HOW PRESIDENT OBASANJO LOST OVER N750 MILLION TO 3RD TERM BID

But for his failed attempt in 2007 to have the National Assembly alter the 1999 Constitution and thereby secure him a chance for a 3rd term in office, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria would have been the 3rd recipient of the Mo Ibrahim Prize after Festus Mogae of Botswana (2007) and Joachim Chissano of Mozambique (2008). President Obasanjo was considered for it in 2009.

The Mo Ibrahim Prize, which was founded by a UK-based Sudanese business mogul, Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim, who is the founder of Celtel, is awarded to a democratically elected former African head of government who has served his/her term in the office within the limits set by the country’s Constitution and has left office in the last three years. The prize consists of a cash award of five million US dollars (N750 million) for ten years (N75 million annually) and two hundred thousand US dollars (N30 million) annually for life after those first ten years.

President Obasanjo, along with some other credible candidates, was screened by the Mo Ibrahim Prize Committee for the award in 2009 but did not scale through, like every other candidate. His disqualification stemmed from his unsuccessful bid at extending his tenure in 2007 after having completed the constitutionally allowable period of two terms of four years each. Now, President Obasanjo is effectively out of the race for this prestigious and most outstanding prize having been out of office for over three years (May 29, 2007 – May 29, 2010). The conditions for the prize clearly states that an eligible candidate must have left office in the last three years. What an eternal loss for Mr. Obasanjo!

And beyond Obasanjo, the prestigious Mo Ibrahim prize has turned out to be a sad documentary of governance in Africa, where there has been a prevalence of sit-tight rulers over the decades with accompanying misrule, leadership mediocrity and everything antithetical to good governance. For two years running (2009 – 2010), no African has qualified for the prize and there’s a great doubt if any would qualify for it in the nearest future. While I weep for Obasanjo for the eternal loss, I weep more for Africa. More than weeping though, our own generation of Africans must rise above the level of leadership mediocrity we are today plagued with and marshal our continent on the path towards the enviable height it belongs. I believe that a new Africa is possible!