Skip to main content

Obasanjo's Shylock Mentality By Manjadda M. Imah

December 17, 2013

It is a self evident fact that president Jonathan is incompetence personified. But, it is even more evident that Obasanjo is the ultimate opportunist. Throw in some measure of vindictiveness, vileness, putrid malice, delusions of grandeur, and a good dose of selective amnesia, and the picture of the man Obasanjo is complete. That Obasanjo is brilliant and possesses an unrivaled sense of cunningness is not in doubt. What baffles observers is the use to which he puts his otherwise brilliant mind. Here is a man whose capacity for unbridled mischief is beyond compare. 

It is a self evident fact that president Jonathan is incompetence personified. But, it is even more evident that Obasanjo is the ultimate opportunist. Throw in some measure of vindictiveness, vileness, putrid malice, delusions of grandeur, and a good dose of selective amnesia, and the picture of the man Obasanjo is complete. That Obasanjo is brilliant and possesses an unrivaled sense of cunningness is not in doubt. What baffles observers is the use to which he puts his otherwise brilliant mind. Here is a man whose capacity for unbridled mischief is beyond compare. 

A man obsessed with self adulation and a 'holier than thou' mentality that borders on paranoia. It is no surprise therefore that he has been able to deploy a considerable amount of energy towards studying the Nigerian, and has become somewhat of an expert on the 'Nigerian psyche', and has developed an uncanny ability to gauge the mood of the nation correctly. To this end , he has always been able to time his responses to national issues to perfection in other to gain utmost attention and leverage, and to secure the gratitude of a bewildered populace benumbed by the sheer rascality of its leaders. A pulverized and forlorn population who wait prayerfully for the intervention of a sacred hand endlessly. 

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });

At moments like these Obasanjo has slithered in like a venomous snake to fill in the void. Striking down his victims with a viciousness only he can muster. In an environment like ours where shepherds prey on their flocks, Obasanjo has thrived. But the big question is this: is Obasanjo the clump of grass on the edge of the river to be clutched by the flailing hands of a drowning man (the nation), desperate to get hold of anything that would provide a scintilla of hope for survival? Is he a bastion of the hopeless lot of Nigerians? This question is key. We need to answer this question once and for all in other to be free of Obasanjo's shenanigans, and to place him and his ilk in their proper place. 

The answer to this question is a resounding NO! Obasanjo's comments and letters to leaders has always, without any exception, been motivated, not by a selfless spirit of patriotism, but by the quest for excision - the proverbial getting one's own pound of flesh. He possesses a 'Shylock mentality' that makes him unable to overlook or forgive a slight, no matter how minutiae. And, the larger you are on the political landscape the harder he whets his knife (caustic tongue and pen) in readiness. From his infamous letter to Babangida on the so called SAP with a human face, to the imposition of a terminally ill man on a nation that rejected his third term bid, through Yar'adua's coma situation when he (Obasanjo ) betrayed a dying man by asking him to take the path of honour, and to the letter, ' before it is too late' , to Jonathan, he had bided his time to perfection and struck at the most auspicious of times. Carefully, he has tried to cultivate the mien of the ultimate statesman concerned with the welfare of his country. A country he has deliberately set on the path to self destruct. 

Here is a man who, with a straight face swore that doctors had certified Yar'adua cured, even though the same Yar'adua collapsed at his feet at a rally and was spirited away to a German hospital. But when Yar'adua refused to dance to his whimsical tunes he brought out his long knives and started talking about honour. What honour? Does he know the meaning of honour? He was only after his pound of flesh. He got it with the nation applauding! Similarly, he had thought that a pliant Jonathan would succumb to his every whim. But Jonathan soon proved that even a wimp can be emboldened by the enormous power in the presidency. Scorned, he headed for his knives again and struck with devastating effect. As I speak Jonathan's pound of flesh hangs in the balance and a Portia is not in sight. Meanwhile our grand old Shylock smiles gleefully basking in the furor his letter has caused.

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content2'); });

Must we continue to be cannon fodder for Obasanjo in his fight with his co - travelers who had pauperized a nation with so much promise and disappointed the likes of Mandela? That president Jonathan is transgressive is not in doubt to sane minds. We know this, and a million voices have said so at countless fora. We do not need the eerie voice of a lone wolf to drown our voices of protest, casting himself as a messiah. The harsh truth is that Obasanjo does not love Nigeria. HE USES NIGERIA FOR HIS SELFISH ENDS.

This article, as earlier stated, does not attempt to exculpate President Jonathan from the reign of impunity that permeates every facet of his government as never seen before, but to show Obasanjo for what he is - a Shylock in search of his "weight of carrion flesh". And like Shylock whose greedy knife was blunted by Portia's sharp wit, Obasanjo and his ilk in the political class shall self flagellate until they lose everything to the anger of a cornered population yearning for freedom and justice. But will they find a common ground in time to save us all from the bottomless pit of hell for which we are all headed?

 

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters

googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('comments'); });