A former presidential aspirant, Prof.
Pat Utomi, has said ex-President
Olusegun Obasanjo is also guilty of
some of his allegations against
President Goodluck Jonathan.
Utomi said just like Jonathan,
Obasanjo also entertained gossips
from those around him.
In a Facebook post on Thursday,
titled ‘Obasanjo and the Burden of
History, Utomi noted that he was
erroneously rumoured to be a
member of the Alliance for
Democracy during Obasanjo’s
administration.
The post read in parts, “Obasanjo’s
duty as a statesman is negatively
affected by a tradition of lack of
charity in dealing with others,
which today makes it easy for
people who should recognise truth
when it comes from him dismiss
him as acting in character without
charity.
“I had the pleasure of being part,
indeed, head of the policy advisory
team that worked with candidate
Obasanjo in 1998. As President, he
lapped up all kinds of gossips
stemming from my critical views on
matters.
“Obasanjo is not wrong in his
accusing Jonathan on the quality of
people around him for gossiping.
The irony is he is guilty of same.”
The foremost economist pointed
out that only a few men in Nigeria
had been given easy passage to
immortality by circumstances as
Obasanjo.
Utomi, added that, “His lack of
charity manages to be a flaw that
seems determined to consign him
to a sad footnote in history.
“Still, this does not mean his voice
should be ignored. In his moments,
he speaks great truth to power and
he understands Nigeria better than
most. He should not be ignored.”