Says Leaders Enthroned By Satan Are Bound To Fail
By Kolawole Ojebisi
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said a sincere battle to rid the country of corruption must start from the top echelons of government.
Obasanjo noted that for the effort to sanitize the country to be successful and effective corrupt officials at the highest levels of leadership must be made to serve as deterrent.
He stressed that this would demonstrate the government’s commitment to transparency and integrity.
Obasanjo spoke on Sunday night during an interactive session on Zoom tagged “Boiling Point Arena.”
The conversation which was aired by some private radio stations in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, focussed on Obasanjo’s legacies in government and his assessment of today’s Nigeria.
It
Obasanjo described corruption as hydra-headed noting that it has eaten deep into the fabric of Nigerian society.
“The best way of fighting corruption is starting from the head, that is where corruption has to be fought from,” Obasanjo said.
The former President also submitted that the fight against corruption must be consistent and not one-off.
He added that to bring corruption to its knees demands utmost focus using the analogy of a man attired in “babariga”.
He added, “Corruption is very hydra-headed and eats deep. I think it was the Sultan of Sokoto, the father of the present Sultan, who said corruption is like a ‘babariga’; if you are folding it on one side, it’s falling apart on the other side. When you carry it on both sides, you cannot hold your hands up and as soon as you put your hands down, it’s falling apart. And that’s corruption.
“It’s not a one-day affair. It’s not a one-regime affair. It’s not even a two-regime affair. It has to be consistent. It has to be continual. It has to be a daily affair. Once one regime is let off, it spreads.”
He called for a change in the recruitment and appointment process of leaders into public offices, insisting that political appointments must be made on merit rather than political or tribal basis.
Speaking further on how the kind of person at the helm affects the state of a nation, Obasanjo waxed theological stressing that self-made leaders or those enthroned by Satan are bound to fail.
He insisted that only God makes a leader, and whoever he enthroned would succeed.
“So I will say most leaders are prepared by God and they put in place by God and when that happens the chances of success are higher than when you make yourself a leader which may not be the act of God.
“And again people saying all leaders are made by God, I don’t accept that. A leader can also be made by Satan. In the case of Job, you can remember Satan was going up and down and went before God and God was commending Job but Satan said Job was upright to God because he has gotten from God.
“We must accept that Satan is real and he has power, he has no salvation but he has power and the power of Satan must not be underrated,” Obasanjo stated.
