By Ken Afor
Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has revealed how renowned anti-apartheid activist and former South African President, Nelson Mandela, and distinguished clergyman and social rights advocate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, encouraged him to contest for the presidency in 1999.
Obasanjo made the revelation at a public lecture organised by the Africa Methodist Council Heads of Conference Summit and Women’s Movement Leadership Summit in Lagos on Saturday, June 1, 2024.
He said: “When I came out of prison, and there was pressure mounting on me to take the mantle of leadership in Nigeria, the only place I went outside Nigeria was South Africa. I went to seek advice from Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu.
“Nelson said, ‘Olu, whatever your instinct tells you, do it.’ Tutu said, ‘If your people want you to serve, serve and stop making excuses.’
“I came back home and decided to make myself available and contest for the presidency of Nigeria.
“I found out that the years I spent in prison were advantageous to me in serving as president when I was elected.
“We can get good out of bad. That also happened to Nelson Mandela.”
The former Head of State, who chaired the occasion, described the current state of the nation as increasingly unstable, unpredictable, and complex, while delivering his address on the theme, “Leadership in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous World.”
Obasanjo lamented that rampant insecurity has turned the country into a hazardous environment, marked by widespread suffering and hunger.
The former Nigerian leader emphasised that the leadership must take decisive action to fulfill its responsibilities and create a more secure and prosperous future for all Nigerians.
According to him, there is a need for Nigerian leaders to reassess their approach to governance, urging them to adapt to the rapidly changing world and address the country’s pressing challenges.
“How do we re-evaluate the world? That is what I believe we have to do in our re-evaluating the world. What do we do? Jesus Christ himself told us that in this world, we would have trouble.
“I will give you two points. Wake up! We need a new generation of leaders; moral leaders, transformational leaders, and servant leaders.
“This new generation of leaders will lead by showing love and leading the re-evaluation and transformation,” he said.
Obasanjo added: “When we get good leaders, let’s make maximum use of them because good leaders don’t come often. When you get one in a generation, make good use of them. Let’s learn the right lesson from them.
“We cannot make the world less volatile, simple, or unambiguous unless we have the right type of leaders. We are talking about leaders that take examples of Jesus Christ and become like him.”
During the question-and-answer session, Obasanjo expressed his strong disapproval of the removal of History from Nigeria’s educational curriculum, describing it as a “stupid idea.”
Stressing the importance of preserving and learning from the country’s rich cultural heritage and historical experiences, Obasanjo highlighted the significance of reinstating History as a vital subject in the nation’s educational system.
He said: “I don’t know where we got the idea that we shouldn’t teach history in our schools. It is a stupid idea.
“It is like losing one’s memory. It will be a disaster. I don’t know where we got it from. Some people feel there is an aspect of history we don’t want to hear.
“There are always the bad and the good, even in your own life. As you may know, I am a proprietor of a school, and in my school, we must teach History, and it must be taught the right way. You can then decide to take whatever you want to take out of it.
“There is no race in the world that has suffered like the black race, through slavery, slave trade, and colonialism.
“In America, some people are now teaching that the slave trade was not a true story — that the white and the black went to the Caribbean in search of greener pastures.
“We were shipped there as slaves. If we allow that to go, we will be enslaved again, and we must not allow that to go.
“I have given myself the task of working with some people, to keep the slave trade alive in our history. We must not allow anyone to say the slave trade is not a true story, and we must keep it on the front burner.”
The former president said that the discovery of crude oil in Nigeria marked the beginning of the country’s woes.
He implied that the abundance of oil resources had brought about more challenges than benefits, hindering the nation’s progress and development in various ways.
His words: “One of the things that was a little bit of misfortune in Nigeria is crude oil. We were drinking and sleeping oil, and it was a misfortune for us. It made us abandon agriculture. Oil is a waste asset. Agriculture is renewable. We have to go back to it.
“We have to give something to our youths who are becoming restive, frustrated, and dangerous.
“If we are going to curb that, it is by giving them education, skills, empowerment, and employment. If we don’t, they will soon come to attack us in our homes in the daytime, and it is a matter of time.
“Even food, we don’t produce enough. We spend over $20bn to import food. Sixty per cent of arable land is not cultivated. The one cultivated is not used to maximum capacity. We need leaders who will lead us to the promised land.”
Offering words of wisdom to aspiring politicians, the two-time democratically elected president cautioned that it’s a mistake to view politics as a sole profession without having a fallback plan.
He emphasised the importance of having a diverse set of skills and pursuits, as politics can be unpredictable and ephemeral.
He said: “Politicians are a different kettle of fish. They have to be in the world and be, to some extent, of the world.
“You must not be a professional politician. Politics is one profession you go into without any training. You can wake up today and say you are a politician.
“If you are going to be a successful politician, you must have an alternative to being a politician, another means of livelihood.
“When I was President, because I had to listen to my party and they wanted to push me in the way I should not go, I always told them, ‘Look! My farm is there. Take your job. I go back to my farm.’
“Some politicians have no second address. That is a great pity. A politician, who has no second address, will stand for anything. He has no principle, morality, dos, and don’ts.”
