Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
Former
President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday said the South-South geopolitical
zone would reflect the performance of the immediate past President, Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan, who is from the area.
Obasanjo stated this while fielding
questions from members of the audience shortly after delivering a
lecture at the 11th convocation of the Benson Idahosa University, Benin,
Edo State.
He explained that the 2011 presidential
election had presented the South-South an opportunity to produce the
number one citizen of the country, as a minority zone, and would bear
the consequences of his decisions as President for six years.
He also said what the former President did while in office was entirely his.
When
asked whether he did not share any responsibility in the performance of
Jonathan as an elder statesman and former chieftain of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Obasanjo said, “I have also said that you can help
anybody to get a job, but you cannot help him to do it. Let us get it
clear, there is nobody who has got into any position who has not been
helped by one person or more than one person.
“To become Nigeria’s head of state, it
was first of all my performance in the war front. Now, if General Yakubu
Gowon had not sent me to the war front, you won’t know whether I can
perform or cannot perform.
“Now he sent me to the war front, I
thank him for it. And because I performed, we shared the credit. If I
have failed, Gowon would not have shared the credit; he would not have
shared the condemnation with me. I will be alone.
“Yes as I have said, I believe that
opportunity that afforded itself in 2010 to somebody from the minority
tribe to become the President of Nigeria; he should never lose the
opportunity.
“And don’t forget what he did or did not
do with it will reflect for a long time on that part of the country and
don’t take that lightly.
“What he did or did not do with it will
reflect for a long time on that part of the country. But nobody will be
there who will not be helped, but you voted for him, I was not the only
one among 18 million voters who voted for him.”
On the leadership crisis rocking the 8th
National Assembly, the former President said that the Assembly was
experiencing “growing up hiccups” which he said was normal in a
democratic system.
He said, “You know normally when you are
growing up, you have what they call growing up hiccups. And that is
nothing to worry about.
“It is part of growing up in our democracy.”
The former President, however, expressed concern over the high rate of youth unemployment in the country.
He said the challenge could leave Nigeria sitting on a keg of gunpowder if left unchecked.
Obasanjo said, “Whichever way you look
at it, we have a large proportion of our youths who are unemployed. It
doesn’t matter the statistics you use; at one time, they say it was 50
per cent. At another time, they say they rebased; we are never tired of
rebasing in this country.
“They rebased and say it is 25 per cent. Even if it is 25 per cent, that will be about 25 million (unemployed) people.
“If we do not do something about it, we
are all sitting on a keg of gunpowder because the youths that are
unemployed will be angry and restless and any spark will set them off.”
