Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said lack of good
leadership and not God is responsible for the nation’s woes.
He also said that the present generation of leaders had
failed the country because they lacked the focus and commitment to move the
nation forward.
Obasanjo, who
identified bad leadership as one of the problems confronting the country, noted
that his generation might have failed in
raising Nigeria to where it should be
but said they (his generation) had fared
well in keeping Nigeria united under a stable democratic dispensation.
Obasanjo spoke as the chairman of the 38th Kaduna International Trade Fair’s
Seminar with the theme, ‘Promoting Public Private Partnership as Panacea for
Accelerated Growth and Development,’ organised by the Kaduna Chamber of
Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture on Monday.
He added that Nigerians must learn to stop blaming God for
the nation’s woes, saying “let us stop troubling God, because God has done all
we need for us, we only need to play our own part.”
Obasanjo stated that if Nigerians should pray to God, “our
prayer should be that God should not take away all He has given to us as a
nation.”
This, the former President said, was because God had given
Nigeria everything it needed to be great but for the leadership problem
bedeviling the country.
He said, “God in His mercy has given us all the needed
resources, both human and natural, but we have not been able to put them
together and manage them effectively. The countries that have developed and are
performing better are not better than Nigeria in terms of resources.
“One problem that must be corrected is the problem of
leadership. This is because our leaders lack focus, commitment, continuity and
sometimes proper knowledge about economic and development issues, hence we have
not been able to achieve meaningful result.”
The former President added, “Somebody came to me and said we
need to pray to God and I said, for what? He said, ‘so that God can do for us,
what we cannot do for ourselves.’ And I said, no, let us stop troubling God,
because God has done all we need for us, we only need to play our own part.”
Obasanjo faulted the lack of focus and capability of the
nation’s leadership to handle the complex issue of the economy, noting that if
Nigeria must get it right in its democratic journey, the problem of poor
leadership must be resolved.
“Another problem is that, we take one step forward and
another step backward. Nigerian leaders must be tough and ready to bite the
bullet, because Nigeria cannot have it easy. Until we get the right leadership,
the problem will continue,” he said.
Obasanjo, who traced the nation’s socio-economic and
political history from independence to date, said the First Republic
generation, led by its founding fathers, gave the country independence, but noted with sadness
that the present generation had nothing to offer.
He said, “It doesn’t matter what you want to say about them,
the Awolowos, Nnamdi Azikiwes, the Sardaunas, Aminu Kanos, Tafawa Balewas, 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.
“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, we must continue to improve on it. My sons and daughters,
what will your generation do?”
Besides, the former President said that lack of synergy
between the public and the private sectors was responsible for the setback in
the nation’s economy growth.
“The public sector perceives the private sector as a
profit-making industry that reaps where it does not sow, but in actual fact,
they are two legs that when brought together can accelerate development in all
sectors of the economy,” he stressed.
He said public and private sectors must work together to
accelerate growth and development.
Obasanjo said, “When we were in office, we privatised the
NNPC and sold it to Dangote and partners, but the government that succeeded me
revoked it and that is why till today, the NNPC cannot work optimally.
“Today, the same Dangote that was denied ownership of the
NNPC is building a refinery that can produce in excess of what the NNPC can
produce and what Nigeria can consume. So, it means he will even export.”
Earlier, a former
Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, who delivered a paper on ‘Promoting Public
Private Partnership As Panacea For Accelerated Growth And Development,’ had
called on the government to encourage
the concept of Public Private Partnership for the growth of the nation.
Usman said the country needed foreign capital and expertise
to augment the resources that the country could afford to generate.
Also, the KADCCIMA President, Dr. Muheeba Dankaka, had
explained that the theme was chosen to highlight the need for collaboration
between the public and private sectors to enhance the business environment
through massive infrastructure development.
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