According to former president Obasanjo, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has brought Nigeria’s position below that of 1999, when he assumed office.
This was said by Obasanjo in a letter in which he informed the youngsters of his encounters with the 2023 aspirants for president.
He expressed disappointment that all the presidential contenders had made the same promises he had made when he assumed office in 1999: to restore the country to its pre- and post-administration high points.
The majority of them, Obasanjo said, “do not seem to understand that the Nigeria of today has been pulled down much below Nigeria of the beginning of my Presidency in June 1999.”
The former president lamented that, despite the fact that Nigeria was in dire straits and on the verge of collapse at the time, “it was not faced with the level of pervasive and mind-numbing insecurity, rudderless leadership, buoyed by mismanagement of diversity and pervasive corruption, bad economic policies resulting in extreme poverty and massive unemployment and galloping inflation.”
The methods and tools utilized to preserve the country from 1999 to 2007 will not be sufficient for the “perilous condition we currently find ourselves in,” according to Obasanjo.
Obasanjo stated that he had come to the realization that character, attributes, and attitude are necessary for the job of successfully directing the affairs of Nigeria at a time like this while not disputing the fact that all of the major contestants are his mentees because he worked with all of them directly and indirectly in government.
He listed what he called TVCP, or “Track Record of Ability and Performance,” as the four key qualities to look for in a leader during the upcoming election. These include: “Vision that is authentic, honest, and realistic; Character and attributes of a lady and a gentleman who are children of God and obedient to God; and physical and mental capability with soundness of mind as it is a very taxing and tasking assignment at the best of times and more so it is at the most difficult times.”
