•Obasanjo says the job of Nigerian leaders not finished until they are finished
•Explains how he made ex-Jigawa gov foreign affairs minister without knowing him
CHIGOZIE AMADI
Former Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, yesterday, called on President Bola Tinubu to be courageous enough to close the June 12 chapter once and for all, by paying the alleged N45 billion owed the family of Chief MKO Abiola by the federal government.
This was as former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has said Nigerian leaders already had their work cut out for them to accomplish their objectives for the country, stressing that their work remains unfinished.
Obasanjo, who said the country’s leaders still had a lot of work ahead of them, however, disclosed how he chose Lamido as his foreign affairs minister without previously knowing him.
Tinubu, on his part, hailed Lamido, describing him as a bold, consistent, and principled politician, whose personal journey mirrors the story of Nigeria’s democratic evolution.
Equally speaking at the book launch, a former Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, described Lamido as a true party man.
Amaechi, who served as governor of Rivers State until 2015, the same period Lamido was governor of Jigawa State, recalled how, as PDP governors, they had resolved to vote against then President Goodluck Jonathan and quit the party, said Lamido dissented and stayed back.
Lamido, speaking at the public presentation of his autobiography “Being True to Myself,” held at the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja, called on Tinubu, to be courageous enough to close the chapter of June 12 once for all.
According to him, the payment of the 45billion debt owed the family of the late winner of the June 12 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, would serve as a symbolic and moral closure to the June 12 struggle and Abiola’s unjust treatment following the annulment of the 1993 presidential election, widely believed to have been won by him.
“When (General) Murtala (Muhammed) died, Abiola came in with a claim that he was owed, I think, about N45bn for contracts executed by International Telephone and Telecommunication for the Ministry of Communications. The military high command at that time said no. He went round the Emirs in the North to lobby and the emirs asked that they (military) should please pay the money.
“The (military) said they cancelled the June 12 elections because if they made him president, he would take his money and the country will become bankrupt. Those who were close to Abacha should know this, because Abacha was then one of the big shots; they were all aware.
“Before I end my remarks, I want to appeal to President Tinubu to finally close the chapter of June 12. In his book, General Ibrahim Babangida acknowledged that Abiola won the election. When I visited him, he also confirmed that Abiola is owed N45 billion. He was doubly punished: first, denied the presidency; second, denied what is owed to him.”
He urged the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammad Idris, who represented President Tinubu at the event—to deliver the message to the president.
“Please tell the president to pay the Abiola family the N45 billion. Once this is done, the June 12 chapter will be closed. It is very important,” he emphasised.
Obasanjo, who encouraged Lamido and others not to retire yet, stated that it was their duty to ensure Nigeria reached its desired destination.
The former president said, “Nigeria that we are working for, we haven’t gotten there. And I believe it is the responsibility of each of us to ensure that we get there.
“Our job is not finished until we are finished. What else can I say at this point? As the representative of the chairman said, you are now an elder statesman in your own right. What I will say is: ‘The young shall grow’. And, indeed, the young has grown.
“But your job is not finished. Because the Nigeria you and I worked for, we haven’t gotten there yet. And I believe it is the responsibility of all of us to ensure we reach the Nigeria of our dreams.
‘’That is where your work continues. That is where the work of all the elders, all our former colleagues, continues. Our job is not finished until it is finished.’’
Recalling how he made Lamido foreign affairs minister, Obasanjo said, “Sule, I don’t know why you had to bring me here again. I thought that after I wrote the foreword to the magnificent book you have authored, you would have excused me from any further ordeal.
“But being who you are, you got me here—even though I had to cut short my event abroad, where I was looking into the situation in the DRC, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As the representative of the chairman rightly said, now, how did our paths cross?
‘’The chairman of our party had an idea of who the vice president should be. I also had my own idea of who the vice president should be. We tried to reconcile the two views—and we settled. When we settled, we decided that my candidate would be Vice President, and the chairman’s candidate would become foreign minister.
‘’However, the chairman’s candidate, who had agreed to be Foreign Minister, later declined. And so, the choice of Foreign Minister became my responsibility. I selected Sule Lamido because I saw him as the closest, or one of the closest persons to the individual who had declined.
‘’Sule himself once recounted to me that after he became Foreign Minister, he met with the British Foreign Secretary, Honourable Robin Cook. Honourable Cook asked Sule: ‘Before your President made you Foreign Minister, how long had he known you?
“And Sule, in his usual manner, replied: ‘I don’t know. If he has known me, I haven’t known him. Then Honourable Cook said, ‘He made you Foreign Minister without knowing you? Either he’s a crazy fool or a very clever guy. ‘Now, it’s up to Sule to decide which one I was. Sule Lamido has admirable character. And I admire him.
‘’When I appointed ministers, I didn’t want a situation where, if a minister did something wrong and I had to let them go, it would become a problem. So, I asked all my ministers to give me undated letters of resignation.
‘’Sule came to me and said, ‘You appointed me, I didn’t ask you to. Do you think I will fall? If ever you find me unworthy of the assignment, just give me five minutes and I will hand you my resignation. But please, excuse me from giving you an undated letter. I acceded to his request. And indeed, I never had cause to ask him for a resignation. He performed admirably.
‘’Now, let me emphasise the situation we were in. Nigeria had become a pariah state. We had a lot of work to do, both inside and outside the country. Because the inside had to be right before we could make the right impact outside.
‘’Sule was our face to the world. Every time he traveled, I wanted to know what reaction he got; what impact we were making, and how we were changing (or not changing) global impressions about Nigeria. And Sule did such a magnificent job.
“Such a magnificent job that within three years of our coming into government, the Queen of Britain, also Queen of the Commonwealth, actually came to Nigeria and participated in the CHOGM we hosted.
