Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has said that Nigeria should not blame God for the country’s failures since it gained independence from Britain in 1960.
Obasanjo made this known on Thursday, December 1, at the launch of a book by the editor-in-chief of Premium Times, Musikilu Mojeed, titled “The letterman: Inside the ‘secret’ letters of former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo” in Abuja, Channels TV reports.
Obasanjo, while speaking on the nation’s 62-year journey, described Nigeria as a “giant in the sun” that had since underperformed by the world’s expectations.
He stated that, “When Nigeria became independent, it was a giant in the sun. That was the expectation.
“Nigeria is not a giant even in Africa. A giant in the sun. That was the expectation of the world about Nigeria.
“Have we lived up to it? No. If we haven’t, why haven’t we? I think we probably don’t appreciate what we have as a country and I believe if we do appreciate it and make good use of it, we would do better than we are doing now.
“I believe the right lessons must be learned. We have all that we need to have because God has given us all that we need to have.
“The fact that we are not doing what we ought to do as Nigerians is not God’s fault. He is not to blame.
“We have ourselves to blame for where Nigeria is right now,” he added.
It is worth noting that Obasanjo, as the first democratically elected president of the fourth republic, assumed office in 1999 and stepped down in 2007 after completing two terms.
Prior to this, he led the nation as a military head of state between 1976 and 1979, having succeeded Gen. Murtala Muhammed, who was assassinated in a military coup.
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