Obasanjo launches his Autobiography, Says Yar'adua Lied to him about his health.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo launched his
controversial autobiography ‘My Watch’ at the Lagos
Country club Ikeja, Lagos today Dec. 9th. Guest at the
event included former VC of the University of Lagos,
Prof. Ibidapo Obe and former Minister of Education,
Oby Ezekwesili.
According to reports, one of the chapters of the book
titled “To be or not to be, Jonathan” Obasanjo said he
was deceived by late President Umaru Yar’Adua about
his health status before facilitating his emergence as
the PDP flag bearer in 2007.
In the book, Obasanjo was quoted to have said;
“As can be expected, I was heavily involved
in the transition and exit process that saw
me leaving office for my successor, Umaru
Yar’Adua, as recounted in Chapter Thirty-
seven, the ninth chapter of the second
volume of this book. The unprepared and
unplanned transition from Yar’Adua to
Jonathan was a more difficult exercise in
some respects. One reason was the ‘cloak
and dagger’ manner in which Yar’Adua’s
illness was handled. The illness of a
President cannot be regarded as private. His
health has implications for the security and
wellbeing of the nation. For the president
and those around him to have attempted
strenuously to keep the fact of the severity
of his illness from public smacks of
ignorance of the enormity of what the job
entails and the level of provinciality of their
understanding, attitude, and approach. I
remember that in 1978 or 1979 Chief
Awolowo visited me while I was military
head of state and shared with me how he
would always stay at home to attend to the
work at hand and only make a private visit
to the UK once a year for health reasons if
he became president of Nigeria. I made it
clear to the chief that once he became
president of Nigeria, he could have no
private visit to anywhere as such. Wherever
he would be, he would be on duty, and the
totality of his life would be public. I jokingly
added that the only privacy he might lay
claim to would be when he was at home
with Mama Chief H.I.D., and that even then
his security staff would be on twenty-four-
hour duty.”
The launch of the three volume book was stopped by
a court injunction secured by a former friend of
Obasanjo, Prince Buruji Kashamuon on Friday
December 5th but lawyers to Chief Obasanjo advised
him to go ahead with the launch.


>>The Cable/Sahara Reporters/Information Nigeria.