Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, described the 'talk-talk' Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, as a “failure.”
Obasanjo who was responding to guests who spoke during the grand finale of a civic reception organised in his honour by the South West Zone of the PDP said there was no way he could associate with a man like Okorocha who had jokingly referred to the former President as his “colleague.”
Okorocha, now a governor on the platform of AGPA, had defected from the PDP to the All Nigeria Peoples Party where he contested for the presidential ticket of the party in 2003 but failed to secure it.
The Imo governor had earlier in his speech talked about his days as Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs to Obasanjo, saying he gave the ex-President advice that resulted in the good decisions that Obasanjo took while in office.
The Imo governor said, “Obasanjo is indeed PDP. But in the actual sense, he’s a national leader. He does not belong to the PDP alone but a national leader of Nigeria. If I have another opportunity to advise him, I will tell him to be the national leader of the country and not the national leader of the party.
“We are here to give honour to whom honour is due. Obasanjo will remain immovable and unshakable. He is a man that is very difficult to describe. He represents different things to different people. But for me, he represents a former colleague. We both ran for the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And later when he appointed me as his adviser, I gave him all the good advice.
“All the good things he did for those eight years, I advised him but all the bad ones he did, I travelled out of the country. I want to join Nigerians to celebrate this icon — this great and steadfast Nigerian, who is not afraid of fighting any battle. But when he starts fighting he doesn’t stop until he finishes fighting. He’s a general’s general and a soldier’s soldier.”
But the Governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio, in his message immediately came to Obasanjo’s defence and told Okorocha that, “I was not as lucky as Governor Okorocha to work with him Obasanjo. So I did not give him advice. I’m very sure that even the few things that he did were actually taken out of the bad advice of APGA where Rochas Okorocha must have represented. Baba, I say the good ones are from you, not from him (Okorocha).”
In his reaction, the former president said he could not be a colleague to Okorocha.
He said, “I met Okorocha a long ago by virtue of the fact that he was brought up in Jos — one of the few cities that I found in the fifties and seventies as a genuine melting pot in Nigeria. He is a true Nigerian and when he wants to pull me down, he will say we are colleagues. How can I be a colleague of a failure? You are a failure in contesting the presidency of Nigeria!”
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Posted: at 20-01-2013 11:19 AM (12 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Aniagain at 20-01-2013 11:29 AM (12 years ago) (m)
You people shud stop quarrelling o, where is mama Ngozi and iya Basira? Abeg make una come help me seperate this fight o, cheeii, I don even 4get say I put something for fire, brb
Am too defended to be a victim
Posted: at 20-01-2013 11:29 AM (12 years ago) | Gistmaniac
OBASANJO YOU ARE IN NO SITUATION TO JUDGE ROCHAS OKOROCHA, BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT BETTER OF. YOU ARE THE VERY FIRST CORRUPT MILITARY HEAD OF STATE OF NIGERIA. YOU STARTED THIS WHOLE THING, YOU OPENED THE DOORS OF CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA FOR BOTH MILITARY AND CIVILIAN GOVERNMENTS. YOU KEPT NIGERIA IN THIS PRESENT HARDSHIP AND DISORDER.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BILLIONS SUPPOSEDLY MEANT FOR OPERATION FEED THE NATION WHEN YOU WERE THE MILITARY HEAD OF STATE? THAT WAS THE FUND YOU USED TO ESTABLISH YOUR OTTA FARM AND OTHER LOCAL AND OVERSEAS INVESTMENTS. YOU THINK NIGERIANS ARE STUPID? NO WE ARE NOT.
WHEN YOU WERE A CIVILIAN PRESIDENT YOU CONVENIENTLY LEGALIZED CORRUPTION. YOU ARE PART OF THE SAME HYPOCRISY; LIES, STEALING, DECEIT, KILLINGS, KIDNAPPING,CORRUPTION, GREED AND LOOTING, INCLUDING ALL OTHER PAST AND PRESENT GOVERNORS, MINISTERS AND TOP GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, EVEN AMBASSADORS, ETC. BEFORE YOU CRITICIZE SOMEONE WHO HAS SAME ATTITUDE AS YOURS, FIRST LOOK THROUGH THE MIRROR YOU WILL FIND THE SAME IMAGE.
ONE AFTER THE OTHER, THE ALMIGHTY GOD WILL JUDGE YOU ALL FOR KEEPING INNOCENT NIGERIANS IN THIS HORRIBLE SITUATION. IMAGINE IN SUCH A RICH COUNTRY YET POVERTY IS A CASE STUDY YEAR IN YEAR OUT, IT’S A SHAME.
GRADUATES UNEMPLOYED, POOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES, WEAK INFRASTRUCTURE, POOR LEARNING FACILITIES, POOR ACCOMMODATION, WORKERS STRIKE, TEACHERS STRIKE, YET YOU LIVE COMFORTABLY IN A MULTI MILLION NAIRA MANSION WITH BILLIONS OF COUNTRY'S WEALTH IN YOUR POCKET, STILL YOU JUDGE ANOTHER PERSON WITH SAME MANNERS AS YOURS. YOU ALL ARE INHUMANE AND EVIL.
Posted: at 20-01-2013 02:59 PM (12 years ago) | Gistmaniac