Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has tasked the citizens, particularly the youths, to play their roles towards ensuring that Nigeria, as a country, attains an enviable status in the community of nations.
Obasanjo also tasked Nigerians who are yet to attain the age of 80 to brace up for the obligations of nation-building, stressing that “if we do it well, we will have an enviable Nigeria in our lifetime.”
Obasanjo was responding to a series of encomiums showered on his personality by well-wishers during his 88th birthday celebration, which was held at the Marque Hallelujah of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Speaking at the event, which was attended by eminent Nigerians, including traditional rulers, present and past state governors, captains of industries, as well as foreign expatriates, the former President reiterated his optimism that the country will attain an enviable status that all citizens will be proud of during his lifetime, irrespective of how bad the situation may be.
“But for me, I am an incurable optimist about Nigeria. Yes, the situation is bad, no doubt, but I believe in my lifetime, we will have a Nigeria that we will all be proud of.”
“I want to thank all those who have given goodwill messages; I appreciate you all. May all of you who have reached the age of 80 attain 90 and 100. And I will celebrate that 90 and 100 with all of you.”
“Those of you who have not attained the age of 80 and have not been called octogenarians yet, you will, by the grace of God, attain 80. But let us bear in mind that as Nigerians, there is an obligation for us, and if we do it well, we will have an enviable Nigeria in our lifetime.”
As part of the landmark activities marking his 88th birthday celebration, Obasanjo unveiled two books: Lest We Forget: Slavery, Slave Trade, Emancipation and Reparation and Nigeria: Past and the Future, authored by himself, which he presented to the public.
Earlier in the public lecture titled “Echoes of the Past, Vision of the Future: Reflection on Slavery and Colonization and Nigeria’s Journey Towards a Promising Future,” the guest lecturer and Director-General of the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs, Professor Eghosa Osaghae, reflected on where we were as a country, where we are, and where we should be after colonisation as a nation.
While calling for a decolonisation of our minds, Osaghae, however, demanded a new and united set of leaders that will form the new power bloc for good governance and also stop wallowing in the past, among other demands.
In his response to the birthday lecture, however, Obasanjo said the essence of Osaghae’s message is for all Nigerians to see “where we have all gone wrong without any exception.”
“I want to say one or two comments about the two books. Lest We Forget, the lecturer brought it up vividly, why we should not forget slavery and the slave trade, whether trans-Atlantic or trans-Sahara, they had the same effects on us.”
“And he made the points strongly that if we forget, not only will we continue to suffer from the effects of what he called not an episode, but an epoch, but not only that, we will be re-enslaved again in one form or another.”
“We haven’t come out of the ones we suffered, spanning about two centuries. It is for us to see where we have all gone wrong, without any exception as a group, and then, is there a way out? And if there is, what is the way out? And if we know the way out, how do we get there, and what should we do?”
(The Guardian)
