A woman in viral video circulating on social media launched a tirade of insults against former President Olusegun Obasanjo for not supporting yet another bid by Atiku Abubakar who was Obasanjo’s Vice President between 1999-2007. The woman in described in the video is purported to be Titi Abubakar, Vice President’s Atiku’s first wife. Arbiterz has not been able to confirm her identity.
The woman accused Obasanjo of being vindictive, referencing the fall-out between Nigeria’s former President and his deputy which led to the later not succeeding him in office. Atiku is widely believed to have tried to use his stronger grip on the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) machinery to oust and replace Obasanjo as the PDP candidate in the 2003 elections. He is also believed to have helped scuttle former President’s Obasanjo widely alleged attempt to secure an unconstitutional third term in 2007. The woman in the video said that Atiku Abubakar had apologised on several occasions over the years and should have been forgiven by Obasanjo (without mentioning the nature of the rift between the two men).
Peter Obi And Kwakwanso Can’t Call You “Boss”
The woman described in detail how Atiku has always been loyal to Obasanjo and had always called him “boss”. According to her, Obasanjo has been staying in a hotel accommodation given to him by President Tinubu from where he has been making calls to Peter Obi and the former Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwanso. This seems to infer than former President Obasanjo is seeking a candidate to support or endorse in the 2027 elections and has left his former deputy Atiku Abubakar out of his shortlist.
The woman appealed to Obasanjo to stop jumping about like a monkey and follow the example of former presidents from Northern Nigeria like former military president Ibrahim Babangida who don’t interfere in contemporary politics. She asked rhetorically, “are you a monkey sir, why can’t you stop jumping about”?
She reminded former president Obasanjo to whom her tirade is directed that neither Peter Obi nor Kwakwanso would regard him as a “boss”, unlike former vice president Atiku, if any of them wins the 2027 elections.
The woman argued that Obasanjo is not respected by Yoruba people due to his tendency to foment chaos, justifying the insulted meted out to the former president by controversial former Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose.
Yoruba Culture Versus Nigerian Political Culture – A Realistic Deepfake?
The woman’s insult-laden tirade against former president Obasanjo, an 88-year old man who first became Nigeria’s leader as military head of state in 1976, is highly unusual in most Nigerian cultures where elders and positions of authority are deeply revered and where women are expected to be even more deferential.
The woman clearly does not think that former president Obasanjo has the right to support any presidential candidate he likes. This reflects two features of Nigerian politics. First is the tendency of the spouses of powerful politicians to co-exercise power and/or enjoy near equal prestige as their husbands (NOTE: it is not confirmed that the woman in the video is Mrs. Titi Atiku).
The first lady, Mrs. Remi Tinubu was recently referred to as “our mother” by the President of the Nigerian Senate, Godswill Akpabio; the first lady also brusquely requested a state governor to cut short his speech at a public event. Secondly, the woman’s tirade also reflects the tendency for illiberal attacks on people who the followers of powerful politicians feel have no right not to support their candidate, mostly on account of former close political relations and/or having being beneficiaries of their principal’s favour in the past.