PDP Died Immediately After I Left The Party – Obasanjo
PDP Died Immediately After I
Left The Party – Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday
said the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, died
after he and the party’s former National
Chairman, Ahmadu Ali, left it.
He stated this in Abeokuta at a symposium
titled ‘Purpose and Utilitarian Values of
Presidential Libraries’, held as part of the
programme for his 80th birthday celebration.
Mr. Obasanjo, who was the former Chairman
of the Board of Trustees of the troubled main
opposition party, was replying to comments by
Mr. Ali about their past relationship in
government.
He quickly added that Nigeria would not die
like the PDP.
Mr. Obasanjo, who was elected president
twice on the platform of the PDP, stressed
that the party is dead, sunk and gone.
He recalled that he asked Mr. Ali to lead the
party because of his integrity, saying PDP was
controlling 30 out of the 36 states.
He said Mr. Ali as the national chairman
ensured the stability and effectiveness of
PDP, and lamented that the party is now down
and out following an intractable internal crisis.
“Ahmadu Ali is truthful and that was why I
brought him to head the PDP and all went
well. When Ahmadu Ali was the national
chairman. We were controlling 30 out of the
36 states. When Ahmadu and I left, the
fortune of the PDP began to sink”, he said.
“Whether you believe it or not, today PDP is
sunk and gone. May the fortune of Nigeria
never sink like that of the PDP” he said, with
the audience responding in a thunderous
“Amen.”
Mr. Obasanjo while also responding to
encomiums poured on him by dignitaries at
the event, said the Olusegun Obasanjo
Presidential Library was established to correct
one of the mistakes he made when he first led
Nigeria as a military Head of State.
The mistake, he said, was not collecting and
archiving materials connected to his time
during the civil war.
“Somebody among the speakers said God has
always given me the opportunity to correct my
wrongs. I will say God has done that for me
not in all cases but in most cases and this
Presidential Library is actually an act of God
which he has given to me to correct one of
my mistakes of the past and I have said this
very often.
“I was in the war front, it was very one
significant thing in my life and in the life of
Nigeria. I was military Head of State, it was
one significant thing in my life and in the life
of Nigeria.
“But I was not as mindful as I should have
been about collecting materials that were
connected with those events, the war front
and civil war both on the vandals’ side – we
called them rebels’ side or if you like the
Biafrans’ side – they called us vandals, we
called them rebels.
“But we did collect something. When I was
also the military Head of State, I didn’t pay
much attention to collect materials, where I
should have paid attention to. So, by 1988, it
occurred to me that these were mistakes, I
looked at some of the materials we got from
the war fronts, they were in very bad state of
neglect so what I did was to try and micro-film
what we could micro-film.
“I also learnt a lesson; when you are in a
position to keep materials and preserve them
for prosterity, you should do so and I never
knew there will be another opportunity. So,
God created another opportunity for me to
correct the mistakes of the past.
“God is the God and for some of us He is not
God of second chance but God of many
chances and I will be eternally grateful to God
for the opportunity he has given me.
“But more importantly, whatever I might have
achieved, I take responsibility; but whatever I
might have achieved, it would not have been
possible without the people who have helped
me in life to be able to achieve what I have
achieved.
“Take the Presidential Library for example, if
not for the members of Board of Trustees, I
would have fallen by the roadside and that
would have been another mistake, because it
got to a stage that things were rough, things
were rough and we were just putting heads
together. It is God of many chances.”
He urged the youth who attended the
programme not to be mindful of their current
positions, whether poor or weak, assuring that
if he (given his poor background) could make
it this far, they can also make it.
He advised them to share whatever ideas they
have with others, for the growth and
development of Nigeria.
The former President said having passed the
kiln of life, including marking time in prison
without being killed by his jailers, he has
nothing more to fear, save God.
In his remarks, former U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations,UN, Andrew Young, said that
without Obasanjo, Africa might still be in a
desperate position.
“It is time for Nigeria to realise and make
amends where it is lagging behind”, Mr. Young
said.
“There is no human being in Africa that has
experienced what Obasanjo has gone through
in the last 50 years. One thing about him is
that he is the same way, same person,
whether in New York, UN, World Bank, White
House or China. He does not change. He does
not give a damn who he makes mad,” he said.
He said Mr. Obasanjo should be celebrated,
adding that “the Presidential Library will help
others to understand his work.”
Similarly, Tracy Roosevelt, grand daughter of a
former U.S. President, Franklin D Roosevelt,
explained that a Presidential Library is a place,
meant to bring together the memories of the
past and to also bring men and women
together for higher goals.
Ms. Roosevelt said Mr. Obasanjo gave the gift
of the library to his people, to share the
memories of his past with his people.
“There are 14 presidential libraries in the the
United States of America, but the first
Presidential Library in Africa was created by
Obasanjo in Abeokuta,” she said.
