HIGHLIGHT – Yes, We Have Made Mistakes But We Did Some Good Things Too, Says Obasanjo
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has owned up that his generation has failed Nigeria in the path of taking the country to the Promised Land even as pleaded for forgiveness.
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
He made this known at a one day symposium organized by the Kaduna Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA) on Monday.
However, the former Nigerian leader stated that what his generation has missed out in growing the nation economically, they have been able to deliver in the form of keeping the country united and stable under the present democratic dispensation
According to him, after several years of governance, he lamented that the present generation of leadership could not get it right in fixing the problems facing the country, while stressing that other countries that began the journey with us as sovereign nations have left us behind.
He told the youths and other dignitaries who were at the occasion, “look, don’t worry unduly about the mistake the generation before you had made”, adding that “We must accept that we are human”.
According to him, “When people talk to me and said yes, you are wrong. I will accept that my generation had done a number of wrong things. But, we must have done some good things as well”.
Obasanjo traced the journey of the nation from Independence to date, saying that “the generation before us gave us and our country independence. It doesn’t matter what you want to say about them. The Awolowos, Nnamdi Azikiwes, the Sadaunas, Aminu Kanos, Tafawa Balewas etc. they gave us independence, they were not perfect and if you like you can even go from now till tomorrow to condemn what they did, but they gave us independence”.
He urged Nigerians to take solace that “My own generation fought for the unity of Nigeria. You cannot deny that. There are many things we must have done wrong but we fought for the unity of this country. I still have sharp nails from grenades that entered my body that our brothers shot at me during the civil war. But, at the end of it we reconciled”.
“In addition, my generation laid the foundation of democracy in the country. Our democracy is not perfect, our democracy is a journey and not a destination, and we must continue to improve on it.
‘My sons and daughters, what will your generation do? ”Condemnation is easy but what will you do? There are some people who have taken the bull by the horn and tried their best. But, all in all Nigeria.is still intact.
‘There are many countries that fought civil wars and they are not together. Yugoslavia, Pakistan, Sudan, we fought a civil war sadly, but we are still together. I think for God and thank those who made that possible”.
Besides, former President Obasanjo faulted the lack of focus and capability of the nation’s leadership to handle the complex issues of the economy, saying that if Nigeria must get it rights in its democratic journey the problem of poor leadership must be resolved.
Said he: “Part of our problems is that our leaders have not taken the bull by the horn, ready to buy the bullet. We cannot have it easy like that for us to develop. You must be ready to take the bull by the horn. India, Malaysia, and some other countries did it. We have to do it one time or the other”.
“One of our problems is that we take one step forward and another backward. If Dangote and others have taken over the refinery that we privatized at that time we won’t have had all the problems we had with petroleum shortage and all that. But, that was not done”.
“Now, the point is this, Aliko Dangote by himself today is building a refinery, 650,000 barrel per day refinery. That is what we are consuming may not be more than 500,000 barrel per day. So, if building a refinery that can supply all that we need is what is desirable, then we are making progress”.
