Nine years ago (July 2017), former President Olusegun Obasanjo disclosed that he left prison broke in 1998, after he was released by former Head of State, General Abdusalami Abubakar.
Obasanjo, who claimed he had no money by the time he regained his freedom after serving in Kirikiri, Jos and Yola prisรธns for about four years, said he was very broke and could not settle the tuition fees of his children, whose studies were almost truncated by his imprisรธnment.
Sharing his experience at a programme organised by Christ The Redeemer’s Friends International (CRFI) of the Redeemed Christian Church of God at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, God rescued him from Abacha’s plot to inject him with po!son.
Shortly after he returned home, Obasanjo said he decided to travel to the US for two reasons. “First, I needed to see my children. When I was in pr!son, they could not pay their tuition. One of them was not allowed to continue because he could not pay his tuition. I did not have money after I returned from prison. And the experience was agonising. I did not even have money to settle their tuition and upkeep. As a father, I decided to travel first to see my children after a long time and second to encourage them, even though I did not have much with me at that time.
“To my surprise, the federal government provided me a presidential aircraft to take me to the US. I was equally surprised at the way the federal government then treated me. My transformation was so sudden. I said this is not ordinary. It is God in action.
“Both Jimmy Carter and Ted Turner fought hard for my release. When I got to Carter, he was happy to see me. Before we started discussing, he asked me if I had seen my friend, Ted. I said I had not seen him. He said Ted had been asking of me. He advised me to visit him before I travelled back to Nigeria. I assured him that I would visit him. He also told me about the roles Turner played to secure my release from Abacha’s claws.
After I left Carter’s place, I visited Ted. Oh, Ted was so glad to see me. He said you would need some money.
I asked him why he was asking such question when I just returned from prisรธn and I had no money. He looked at me and smiled.
Turner then asked his secretary to give me $50,000. After I received the cash, I looked somehow unhappy and I did not say anything. He discovered I was not too excited about the money he asked his secretary to give me. He asked me why I was not looking happy. I told him directly that the money was not enough. I said you knew your friend had been in prison for a long time and that the money you gave me would not be enough. He smiled at me again and directed his secretary to add $50,000. I received $100,000 from Ted alone. I was relieved that I got some money to settle my children’s tuition.”
At Ford Foundation, Obasanjo said: “I was well-received. After we had short discussion, I was asked if I had checked my account balance. I said there was no need to check it because I did not have any money in my account. I was advised to check my bank account. I did not know Ford Foundation was paying honorarium into my bank account. Ford was treating me as though I was attending its conferences, programmes and seminars. I was surprised to find a balance of $50,000 in my bank account.
“Oh, I was so happy that I had more than enough to settle my children’s tuitions and other outstanding issues. I later visited my children, and they were all happy to see me after a long time. At some point, there was no hope of meeting again with what Abacha did to me. I settled their tuition. I shared my experience with them. I encouraged them to always trust God. And I returned to Nigeria after my mission. At the time I was released from the prisรธn, I was really broke. But Ford and Ted rescued me from financial mess.”
โน๏ธ Ethnic African Stories
