Nigeria’s former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has urged Nigerians to play their roles towards nation-building to make Nigeria an enviable country among the comity of nations.
Obasanjo said this in his remarks at his 88th birthday ceremony, on Wednesday, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, that all Nigerians, especially the youth, have obligations to have a country they could all be proud of.
The birthday ceremony, which was put together by the Centre for Human Security and Dialogue, was witnessed by an array of Nigerians from different walks of life, including the Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke; the host governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, represented by his deputy, Engr Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele; and Senator Sule Lamido, who was the chairman of the occasion.
Others included the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi; Prophetess Esther Ajayi; Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; and Ahmed Datti, among others.
The Director General of the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs, Professor Eghosa Osaghe, delivered the birthday lecture with the topic, “Echoes of the past, visions of the future: Reflections on slavery and colonisation, and Nigeria’s journey towards a promising future”.
Two books, “Lest We Forget: Slavery, Slave Trade, Emancipation and Repatriation” and “Nigeria: Past and the Future”, both authored by Obasanjo, were presented to the public during the ceremony.
The former president re-emphasised his belief in a greater Nigeria during his lifetime, saying he remained incurably optimistic about Nigeria.
The former president said, “But for me, I am incurably optimistic about Nigeria. Yes, the situation is bad, no doubt, but I believe in my lifetime, we will have the Nigeria that we will all be proud of.”
“For me, I am incurably optimistic about Nigeria. Yes, the situation is bad, no doubt, but I believe in my lifetime, we will have the Nigeria that we will all be proud of.”
“I want to thank all those who have given the 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,” he added.
Osaghae, in the lecture, reflected on where we were as a country 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 block for good governance and also stop wallowing in the past, among other demands.
Obasanjo, in his response to the lecture, 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 it is 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 the other.”
“We haven’t come out of the ones we suffered, spanning about two centuries that we have suffered. 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?”
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