Sunday Dare, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Public Communication and Orientation, strongly criticized former President Olusegun Obasanjo for referring to President Tinubu as ‘baba-go slow.’
Dare’s comments came after Obasanjo made the remark during a speech at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum at Yale University, where he highlighted the deteriorating situation in Nigeria.
In a detailed post on X, Dare pointed out Obasanjo’s own record of corruption during his presidency and called for an apology to Nigerians.
Dare also accused Obasanjo of causing significant harm to democracy during his time in office.
“Former President Obasanjo is a man with a tremendous capacity for mischief and Nigerians know it. His journey along the path of hallucinations has never been in doubt. So is his descent into muddling facts, forgetting that he ran a Presidency on record as the most corrupt. His recent diatribe at Yale University lacks sincerity,” Dare wrote.
“It is actually laughable that Obasanjo’s pretentiousness about fighting corruption is not cutting any ice in the eyes of the general public. We all know what happened under his watch and how, up till the present moment, there has been no explanation as to how he wasted a whopping $16bn in generating megawatts of darkness across the nation. But that is not even the issue.
“Democracy suffered mortal wounds under his watch only capped by his murderous rage for an ill-fated 3rd term. Successive administrations struggled to clean up the mess Obasanjo left behind, which President Tinubu is now making progress with. Obasanjo has lost any moral right to condemn any government. He should apologise to Nigerians for not laying the foundational infrastructure Nigeria needed to advance.
“The Yoruba proverb, “A o ki n wo ariwo oja, eniti a anba na oja ni a n wo”. This means that you shouldn’t pay heed to the market’s noise. Rather, keep an eye on the person you are negotiating with. This is instructive. In this market called Nigeria, the man with the renewed hope agenda is the one that matters and indeed Nigerians. Everything else is ariwo oja. This administration will stay focused on bringing relief to Nigerians. Obasanjo’s remarks reflect the infantilist nature of market noise.
President Tinubu will Stay the Course in seeing through the reforms he has instituted for a better Nigeria.
