Obasanjo writes to Buhari and indicates availability
Former Nigerian head of state Olusegun
Obasanjo on Wednesday reached out to president-
elect Muhammadu Buhari, in a possible sign that he
is prepared to help the country's leader-in-waiting.
"I am sure there are men and women of goodwill,
character and virtue... that you can mobilise to join
hands with you in the reform, repairs and re-
direction that will be imperative to put Nigeria back
on fast lane," Obasanjo said in a letter to Buhari.
Both Obasanjo, 78, and Buhari, 72, are both former
military rulers of Africa's most populous nation who
have gone on to become elected civilian president.
Obasanjo, head of state from 1999 to 2007, fell out
with the beaten presidential candidate Goodluck
Jonathan and has launched a series of public attacks
on the outgoing president.
In mid-February he publicly tore up his PDP
membership card and refused to back Jonathan's re-
election campaign, despite having been widely
believed to have helped his initial rise to the top job.
His public letter to Buhari so soon after his election
win will likely be interpreted as a pitch for a job, after
he made encouraging noises to Buhari's candidacy
on the campaign trail.
"With so much harm already done to many national
institutions, including the military, which proudly
nurtured you and me, you will have a lot to do on
institution reform," he wrote.
Although once seen as a political godfather in
Nigeria, Obasanjo's influence has been on the wane
and he retired from front-line politics to his chicken
farm.
But he still enjoys international respect outside the
country.
He is a member of the Africa Progress Panel
advocacy group on equitable and sustainable
development and was UN special envoy to war-torn
DR Congo.
He also headed an African Union observer group to
the Zimbabwe election in 2013.
