Nigeria’s former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, hinted that he made a mistake picking his number two when he wanted to become the nation’s democratically elected president in 1999.
Obasanjo said this on Saturday during a questions and answers session at a programme by Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE) for selected secondary schools that participated in the final of the National Exhibition and Awards.
At the event held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), the former president said he had made many mistakes in his life, saying the picking of his number two ( Atiku Abubakar) was a genuine mistake which God made him overcome.
“One of the mistakes I made was picking my Number Two when I wanted to become the president. But because it was a genuine mistake God saved me.
“The second one was when Abacha wanted to arrest me. When. Abacha wanted to arrest me, I was told by the American ambassador that they will arrest me and that America has asked that I should be given asylum. I said no. It could have been a mistake because I could have lost my life.
“I will say there are many things that could have been a mistake but God saved me from them all,” he added.
Obasanjo urged the youths to embrace good virtues such as selflessness, honesty, and integrity among others to be able to wrestle power from the older generation.
He insisted that the youths are not too young to rule, saying that they can never come to power if they continue to sit on the fence.
While also calling on the youths to imbibe the spirit of religious tolerance, advising them not to see a particular religion above others.
“Not Too Young to Run” campaign, and you can see that those that are contesting now are between 70 and 80 years old, how can the youths run.
“Another thing inhibiting youth from running is the amount of money involved in going into politics. I hope that things should not continue like this.
“I was 39 years old when I became the Military Head of State. Twenty years later, I came back as civilian president, but those there now do not want to allow the youths.