Former President of Nigeria Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo has said he made two mistakes, including the mistake of picking a running mate ahead of the 1999 presidential election.Chief Obasanjo made the disclosure while responding to questions from students that participated in the final of the National Exhibition and Awards organised by Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship in Abeokuta. Obasanjo was elected Nigeria’s president in 1999 with Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 presidential election. Although Atiku and Obasanjo did not have the best of relationship, both men worked together for the terms they served as president and vice.
Though the former president did not mention Atiku in his statement, he said: “One of the mistakes I made was picking my number two when I wanted to become the President. But because it was a genuine mistake, God saved me. The second one was when Abacha wanted to arrest me, I was told by the American ambassador that they would arrest me, and that America had asked that I should be given an asylum. I said no. It could have been a mistake because I could have lost my life. I will say there are many things that could have been a mistake, but God saved me from them all”.
While speaking on opportunities for the youth to take over the mantle of leadership in the country, Obasanjo said the youth would never come into power, if the current trend continued. He said, “With the “Not Too Young to Run” campaign, you can see that those that are contesting now are between 70 and 80 years old; how can the youth run?
He said, “Another thing inhibiting youth from running is the amount of money involved in going into politics. I hope that things should not continue like this. “I was 39 years old when I became the military Head of State. Twenty years later, I came back as civilian President, but those there now do not want to allow the youth. If things continue like this, I do not know how you can come in.”
