Obasanjo: Leadership, Bane of Nigeria’s Devt

Olusegun Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo declared  Saturday that said that there are no good leaders in the country, saying leadership in any country is very important in government.

Obasanjo, who spoke in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, during the African Regional Inter-collegiate debate on Human Security,  held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL),  said democracy is the form of government that the country can embrace, noting that democracy helps on how to deliberate on issues that are pertinent to the country.

According to Obasanjo , “The  issue of leadership is very important in all ramifications. In Nigeria, with due respect , there not many good leaders in Nigeria, we have many Nigerians and not good leaders in Nigeria which can be extended to Africa.

“We have problems of job creation, employment generation and wealth creation. It doesn’t matter who emerges as winner of the debate, to me,  all aspects of education must be embraced.”
He said he was shocked when the chairman, Dangote Groups, Chief Aliko Dangote,  told him about the vacancy for  truck drivers when he got six Phd holders and over 600 applicants with Master Degrees, stating that the issue boils down to the problems  of job creation, wealth creation, among others.

Obasanjo said if everybody is a doctor, there will be no engineers. He said  when he was in government, he did not support any professional group that will hold the country to ransom.

He added that if undertakers decide to proceed on strike like the doctors did then, the country would have faced problem of epidemic.
Speaking on importance of education, Obasanjo said “if you want to break the  shackles  of poverty, education is the instrument to do that. Yorubas say three generations doesn’t go into chronic poverty.”