LIEUTENANT COLONEL ADEBOYE OBASANJO: LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

Lt. Col. Adeboye Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo cut for himself the image of a pan-Nigerian leader while he called the shot at the apex of power hierarchy in the country’s political firmament. He was very nationalistic and he probably still is, though his foibles are legion.

He was one of the patriotic soldiers that fought against the secession of Biafra as an autonomous Republic in the fratricidal civil war that occurred between 1967 and 1970. He became a military head of state six years after the war ended, following the assassination of his boss, General Murtala Muhammed.

When it pleased God to thrust upon his shoulders, the mantle of leadership at the return to civil rule in 1999, Obasanjo showed himself a detribalised Nigerian.

So, it was shocking to many when the news broke four days ago that one of the scions of the former president who currently serves in the Army, Lieutenant Colonel Adeboye Obasanjo, was shot by the bloodsucking demons of Boko Haram extraction. Providence, however, spared the young officer’s life which gives sympathisers something to cheer about.

Serving in the 3rd Division as a military engineer like his father, Adeboye was leading a platoon of soldiers to confront the insurgents and displace them from the conquered territory of Michika, in Adamawa State, when the corrosive elements struck at Bazza area of the state and their bullet hit him. 40 other officers and men were not as lucky, as they were harvested by the sickle of death through the insurgents’ bullets. These soldiers are, like many others that had met untimely death in the line of duty, particularly while confronting the Boko Haram monsters.

The attack on the soldiers bore the imprimatur of an ambush. So, the question arises that, could the insurgents have got wind of the deployment of the soldiers and consequently moved to thwart their mission?It will be recalled that the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubuike Ihejirika, had warned infidel soldiers against fraternising with the enemies. He had spoken against the background of the attack on a Mali-bound military convoy in Kogi State, last year. Two soldiers were gunned down in the offensive and a soldier suspected to have leaked information about the 190-strong troops was reported to be awaiting court martial then.

But undaunted and miffed by the continued onslaught of the insurgents and as a patriotic soldier that he is, recuperating Lieutenant Colonel Obasanjo has voiced his eagerness to return to warfront and slug it out with the terrorists.

The young officer, who was said to be in high spirits by those who have visited him, has demonstrated that sweet water can only flow from a fountain of sweet water. As his father is in terms of nationalistic feelings, so is officer Obasanjo. Only about two weeks ago, the former president expressed readiness to go back to the battle field against the insurgents, if that will keep the country a united entity and roll back the seeming victory of the terrorists against the Nigerian state.

Also cheering is a report that Obasanjo ignored selfish counsel from Job’s comforters that his son be flown abroad for adequate medical attention. The attack on Adeboye made headlines not because he survived but as a result of the status of the former president. Thus, it would have been unkind to fly him abroad, while others who have sustained one injury or the other, either in the same onslaught or similar ones earlier, in the hands of the terrorists have not had such opportunity.

The trauma of the attack on Adeboye, the agonising experience of the parents of the Chibok 219, as well as the disturbing emotional disequilibrium of victims of Boko Haram attacks and their relations should be seen as sacrifice for the togetherness of the country. Last weekend, the parents of the abducted girls, having ploughed the depth of despair over the recovery of their daughters, announced that they were willing to have the girls sacrificed if and only if with such immolation, the authorities would muster the will to wipe out the insurgents from every part of the country permanently.

Nigerians have bled too much from the ferocity of insurgents’ attacks. And the offensives of Boko Haram have been class-blind. And nothing appears forthcoming from internationalisation of the counter-insurgency measures against the mindless and murderous hate campaign of the terrorists. What success has the involvement of global community recorded so far? When will these forgers of hate-alloy be shellacked?

The Federal Government should, as a matter of urgency, see to the provision of adequate medical attention for young Obasanjo and others who have been hit in the crossfire with the evil-minded sons and daughters of a bitch wanting to force a parochial philosophy on the country.

Government also must not be seen to be giving tacit cover up for alleged sponsors of the sect. The allegations raised by the government-engaged Australian negotiator, Dr Stephen Davis, are too weighty to be swept under the carpet, irrespective of the political affiliation of those fingered to be providing nourishment for the terror group. Terrorism in the country is alleged to have been funded by an institution. Does the non-rebuttal of such allegation mean an admission of guilt? A government that is serious about fighting insurgency would have launched an enquiry into such revelation, especially coming from a foreign negotiator whose reputation is at stake and who can be said to enjoy some trust from Nigerians.

Long before the foreigner was commissioned as Boko Haram negotiator, the Federal Government said it had drawn up a list of sponsors of the sect, as well as their party affiliation. Are those fingered by the negotiator on the list? Who are those on the list? Why has government not made public the names of these unpatriotic Nigerians? Or is the list being hidden to see how huge political capital can be made from it? How long shall we continue to play politics with the lives of the citizenry? How long? How long?




Source: Tribune