I Pray Obasanjo Won’t End Like Saul - Bode George

Bode George has revealed his thoughts on the dramatic exit of former president Olusegun Obasanjo from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).In a new interview with Vanguard, Chief Bode George, the former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, has made some remarks about Obasanjo’s decision to leave. Bode George said that he prays former president Olusegun Obasanjo will not end like Saul in the Bible.Bode George also said that it is unfair for Obasanjo to leave the party like that because he has benefited immensely from the party. He disclosed that when Obasanjo’s businesses were in trouble, he was called in and was helped. ‘I really don’t want to insult an elderly man, because in Yoruba land it is wrong’, George cautioned himself in the interview as he tried not to insult the elder statesman. Read excerpts below:

How do you see the decision of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to dump the PDP?

It is very sad. After he came out of incarceration, when most of his businesses were down, the party invited him and put a new beginning into baba. He has benefited from the party.

I don’t think that I have heard of this that a man, who has been to the pinnacle to tear the party’s card publicly. There are things you should not expect an old man to do. It is unfair. Very unfair. This leaves a sour taste in the mouth of those who were part of his rebuilding. It is a very bad decision.But Obasanjo says President Goodluck Jonathan plans to perpetuate himself in government like former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo?

He (Obasanjo) says he is a Christian and as a Christian, it is emphasised in the New Testament of the Bible where Christ said judge not so that you will not be judged. But his judgement is no longer about the policies of Jonathan. He has gone down to the extent of saying Gen. Muhammadu Buhari will jail you that is why you are afraid.

Talking to elders with respect

I am holding my breath because in an African setting, you talk to elders with respect and that is why I am trying to get the right words to describe my feelings. Baba (Obasanjo) is not a young man. He was head of state at 39. So averagely, he should be about 84 or 85 and I am requesting that he should graciously fade away into the midnight.

I want to plead with Baba. God has been kind to him and he has served his own time. I don’t want to conclude that his life will be like King Saul in the Bible. I pray it will not be so. Baba has played his role. No generation can finish any job. Nation building is a continuous exercise.

You come, do your own and go back into history. The young will read to know about their past so that they will not repeat the same mistakes. That is why no man can finish the job. It is becoming unnecessarily contentious and the attack on the President who is much younger calls for caution and I will plead and beg some of our obas that there is a need to talk to baba to remain at that pinnacle of respectability. It is becoming too personal.