Obasanjo blasts Buhari, decries decline in Nigeria’s nation building since 2015

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo at an international forum organised by the Centre for Human Security and Dialogue at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State, decried a significant decline of commitment to nation building in Nigeria since 2015. Dr. Obasanjo may be making an innuendo berating President Muhammadu Buhari who has been superintending the government of the country since 2015.

The international forum was organised by the Centre for Human Security and Dialogue at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in commemoration of the former President’s 85^th birthday anniversary. Participants at the summit include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina.

Dr. Obasanjo asserted that the duty to reverse the trend is beyond professional or commercial politicians, indicating it is a collective responsibility.

The former President highlighted: “If in 2015, Nigeria was 75 per cent a country and 50 per cent a nation, today, Nigeria will not be more than 50 per cent a country and 25 per cent a nation.

“That’s how bad we have gone down in nation building.

“It is beyond professional and commercial politicians alone.

“It demands and requires all hands on deck. I mean Nigerians in all walks of life: politicians, community leaders, traditional leaders, religious leaders, diplomatic leaders, leaders in the academia, leaders in all aspects of government life, and leaders in other aspects of civil society.

“As long as we continue to do the same thing over and over again, the result will not be different.”

Dr. Obasanjo, a theologist, advocated that Nigeria must put principles over personalities.

The former President declared: “We need to be clear about what Nigeria needs today and why Nigeria needs it.

“Only then can we answer the question of how.

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“That will inform us of the criteria and characteristic for determining who. I believe in principles before personalities.

“And taking personalities before principles is putting the cart before the horse.

“As for me, the major issue for me is how to progress Nigeria from a country to a nation.

“The last part of our anthem talks of building a nation where truth and justice will reign. Do we have truth and do we have justice, on the basis of which we can build a nation?”

The former President also said that some of the people aspiring to be President of Nigeria in 2023 ought to be in prison for corruption.