The former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that Nigeria has disappointed the black race and Africa in particular due to a lack of good leadership.
Speaking when he played host to the 20-member delegation of League of Northern Democrats led by former Governor of Kano State, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, at his Penthouse in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Obasanjo said that the whole world looked at Nigeria as the hope of the black race due to its potential, but bad leadership, disunity and regionalism have made the country lose its potential.
He blamed regionalism, which was practised before the Nigerian independence in 1960, as the foundation of the country’s prolonged lack of cohesion.
According to Obasanjo, despite the uninspiring situation of things in Nigeria, he remains an incurable optimist that things will turn around for good in the country, “as long as we can look back as a country and correct the mistake of the past”.
He explained that “the truth is that at independence, Nigeria emerged with three leaders and so, it is a situation of three countries in one ever since.”
The former President said that the question of where you come from in appointing leaders should not be a problem, but what should be of paramount interest is the merit, capacity and ability to deliver on how to move the nation forward saying that “it is high time we begin to work for the national interest”.
Obasanjo said, “You have identified your group as League of Northern Democrats, but how I wish you call your group National League of Democrats because where you come from should not be a problem. Where I was born should not be the enemy of my country. I will be increasing by being a Nigerian than being a member of the Republic of Oodua.”
“I am undoubtedly proud to be a Yoruba, but my being a Nigerian should not be the enemy of my being a Yoruba. We must get the best man for the job, it doesn’t matter where he comes from. We must get our acts together,” the report by Vanguard newspaper on Wednesday quoted Obasanjo as saying.
GIK/APA