Obasanjo picks a temporary job: “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo stunned residents of Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Saturday when he turned himself into a commercial tricycle rider, popularly called Keke, picking and dropping passengers across the capital.” Yes, he is celebrating his 85th birthday and catching fun with life. (The ride would have been magical if not for those MOPOL and SSS around the keke.)
I am a fan of OBJ because he got things done while he was in power. He was not perfect (the 3rd term agenda) but he made everyone proud to be a Nigerian. Unlike today where getting a Nigerian passport seems like passing the seven seas of African folklore, Obasanjo would have called all the responsible parties to order.
People, how can a country not have the ability to produce its passports? I mean, you pay and it takes months, and no one has been sacked. If a national leadership cannot figure out how to print passports for citizens after more than 3 years of paralysis and national embarrassment, forget that leadership!
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
That leadership cannot ride keke.
Mr Obasanjo started the trip from the Moshood Abiola Way end of the road, near the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) mega station.
The former president, dressed in his native Yoruba native attire with a fez cap, was spotted carrying passengers from the take off spot and heading towards the end of the popular Kuto market in the town.
The development, part of activities to mark his 85th birthday, excited the residents, many of whom ran after his Keke, eagerly attempting to board and ride with him.
---
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA (Feb 10 - May 3, 2025), and join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and our global faculty; click here.
You can accuse OBJ of some things but not on capacity, he’s big in that count. Buhari has diminished leadership capacity to an unrecognizable level, making it easy for the next president to outperform, even if he’s average. A great step down from what we ought to be aiming at, after 24 years of democratic experiment. Quite pathetic.
Let it be on record that this government has never solved any single problem convincingly, we are not talking about solving all the problems facing Nigeria, just one, but none I can think of.
They talked about how OBJ wasted $16 billion in the power sector, even when the facts are debatable, but they are burning through 8 years without really doing anything significant in the sector.
In January 2012, GEJ was buried alive when he removed petrol subsidy, they argued that there was no subsidy anywhere, but we are blowing through 8 years of regular subsidy payment, and the all knowing regime couldn’t even get the old refineries working, they can’t even sell them, neither can they build new ones; but they still have admirers.
The regime inherited ASUU problem, and will not still solve it; it inherited some security challenges, but it got worse.
The passport corruption has escalated under them. Kai
This would have been a good assessment of the current leadership but the second paragraph makes it incomplete. As a regular road user, I cannot join you in saying that there’s no leadership at all in that department. Likewise in rail infrastructure. These two have seen very significant improvements from even the good OBJ days.
It is unfair to judge PMB as a failure, considering the resources available to him. Expectations were high, he over-estimated his capabilities and underestimated the enormity of Nigeria’s problems.
Let us no forget that this is a democratic society and the country will not just bend to the wishes and whims of their leaders.
Nigeria is a country of diverse and resourceful interests who are mostly selfish. Hence, if the president is unable to buy the cooperation of this interests, his tenure will be a failure. Lets not forget, the propensity of this interest to undermine his government, sponsor attacks just to make him look bad.
I remember, we experienced 48 hours uninterrupted power supply, which started just after PMB was inaugurated. Are we saying Jonathan intentionally didn’t supply power or PMB has a magic stick or there are people/interests like you and I that are committed to undermining their leaders?
Point is, we as citizens are easily manipulated by religious, emotional and ethnic machinations. all