Details Of His DELE MOMODU LEADERSHIP Lecture
Former President Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has said that Nigeria can eradicate abject poverty and chronic hunger within a decade and a half, if the country embraces education, good governance, discipline, and the elimination of corruption and waste.
Speaking at the Aare Dele Momodu Leadership Lecture on Poverty, the elder statesman emphasized the critical role of leadership in influencing the direction of a nation. “Talking of leadership, a leader is an influencer,” Obasanjo stated. “So a leader can influence for good and can influence for ill. He can lead well or he can lead badly.”
“So what then do we need to do to ensure that we have, oh no, I’ve got it, what then do we need to do?” he asked rhetorically. “Well, to make sure that we get it right, first, we must ensure that there is no lack of education.”
Obasanjo warned that lack of education is a key driver of poverty and hunger, particularly among children. “Lack of education for a child gives that child every high probability of being abjectly poor and falling into hunger trap,” he said.
He went on to stress the urgency of reversing the current education crisis in Nigeria. “With integrity, discipline, good governance, elimination of corruption and waste, Nigeria can get rid of abject poverty and chronic hunger within a decade and a half,” he declared.
Citing alarming statistics, the former president said, “We have 24 million children that should be in school that are not in school, 24 million out of 244 million in the world. We have 10% of the world children that should be in school that are not in school. If we are going to talk of eliminating hunger and abject poverty, we must get all those children into school.”
He projected an ambitious but attainable vision. “And as I said, I believe we do it well. In 15 years, we can get our population almost 100% educated, in 15 years. To do that, you need the right leadership. And if we have that, as I said, good governance, elimination of corruption and waste, Nigeria can get rid of abject poverty and chronic hunger within a decade and a half.”
Referencing international success stories, Obasanjo praised China’s achievements. “If China can do it, China lifted 700 million people, I have been in China. I have been in their rural areas where I lived with poor people who, in winter, for heating their rooms and cooking, allowed the smoke to go under their bed. China lifted 700 million people out of poverty.”
He continued, “So we can achieve that if all things are equal. And as I said, if China can do it, we can do it. We have human and non-human materials to banish poverty. But what applies to Nigeria applies to almost all other countries in Africa. Nigeria should have no business with abject poverty and hunger. God has not made that our lot. Rather, it is the conscious and unconscious choice of Nigerian leaders.”
Drawing parallels with other African nations, he said, “And this is no different from any other African country in similar situation. That situation must be changed.”
Then came a stark warning. “If we don’t take up the responsibility to take care of educating the uneducated and integrating them into constructive, productive, and gainful engagement within the society, the uneducated and the unemployed will take care of us all as unpleasantly as they can make it. We are all sitting on kegs of gunpowder,” he warned.
“To be forewarned is to be forearmed. We should create no room for the poor and the hungry because in desperation their fury will be uncontrollable.”
However, he reassured that the country is richly endowed. “The good news, though, is that God has endowed us with adequate resources in Nigeria to have no abject poor and chronic hungry among us. So are many other countries in Africa that are also richly endowed.”
Highlighting the paradox of poverty in Africa, Obasanjo gave an example: “Let me take one of the countries that is regarded as poor in Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC. Right now, I’m involved in the DRC. This is a country that has nine countries as its neighbors. That border puts them on the sea, so the largest in Africa. No other country in Africa is bordered by nine countries.”
He elaborated, “It’s a country that has two time zones, the only country in Africa. The time in Kinshasa is one hour behind the time in Goma. It’s a country that is two and a half times the size of Nigeria. It’s a country that has about one third the population of Nigeria.”
“And it’s a country that has 60% of the world’s cobalt. If we are talking of battery cars and all that, you need cobalt. 60% of the cobalt deposit in the world is in the DRC. There is a neighbor of the DRC that has no cobalt and is an exporter of cobalt.”
“There is a country, neighbor of the DRC, that didn’t have gold. It has eight gold refineries. And that country, the DRC, is still regarded as one of the poorest, if all things are right.”
Reflecting on his personal experience, Obasanjo said, “I was first in the DRC on the 1st of October, 1960, as a young officer under the United Nations UN peacekeeping mission. In 2009, I was sent to the DRC again by Ban Ki-moon. And I was there for 18 months just to see what was going on.”
He concluded, “The problem of the DRC in 1960 was still there in 2009. And the problem of the DRC in 1960 and 2009 are even more there today.”
“Now, I give that as a typical example. You can take any other country. They will be more or less in the same situation. It may be just a little bit different.”
“So, what am I saying? What I am saying is simple: leadership matters. And what applies to Nigeria applies to any other country. And I’ve given an example.”
“Nigeria should have no business, as I’ve said. And this is no different from Malawi, Zambia, or any other country.”
“So, we are all endowed. What matters is what we make of the endowment. We have no reason to complain. Why we are complaining is because we are not doing enough for ourselves.”
“Why are we poor? We are poor because unwittingly we have chosen to be poor.”
Sharing another anecdote from his presidency, he recalled, “Some time ago, when I was President, there was a problem in Guinea-Bissau. And I was Chair of the African Union, AU. John Kufuor of Ghana was Chair of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS. And then I said to him, let’s go.”
“And he said, where are we going? I said, we are going to Guinea-Bissau. Meet me at the airport. And he did.”
“And what do we have? We met at the airport. He came into my plane. And as we were about to land, he looked, everything was green. Water, green. And he said to me, hey, my brother, this country should not be poor.”
“I said, my brother, tell me which country should be poor in Africa? And that is true. Which country should be poor in Africa?”
“When we got there, this is a country, if you plant any fruit, any tropical fruit, it will grow luxuriantly.”
“We got to the hotel. We had imported grape. Not banana. Not orange. Not pineapple. Not tangerine. Imported grape. We had imported apple.”
“So I told President John Kufuor, I said, I am protesting.”
“He said, how are you protesting?”
“I said, I am protesting by not eating the fruit that they have put here.”
“And that is the type of Africa that we give to ourselves.”
Bringing his speech to a close, Obasanjo said, “Now, I believe we should pray to God who has endowed us with all the resources, that He should also endow us with the profession of leadership for a great leap forward for Nigeria and for global Africa.”
“The leadership,” he concluded.
“Dele, thank you for successfully pulling a fast one,” the former President jokingly said.
By Benprince Ezeh
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