Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria, said “something is wrong” if people of his generation are still contesting for public offices in Nigeria.
The former president, however, urged the older generation of politicians to step down for the younger generation to build a better Nigeria.
Obasanjo stated this on Monday while speaking as the Chairman of the 2022 annual lecture of the Murtala Muhammed Foundation with the theme, ‘Beyond Boko Haram: Addressing insurgency, banditry, and kidnapping across Nigeria’.
He made the comments concerning old generation politicians while reacting to Gov. Kayode Fayemi’s statement – who was also a guest speaker – that he was in primary school when the late Murtala Mohammed directed the affairs of the country.
Obasanjo, however, advocated for intergenerational collaboration which will see the old generation assisting the new generation with their knowledge and experience.
The former President said, “We need to have an intergenerational collaboration. Fayemi said he was in primary school when Murtala and Obasanjo were there. So, if people of the Murtala/Obasanjo era are competing with you as governor, then, something is wrong.
“The Murtala/Obasanjo group should be stepping aside. Whatever experience and knowledge we have, we should be able to give it to you and you should be able to give it to those coming after you, so that whatever you have, you are passing it down to those who are coming behind and not to start competing with you, but to make you have access to what will make Nigeria better.”
On insecurity, Obasanjo said, “The insecurity in the country was caused by the ease of access to weapons after the civil war, and since then, we have been unable to address the issue; it keeps getting worse.
“In 2011 when Boko Haram was just showing its ugly head, I went to Maiduguri to try and find out a little bit more about Boko Haram and to also find out what their objective was, apart from being interested in Sharia. They also complained that their followers had no jobs and stated their efforts to get something legitimate to help their members.
“In the process, the government started chasing them and gunning them down.
“What I feared at that time seems to have been happening. At that time, Boko Haram had not many external connections; the ones they had were Nigerians who had resources abroad, who were helping them. My fear then was whether we would be able to keep them away from Al-Qaeda and other international terrorist organizations.
“We seem not to have been able to do that which has made the situation worse.”
Obasanjo added that more attention must now be placed on out-of-school children to avoid more security challenges in the nearest future.
However, Gov. Fayemi in his speech called for a national response to tame insecurity in the country.
He said, “The leadership in most affected states in the North-East, especially Borno, has been up to the task in terms of its response to forging a new compact between state and society. Yet, it is clear that what is required is a comprehensive national response and not an isolated state strategy.
“I believe this must also include a whole country sensitisation programme that understands and subliminally internalises the problem as one that will consume all if not addressed and not a challenge that is exclusively Borno or Kanuri-centric.”
