Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that at 89 years, he won’t die anytime soon.
He condemned those circulating a fake letter in which he was purportedly speaking about his death, saying they were only wasting their time because “I dey Kampe.”
The former president disclosed this on Wednesday while delivering a colloquium titled “Burden and Blessing of Leadership: Reflections from Global Africa to the World” held as part of the ceremonies lined up to mark his 89th birthday in Abeokuta.
Obasanjo was born on March 6, 1937.
The former president said at 89 years he had no doubt that God did not make a mistake to keep him alive and reasonably healthy at his age.
He slammed those wishing him dead, saying he would remain on the earth surface agile and healthy for as long as his Creator wanted.
“For my final note in this address, I want to point your attention to the work of some never-do-well.
“They publish and circulate a fake paper credited to me that I am writing, giving notice of my death, pafuka.
“That is their wish and surely not God’s wish for me. God has assured me that He has more for me to do on earth, and He has given me the wherewithal to do it.
“And those who wish otherwise are going to be dealt with by God Himself. I dey kampe as usual,” the former President said.
Earlier, the former President had lamented the leadership crisis that he said had, for decades, stifled Africa’s development, growth, and economic prosperity.
“Africa is not a problem to be managed but a promise to be fulfilled through honest, courageous, selfless, incorruptible and transformational leadership,” he said.
He explained that genuine leadership carried immense burdens, citing his own incarceration and near execution under the military junta of the late Gen Sani Abacha as part of that burden.
Highlighting Africa’s unrealised potential, he said, “By every measure of natural endowment, Africa should be a continent of prosperity, stability, peace, security and global influence.
“Instead, a major part of the continent remains a theatre of preventable disease and suffering, starvation, conflict, insecurity and poverty.”
Obasanjo identified leadership failure, not geography or history, as the primary cause.
“The primary cause is the failure of those entrusted with power to lead for the people and serve them rather than against them; to build institutions rather than subvert them; to welcome accountability rather than flee from it, to ensure equity and justice rather than enthrone injustice, inequality and inequity.”
He warned that many leaders arrive with promises but soon govern for personal or familial gain, undermine democracy, and erode institutions.
“The same young reformer who promised accountability begins to silence the press, harass the judiciary, and intimidate civil society.
“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.
“We must invest not only in teaching leaders what to do, but in forming leaders who are constituted and imbued with attributes and values to do the job the right way,” he said.
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
