Kashamu: Backstory of Obasanjo’s letter to the dead
FROM the way he addressed the letter, you could almost guess that he had some difficulty writing it, but Olusegun Obasanjo being Olusegun Obasanjo, he wrote it anyway.
Usually, condolence letters are addressed to the bereaved family, while others could be in copy. But former President Obasanjo chose, instead, to indulge his pet peeve his own way. He sent his condolence letter on the passing of Buruji Kashamu to Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, hoping that somehow, the family will get the message.
Well, thanks to social media, not only Kashamu’s family, the wider public also read Obasanjo’s letter to the dead. It has drawn the extremes of emotions, which the former president has come to represent in public life and which he is used to.
Bang on the nail
In the past, the former president has been accused of exaggerations or making up stories in which he is the only legend. This time, however, what he said about Kashamu was true. It’s true that in his lifetime, Kashamu, also known as Esho Jinadu, was a fugitive from justice in the United States where he was wanted for drug-related offences.
It’s true that he exploited every known legal subterfuge, money and politics to frustrate attempts to extradite him to the US. He seemed to combine the invincibility of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada the Mexican drug cartel boss, with the Robin Hood-like quality of Pablo Escobar, the famous Colombian drug kingpin of the Medellin, who not only laid down the terms of his surrender, but also built and stayed in his own prison.
In spite of a $2million bounty on his head by the US, Escobar escaped extradition until his “understanding” with the Colombian authorities broke down. He was killed by the national police a day after his 44th birthday, drawing a crowd of over 25,000 to his funeral. Obasanjo was correct that there are lessons to be learnt – lessons for him and for all, since obituaries are not for the dead.
Message and messenger
But that is not where the story ends. In an outrage that evoked the tried and tested theory of the leading 20th century communication scholar, Marshall McLuhan, that the “medium is the message,” not a few insist that it was not in Obasanjo’s place to wield the cane.
The former president, loved and hated almost in equal measure, is medium, message and messenger rolled into one. In the specific case of Kashamu, you’ll have to go back beyond the former president’s bombastic letters to his party and to President Goodluck Jonathan six years ago, to get a clearer picture of why the narrative is turning out, sadly, to be a master-class in hypocrisy, an alien concept in Obasanjo’s world.
When former Ogun State Governor, Gbenga Daniel, was leaving in 2011, he was obsessed, like they all are, with who will become his successor. He wanted Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, a first-class accountant, chartered stockbroker and banker, to succeed him.
