Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, has described his former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo, as the preeminent political colossus in Nigeria, noting that Nigeria owed Obasanjo a debt it would never be able to pay back.
Atiku, who served as Obasanjo’s vice from 1999 and 2007, in a tribute to the former President on his 83rd birthday on Wednesday, stated that no individual has bestrode the Nigerian political space the way Obasanjo has.
According to him, many Nigerians would read about Obasanjo’s birthday on their mobile devices, which is one of his legacies to the Nigerian people.
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He said, “From Congo, to South Africa, to Angola, to Liberia and São Tomé and Príncipe, your democratic fingerprints on the African continent are indelible. You have served and still serve as a beacon of democracy and a guardian of constitutionality.
“Nigeria owes you a debt that we cannot pay because you led us to pay the foreign debts that we could not imagine paying. By that singular action, you planted trees for generations yet unborn.
“You hold the enviable and esteemed record of being the first African military ruler to have voluntarily, and without internal and external pressure, restored power to the government democratically elected by the Nigerian people.
“It was not your will to be in office, but it was your will to bequeath democracy to Nigeria. And after 21 years of the Fourth Republic, Nigeria has cause to celebrate your democratic credentials.”
