Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Wednesday, called seriously on Nigerians to make the right choice of President during the 2023 general elections,
He warned that making the wrong choice in the forthcoming elections may consume the nation finally.
The former President spoke as the Special Guest of Honour, at the Wilson Badejo Foundation’s 15th Annual Lecture, with the theme: ‘Overcoming the twin challenge of poverty and insecurity in Nigeria’, which held in Lagos.
His words: “It is either we make the right choice in 2023, because if we make the right choice, we would get there.
“However, if we do not make the right choice in 2023, things would consume us, and we pray against that one. We must make the right choice in 2023.”
Speaking earlier, Obasanjo stated: “Nigeria is not where it is supposed to be today. If anyone says it is ok where we are at the moment, then the person’s head needs to be examined.
“My friend, late Ahmed Joda, used to tell me that God has given us everything a nation needs, and there is no need for prayers, because if God has given you everything and you squandered it, then something is wrong.
“I told him that even at that, we still need prayers as a nation, because what is good needs prayers and on the other side too, we still need more prayers.”
The Guest Speaker, the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, NIIA, Prof Eghosa Osaghea, in his Lecture titled: ‘Overcoming the twin challenge of poverty and insecurity in Nigeria’, explained that when “one’s country fails the individual, then that individual becomes a failure”.
He said: “Poverty cannot divide us, but it binds us; what divides us is corruption. If you see street protests across the world, it is the poor who do it.
“Corruption by whatever means, is what causes division.
“Many people today dig their boreholes for water, employ private security units, etc, yet, these are things that the State should have put in place.
“It is the duty of the State to provide these for the common good of all.”