27th August 2024, NewsOrient, News, Governance And Development

Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has warned that African youths are angry over the poverty and hardship in the continent.

He said that as a result, if the leaders fail to address the needs and agitation of the hungry and angry youths, there will be trouble!

According to him, the widespread poverty on the continent is “man-made and not an act of God.”

Obasanjo said these at the opening ceremony of the FESTAC Africa Festival at the Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu, Kenya.

A report sourced from Daily Trust quoted the former Nigerian President as saying: “Africa has no reason to be poor. Our poverty is not an act of God. We are steeped in poverty due to our poor mentality. We need to wake up because we have a wealth of resources.

“If you look back in history, you will see that whenever others needed to get work done, they came to Africa to transport black people to the so-called New World to make others rich. And that hasn’t stopped. The slave trade led to colonialism. We enrich others while remaining impoverished. We need to awaken.

“Structural adjustment was the idea of the World Bank. However, I disagreed because we lacked the structure. What exactly were we adjusting? They were simply deceiving us.”

On the current hunger and hardship in Africa, the former military and democratically elected President of Nigeria, who is now a wealthy farmer, said:
“We have everything needed to create wealth. No one will do it for us. We must do it ourselves. If we don’t act, we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder.

“Our youth are restless, unhappy, bitter, angry, unemployed and dissatisfied.

“They cannot wait for a long-promised future. They want action now. If we fail to deliver, we will be in trouble.

“However, we can meet their needs because we have the capability,” he said.

On the Festival of Arts and Culture, held in Nigeria 47 years ago, during his tenure as Military Head of State in 1977, Obasanjo said: “I am here to express my appreciation and thanks, first to the Governor of Kisumu County, Anyang Nyong’o, for hosting FESTAC here and contributing to what I call a renaissance and rebirth of FESTAC.

“I feel a bit emotional because, as you heard, the first festival was held in Senegal in 1966, and there was no other for 11 years.

“Nigeria agreed to stage another edition of the festival in 1975. Despite preparations, a change of government led some people to suggest cancelling it. However, I insisted that we should proceed and successfully hosted it.”

NewsOrient reports that Obasanjo’s warning on the need to address hunger, poverty, hardship and youths’ restfulness across Africa is coming barely few weeks after a nationwide hunger protest in Nigeria, tagged #EndBadGovernance.

Photo Credit: UN Peacemaker

~ NewsOrient