Left The Party – Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday
said the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, died
after he and the party’s former National
Chairman, Ahmadu Ali, left it.
He stated this in Abeokuta at a symposium
titled ‘Purpose and Utilitarian Values of
Presidential Libraries’, held as part of the
programme for his 80th birthday celebration.
Mr. Obasanjo, who was the former Chairman
of the Board of Trustees of the troubled main
opposition party, was replying to comments by
Mr. Ali about their past relationship in
government.
He quickly added that Nigeria would not die
like the PDP.
Mr. Obasanjo, who was elected president
twice on the platform of the PDP, stressed
that the party is dead, sunk and gone.
He recalled that he asked Mr. Ali to lead the
party because of his integrity, saying PDP was
controlling 30 out of the 36 states.
He said Mr. Ali as the national chairman
ensured the stability and effectiveness of
PDP, and lamented that the party is now down
and out following an intractable internal crisis.
“Ahmadu Ali is truthful and that was why I
brought him to head the PDP and all went
well. When Ahmadu Ali was the national
chairman. We were controlling 30 out of the
36 states. When Ahmadu and I left, the
fortune of the PDP began to sink”, he said.
“Whether you believe it or not, today PDP is
sunk and gone. May the fortune of Nigeria
never sink like that of the PDP” he said, with
the audience responding in a thunderous
“Amen.”
Mr. Obasanjo while also responding to
encomiums poured on him by dignitaries at
the event, said the Olusegun Obasanjo
Presidential Library was established to correct
one of the mistakes he made when he first led
Nigeria as a military Head of State.
The mistake, he said, was not collecting and
archiving materials connected to his time
during the civil war.
“Somebody among the speakers said God has
always given me the opportunity to correct my
wrongs. I will say God has done that for me
not in all cases but in most cases and this
Presidential Library is actually an act of God
which he has given to me to correct one of
my mistakes of the past and I have said this
very often.
“I was in the war front, it was very one
significant thing in my life and in the life of
Nigeria. I was military Head of State, it was
one significant thing in my life and in the life
of Nigeria.
“But I was not as mindful as I should have
been about collecting materials that were
connected with those events, the war front
and civil war both on the vandals’ side – we
called them rebels’ side or if you like the
Biafrans’ side – they called us vandals, we
called them rebels.
“But we did collect something. When I was
also the military Head of State, I didn’t pay
much attention to collect materials, where I
should have paid attention to. So, by 1988, it
occurred to me that these were mistakes, I
looked at some of the materials we got from
the war fronts, they were in very bad state of
neglect so what I did was to try and micro-film
what we could micro-film.
“I also learnt a lesson; when you are in a
position to keep materials and preserve them
for prosterity, you should do so and I never
knew there will be another opportunity. So,
God created another opportunity for me to
correct the mistakes of the past.
“God is the God and for some of us He is not
God of second chance but God of many
chances and I will be eternally grateful to God
for the opportunity he has given me.
“But more importantly, whatever I might have
achieved, I take responsibility; but whatever I
might have achieved, it would not have been
possible without the people who have helped
me in life to be able to achieve what I have
achieved.
“Take the Presidential Library for example, if
not for the members of Board of Trustees, I
would have fallen by the roadside and that
would have been another mistake, because it
got to a stage that things were rough, things
were rough and we were just putting heads
together. It is God of many chances.”
He urged the youth who attended the
programme not to be mindful of their current
positions, whether poor or weak, assuring that
if he (given his poor background) could make
it this far, they can also make it.
He advised them to share whatever ideas they
have with others, for the growth and
development of Nigeria.
The former President said having passed the
kiln of life, including marking time in prison
without being killed by his jailers, he has
nothing more to fear, save God.
In his remarks, former U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations,UN, Andrew Young, said that
without Obasanjo, Africa might still be in a
desperate position.
“It is time for Nigeria to realise and make
amends where it is lagging behind”, Mr. Young
said.
“There is no human being in Africa that has
experienced what Obasanjo has gone through
in the last 50 years. One thing about him is
that he is the same way, same person,
whether in New York, UN, World Bank, White
House or China. He does not change. He does
not give a damn who he makes mad,” he said.
He said Mr. Obasanjo should be celebrated,
adding that “the Presidential Library will help
others to understand his work.”
Similarly, Tracy Roosevelt, grand daughter of a
former U.S. President, Franklin D Roosevelt,
explained that a Presidential Library is a place,
meant to bring together the memories of the
past and to also bring men and women
together for higher goals.
Ms. Roosevelt said Mr. Obasanjo gave the gift
of the library to his people, to share the
memories of his past with his people.
“There are 14 presidential libraries in the the
United States of America, but the first
Presidential Library in Africa was created by
Obasanjo in Abeokuta,” she said.