Nigeria needs more rebels to get better – Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said Nigeria “needs more rebels” who will speak the truth to power not minding whose ox is gored. This, he said, remained one of the greatest steps towards rebuilding Nigeria.
He spoke yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, while unveiling the autobiography of the Babanla Adinni of Egbaland, Chief Tayo Sowunmi, entitled, “Footprints of a Rebel.”
The autobiography, reviewed by Hafsat Abiola-Costello, founder of Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, was unveiled as part of the celebration of the 80th birthday of Sowunmi, a former activist and elder statesman.
Obasanjo said, “Looking at the title of the book, I asked myself why someone would call himself a rebel. But it is good.
“The truth is that if you have to leave a life of honesty and integrity, you have to become a rebel. There would be some time you would be asked to do something, but you would say no, this is not right; and when you say that you will become a rebel. You may even become a persona non grata.
“There is no country we can call our own except Nigeria. Our country needs more rebels. Those who would look at things straight in the face and say ‘this is not right, I will not be part of ’ it, this is not good for Nigeria.”
He saluted the octogenarian for living “an exemplary life worthy of emulation by the younger generation.”
Earlier in his speech titled, “Worthy Nation Building Legacies by the Older Generation of Nigerians,” the Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church, Pastor Tunde Bakare, called for inter-generational reintegration between older and younger generations as part of efforts to rebuild Nigeria.
He said it was a shame that while younger the generation are taking over leadership in other countries, the older generation refuses to leave the stage in Nigeria.
Bakare said the country’s development had suffered because of the marginalisation of the youth and the progressives who abandoned politics.
He also blamed the country’s challenges on those he called “moneybags and bullion van