EVEN if he were a regimental sergeant major, former President Olusegun Obasanjo couldn’t have performed better than he did six days ago when he drilled a gathering of traditional rulers from the Oke Ogun, Ibadan, and Iseyin areas of Oyo State in the art of paying compliments and showing respect, ordering them to stand up and pay him homage as a former president.
“E dide/Stand up!” he thundered in Yoruba. And as they all stood with clockwork precision, “E joko, sit down!” he shouted at them again in a manner reminiscent of a quarter guard commander at a military parade. As a former soldier, in fact a general, used to the pomp and circumstance of receiving ceremonial compliments from his subordinates, Obasanjo must know a lot about quarter guards, their commanders and orders.
Did I say he demanded compliments as a former president? Actually, Obasanjo didn’t say he took personal offence at the assumed misconduct of the crowned heads. No, he couldn’t have been that…
Source: Vanguard Newspaper
