His Royal Majesty, the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon and Vice Chairman, Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, Oba Francis Olusola Alao, on Monday, challenged former President Olusegun Obasanjo for saying that most Nigerian political leaders in the current dispensation are corrupt and should be behind bars.
The foremost traditional ruler stated this in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen in Ibadan on Monday while reacting to a statement credited to former President Obasanjo that most Nigerian political leaders are corrupt and should be in jail.
Last Friday, while receiving some members of the House of Representatives in his residence at Abeokuta, Chief Obasanjo said: “Our main problem is ourselves and until we take care of ourselves, we may have one term of four years, one term of six years, one term of seven years, if it’s the same people and same mentality and way we do things, then it won’t change.
“Yes system, yes democracy, we have to rethink democracy, we have to rethink the form of government, but what is the character of the people in government?
According to him, “most of them should be behind bars, some should even be in the gallows and that is the truth.
“We need to really think about how we select leaders, what should be the character of a leader we select? What should be their track record?
In his reaction, Oba Francis Alao further declared that there is no way the former President can exonerate himself from allegation of corruption and challenge him to surrender himself to the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to clear himself of alleged corruption.
The first class traditional ruler said Chief Obasanjo should stop parading himself all over the world as a saint when he is one of the leaders that steered the ship of Nigeria since 1976 till date.
Oba Francis Alao alleged that the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library could be said to have been largely funded with proceeds of corruption.
The royal father said: ‘’I align with the elder statesman’s position but he should also lead by example by submitting himself for incarceration as a leader of this generation of the so-called corrupt people. There is no way he can exclude himself.
‘’For instance, during his tenure as president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, Chief Obasanjo’s administration spent billions of US dollar to fix the country’s power supply challenges. Yet there is nothing to show for it. The Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library can be said to have been largely funded with proceeds of corruption. So, excluding himself from those he described as corrupt leaders is nothing but grandstanding since Chief Obasanjo cannot wash his hands clean of all activities that brought Nigeria to this undesirable state. Doing so will amount to a pot calling kettle black.
‘’Chief Obasanjo should stop parading himself all over the world as a saint when he is one of the leaders that steered the ship of Nigeria since 1976 till date. He is inclusive of the 90 per cent of Nigerian leaders that should be in prison for corruption.
‘’Let him go and surrender himself before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as an example. Nigerians should be watchful of Chief Obasanjo.
‘’In his eight-year tenure, he failed to reconstruct Lagos-Abeokuta and Lagos-Ibadan roads, leaving them as death traps for motorists. Nigerians will continue to be grateful to his successors – former President Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari – for fixing Lagos-Ibadan expressway which had sent many citizens to early grave before their tenures. The Lagos-Abeokuta road is still in such a deplorable condition, attracting curses from users daily.
‘’Indiscipline is also part of corruption. He has shown deficit in Yoruba culture in some of the ways he handled issues. The former president should go and re-learn culture and stop teaching us what to do in Nigeria’’.
