Dele Sobowale apologises to Jonathan for 2014 article rating Buhari above him, Jonathan reacts

In a 2014 article titled: “COMPARING BUHARI WITH JONATHAN: IROKO VERSUS ROTTEN WOOD – 1”, Dr. Dele Sobowale dragged the former Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who at the time was still in office.

Sobowale, in that article, attacked Jonathan and also attacked his fellow columnists who wrote articles defending Jonathan’s administration.

Commenting on March 22nd 2020, in an article titled: “Governor Ganduje has murdered sleep!”, Sobowale said, one of the things he regretted was his attack on Jonathan in 2014.

Part of his article reads:

“One of the most foolhardy exploits I ever engaged in during my more than thirty years of writing columns for VANGUARD occurred in October 2014 when I got an article published titled COMPARING BUHARI WITH JONATHAN: IROKO VERSUS ROTTEN WOOD – 1. It was so hot that only the fact that Uncle Sam does not interfere in editorial matters got part 1 published. Despite that, the poor SUNDAY EDITOR received a serious reprimand for not editing sufficiently. I also received a mild rebuke from the Publisher for being too harsh on President Jonathan.

Let me take this opportunity to express gratitude as well as unreserved apology to former President Jonathan who demonstrated his strong belief in democratic norms. Virtually all my friends who are regular readers of VANGUARD thought that I had over-stepped my bounds that time. They expected my arrest and detention any time. My wife was scared to death and she advised me to run away. I did not run and to the everlasting glory of Jonathan, I was not harassed by anyone. I cannot thank him enough. He might not read this article, but, anybody close to him who reads it should convey my message. I sincerely apologise. Time and events have opened my eyes to the worst sort of hypocrisy parading as integrity and virtue. I have, since learnt anew that indeed “Hypocrisy is the homage paid by vice to virtue.” (De La Rochefoucauld, 1615-1680, VBQ p 96). Never again will I trust a military-politician.

But, it was not only Jonathan that I was ready to wage war against on behalf of Buhari. I took on my colleagues in the media – all the big names who were against Buhari. Below is the opening salvo to what was an all out attack against Buhari’s opponents. Never in my adult life have I been so devoted to anyone except Obong Victor Attah. Never have I been so disappointed that I wasted a great deal of goodwill among my colleagues on Buhari – who has turned out not a lot better and indeed is a lot worse than Jonathan in many respects.”

Jonathan’s reaction to Sobowale’s regret and apology:

“Dear @DrDeleSobowale As you expected, my attention was drawn to your apology as expressed in your Sunday @vanguardngrnews column of March 22, 2020. You specifically regretted an article you wrote in 2014 in which you called me all manner of names.

The truth Dele is that I never took such criticism from you or any other of my critics personally .
I may have felt bad as a human being, but I assumed that you were driven more by a patriotic feeling to see our nation make progress, than any personal hatred for me.

Although I believed that many of our critics at that time misjudged our plans and programmes for the country, I was fully convinced that our democracy would be better served if we allowed all Nigerians to freely hold us to account, without let or hindrance.

As I always say, I have no enemies to fight. You will continue to earn my respect.”
GEJ.