Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has admitted that he misjudged President Mohammadu Buhari’s capacity to run Nigeria well at least in one critical area: security.
The former president said he knew all along President Buhari was weak in some critical areas, such as economics and foreign affairs, but thought he was strong in military strategy.
President Obasanjo spoke in a virtual interview with historian, Toyin Falola, on Sunday.
He said that developments since President Buhari assumed power had put a lie to his supposed strength.
He lamented that insecurity had overtaken the North West of the country, where the President hails from.
He said, “I thought I knew President Buhari because he worked with me. But I used to ask people, is it that I have not read him well or read him adequately or is it that he has changed from the Buhari that I used to know? I am not subscribing to the people who say we have a new Buhari from Sudan and all that nonsense.
“I know what I believed was his limitations and I have written about it – he wasn’t strong in economics, not all of us are strong in anything but you need to have sufficient knowledge of it for you to direct the affairs. He wasn’t particularly too strong in foreign affairs but I thought he was strong enough in (the) military (strategy).
“But with what I have seen now, I believe that maybe he will be thinking of a legacy. Maybe he will also learn from what has happened in recent times. If you are the commander-in-chief and banditry is taking place in your backyard, then you have to wake up.”
