Nigeria at 56: We must begin to get things right —OBJ

Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, noted that the nation’s growth at 56 is impaired, but gave an assurance that there would be light at the end of the tunnel.

He spoke at a lecture entitled “Nigeria Development for Nigerians by Nigerians “organised by the Youth Fellowship of the Owu Baptist Church, Abeokuta, to mark the nation’s 56th Independence celebration.

The former president submitted that the country was not where it should be since independence, urging all Nigerians to accept responsibility and stop passing blames on the administration of the system.

“Our development is impaired, it is not what it ought to be but we must get it right. We must all accept responsibility, we must stop passing the bulk,” he said.

Obasanjo added that foreign investors and friends of the country should be encouraged to support the government’s developmental efforts, in the areas of peace and security, education, food, sanitation, shelter as well as transportation.

He identified  unemployment as one of the major issues threatening the peace of the country, saying he was offered employment by different establishments, immediately he completed his secondary education at Baptist Boys’ High School.

Obasanjo attributed unemployment as the major cause of youth restiveness in the country, appealing to the government to tackle the situation headlong.

“Unemployment is a major problem in the country today and if we don’t take care, it will consume all of us. In fact, the rising unemployment is a time bomb,” he added.

He maintained that agriculture remains the only option for the country to come out of her present situation, saying” there is no other way we can develop except, engaging in agriculture business, it is the only business that can generate the number of employment we need.

“That is why we have to take it (Agriculture business) as a key of our

development else the many educated Nigerians who have no job are like

time bomb, sooner than later, it will explode.”