Former Abia state Governor Senate
Chief Whip, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, on Thursday revealed how the late South African
leader, Nelson Mandela, put pressure on former Nigeria President, Olusegun
Obasanjo, to drop his third-term presidential agenda.
Kalu made the revelation while
giving a speech on ‘The Mandela I Know’, at the 10th commemoration of Nelson
Mandela Day organised by the South African High Commission in Nigeria at the
University of Abuja.
Speaking, Kalu said Mandela
played a crucial role in ensuring Obasanjo abandoned the idea of amending the
Constitution, to enable him contest for a third term in office.
In his words, he said, “I recall
my personal interactions with him (Mandela), especially during our national
struggle to force President Olusegun Obasanjo to drop his plan to amend the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and secure an extension of his
tenure.
“Disturbed by the details,
Mandela placed a call to President Olusegun Obasanjo and told him in clear
terms that whatever his plans were, it was neither desirable for Africa.
“That intervention, proved
strategic to the leadership question in Nigeria at the time, leading to
elections in 2007.”
Present at the event were the
South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Bobby Roet, Vice Chancellor of
University of Abuja, Prof Abdul Rasheed Na-Allah, and the Deputy
Vice-chancellor, Prof C.B.I Alawa.
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com