Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, has pleaded with his countrymen to vote morally in the general elections of 2023.
He also issued a warning that making the wrong decision in the election could destroy the country.
Obasanjo revealed this in his remarks as the special guest of honor at the Wilson Badejo Foundation’s 15th annual lecture, which was held in Lagos and had as its theme “Overcoming the Twin Challenge of Poverty and Insecurity in Nigeria.”
The former President expressed optimism that if the proper decision were taken in 2023, the country may experience advancement.
“It is either we make the right choice in 2023 because if we make the right choice, we would get there.
“However, if we do not make the right choice in 2023, things would consume us and we pray against that one. We must make the right choice in 2023,” Obasanjo said.
He had previously stated that poverty and insecurity were to blame for Nigeria’s failure to occupy its proper position.
He said, “Nigeria is not where it is supposed to be today. If anyone says it is ok where we are at the moment, then the person’s head needs to be examined.
“My friend, late Ahmed Joda, used to tell me that God has given us everything a nation needs and there’s no need for prayers because if God has given you everything and you squandered it, then something is wrong.
“I told him that even at that, we still need prayers as a nation because what is good needs prayers and on the other side too, we still need more prayers.”
In his speech on “Overcoming the Twin Challenge of Poverty and Insecurity in Nigeria,” the guest speaker, Prof. Eghosa Osaghea, Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, said that when “one’s country fails the individual, then that individual becomes a failure.”
“Corruption divides us, not poverty; it binds us, not poverty can divide us,” he declared. The impoverished are the ones that demonstrate on the streets around the world.
“Corruption, by whatever means, is what causes division.
“Many people today dig their boreholes for water, employ private security units, etc, yet, these are things that the state should have put in place.
“It is the duty of the state to provide these for the common good of all.”