‘’That was the greatest indication that Nigeria had been accepted again, regardless of our past. We had been accepted by the international community: in Africa, in the Commonwealth, in the United Nations—everywhere. Sule, I thanked you then. And on this occasion, I thank you once more for the great job you did.”
Continuing, the former president said, ‘’When Sule left and I left, he became a governor. But he didn’t let me leave him alone. I had to visit—and I did, in more than one location. And during those visits, he showed me what he was doing.
“We discussed not only issues of his state, but national issues—and even those related to his former foreign affairs role. As a result of those visits, I can say, without any shred of doubt, that Sule Lamido performed adequately as governor,’’ Obasanjo stated.
President Tinubu, who hailed Lamido as a bold, consistent, and principled politician whose personal journey mirrored the story of Nigeria’s democratic evolution, described the book as a significant contribution to Nigeria’s political literature and democratic discourse.
The president was represented by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.
“This is not merely the unveiling of a book, it is the celebration of a life defined by courage, consistency, and commitment to democratic ideals. Alhaji Sule Lamido, though a staunch member of the political opposition and often a critic of the government, remains one of the strong pillars of Nigeria’s political evolution,” the president, who was the Grand Guest of the occasion, said.
Tinubu reaffirmed his belief in a democratic culture where the opposition was not an enmity but a contest of ideas, stressing that every citizen, regardless of party affiliation, has a seat at the table of national discourse.
Describing the book’s decade-long development as a labour of resilience, he praised Lamido’s effort in preserving political memory and encouraged other political veterans to emulate this example by documenting their experiences for future generations.
“Being True to Myself,” he noted was fitting for a book that “aptly reflects the man Sule Lamido and his reputation as a principled and blunt politician and statesman. I will recommend this book to students, scholars, journalists, and fellow politicians, who will find it instructive for many years.”
Idris, who drew a parallel, noted that just like the author, President Tinubu was always true to himself and to the most important ideals of Nigeria, which were anchored on truth, justice, peace and shared prosperity.
He described the wealth of knowledge and experience of the author as an asset that ought to be shared with the world, adding it was heartwarming that he had gone ahead to publish a book.
Reflecting on the administration’s achievements as Nigeria approaches the 26th anniversary of the Fourth Republic and the second year of the Tinubu presidency, the minister admitted that the government’s ongoing reforms, though bold and sometimes painful, were beginning to yield positive macroeconomic outcomes.
“Are we saying that we are where we need to be and that there isn’t room for more work to be done? Certainly not. What we are saying is simple: that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has demonstrated uncommon audacity and vision to set Nigeria on the path of true growth and development.
“And, after a somewhat rocky start, owing to the toughness of the inevitable reforms, we are now entering an era of intended beneficial outcomes, underlined by macroeconomic stability,” he said.
On national security, he assured the people that the administration was leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to protect the citizens and the nation’s territorial integrity from terrorist elements.
A former military head of state, General Abdulsalam Abubakar represented by former chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, described the book as courageous.
He said, “In this book by a person, who has virtually seen it all and done it all since the Second Republic. As a Member of the House of Representatives (1979–83), as a Chairman of a political party at the state level and Secretary at the national/federal level under the General Babangida Transition to Civil Rule Programme, and as a Foreign Minister and subsequently as a Governor in the Fourth Republic.
‘’Without preempting the book reviewer, I venture to say that in this book, Alhaji Sule Lamido has tried to say it all forthrightly and passionately.
‘’As good autobiographies are expected to do, he has given us, the readers, a rich personal account of his life, offering us a unique perspective on his background, experiences, challenges, triumphs, and post-factual reflections and analysis.
‘’Being True to Myself is full of insights and wisdom, as the author navigated his childhood memories, career path, life trajectory, and personal lessons from his private and public relations.
‘’Indeed, as the title suggests, in reading the book, Sule Lamido comes across as genuine, authentic, and honest in conveying his thoughts and feelings in a simple, though not simplistic, way—indeed, in being true to himself.’’
Lamido, he said, deserved commendation for the contributions to nation building, adding that, ‘’He made a courageous effort of putting pen to paper in the tedious process of producing a book worthy of the name, which adds remarkable value to our understanding of not only his background and experiences but also to our enriched understanding of the dynamics as well as the trials and tribulations of politics and governance in Nigeria.
‘’It is my hope that in the points of view it conveys, in the facts it presents—or that people may say misrepresents—in the controversies, if any, it may generate, Being True to Myself would inspire many other actors and activists in the Nigerian political and governance spaces to also write and publish more books, which would enable us as citizens to have a clearer understanding of what is the true nature and character of our politics and governance, what the key challenges are requiring serious attention, and how best to collectively apply our energies and resourcefulness to addressing these.
‘’We all have a role to play to forge unity and engender peaceful coexistence, and contribute to progress and development in our country, Nigeria. The better informed we are, the better the chances of our collective contribution towards sustainable socio-economic development in our country,” he stated.
Amaechi, in his comments recalled some of the pre-2015 events in the PDP.
‘’We, the governors, agreed to vote against President Goodluck Jonathan. It was a unanimous agreement as we reiterate this in every of our meetings
“But on the day of action, we the governors concerned defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, but Sule Lamido because of the party man in him, did not defect. In the governors’ forum, we are called the two radicals, ‘’ Amaechi said.
Political heavyweights across party lines were among the guests, who gathered at the Nigerian Air force Conference Centre, Abuja, in honour of Lamido.
The guests included Former Vice-President, Namadi Sambo; Ex-National Security Adviser, Lt. General Aliyu Gusau; former Senate Presidents, Ayim Pius Ayim and Ken Nnamani and a former PDP National Chairman, who also reviewed the book, Dr. Iyiorchia Ayu, among others.
