Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday, July 14, says his administration’s mistakes were not caused by selfishness.
The former President served for two terms from 1999 to 2007, and from 1976 to 1979, he was the military head of state.
Obasanjo made this comment in an interview with the newspaper “point”, published on Monday in the tabloid edition.
He said that the mistakes of his administration were genuine, and that his government was devoid of self-interest.
“The people who worked with me, no matter where they come from, they remember what we did together. There is no question of favoritism, there is no question of, Yes, these are my family and friends. There is no doubt that this is my personal interest” ” he said.
“I never say that we didn’t make a mistake or that we are perfect, but whatever the mistake was, it was a real mistake. This was not a mistake that we made out of selfishness.”
Obasanjo dismissed the claim that he had not done enough for Yoruba Land as President, saying that his focus was on Nigeria as a whole.
He said that his non-partisanship at the moment is a reflection of his focus and commitment to Nigeria.
“Some of the Yoruba came to me and said you didn’t do enough for the Yoruba. I said: “Yes, I did it for Nigeria?”They said,’ did You do this?’ I asked if Yoruba was part of Nigeria. If I did everything I could for Nigeria, and Yoruba is part of Nigeria, then I did for Yoruba what I did for Igbo, Hausa, and so on. I think that should guide us, ” he said.
“Yes, the question is, what is my guiding principle?” Nigeria. You know that I actually became President on the platform of the People’s Democratic party (PDP). Now I am not PDP person, I am not an APC person (All Progressive Congressmen), even I am not an ADC person (African Democratic Congress). But if you ask about my party, I will say that Nigeria is my party.”
The former President said Nigeria can be great with a succession of generations in good leadership.
He asked the current leaders to look beyond this moment, because their actions will become a guide later in the future.
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“You should keep in mind that this country can be a great country. We have everything to make this country great. And that always bothers me. When you see what we can do, how to do it, and we don’t do it. This is very unfortunate, ” he said.
“Can we get there? I believe we can. All we need is one generation of consistent leadership, we will be there. This is what we need. We need one generation of proper leadership consistently.
“When you are in a leadership position, don’t just think about today, think about tomorrow, because, look, You would be the starting point. How did he behave? How did he do it? What did he do? In the future, people will refer to it. First of all, I have no malicious intent. I can’t even think of anger. And when I have a job, I get into it.”
