Obasanjo reshaped my life- Tinubu

A former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, on Thursday admitted former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, re-shaped his life positively.
Mr. Tinubu, who is a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, stated this at Obasanjo’s 78th birthday lecture held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State. Mr. Obasanjo caught Mr. Tinubu unawares at the occasion, when he called on the former governor to address the guests. “You trapped me innocently with a great wisdom of a 78-year-old,” Mr. Tinubu said. “I’m honoured to be here and many of you will see this as a rare occasion but this is an opportunity to pay tribute to a nationalist, a teacher, a disciplinarian and a tutor in dignity and boldness.
Mr. Tinubu, however, acknowledged past altercations between both leaders while they were in power. “Yes, it is true, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in politics,” he said. “What is common is common interest. Once upon a time, some nine years ago, I went to the (Aso Rock) Villa, the President, Olusegun Obasanjo, asked me to walk out and was just abusing me in the papers and I said, “Baba, you are a tenant here. This house belongs to Nigeria. If I get to Ota, you can send me out. I brought file about Nigeria.”
And he said, “That is true, sit down.” He said despite their less-than friendly past, Mr. Obasanjo was still worthy of celebration.
“If I could tell you several events that occurred between the two of us in the interest of the nation, I would write an epistle but today is not for that,” Mr. Tinubu said. “But how do you celebrate truly and honour a man who has kept you on your toes? Between Baba Olusegun Obasanjo and myself, what I can say is gratitude from me because you kept me on my
toes.
“Each time we disagree on things of principle, I took him to court. One time, as the President, he saw me and said, “You took me to court. We can’t be friends after the court.” And I told him, “I didn’t take you to court, I took the Nigeria President to court.” And he said, “Get out of my way” and I told him, I wouldn’t get out of the way until I get what I want.”
Mr. Tinubu also disclosed a recent attempt at an alliance with Mr. Obasanjo, who was formerly of the Peoples Democratic Party but now an elder statesman without any party affiliation.
“…When we started this present regime of merger and alliances and we visited him, we told him we wanted him to be a navigator,” Mr. Tinubu narrated. “He said, “Navigator? I am still in my party. I will try to avoid partisanship because of Nigeria. If you people put up a good team for the sake of this country, I will give you wisdom.” “And if you look at what has been happening since then, Obasanjo is an open book, you read a line, you pick a paragraph, you learn, you comply. If you drink from that fountain of wisdom, you will see value in it. He is very committed to the Nigerian nation.
“As we were talking few minutes ago, I said Nigeria is the giant of Africa and he said, “I hope you will remove the k-leg.” I said, “The elephantiasis would be killed.” He said by what and I said by the APC.” Mr. Tinubu praised Mr. Obasanjo for quitting the PDP by publicly tearing up his membership card.
“It wasn’t about anything else, it was about the love of our country, patriotism, putting the country first before self,” he said. “There’s nothing Obasanjo would have wanted in terms of material wealth, oil well, oil lifting – whatever from (President Goodluck Jonathan) that he wouldn’t have gotten or what from PDP that he wouldn’t have gotten as a retention service.
“He put all of that aside, believed in the unity, cohesion, and progress of this country in order to free himself from that bondage of commitment to partisan politics that is probably drifting in the middle of the storm of a political change. He would rather be afloat and chart a new course.”