Posted by By LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
There was no elaborate celebration or even clinging of wine glasses yesterday as President Olusegun Obasanjo marked his 69th birthday, refusing to be drawn into anything loud.
There was no elaborate celebration or even clinging of wine glasses yesterday as President Olusegun Obasanjo marked his 69th birthday, refusing to be drawn into anything loud.
The president, surrounded by a number of key government functionaries, political associates and family members attended a thanksgiving service at the Aso Rock Chapel in commemoration of the day.
But a pressure group, Movement for Democratic Reform and Nigerian Youth Circle Unison at a press conference in Abuja said unless the president acceded to what it called growing demand to go for a third term in office, nothing called for celebration.
The national coordinator of the group, Alhaji Ciroma Berena Barnabas told newsmen that the whole country would have risen to celebrate President Obasanjo's birthday whether he approved of it or not, if he had honoured the people's call.
Surrounded by members of his organisation, he explained that people were calling for the president to continue in office after 2007 for fear that the country would fall into unsafe hands as happened when he (Obasanjo) voluntarily handed over government in 1979.
Bernabas said the president had steered the country to a point where it would be too dangerous to abandon, hence the clamour by individuals and organisations in the country for him to continue.
"This is the only time in this country that our government would be working with home-grown socio-economic agenda that has proved effective and is turning our economy around. That is why we are for continuity," he stated.
Asked whether he had considered what would become of the president's integrity and honour if he heeded their call considering his (Obasanjo's) past pronouncements on the issue, he said what mattered was the development of the country.
Apart from the thanksgiving service, President Obasanjo also marked the day with a game of squash in the evening which is said to be geared towards showcasing his fitness and energy.