Obasanjo enjoys jibes because they’re signs of development in Africa

While former President Goodluck Jonathan pitied himself as the most insulted sitting president, his predecessor President Olusegun Obasanjo enjoyed all the ribaldries hurled at him so much he had shelfloads of the newspaper cuttings in his library.
“No individual or group of people was ever queried or jailed or repressed for expressing this freedom. Rather, I encouraged them because I derived fun and pleasure from the humour as I know who I am and nobody needs to tell me who and what I am not,” said he.
Obasanjo made this known in his speech while revealing how much Africa has gone in institutionalizing human rights, freedom of expression, and other signposts of development that will lead the continent out of its doldrums.
In the keynote address entitled “African Studies in the Twenty-First Century, Past, Present and Future” delivered at the University of Ibadan International Conference Centre, Obasanjo noted the inhumanity meted to the continent then has formed the basis for the apparent backwardness experienced now.
“The stain and stench of slave trade, the cold war, poor governance made some Africans to laud the good old days of colonialism, corruption and problem of human rights violations,” he said.
The conference, organized by the African Studies Association of Africa, was the first of its kind. It was chaired by Professor Akin Mabogunje.
In attendance wereProfessor Toyin Falola, a keynote speaker, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac Adewole represented by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (administration), Professor EmilOlorun Aiyelari, the Deputy Vice Chancellor (academic) Professor Mrs Gbemisola Oke, the director of the African Studies of the university