Obasanjo doesn’t joke with money, says wife

Bola Obasanjo, wife of Nigeria’s former president, says her husband does not joke with money.

The woman, who disclosed this at the Ogun State 3rd Investors’ Forum, where she delivered a speech, said she did not marry him for his money.

She also revealed that the elder statesman does not like lazy people.

Obasanjo got married to Bola in 2009, exactly four years after Stella, who was the first lady during his time in power, died after undergoing surgery in a Spanish hospital.

“I thank God that I am with baba. Don’t think that it is because of his money, not at all, he doesn’t joke or mess around with his money,” she said.

“If he says he loves you, you must be hardworking. We nicknamed baba, wole joko jeun (enter, sit and eat) because of his busy nature. He is always attending to people. He has got answer to everybody’s problem. At times in our house, we receive over 100 guests in a single day, and we serve food to them.

“You dare not tell OBJ that there is no soup in the house, except you want trouble. When he comes in, rush to the kitchen, even if there nothing, you have to pretend that you are bringing something. If the kitchen is empty, you have to rush to the garden.”

At that moment the hall erupted with sounds of laughter. The woman did not stop, as she went on to narrate an encounter with a guest.

“There was a day that someone asked me if we don’t have magazine in the house, and I asked what the person needed it for and she explained that she wanted to use it to fan herself in case of power outage, then I told her that ‘They don’t read magazine here, people come here to see OBJ’s face’,” she said.

“He is a unique man, very unique, and it is not him, it is the grace of God upon his life.”

Advising government to harness the opportunities in agriculture, Bola encouraged youth to go into farming in order to reduce the problem of unemployment.

She revealed that her husband is usually reluctant to assist those who approach him to help them secure white collar job.

“Despite the abundance of agriculture resources in Africa, Sub Saharan countries remain the world most insecure region. There are many factors responsible for this,” she said.

“If you drive from Ogun state through Ibadan, you will see bushes everywhere, we need mechanised farming. How many things can our people do? Not many can bend down and try to cultivate the ground. I’m saying this so our government will do something about it.

“Agriculture is one of the sectors that can provide millions of jobs for our youths and also enhance food security.

“Dr Seun Obasanjo at Ota Farm is a PhD holder, but he joins his father in farming. And Funsho, my own daughter who also has a PhD in bio organic chemistry, is also in the farm. They are all working with baba.

“If you get to baba’s place and tell him you are looking for a job, baba will ask you: ‘Where was the last place you worked?’ and if you say you worked in a bank, he will ask you to seek assistance elsewhere.

“Obasanjo doesn’t give people the kind of money that they would get in banking and oil sectors. It’s either you work in the farm or at the presidential library, and when you work at the library, the money isn’t much, and at times you might work throughout the seven days of the week. You know it’s not easy to gather money.”