Obasanjo Cries Out: ‘I’m Helpless, Crippled’
Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria[/caption]
For former President Olusegun Obasanjo times have changed and he is now ‘helpless and crippled’.
Obsanjo who have ruled Nigeria twice, 1976 to 1979 and later from 1999 to 2007, told the national leadership of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), that he is no longer the leader they used to know.
The former president who hosted the NULGE officers at his Hilltop Mansion in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Wednesday, told the gathering that he is “helpless and crippled” but he still has he use his voice to draw attention to those who approach him for assistance.
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The leadership of the NULGE were at his residence to seek his intervention for the revival of the local government structure.
“There is no exception to this bastardisation and encroachment by states. Even though both are supposed to be separate tiers of government, with each having its roles and functions that is not the case anymore.
“I wish I could help, but I am helpless. As it is, I can only help you to shout and talk to the world. I do not have any executive or legislative power. I am crippled.
“But we shall continue to talk until those who are reasonable among them change this attitude.
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“I begin to wonder if they (states) can allow what they are doing to the local governments to be done to them,” he said.
The NULGE president, Ibraheem Khaleel, who spoke on the reason for their visit said the union had come to enlist the support of the elder statesman in rescuing the local government system.
“As a major player in the 1976 local government reform, we are aware that the mission was to make the councils independent.
“But the situation has changed and the states have rendered the local governments impotent. As things are now, the governors cannot not do anything, that is why we decided to come to you to use your experience and not to allow the local government system go into extinction,” Khaleel stated.
