Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a former President and past military ruler of Nigeria, has lamented the present state of the nation, noting that anyone who says Nigeria is fine right now needs their head examined.
Obasanjo spoke at the 15th annual lecture of the Wilson Badejo Foundation’s with the theme: ‘Overcoming the twin challenges of poverty and insecurity in Nigeria’ held in Lagos on Wednesday.
He said that Nigeria has not been in good standing due to the low standards of living and incessant insurgency.
He added: “Nigeria is not where it is supposed to be today. If anyone says it is okay where we are at the moment, then the person’s head needs to be examined. My friend, late Ahmed Joda, used to tell me that God has given us everything a nation needs and there’s no need for prayers because if God has given you everything and you squandered it, then something is wrong. I told him that even at that, we still need prayers as a nation because what is good needs prayers and on the other side too, we still need more prayers.”
The former president further called on the Nigerian electorate to ensure they make the right choice of candidates in the 2023 general elections.
According to Obasanjo, there is a probability that the country might move into greater heights if citizens do not make a wrong selection in the forthcoming 2023 presidential elections. The notable politician claimed that a bad choice in the election may consume the nation as a whole.
In his words: “It is either we make the right choice in 2023 because if we make the right choice, we would get there.
“However, if we do not make the right choice in 2023, things would consume us and we pray against that one. We must make the right choice in 2023.”
The former president warned that the twin challenges of poverty and insecurity might consume the country if left unchecked by the authorities.
He also noted that if the Federal Government did not take the correct action and make the right decision, not only will the two continue to fester, but they would consume the country.
He argued that insecurity feeds on poverty and poverty feeds on insecurity.
“Poverty cannot divide us but it binds us what divides us is corruption. If you see street protests across the world, it is the poor who do it.
“Corruption, by whatever means, is what causes division.
“The choice is in our hands, I see faith and half a dozen, I don’t know what choice you want to make out of that two. Don’t let us deceive ourselves, we have a choice; either we are making the choice or we are not making the right choice and if we don’t make the right choice, we don’t blame anybody but blame ourselves.
“If we make the right choice, we would overcome the twin challenge of poverty and insecurity which are symbiotic,” he noted.
