Nigerians have no business with poverty, says Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says Nigerians have no business being poor given the country’s vast resources.

Obasanjo spoke on Friday at a dinner organised in his honour by the Abia government in Umuahia, the state capital.

The former president said Nigeria is abundantly blessed, but it struggles under the weight of resource mismanagement.

“Nigerians have no business with poverty because God has given us all that we need,” Obasanjo said.

“If we are mismanaging what God has given us, we do not have God to blame, we have ourselves to blame.”

Obasanjo commended Alex Otti, governor of Abia, for his efforts in transforming the state, noting that if Nigeria had 18 governors performing effectively, “we will build the country up”.

He added that personal differences are irrelevant to him when it comes to national interest, as his primary concern is the welfare of Nigerians and the quality of leadership they receive.

“For me, whether you don’t greet me or I greet you and you don’t answer, what is important to me is that the people of this country are getting what they deserve and what they deserve is good governance,” he said.

On his part, Otti thanked the former president for his support, adding that his administration had embarked on massive reforms in the education sector to improve access to quality education in Abia.

“Once you have vision, you have to keep to it. It took us ten years to get here, the two elections we contested from 2015 to 2019, we won clearly but they were all stolen,” Otti said.

“A lot of people had given up hope and said it wasn’t going to work, but I was sure that I heard clearly from God.”