Olusegun Obasanjo, a former President of Nigeria, has advised General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, a former military President and Head of State, to expect diverse criticism of his new literary work – “A Journey in Service”.
He disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while declaring open the public presentation of the book and fundraising for a presidential library to be built in Minna, Niger State capital.
Obasanjo, who was the chairman of the occasion commended the efforts of the former military tactician in writing the book, stressing that Babangida has not only contributed to history-making, he has contributed to documenting history.
He stated: “You have not only contributed to history, you have contributed documenting to history.
“It is an important part of our nation-building to keep accurate records. Please don’t be unduly worried about critics and put him down syndrome.
He then advised Babangida to expect a wide range of criticism over the book.
According to him, “The book will be reviewed, read, quoted, praised and lambasted, and some will agree with you in part, and some will disagree with you in part, some may even wholly disagree with you. Why should you write the book? It is self-glorification. They will say.
“Controversy may even develop. It’s all good for you and good for the book and our nation-building process, the more praised and condemned the book is, the better because it means that it is being read.
“Please don’t be unduly worried about critics and put him down syndrome. It may even be an indication of success but take note of objective criticism. You should expect a reaction galore. The reaction will be good, bad and ugly.”
