Mrs. Taiwo Obasanjo is now threatening fire and brimstone over his son’s crashed marriage…

Mrs. Taiwo Obasanjo

You have been at loggerheads with your son’s wife over his alleged sudden disappearance and he purportedly wrote a letter recently asking that he be left alone and accusing you of embarrassing him.  What do you have to say?

My son cannot write that sort of letter and for anyone to say that the letter is from him is a big lie. One of the ways I can confirm that my son did not write that letter is because he does not and has never addressed me as Taiwo Martins at all. He always calls me Mrs. Obasanjo, even though I remind him that I am no longer married to his father, but he still insists on calling me that. So, it is obvious that it was someone that wrote the letter and not him.

I will report to the police and tell them to investigate the letter; I will not stop there. I will also go to the courts and ask the court to compel him to come out and address the world, since he has said that he is not being held against his will. I will go as far as the ECOWAS court to ask that my son be compelled to tell the world if I am a publicity hungry mother or if I am embarrassing him. The issue on ground is not about whether one is a publicity hungry mother or nor, it is about the welfare and the state of health of my son. The life of my son is being threatened and I am not ashamed to speak out for him. Even if my son is 50 years old, I still have the right to be interested in his welfare without minding what people say.

My son has been trying to get out of that marriage but his father is the one that has persuaded him to remain. They say he is running away from his mother, but how can a man who lives in Abeokuta with his father be running away from his mother who lives in Lagos? Does it make sense? When Obasanjo was in prison, people campaigned for him to be released; likewise, I will continue to campaign until my son is released from the matrimonial hell in which he is being held.

When was the last time you saw your son?

The last time I saw him was on September 8, 2017. He used to call me occasionally and I do not see any crime in that because most men are not usually too attached to their mothers; they love their independence. My son is closer to his father than he is to me and I am not against that.

Olujonwo Obasanjo and wife, Tope

Have you reached out to any of his half siblings or friends to ascertain if they know his whereabouts?

I have done that, but they all said they have not seen him. They said he is running away from me, but how can a man who lives in Abeokuta in the same compound with his father and wife be running away from his mother who lives in Lagos? That is why I said the author of that letter misfired. My son is afraid of his father and that is one of the reasons he is running.

Why should a grown man be afraid of his father? Are his other siblings scared of their father too?

All of Obasanjo’s children are afraid of him and they cannot speak out. My son is a quiet person and that is why people always take advantage of him. He is a man of peace, tolerance and is not the loud type. I was not one of those that arranged the marriage for him but he has run away from his marriage more than three times now. Each time he runs away, they will phone me and say I am the one hiding him. If my son had peace in his home, will they phone me to accuse me of hiding him?

The father brought him back from England when he was through with his university education and since then, my son has not have peace. He studied International Relations in England and I was the one that paid for his education. The only time I didn’t pay my kids’ fees was when they were in Bells, which was free because it is owned by Obasanjo.

Did your son ever call you to complain that he was having issues with his wife?

He never told me because we do not speak very often. I heard about most of the issues he is having from family members and if I didn’t hear correctly, I would not have gone public with my concerns. His wife told me one-on-one that she has not seen him since November 1, 2017 and that was when I became afraid. Can a mother hear that her son’s wife has not seen her husband for over two months and then she would keep quiet? I blame Chief Olusegun Obasanjo for my son’s predicament.

Is it possible that he may have travelled out of the country?

I do not know where he is and that is why I’m crying out. My son is afraid. If a man is no more comfortable with his situation, he should be allowed to make a decision to leave or remain. Now, my son is like a fugitive and his father is not helping matters.

Why is your son not confiding in you or anyone else about the challenges that he is facing?

He is the type of person that easily recoils into his shell when faced with problems. I do that also, maybe that is where he learned it. How come my son is not coming out to speak for himself? It is because he has been threatened by those around him; so he is afraid.

– Culled from The Sun