Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said Nigeria won’t move closer to achieving its goals unless its citizens and leaders embrace what he called “moral rearmament”.
Obasanjo also warned that the country was sitting on a keg of gunpowder that could explode anytime if its leaders failed to take courageous and decisive steps to address its many challenges.
The former President gave this advice when he received six members of the House of Representatives at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, on Friday.
He described the demands of the #EndBadGovernance protesters as very legitimate, saying the government should meet them and stop acting as if all is well.
Obasanjo said that it would be wrong for those in government to continue enjoying themselves while telling the suffering masses to be patient.
The former President regretted that successive governments had not built on the foundation he laid while he was in power, saying this has caused significant setbacks for the country.
Obasanjo said, “More than anything else, such as changing our system of government or moving to a single term of six or four years, we must change our ways of doing things in this country, we must decarbonise our brains, we must change our mentality and character.
“How I wish that the succeeding governments had built on the foundation we laid, even if not as fast as one would have wanted it. Sadly, the blocks we put there are even being removed.
“What I know about Nigeria is that, yes, if we get it right—the leadership, the team, because one tree does not make a forest—you need a good leader, but you also need a good team for a job well done.
“The point is that if we get this right, in about two and a half years, we shall get some of the challenges behind us, and in about 10 years, we would have a solid foundation, and in about 25 years, we would be there.
“But what we have always done is take one step forward, two steps aside, and four steps backward, which is why we are where we are in the country.
“For me, it is not so much about the system, but we may need to rethink the liberal democracy where we talk of loyal opposition. What we do in Africa is sit down and reach a consensus, and after we have done that, there is no opposition; everyone is on the same page, and we move together.
“The word for opposition in all African languages that I have looked into is ‘enemies’. What do you do with loyal enemies? Nothing like that; once you take it, it belongs to you—the winners take all, and the opposition goes into the wilderness. That is what we do, but this is not good. We need everyone to join hands together and move society forward.
“The issue for me, if we get it right, whether we have a single term of six years or two terms of four years, is that we must decarbonise our brains and mentality.
“If you give someone a single term of six years, they can still do the evil they would have done in a case of two terms of four years. The only difference is that they would have done it within six years and not four years. That is if they were not re-elected for another four years.
“To me, this is not our problem. Our main problem is ourselves, and until we take care of ourselves, even if we adopt a single term of six years or one term of four years, with the same mentality and the same way of doing things, nothing will change.
“So, the very beginning is ourselves. Yes, we have to rethink our democracy, but the character of people in government must change. With all due respect, most of those in government should right now be behind bars or in the gallows”.
