Obasanjo to Buhari: Banditry is happening at your backyard — wake up

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to wake up to his responsibilities and tackle the rising cases of banditry in the country.

The PUNCH quoted the former president as saying this while speaking in a virtual interview with Toyin Falola, a historian, on Sunday.

Obasanjo said Buhari’s decision to replace the service chiefs is not cause for celebrations, adding that he would not comment on their performance until after three or six months.

He said he thought Buhari would do well in fighting corruption but that he did not know he had nepotistic tendencies.

“I thought I knew President Buhari because he worked with me. But I used to ask people, is it that I have not read him well or read him adequately or is it that he has changed from the Buhari that I used to know? I am not subscribing to the people who say we have a new Buhari from Sudan and all that nonsense,” he said.

“I know what I believed was his limitations and I have written about it –he wasn’t strong in economics, not all of us are strong in anything but you need to have sufficient knowledge of it for you to direct the affairs. He wasn’t particularly too strong in foreign affairs but I thought he was strong enough in the military.

“From his performance in his first outing as head of state, I thought he would also do well in fighting corruption. I did not know the nepotistic tendencies of President Buhari maybe because he was not exposed to that sort of situation when he worked with me.

“With what I have seen now, I believe that maybe he will be thinking of a legacy. Maybe he will also learn from what has happened in recent times.

“If you are the commander-in-chief and banditry is taking place in your backyard, then you have to wake up. The president changed his service chiefs after they have been there for more than five years without any perceptible improvement and some people started jubilating.

“I don’t know any of those people that have been appointed as service chiefs but you will hear my comments three to six months from now because within that period, we should be able to show what they can do.”