2023: He Won’t Endorse You!! Atiku Receives Backlash After Proposing That Obasanjo Should Be On New Naira Note

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s proposal that the picture of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo appear on one of the newly designed naira notes has elicited conflicting views online.

Atiku took to Twitter to thank the former President on his role in restoring peace in Ethiopia and to argue that his image should grace the country’s naira currency.

Reacting, Nigerians gave interpretations to his remarks, with many saying that it’s his own way of soliciting for Obasanjo’s support ahead of the 2023 presidential elections.

Atiku’s tweet read: “I celebrate the extraordinary prowess of His Excellency, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, in bringing peace to Ethiopia. I am not surprised. I know my boss. He did the same thing in Liberia and São Tomé and Príncipe during our time in office.

“If for nothing else, he is most deserving of a Nobel Peace Prize, and I will nominate him when entries are open for nominations. Africa is blessed to have a statesman of such impeccable democratic credentials as Chief Obasanjo, a man whose image ought to be on the redesigned naira note, to inspire future generations of Nigerians to sacrifice for their nation and continent.

As backlashes trail the tweet, @Gesture Kind wrote: “That won’t make obj to endorse you, what we want in Nigeria 🇳🇬 is leaders that have all it takes to rescued this nation from what apc as a God forsaken party have done to it.

“And to be very honest with you sir with all due respect, you don’t stand among the top ten…that will do things differently. You are just desperate to be president just like your counterpart in apc, we can’t see the light in both of you folks. That’s why comes 2023 we will be retiring you folks for good in our political arenas.”

@Azikiwe: “Saying Obasanjo should be on the naira note is not the issue, but Atiku sudden support for him is my concern. Atiku,before you take a step, Obasanjo is already 100 steps ahead of you.”

However, the National Secretary-General of Afenifere, Chief Sola Ebiseni, backed Atiku’s proposal.

He said, “The naira notes that are to be redesigned already have pictures of some personalities who are part of our history but Obasanjo is well deserving of any honour that Nigeria considers necessary for him. As a matter of fact, no one has been more part of Nigeria’s history as Olusegun Obasanjo, so a place of honour should be reserved for him. When you look round Nigeria so far, no monument of much importance has been dedicated to his personality. I have looked round, no airport, no university, no stadium.”

In the same vein, the National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, said, “Chief Olusegun Obasanjo deserves national recognition on the Nigerian currency. He is a moral edifice who governed the country with an appreciable level of equity, fairness and ethnic sensibility. The governance structures across Nigeria are dotted by his accomplishments. Obasanjo remains the conscience of not just the nation but the entire Africa.”