Days after Obasanjo declared that the majority of Nigeria’s political leaders ought to be imprisoned, Alao made the declaration.
On Friday, August 9, Obasanjo gave a speech in Abeokuta. He was accompanied by six members of the House of Representatives, who are co-sponsors of bills that call for rotating the presidency between the North and South, a single six-year term, and the distribution of governorships among the three senatorial districts in each of the 36 states.
As the former president put it: “We are the ones who are the problem. Nothing will change whether we choose to embrace a single six-year term or two four-year terms as long as we keep the same mindset and strategy.
“We are the true problem. Rethinking the system is necessary, but the nature of those in positions of power also needs to alter. With all due respect, a large number of government officials ought to be in jail or hanging.”
Though he agreed with Obasanjo’s viewpoint, Alao responded on Monday, August 12, saying that the former president ought to set an example “by submitting himself for incarceration as a leader of this generation of the so-called corrupt people.” He is incapable of excluding himself.”
Oba Alao asserted that the government of Nigeria, under Obasanjo’s presidency from 1999 to 2007, spent billions of US dollars addressing the nation’s power supply issues, “yet there is nothing to show for it.”
Thus, Chief Obasanjo’s decision to distance himself from those he labeled as corrupt leaders is merely a show of strength since he is unable to take full responsibility for any of the actions that led to Nigeria’s current unfavorable situation. It will be equivalent to calling the kettle black if you do that.
“Chief Obasanjo ought to cease presenting himself to the world as a saint, given that he was a key figure in steering Nigeria’s course from 1976 till the present. He includes the ninety percent of Nigerian leaders who ought to be imprisoned due to corruption. As an example, let him go and turn himself in to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Nigerians ought to exercise caution around Chief Obasanjo.”
Alao added, “he failed to reconstruct Lagos-Abeokuta and Lagos-Ibadan roads, leaving them as death traps for motorists” throughout Obasanjo’s eight-year administration.
