Jonathan tackles Obasanjo: ‘Your utterances ridiculing Nigeria, scaring investors’

President Goodluck Jonathan has accused former
President Olusegun Obasanjo of ridiculing Nigeria
before the international community and of scaring
investors away from the country by his consistent
criticism of his administration.
In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, Mr.
Jonathan said Mr. Obasanjo, by his utterances,
was creating the impression that Nigeria is a
country on the verge of collapse.
Mr. Jonathan therefore advised the former
president to be civil in his criticism so as not to
create the impression that the country is in crisis.
"For one reason or the other, Obasanjo may
disagree with me as his first political son. You can
even disagree with your own biological children,
as a human being, not to talk of disagreeing with
your political children. So, he can agree or
disagree with me, but the utterances have to be
managed in a way that it does not affect the
economy and security of this country.
"But I will use this opportunity, because you asked,
to just plead with my father that he is a leader, a
former president of the country. He has led the
country more than anybody — eight years of
democratic governance and almost four years of
military governance. No other person has that
kind of record.
Mr. Jonathan however insisted that he remained a
political child of Mr. Obasanjo, saying he owes his
rise to political prominence to the influence of the
former President.