Obasanjo urges Jonathan to show remorse for his past actions

Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan

Former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo has written a response letter to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan urging him to use the new Foundation he is establishing to engage in soul-searching and in reviewing his past actions.


In the letter, dated October 12, 2015, Mr. Obasanjo also advised Mr. Jonathan to consider the Foundation as a platform through which he can heal his conscience and demonstrate penitence over his past actions.

Mr. Obasanjo wrote the letter in response to an earlier letter written to him by Mr. Jonathan on September 22, informing him of his plans to set up a foundation through which he would continue to service humanity.

“… I will be devoting the rest of my life and energy to making the world a better place. I am currently finalizing efforts to set up The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation,” Mr. Jonathan had written Mr. Obasanjo on September 22, 2015.

“More details on the work of the foundation will be available at the launch, which I believe should take place by the 3rd quarter of 2016. As I start this new phase of my life of renewed service to humanity, I look forward to your continuous support, counsel and cooperation.”

But in his response to the letter, Mr. Obasanjo wrote, “I have to commend you and your Foundation, Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, for the faith you continue to have in Nigeria. Maybe seeking how to be better and more serviceable to the nation and humanity is also a form of penitence and soul-searching to give conscience a relief and to show remorse.” .

Both leaders fell out in December 2013 after PREMIUM TIMES exclusively exposed a letter Mr. Obasanjo wrote to Mr. Jonathan accusing him of lying, destroying Nigeria, and promoting corruption.

“Nigeria is bleeding and the hemorrhage must be stopped,” Mr. Obasanjo said in the 18-page letter dated December 2, 2013.

In the detailed letter, dripping of anger and frustration, Mr. Obasanjo lamented that Mr. Jonathan had become terribly divisive and clannish, destroying his own party, polarizing the country along regional and religious lines and ridiculing Nigeria in the comity of nations.

Mr. Jonathan shot back two days later, categorizing Mr. Obasanjo among those he called “spineless cowards” driven by “sheer greed and indecency”.

Both leaders never reconciled with Mr. Obasanjo backing Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Jonathan’s opponent in the 2015 presidential election. Mr. Buhari defeated Mr. Jonathan at that election.

Credit: PREMIUM TIMES