Obasanjo: People Can Mourn Me the Way They Like When I Die

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has responded to the criticisms trailing his controversial condolence message on the passing of Buruji Kashamu, a former senator and leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State.

A former Governor of Lagos State and a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, IN his condolence message, said people should be kind to the dead since everyman would die someday.

But Obasanjo in his response to the criticisms told Premuim Times, that it was okay for people to mourn every death but that the living, including himself, must draw the right lessons from the lives of those who have died.

He said it is only in doing this that societies can make progress.

“When I was growing up, in our community, when anyone known with bad character died, we usually only mourn him and bury him. No eulogy. No praise-singing.

“There is an English saying that urges us never to talk ill of the dead. But in this case, we are not talking ill of the dead. We are only drawing lessons from the life and history of the dead. I am not gloating over his death. It is sad for anyone to die and we must mourn him.

“But we must learn from such a passage. There will be bad lessons. There will be good lessons. But we should not just be praise-singing or eulogising the dead, especially when there is no need to do so.

“We should not cover up bad histories and conducts so that the right lessons can be learnt,” he said.