Posted by By JAMIE DOMINICS, Washington DC, and LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja on
The three-day visit of President Olusegun Obasanjo to the United States might not be a diplomatic tea-party afterall as the US authorities are set to take the president to task over his third term ambition. Obasanjo is expected to categorically say whether or not he is running.
The three-day visit of President Olusegun Obasanjo to the United States might not be a diplomatic tea-party afterall as the US authorities are set to take the president to task over his third term ambition. Obasanjo is expected to categorically say whether or not he is running.
The trip had earlier suffered a major setback following the initial refusal of the US authorities to assent to Obasanjo's request to visit the White House, where he was hoping to have a session with President George W. Bush.
Daily Sun learnt that some senior administration officials and lawmakers had kicked against the visit because it might send a wrong signal that the Bush government supports another term for President Obasanjo. They insisted that Obasanjo should just restrict himself to whatever business he had at New York with the United Nations and leave the US thereafter.
Although Saturday Sun had exclusively reported of this stalemate, President Bush was said to have, at the last minute, overruled his advisers and other State Department officials on the decision to snub the Nigerian leader.
Bush, Daily Sun gathered, had countered all the arguments for barring Obasanjo with the clincher that it was likely that the Nigerian leader might even like to discuss the third term issue with him. He also promised to raise the issue, in the event that Obasanjo cleverly refuses to raise it himself.
According to Bush, a lot of the issues involved can best be resolved on a personal, one-to-one discussion. He said such personal touch could only apply if he grants Obasanjo audience.
Although the officials barely conceded to their president, they were able to extract the commitment from Bush that he would see Obasanjo only on the a condition that the visitor must take a definite position on the controversial plan to amend the constitution as well as the plot to extend his tenure in office.
So, as Obasanjo visits the White House, Daily Sun further gathered, Bush is expected to thank him on the roles he has played in bringing political stability to various parts of Africa, his agreeing to extradite former Liberian President Charles Taylor, among other positive things.
However, the US president would also draw attention to the Africa Monitor report on human rights abuses, which is due for release either later this week or next week, but which rates Nigeria very low.
According to the report, human rights abuses have increased in the country in the last few years. Particular mention is made of the persecution of political opponents, the freezing of the business accounts of the likes of Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu as well as using the police to arrest and harrass perceived political opponents and disrupt their rallies.
Although the US authorities project that President Obasanjo would have ready answers for these posers, they are also looking at the damning New York Times editorial on the Obasanjo regime as well as the recent pronouncement of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Col. Ahmadu Alli, to the effect that the third term project was a fait accompli and that the percieved opposition was only a media creation.
The US authorities, Daily Sun gathered, are also excited about the eventual release of the last three hostages by the Niger Delta militants early Monday morning. However, a diplomatic source confided in Daily Sun that they were not unaware that the release could have been orchestrated to boost Obasanjo's battered image and give him something positive to talk about when he eventually meets Bush.
According to the source, the US remains convinced that Obasanjo has created so much tension in the country with the alleged third term ambition and that the present visit would offer all the parties the opportunity to get a clear picture of the direction the Nigerian leader is headed.
Although there has been an initial reluctance on the part of White House over interfering in the internal affairs of an independent country, 'we have had a lot of double speak from supporters of the president and senior members of his government and party. This visit presents an opportunity to hear from him", a State Department official told Daily Sun .
Officially, however, the White House is sticking to the visit being an opportunity for President Bush and Obasanjo to rub minds on a host of issues concerning the continent. According to White House Press Secretary Scott McClelen, the visit 'provides an opportunity for the President to thank President Obasanjo for his leadership as Chairman of the African Union in the deployment of African troops in response to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. The two leaders also will discuss a broad range of regional and international issues, including continuing cooperation in the areas of Darfur, regional security, energy security, fighting corruption, strengthening democratic institutions, and the need to bring Charles Taylor to justice".
The visit is expected to also present an opportunity for several Nigerian groups to protest their opposition to the third tern agenda as some are already mobilizing to protest what their officials described as 'a hijack of the constitution by selfish members of the ruling party to turn Nigeria into a one party state".
Meanwhile, the Presidency said Monday in Abuja that Obasanjo's visit to the United States of America was essentially to attend the Africa Fertiliser Summit taking place in that country this week and had nothing to do with the third term project.
In a seeming reaction to the editorial of the New York Times urging President Bush to prevail on President Obasanjo to jettison the third term bid, as well as speculations that the issue would feature in the discussion between President Obasanjo and his US counterpart, presidential spokesperson, Mrs. Remi Oyo, who briefed State House correspondents on the visit did not, however, rule out the fact that the issue might feature in the discussion between both leaders.
'As you know, when two leaders talk they discuss a wide range of issues. And I would like us to wait until that happens. As to the editorial of the New York Times, I ask you, since when do governments take decisions from newspaper editorials?" she queried.
She explained that talks between President Obasanjo and Bush would centre mainly on relations between the two countries, especially as Nigeria has a huge American presence and is a major crude oil supplier to America as well as feature the global fight against corruption, amongst other issues of mutual importance.