TheCable

Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigeria president, says he can sacrifice his life for Nigeria but would never do the same for any political party.

Speaking on Thursday when he played host to Martins Onovo, the presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP), at his Hilltop mansion in Abeokuta, Obasanjo charged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the forthcoming election is free, fair and transparent.

He said he would continue to make his own contributions to the country regardless of whose ox is gored.

“My first pre-occupation is what is best for Nigeria. Nigeria first, party second and any other thing, third,” he said.

“I can’t sacrifice my life for the interest of a party but I’ll sacrifice my life for the interest of Nigeria.

“In this part of the world, we have a saying that if people sleep and they put their heads on the same pillow, they are in danger and that means there should be some people that should be critically looking and watching and also able to speak up. They should speak up, no matter what others may say.

“Because people may come up and say Nigeria doesn’t belong to anybody; I believe that is a stupid saying. Nigeria belongs to all of us because anything can happen to anything that doesn’t belong to anybody.”

Wishing Onovo the best in his quest to lead the country, Obasanjo commended Gani Fawehinmi, the late popular legal icon and founder of NCP, urging the candidate to maintain the ideals that Fawehinmi stood for.

“I am a card-carrying member of PDP because that is the party on which platform I became the president of this country,” he said.

“But let me hasten to wish you every success in your endeavour and also pay tribute, as I have done in my recent book,‎ to the founder of your party, Gani Fawehinmi. I believe he was a genuine social critic and though, you may not agree with all he said or how he went about it, but he was definitely a genuine social critic.

“So if you, as the flag bearer of the party, believe that you should follow in his footstep of integrity and genuine critical analysis and committed analysis and criticism of the situation in the country, I think nobody will fault you.”