“How I Sacked My Daughter over Lateness,” Obasanjo Speaks
- Former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has stirred a fresh conversation in the polity as he speaks about his daughter
- Obasanjo narrated how he sacked his first daughter and how his action instilled fear in all his employees
- The elder statesman spoke as he hosted the new Chairman, Board of Management of Federal Medical Centre Idi-Aba in Abeokuta, Dr Dayo Israel
TheTalk.NG journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has recalled how he sacked his daughter from his farm for coming late to work.
Obasanjo recounts how he sacked his daughter over lateness.
Photo credit: Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia SummitSource: Getty Images
“No leader succeeds without stepping on toes”
According to Obasanjo, the action had an indescribable effect on all his employees.
As reported by Vanguard on Sunday, February 9, the former president, made the disclosure, while playing host to the new Chairman, Board of Management of Federal Medical Centre Idi-Aba in Abeokuta, Dr Dayo Israel, who was on courtesy visit to him at his Penthouse residence, in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital.
Dr Israel was in company of the FMC, Abeokuta Medical Director, Professor Adewale Musa-Olomu and members of his management team.
Obasanjo told his visitor to brace up for the challenges ahead and be ready to step on toes, if necessary, for a successful tenure of office.
The former president said:
“No leader of note he has ever come across achieved without stepping on toes.”
The former president, in a statement released to the press by the hospital’s Head of Public Relations, Dr Segun Orisajo said:
“If you’re doing a job and you’re not stepping on toes, then you’re not effective.
“Shortly after I left office as Head of State, my first daughter, then at University of Ibadan, studying Veterinary Medicine was engaged on my farm to gain some practical experience during long vacation.”
“On day one, she resumed a quarter past seven in the morning as against the usual 7 o’clock. I warned her, reminding her that she has an obligation to be of good example to other workers. I told her I will not hesitate to wield the big stick should the same be repeated going forward.
“To my amazement, the following day, she was late to work again. I did not hesitate to send her back right from the gate.”
“Not surprisingly, this had an indescribable effect on all my employees, saying “if Baba could do this to his daughter, who are we?”
Read more about Obasanjo here:
How Obasanjo almost became a drug addict
Meanwhile, TheTalk.NG earlier reported that Obasanjo shared insights from his time as chairman of the West African Drug Commission under the Kofi Annan Foundation.
He noted the disturbing shift in West Africa’s role from a drug transit hub to a significant consumer region.
Recalling his own near-encounter with smoking as a young man, Obasanjo emphasized how the early temptation to use psychoactive substances could have led to addiction had he not experienced severe coughing, which made him quit.
Source: TheTalk.NG
