Obasanjo Says Only Leaders With A Touch Of Madness Can Fix Nigeria 

Obasanjo believes that with the proper leader prepared to make harsh decisions, Nigeria can solve the security issues it has in two years.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has stated that Nigeria’s problems can only be solved by leaders who are motivated by passion and crazy.

On Thursday, May 19, 2022, Obasanjo welcomed Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, a presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at his home in Abeokuta, Ogun state.

According to the Daily Trust, the former president stated that he is enraged by Nigeria and that he owes no one an apology.

He lamented the country’s current state, adding it is agonising for him and other well-intentioned Nigerians who want to see the country improve.

The former President said, “Some people say the human memories are short, maybe they are right because if human memories are not short, some of the mistakes that we are making, we will not be making them.

“Yes, we have a record which some people may find a little bit not what they want to hear, but whatever people want to hear, I believe like you (Hayatu-Deen) have rightly said, that this period is not like any other period in the history of Nigeria and you used two words, decomposing and dissolving. I can’t find any better words to describe the situation we have found ourselves.

“It is an agonising situation for you obviously and also for me. I want to emphasise the point that the Nigerian situation, bad as it is, will only be put right by Nigerians at the forefront of our situation. So, Nigerians have to brace themselves up to do what needs to be done to put Nigeria back on the right path.

“And you are right in saying that wherever you go now, one of the things you hear is that Nigeria is not on the table, but why shouldn’t Nigeria be on the table? What does it cost Nigeria to be on the table?

“I will say four things, of which I was reminded this morning. One is knowledge. If Nigeria is not at the table, maybe the knowledge that we should have of ourselves, of our situation, of our continent and indeed of the world is not that adequate, if that knowledge is adequate, we will do what is right, when it is right and how it is right.

“The second is vision, what is the vision that we have? And if you have no vision, you may have eyes, but you are blind. And I believe that is part of our situation.

“The third is passion. And when you said, that you are involved in this, with a passion and I was telling some people this morning that, passion means madness, that you are mad about Nigeria, I am and I have no apologies for that because I have no other country I can call my own and I have no other country I can go to and say yes, I have come to live here.

“Passion means being mad about Nigeria, having a touch of madness and I look at you (Hayatu-Deen) and say yes, you are mad about Nigeria too.”

Obasanjo, on the other hand, believes that with the proper leader prepared to make harsh decisions, Nigeria can solve the security issues it has in two years.

He urged all Nigerians to be willing to make sacrifices in order to steer the country in the correct direction.

Meanwhile, Hayatu-Deen previously warned that Nigeria was “decomposing and collapsing extremely quickly.”

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, former Senate Presidents Bukola Saraki and Anyim Pius Anyim, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, and others will vie for the PDP nomination.