Bitter-Sweet: My life with Obasanjo

 Who could know a man better than his better half? This is the intimate, tell-it-all account of Chief (Mrs) Oluremi Obasanjo, first wife of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and the mother of his first child, Iyabo.

In this book, she bares all about the former President's escapades with other women, his exploits as a soldier, his  near misses with death and the many fights the couple had even while he was Military Head of State at Dodan Barracks. It is a juicy package...

 
The beginning

Owu Baptist School had two arms and I was in the same class with an elder cousin of Obasanjo,
Sunday Adelani.  By a queer coincidence, the elder cousin who inexplicably was my classmate,
always told his relative at home of a girl who was the youngest of the six girls and who was the
brightest, beating boys at examination.  I did not know about this.  There was a lot to do at home
and at school to have time for idle talk.  We were 36 in class and competition was keen.

 One bright afternoon in 1956, March 8, specifically, I had an unusual encounter with a pupil of BBHS, a big boy then.  Having been treated to stories of a bright young girl in cousin Adelani’s
class, this boy had resolved within him the girl would be his wife.  So as I headed home after service at Owu Baptist, in which both of us had just sung in the choir, I heard someone saying to me, “Excuse me, excuse me.”  

I looked him over.  He was wearing an agbada on khaki trousers.  He wore no shoes, not even the cheap tennis shoes sold for 7 shilling and 6 pence students wore then.  He introduced himself and started to talk to me about beginning a friendship. didn’t take him seriously because I was going to AGGS the year after. But the day after, Yomi, my younger brother by nine months, born of a different mother, brought me a letter from Obasanjo.  I threw the letter at Yomi, a first-former at BBHS, warning him to stay clear of Obasanjo. 

But other letters came in torrents, he having won my brother to his side.  Being the library prefect, he also sent me books to improve my English.  

He was persistent and gradually I began to reply him, no thanks to Yomi, who eulogised him as a brilliant senior student.  I also learnt of his indigence.  He washed benches and plates in school to pay his way.  He was a day student.  He was much organised.  Usually BBHS boarders sang once a month at Owu Baptist Church evening service.  We often met during choir practice where Brother Malomo Akinwunmi was our music teacher.  BBHS boys often came from Oke Egunya to Owu on Sundays. They were a sight to behold, dressed in all white.  

Obasanjo was a poor student who saw himself through school doing a lot of odd jobs.  He washed desks in school and worked as a labourer outside to make ends meet.  His father had little contribution to the son’s welfare as he had little faith in education. 

His mother was more focussed but went through the trauma of nine births with only two surviving.  His father later took a second wife but she didn’t have any surviving child for him.

Towards July 1956, Obasanjo told me he was going to Ibadan to sit for the General Certificate of Education examination.  To write the examination, he borrowed one guinea from one bookseller, Mr.
Ajisefini, whose shop was opposite the house Obasanjo lived at Owu.  He was away for two weeks and told them at school that he was ill at home.  He passed all the seven papers he offered when the
result was released later in December. 

But that was the beginning of a crisis.  Good schools did not allow their pupils to sit for external examinations in the colonial past because they felt education was not learning books alone and, in the case of Obasanjo, the principal of BBHS, Mr.Akinsanya, had reckoned he was a Grade One candidate to be presented in the 1957 Cambridge/West African School Certificate examinations.  The dream to have him as one of those to bring honour to the school had been aborted because Obasanjo was not going to proceed from Class V to VI.  The principal was angry.

Mr. Akinsanya was an old boy of the school where he was a classmate of my father. A very polished
man and with a wife with exceptionally refined manners, it was inconceivable he would bend to give Obasanjo a testimonial. 

In colonial Nigeria, your certificates were like pieces of papers without a good testimonial to speak of your character.  You could even be employed in some places if your principal testified positively about your talents without a load of educational credentials. I shared this anxiety with Obasanjo and knew of his efforts to get respectable people to intercede on his behalf.  Finally, Akinsanya was persuaded to give him a testimonial.  Obasanjo scaled through this hurdle by the grace of God because the principal forgave him, probably because of his poor financial status.  Obasanjo has always been serious minded. He loves the company of books and is richly endowed intellectually.  Early in life, he wanted a wife who could complement his gifts.  He succeeded with me as would be found out later.
 
