President Olusegun Obasanjo on Wednesday said that Nigerians, especially his critics, would appreciate the impact of his eight years rule after leaving office.
He said in the next two to three years, his achievements would be acknowledged by Nigerians, just like they did when he left as a military leader in 1979.
Obasanjo, who had an exclusive interview with the Cable News Network in Lagos, also defended the results of the April 14 and 21 elections.
He said, he had done his best for the country in spite of its complex nature.
He said, �The way they looked back on me after I left government as a military leader. That time, people were more critical than these times. But I wouldn�t have been invited back if people at the end of the day had not realised that there was a lot of good done during that time.
�And when people look at these, the eight years in perspective, two or three years from now, they will say, �how wrong were some Nigerians when they criticised.�
On the just-concluded elections, he said the results were not different from what the American pollsters conducted before the poll.
Besides, he said there was nothing unusual about the controversies surrounding the results. The President noted that there was no election that had not been controversial in Nigeria since 1959.
Obasanjo insisted that Nigeria�s democracy �was �very healthy, well and kicking.�
He blamed some political parties for the controversies surrounding the results.
He said, �Democracy is very healthy. Well and kicking. In fact � the three or four points you have made � we are able to make these points because we are a democracy. If there is no democracy we would not be talking about allegations and all that
�Let me put it this way. In some cases, it is not allegations because some people have spoken to me – political parties, observers – and they gave me their concrete experiences.
�With all this, what is my own position? My position is that at least a week before the first election on April 14 we had pollsters, American pollsters, very objective and they gave what they thought the results would be.
�The results that we had on the ground on April 14 and 21 were not really too dissimilar than what the pollsters said.
�I don�t say that they have gone well. But what I am saying is that the results we have got are not too bad to say that they do not indicate the will of the people of Nigeria.�
Asked whether he was not worried that the legal challenges being contemplated by the opposition parties could lead to violence, Obasanjo said,�
�I can�t be worried about the next five weeks.
�I have taken part in elections in this country since 1959. There is no election result that has not been controversial.�
He said that the allegations of election fraud, voter intimidation and poor preparations had not been substantiated.
He added, �I don�t think much damage has been done to Nigeria and its reputation abroad because while I was making my statement yesterday (Monday), I also put some blame on the political parties. Now you see there is no perfect democracy or perfect election.
�Nobody can say that. But when you are in the process of strengthening and developing your democracy, what are you doing? You are learning. You are improving. You are strengthening. You are deepening.�
On how his administration had fared in the last eight years, Obasanjo gave his government a pass mark, especially in the area of tackling corruption.
But the President said the biggest achievement of his administration was that there was hope for every Nigerian today unlike eight years ago when there was disillusionment.
He added, �Pass mark. I do not think we are there but definitely corruption has stopped to be a way of life. It has stopped to be a thing where you enter a government office and someone says to you: go and bring so much. Openly and unabashedly.
�Now, I don�t say that corruption has been completely eliminated but we are fighting it. And people now know we are fighting it.�
He advised the President-elect, Alhaji Umaru Yar�Adua, to study what the Federal Government had done and build on its good foundation.
�Of course, I will not expect that the new man will take everything lock, stock and barred, but there are a lot of good things that he can continue to build. And if he does that then he is there,� he said.
On the Niger Delta crisis, Obasanjo said it would be unfair to say his administration had failed in the oil-rich region.
He said that prior to 1999, the region was receiving less than three per cent of money realised from oil produced in the area.
With 13 per cent derivation fund now going into the region, the President said progress had been made.
But he admitted that more progress needed to be made in the crisis-ridden area.
He said, �There is not everywhere that you have schools. I would be the first to admit that. Not everywhere. But there are more schools in the Niger Delta today than there were eight years ago.
�There are more colleges; there are more admissions to schools and universities in the Niger Delta today than there were eight years ago.
�So, let us acknowledge progress has been made. And say yes, we have made progress but there is need to make more progress and then we make more.