Adetona, released his autobiography titled “Awujale: The
Autobiography of Alaiyeluwa, Oba S. K. Adetona, Ogbagba
II”.
In the book, the monarch alleged that former President
Olusegun Obasanjo used the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission EFCC to blackmail and extort money from some
wealthy Nigerians, particularly his cousin, Mike Adenuga, who
had a running with the Antigraft agency in 2006.
Although the monarch's autobiography was published in 2010,
extracts from the book was circulated by some unknown
individuals recently.
In his response, Obasanjo wrote a letter dated December
30th 2016 to the monarch, countering his allegations and
addressed him as a serial liar who lacked common sense.
According to Obasanjo, common sense suggests that
rumor mongering should not be associated with a monarch
of the caliber of the Oba of Ijebuland. Full text of
Obasanjo's letter to the monarch after the cut
December 30, 2016
His Royal Highness,
Oba Alaiyeluwa S. K. Adetona,
The Awujale & Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland,
Oba Adetona Road,
P. O. Box 263, Ijebu Ode.
The extract from your Autobiography “Awujale: The
Autobiography of Alaiyeluwa Oba S. K. Adetona, Ogbagba
II”, published by Mosuro Publishers 2010, pp. 187-195,
which I attach to this letter was presented to me for
my attention.
Your assertion in the publication was a tissue of lies and
untruths. Olopade is one of my best friends and yes, I
would be at his birthday celebration but I would not
have invited Mike, your cousin, to meet me anywhere
other than my office or official residence as President of
Nigeria. Kabiyesi, do you think I would set the press up
to capture me and Mike in a photograph for the
newspapers? That would be puerile of me as President.
Of course, I could not say that Mike could not do that.
That you think that I, as President of Nigeria, would
descend to such depravity makes me think of you much
less than I thought of you, until now.
The invitation to Mike to contribute to the building of
the Library block of Bells University was issued to him
by the then Vice-Chancellor, Professor Julius Okogie, who
never told me about inviting Mike to so contribute until
Mike pulled out. And that I have not and I will not talk
to Mike about it should convince you that I know
nothing about its genesis.
Under my watch, Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, was free to do its job as it saw fit.
Common sense would suggest that wild rumours should
not be perpetrated by an Oba of your calibre. Kabiyesi,
your cousin did not tell you that My Chief of Staff,
Abdul Mohammed, put his reputation on line by assuring
EFCC that Mike would go nowhere and they should trust
him to give him his passport. I did not even know that
Abdul had done that until the Chairman of EFCC, Nuhu
Ribadu, reported the case of my Chief of Staff seemingly
colluding with Mike to run out of the country. But I had
implicit confidence in my Chief of Staff and I was to
resolve the issue. Should your cousin not have mentioned
to Abdul who guaranteed the release of his passport his
fears and intention to go on exile?
On several occasions, Nuhu Ribadu has asserted that,
under my watch, he was a free agent to do his work as
he deemed fit. Where it was necessary, he reported the
outcome of his work to me and the subsequent or
follow-up actions he intended to take. On no occasion
did I guide, lead or direct him on what to do.
Mike did not need to send anything to me to satisfy me,
he needed to satisfy EFCC and so your sending any
documents to me was insinuating that I am the one to
be satisfied rather than the EFCC. So, such documents
were not paid any attention by me. You, as the cousin
and part beneficiary from Mike as you have told me in
the past, would not be able to see the tree from the
forest as far as the mode of operation of Nuhu Ribadu
was concerned viz-a-viz Mike. If the EFCC was
investigating anybody, I did not consider it right for me
as the President of Nigeria to be undermining EFCC by
hobnobbing with that person. EFCC must be given free
hand to do its work. Even if such a person was my
child, the best I could do would be to secure a good
lawyer to handle the matter before the EFCC for that
child.
It is not only in the case of Obajana Cement that you
were rumour-mongering about me. You have done that
repeatedly on many occasions. The latest one you did in
2016 was you telling me that you heard that I had gone
to Rasak Okoya to seek to marry her daughter, Abiola,
when it was the girl that came to appeal to me to
intervene to placate and appeal to her father to forgive
her for all her misbehaviour to her father. I did and the
father and daughter were reconciled. I told you even then
that it was unbecoming of an Oba. Of course, I am used
to such rumours, slandering and insinuations since my
days as a Unit Commander in the Army and I have
developed thick skin. If ten per cent of the rumours
ascribing businesses and properties I know nothing about
were true, I would be the richest man on earth.
But recently, when Aliko, yourself and myself were
together, Aliko assured you that I never ever had a
single share in any of Aliko’s business interests but
whenever he has called on me to help within and without
to promote his business interest, I have always helped
and I will always do because that is part of my job as a
Nigerian leader – to help Nigerians grow their businesses
or interests – and I have done that for other Nigerians
and indeed for non-Nigerians, Africans and non-Africans
who have requested me for help.
It was revealing to me on that occasion when Aliko made
the point that one of his directors on his cement
company is somebody very close to you.
I owed nobody any apologies in the course of doing my
work as I believe I should do it or in the course of
defending the interest of Nigeria and defending my
integrity. As I could not open the treasury for S. O.
Bakare for your so-called political support to me, I did
not regard that as an offence. To the extent that I
believed and regarded as proper, I instructed Tony Anenih
as Minister of Works to patronize S. O. Bakare as a
Peugeot car dealer. I will not comment on Atiku issue
that you touched upon in your book because I have dealt
with that elsewhere and you were only dabbling into an
area where and thing you are absolutely ignorant about.
All that you wanted me to do in respect of Mike was
improper whether when I was President or when I was
out of office. I must not be seen to be in the way of
allowing law to take its natural course. All I should do is
to help the course of the law and help secure a good
lawyer to help the process.
It is of interest to me that Mike did not tell you that
when he wanted national honour, he came to me and I
did not react until Babangida recommended him and said,
“Of all those I have helped, Mike is one of the most
appreciative.”
Kabiyesi, if I have squandered all the goodwill I had, you
would not have contacted me on behalf of All Progressive
Party, APC, to receive them in 2014 and you would not
have been personally present when I received them as I
demanded. I probably have greater goodwill today
internally and externally than I had in office.
Kabiyesi, the total sum of what you have put down in
those pages of your book is that I dislike Mike. Maybe I
need to remind you that if there was any iota of truth
in such a position or mindset, Mike would not have been
granted the mobile telephone licence which made him a
billionaire. It was my prerogative as the President so to
do. You may also be reminded that in the first round of
the auction which Mike did not make, the country earned
US$285 million for each licence. The country earned only
US$200 million from the licence transaction with Mike
and in the subsequent transaction with Etisalat, the
country earned US$400 million. It was a deliberate action
on my part that a Nigerian should own one of the
licences. Anybody else but Mike could have been that
Nigerian.
Kabiyesi, the type of hate propaganda you have tried to
project in that section of your book against my person is
grossly unbecoming of an Oba let alone an Oba of your
status and stature.
However, I still accord you the respect which I believe an
Oba should be accorded and one for that matter who I
presume to be a friend. In spite of your unfortunate
projection, my position remains the same – respect for
you as an Oba and a friend.
Kabiyesi, I believe that I should set the record straight
for posterity and to caution you from engaging in
unedifying rumour-mongering and untruth. Accept the
assurances of my highest consideration.
OLUSEGUN OBASANJO
No comments:
Post a Comment