Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that Nigeria has not lived up to expectations, saying that the country has disappointed its citizens, African continent, Black race and the world at large.
Obasanjo stated this in Abuja on Monday while delivering his the keynote address at the public presentation of a book titled, “Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa.”
The book was written by former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, who also served as Minister of Finance, Olusegun Aganga.
President Bola Tinubu, who was represented at the event by his Special Adviser on Monetary Policy, Olawale Edun, unveiled the book.
Speaking on the failure of Nigeria to play its roles, Obasanjo said, “Over the last 63 years, we have not lived up to expectations. We have disappointed ourselves; we have disappointed Africa; we have disappointed the Black race; and we have disappointed the world.”
But the former President added that, “What Segun (Aganga) has tried to identify, itemise and recommend in his book is the way forward.
“But the beginning of charting a new course for ourselves is to admit our failure because we have not always put the round peg in the round hole.
“We are carried along by ego and emotion of self, selfishness and self-centeredness, ethnic and religious jingoism, with total lack of understanding of the world we live in and gross misunderstanding of what development entails and how to move fast and continuously on the trajectory of development.”
Obasanjo further identified two of the major issues that were interrelated in terms of factors for all-round development.
According to him, “These are peace and security, which we cannot achieve without justice, equity and inclusive society. And telling ourselves the truth, we have not done well on these scores in the recent past — in the last decade and a half.
“I will also point at the issue of education, where over 20 million children that should be in school are not in school. We do not need an oracle to tell us the consequences of that for tomorrow.
He further said that it is regrettable that skill acquisition, empowerment and employment of youth were ignored or not appreciated.
Obasanjo also lamented bad implementation of laudable programmes and good policies remains the bane of positive development in the country, adding that the development has led to poverty, insecurity and other infamous actions in Nigeria.
The former President then said, “We do not need to look far for the remote causes of banditry, Boko Haram, kidnapping and other organised crimes.
“We are living dangerously on a keg of gunpowder, driving more people into poverty through good policies poorly and thoughtlessly implemented or bad policy and no policy at all.”
