“All institutions become perverted only to serve the interest of the leader, his family, political accomplices and business interests,” he said.
To close the leadership gap, Obasanjo stressed the need for leadership formation, not just training.
The former President urged young Africans to take democracy seriously and commit to governance that is accountable, transformational, transparent, and oriented toward the common good.
“A continent that fails its youth does not merely waste a generation; it plants the seeds of instability that will haunt the next several generations,” he said.
Reflecting on personal leadership experiences, Obasanjo described the loneliness and moral weight of decision-making, from commanding troops in the Nigerian Civil War to serving as Nigeria’s President from 1999 to 2007.
“The loneliness I speak of is the loneliness of final decision… your decision will affect millions of lives. That weight settles on one pair of shoulders – the leader’s shoulders,” he explained.
“I remember a few days before the Nigerian Civil War ended in January 1970. I was commanding the Third Marine Commando Division.
“My troops were positioned for the final push. Hundreds of thousands of Igbo civilians were trapped, starving, dying. On one side was the imperative of ending the war quickly to stop further suffering.
“On the other was the risk that a military advance would deepen the humanitarian catastrophe. No textbook told me what to do. No senior officer was going to make that call. It was mine alone. I made it. We saved lives by not shelling Owerri. History has rendered its verdict,” he said.
He stated that a leader also carried the burden of being the repository of other people’s hopes — hopes that are often larger than any human being can satisfy.
Obasanjo said that “When I was elected President in 1999, the Nigerian people had endured years of military dictatorship, economic stagnation, and institutional decay.
“They did not elect a president, some of them thought; they elected a miracle performer. And when the miracle did not arrive in full measure overnight — as it never can — I could hear the murmurs of some of them. This is the burden: to be elevated by hope and measured by time, often simultaneously.
The former President said that with leadership also comes the burden of principle, adding that “True leadership requires the willingness to hold a position when it is unpopular, to say no when yes would be more convenient, to name a truth that powerful interests wish suppressed.
“This costs friendships. It costs alliances. It sometimes costs your freedom — as I learned in the prison under Sani Abacha, where I was held for three and a half years, tried before a kangaroo tribunal, and very nearly executed.”
He also highlighted the blessings of leadership, citing achievements such as Paris Club debt relief and the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to recover stolen public funds.
“The blessing of having done the right thing when doing the wrong thing would have been easier. That is the first blessing of leadership: the opportunity for moral self-definition. Not who others say you are,” he said.
On his personal well-being, Obasanjo affirmed that he remained strong at 89 and condemned those spreading false news of his death.
“God has assured me He has more for me to do on earth, and He has given me the wherewithal to do it. I dey kampe as usual,” he added.
The Punch
