Obasanjo And His Mind Restructuring Hypothesis

One of the greatest nightmares the Nigerian political class is having about the current agitations rocking the country is the advancement in the use of social media technology by the youths. With this, they are completely handicapped in their usual distortion of facts and history and the manipulation of the minds of gullible citizens through their censored media and paid journalism.

Today Nigerians can research on their own, decipher and communicate messages to each other through the power of social media. Most times even before the mainstream media will try to air a government-sponsored propaganda, their lies would be busted on the cyberspace by the citizens.

The oppressed are now telling their own stories, instead of accepting the usual junks their shameless leaders are shoving down their throats.

Just last week, Chief Mathew Olusegun Kikiola Aremu Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, and longest serving one for that matter, opened his mouth to tell the oppressed youths that there's nothing wrong with the present structure of Nigeria. He said it was the people that should re-structure their minds. Wonderful!

In short  in his own words, according to Vanguard of 8 July, 2017, "The answer to most of our problems is mindset change and change of mentality. If we need any restructuring, it is the restructuring of our mindset and mentality." Again, I say, wonderful!

Well I'm in no way surprised because an Igbo adage says that, "Ala adighi mma bu uru ndi nze," meaning that "A land is not profitable is to the benefit of some evil leaders." 

The likes of Obasanjo and his northern oligarch friends (including the UK and the West), are not against Nigeria's breakup because of their love for the unity or progress of Nigeria - No! But because of their business interests, their loots, exploitative potentials as well as maintaining relevance in the scheme of things of this fraudulent entity called Nigeria.

Again, Obasanjo knows that should Nigeria disintegrates or get restructured into six regions, he will loose his relevance in regional politics because he has no influence in Southwest regional affairs.

It is a height of irresponsibility that for the past 57 years of our independence, our leaders always absolves themselves, or the faulty foundation of Nigeria, of blames, instead they heap it on the hapless citizens.

No leader or government in the world blames its citizens for its woes more than the Nigerian government. 

It was the late Fela that sang in his album, "Basket Mouth":

"I never hear that before o...when government talk o...my people are USELESS, my people are SENSELESS,  my people are INDISCIPLINE...na Nigerian government o."

Even the current missing occupant of Aso Rock who once promised to bring us change during his electioneering campaign, now turned around to tell us, after he has won, that the change should begin with us. Fraudsters!

Now let me take on Obasanjo on these few questions about his 'mind' restructuring advocacy:

When, for the past 57 years, Nigeria cannot boast of "one week" uninterrupted power supply in any part of the country, was it caused by my 'mind' of the masses?

When his administration spent over 16 billion US dollars for "improving darkness" in the power sector, was it also caused by the 'un-restructured' mind of the citizens?

When he tried to criminally insert a third term clause in the constitution to elongate his tenure, was it caused by my own mind? (laughs).

Recently, the economic recession that Buhari led us into, was it caused by the minds of an average citizen?

A school of thought defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different result.

My take is that Nigeria has existed as a heterogeneous country for so long without any development, why not try a smaller units of its homogeneous components and know whether it can work?

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These leaders, because of their loots, keep telling us that we have unity in diversity, that our diversity is our strength, bla bla bla...but what we are experiencing daily is that our diversity is our weakness. There's is deep-rooted animosity and hatred amongst us. Those that amalgamated us knew all these things but they didn't care about them because they were all interested in their business interest. 

But today the people has started re-discovering themselves. And the likes of Obasanjo are yet to come to terms with it.

Now taking Obasanjo as a prototype and quintessential Nigerian selfish leader; this man will be 80 this year. He first ruled Nigeria in 1976 in his late thirties, meaning he has virtually lived his life in full. But instead of leaving the stage for the youths, who are even more educated than him, he keep moving from one part of the country to another fomenting trouble, installing governors, anointing others for a second term, and deciding who will rule Nigeria or not.

To cut it short, as far as Obj and his northern brethren are concerned, the southern youths have no stake in the scheme of things in Nigeria, and as such, no future.

Finally, it is easier to restructure the mind of one old man to fit in the thinking pattern of millions of intelligent youths yearning for freedom, than having the minds of these youths restructured in the thinking pattern of Ota farmer who regards himself as an all knowing god.

Chike Nnamani, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja, Nigeria.