
leave it to God to judge and decided. Don’t let us start
to pre-empt God by saying INEC would not perform.
If you become the first woman president in 2007, what would
be the role of your husband, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo?
When Obasanjo became President in 1999, it was he, who chose
his own first lady among the many qualified to be addressed
first ladies, just as he chose Atiku as his deputy. So, if
the masses eventually win 2007 election, I will leave the
decision of who becomes the first Gentleman to them. But as
far as I am concerned, as a person, my presidency would be
a good riddance to bad rubbish of the First Lady/Gentleman
syndrome. The office would be completely phased out. That
would help greatly to bring sanity to the national polity.
The EFCC
If I become the next president, I will not only retain the
outfit, I will even strengthen it the more. The masses have
given me the mandate to congratulate the body through its
able leader, Nuhu Ribadu. I will soon put pen to paper on
that.
Selectivity in the prosecution of the body’s brief is
none of my business because I do not know of any corrupt person
not was reported to the organization, and was not investigated.
The fact remains that the body is doing a good job. You don’t
expect an outfit like that to find favour in people. I don’t
judge people anyway but I appreciate good things that people
do. Ribadu is really doing a good job. He is doing well, and
I am very happy that it is Obasanjo government that started
it. If he had not done it, my government would have done it
in 2007, and of course, people would have been saying the
same thing about me. Let it continue. If it would help this
country to clean the Augean stable a bit, it is a welcome
development. And if we win elections in 2007, we will retain
EFCC and there is room for improvement.
The 1999 Constitution
It is our plan to have a workable Constitution. Do you know
that we have not had constitution in Nigeria? All we have
is military decrees. It is not 1999 constitution we are using
but 1999 decrees handed over to us by the military. They have
been in power for so long. Automatically the law they could
bequeath to us would only be decrees.
This can never work. What we are planning is that immediately
we win in 2007, we would put the so-called 1999 Constitution
aside and start from the beginning which is Sovereign National
Conference because we can’t work with this document.
If we had done this National Conference from the beginning,
we can’t be having the problems we are having.
The Obasanjo administration’s reforms
What makes me happy is the level of education and awareness
the media have raised in this country. People are now more
educated now than 2003. When I listen to radio and television
and hear the level of response of the masses to national issues,
I feel happy.
Ask any tomato seller in the market about political and economic
situation in the country, you would be surprised at the level
of his intelligence. We don’t know what they are saying
about reforms. To us, they are just playing on rhetorics with
their big grammar to deceive us.
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