Ignore Irrelevancies, What We Need To Do To Get Back On Track-Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday urged Nigerians to ignore  matters that are not relevant for now and rather focus on what we need to do to get the country back on track.

He said the leaders having a single term of six or four years will not solve the nation’s problems hence the need to give attention to some other issues.

Noting that it will be wrong  for the citizens to continue to suffer while those in government who have continued to ‘enjoy’ will urge  patience, Chief Obasanjo submitted that the country will not  achieve its goals unless both the leaders and the  citizens embrace ‘moral rearmament’.

The former president described Nigeria as a nation that takes two steps forward, one step aside, and four steps backward while emphasizing the need for the Federal Government to look into the grievances and demands  of  the #EndBadGovernance protesters.  He also submitted  that the  protesters  have legitimate demands,.

Team@orientactualmags.com learned that Chief Obasanjo said this during the visit of the  six members of the House of Representatives, who are co-sponsors of bills proposing a single six-year term for president and governors in the country  at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.

The  reps members are  Abdulmalik Danga from Kogi state, Dr Usman Midala from Borno state, Matthew Nwogu from Imo state, Peter Aniekwe from Anambra state , Kama Nkemkanma from Ebonyi state , and Ugochinyere Ikenga from Imo state.

‘More than anything else, such as changing our system of government or moving to a single term of six or four years, we must change our ways of doing things in this country, we must decarbonize our brains, we must change our mentality and character.

How I wish that the succeeding governments had built on the foundation we laid, even if not as fast as one would have wanted it. Sadly, the blocks we put there are even being removed.

What I know about Nigeria is that, yes, if we get it right—the leadership, the team, because one tree does not make a forest—you need a good leader, but you also need a good team for a job well done.

The point is that if we get this right, in about two and a half years, we shall get some of the challenges behind us, and in about 10 years, we would have a solid foundation, and in about 25 years, we would be there.

But what we have always done is take one step forward, two steps aside, and four steps backward, which is why we are where we are in the country.

For me, it is not so much about the system, but we may need to rethink the liberal democracy where we talk of loyal opposition. What we do in Africa is sit down and reach a consensus, and after we have done that, there is no opposition; everyone is on the same page, and we move together.

The word for opposition in all African languages that I have looked into is ‘enemies.’ What do you do with loyal enemies? Nothing like that; once you take it, it belongs to you—the winners take all, and the opposition goes into the wilderness. That is what we do, but this is not good. We need everyone to join hands together and move society forward.

The issue for me, if we get it right, whether we have a single term of six years or two terms of four years, is that we must decarbonise our brains and mentality.

If you give someone a single term of six years, they can still do the evil they would have done in a case of two terms of four years. The only difference is that they would have done it within six years and not four years. That is if they were not re-elected for another four years.

To me, this is not our problem. Our main problem is ourselves, and until we take care of ourselves, even if we adopt a single term of six years or one term of four years, with the same mentality and the same way of doing things, nothing will change.

So, the very beginning is ourselves. Yes, we have to rethink our democracy, but the character of people in government must change. With all due respect, most of those in government should right now be behind bars or in the gallows’ he said-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you