Making a soldier out of Obasanjo

Obasanjo left for Ghana in 1958.  He was in the same set with Benjamin Adekunle, Jacob Esuene and
Foluso Sotomi.  Indeed he shared the same room with Adekunle; but they did not get on well and were hardly on speaking terms.Their relationship was so bad; Obasanjo told me they demarcated their room so that they did not meet.  He wrote me frequently to report about life there.My father had a post office box, number 16 at Abeokuta.  I held the key to the box and cleared the letters regularly. So it was easy for me to collect my letters before handing over others to their owners.

Obasanjo charged his friend, Salako, who was then with the Post &Telegraphs Department at Ibadan,
to look after me.  And dutifully, Mr. Salako came to Abeokuta often to ask of me.  Another friend, Yinka Sotayo, also did.  Obasanjo warned that if they allowed me to slip off his hands, he would be cross with them.

He returned after six months from Teshie to spend his leave.  He brought me many gifts, including a white blouse which I particularly cherished.  On completing his course in Teshie, he was posted to Kaduna.  It was from Kaduna that he came to inform me that he was going to the Royal Military Academy, Aldershot, Mons, United Kingdom late 1958 for another course.

Then one day in 1959, school had just closed.  As I left for home in the company of my friend, we
noticed a white Ford Taunus17M car.  Someone emerged from the car and called me.  It was Obasanjo, in flesh, blood and grace.  He offered us a ride.  He brought me many gifts from the U.K. In one of our outings, he took me to Col Ayo Ariyo’s house in the officers’ quarters in Abeokuta.  It was
very impressive.  That was my first introduction to military life. 

On our return from Ariyo’s, a policeman stopped the car on a nebulous charge. Obasanjo quickly introduced himself and the policeman smartly came to attention and saluted him.  I was doubly impressed.  He also strengthened his ties with Yomi, my brother, by teaching him how to drive.  

He returned to Kaduna and continued corresponding with me through mail.  Then sometime in 1960 he arrived at Abeokuta to inform me that he was leaving on posting to Congo Leopoldville, now Democratic Republic of Congo.  There was crisis there between President Joseph Kasavubu and his
Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba.  Both sacked each other from office and there was anarchy and
civil war.  In the turmoil, a sergeant just promoted lieutenant, Joseph Mobutu, staged a coup. Nigerian troops were being sent there to keep the peace.  He was then in the 5th Battalion, Kaduna. I was afraid for his safety.  

When he got to the Congo, he was writing me profusely, giving me details about the war.  But suddenly, communication stopped.  I did not know what to think.  Co-incidentally, it was announced
that a Nigerian officer, a lieutenant, had been killed in the Congo.  My heart sank.  I was plunged into mourning, very apprehensive of the big silence.  It was only later I was able to have a clearer picture of events.

True, 2nd Lt. Ezeugbuna had been killed by Congolese rebels who struggled to get his body because
they wanted to eat his heart.  Those cannibals thought if they ate the heart of a Nigerian, they would have double hearts because Nigerians were brave and tough soldiers.  But our troops retrieved the body for proper burial.  

True, Obasanjo was missing on the outskirts of Bukavu in the Congo.  He had been captured by the rebels and later locked in a car boot, being driven away possibly for execution and the fate they had planned for Ezeugbuna.  But wise counsel prevailed and the Congolese released him before Nigerian troops could invade them. Kaduna Chukwuma Nzeogwu was in the detachment that was to have gone on patrol in search of Obasanjo. It was in Congo that the most treasured friendship, perhaps,Obasanjo ever had with any person began.

Life and Marriage in London

Obasanjo was a very organized person. Before my arrival he had rented a room in Peckham, South
East London from one Mr. Obisesan.  Obasanjo’s cousin, Mr. Oluwole Adebayo, lived in another house opposite mine. He was in Gillingham. A West Indian woman living in another room took us out to buy foodstuff and cooking utensils. It was a Saturday, so she bought a three pound sterling dress for me to wear to church on Sunday, the day after.

 Tomorrow...

Coup of the 5 Majors... the Nzeogwu story
‘ Nzeogwu and Obasanjo shared the same bachelor’s quarters in Kaduna-separate bedrooms but same sitting room ’

‘Bitter-Sweet: My Life with Obasanjo’ is published by Diamond Publications Ltd. Launch date: Tuesday November 11, 2008 at NIIA,Victoria Island, Lagos.

Write Comment
Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed. Just ensure to *Refresh* your browser for a new security code to be displayed prior to clicking on the 'Send' button. Keep in mind that the above process only applies if you simply entered the wrong security code.
Name:
E-mail
Title:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments

Comments (24)