Olusegun Obasanjo, the former President of Nigeria, has disputed claims that he despised people from the Niger Delta.
He mentioned this in an open letter in response to claims made by Chief Edwin Clark, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ijaw National Congress and Leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum.
Clark had slammed Obasanjo on Wednesday for what he called a “disappointing display of hatred” against the people of Nigeria’s oil-producing states.
The elder statesman was reacting to the former President’s recent outburst in Abuja, during which he insulted the INC’s National Secretary, Ebipamowei Wodu, during a peace and security meeting sponsored by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa.
Clark accused Obasanjo of double standards in the country’s resource control in an open letter to him on Wednesday headed, ‘My disgust at your unwarranted outburst against the people of the Niger Delta area.’
In response, Obasanjo stated that as President, he adhered to the Constitution’s stances on appointment and resource management.
Obasanjo in a letter dated December 28, 2021, titled, My response to the open letter by Clark’, wrote, “I have never shown any anger, distraught with Niger Delta region nor any part of Nigeria. Some of the languages you have deployed to describe me in your letter are offensive, uncouth and I totally and completely rejected them, I am not inconsistent, hypocritical, unstatesman, and nor am I anybody’s lackey.
“You use your own yardstick to judge others. I hope you think and adjust. Negotiation achieves better results than dictation. Revolution for sea-change may rarely happen and then we may continue to languish in frustration and regret with dire judgment in posterity.”
SEE FULL LETTER:
