Sierra Leone Telegraph: 27 August 2024:
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has stated that the widespread poverty in Africa is man-made and not an act of God, according to Punch Nigeria newspaper report, as the former president calls on African leaders to stop accepting Western ideas that do not work for the continent.
Obasanjo made this statement on Monday at the opening ceremony of the FESTAC Africa Festival at the Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu, Kenya.
The former head of state remarked that, given the continent’s abundant resources, there is no reason for its poverty.
He said, “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 where we adjusting? They were simply deceiving us.”
Obasanjo also expressed nostalgia at the return of the Festival of Arts and Culture, whose second edition was held in Nigeria during his tenure as military head of state in 1977. The first edition of the widely acclaimed festival was held 11 years earlier in Dakar, Senegal, in 1966.
Recalling his experience when the festival was held in Nigeria 47 years ago, the former president 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.”
He added that the event attracted black people from all over the world, including Papua New Guinea, Australia, and the United States, and was a success.
Obasanjo also acknowledged that the event was suspended for over four decades because “it was left entirely in the hands of the government.”
Returning as a democratically elected president from 1999 to 2007, Obasanjo commended Yinka Abioye, Chairman of FESTAC Africa International, for his tenacity and commitment.
He said, “At this juncture, I would like to commend Yinka (Abioye) for his efforts and determination in reviving FESTAC during my lifetime.”
At one point in his speech, Obasanjo called on former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga to join him on stage.
“My brother, come and join me on stage. You cannot bring me here and then abandon me,” he joked.
Calling for support for Odinga’s ambition to become Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Obasanjo said, “At FESTAC ’77, black people who were marginalised and exploited came together. Sadly, that marginalisation continues. I believe it will persist until we unite. The renaissance of FESTAC is part of the process of unification.
“Unless the AU as a continental organisation achieves success with the continental free trade agreement, we won’t progress. The AU itself needs reform. How can they develop programmes and wait for the European Union to provide funding? I was appointed as the AU’s High Representative for the Horn of Africa (a region in East Africa consisting of Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia). When appointed, the AU had no funds for me to perform my role.
We waited for the US, EU, Germany, and other countries to provide money. Due to my connections, I approached the head of the African Development Bank, who provided some funds, enabling us to achieve progress in Ethiopia. Yet, the AU could not provide even that $500,000.
“We need individuals who understand Africa’s problems and the role the AU should play. I believe Raila Odinga is that person. He understands Africa’s issues because we have worked together on these problems before.”
He also stated that although Africa has achieved political liberation, it has not yet attained economic freedom.
“That’s why we need someone like Odinga to lead the AU and provide the reform and leadership necessary to achieve economic liberation for Africa,” he added.
Further, he advised African leaders to stop accepting Western ideas that do not work for the continent.
He 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.”
Source: Punch Nigeria
https://punchng.com/africas-poverty-not-an-act-of-god-obasanjo/
But the evergreen old man does at the very least have the honesty to own up to the fact that we are a resource-rich continent that continues inadmissibly to wallow in poverty.
He may not have brought heaven on earth while holding the reins of power but does seem to realise now what needed and needs to be done to overcome that failure – a task that now awaits execution by those currently in control of the continent’s destiny.
In other words, by acknowledging that all is not well with his continent despite its humongous human and material resource base, is Obasanjo not admitting if indirectly and perhaps ironically so his own failure as a key player at one point in the governance of his continent?
To my mind, a sin confessed even if implicitly and retroactively, is a sin deserving of forgiveness. Particularly so if such confession is allied with an overarching and infectious sense of optimism that holds that all is not lost and that the continent’s potential to progress and develop remains rock solid. The dire state of things in the continent right now needs leaders to lift up spirits; leaders sounding upbeat about its future – in the short, medium and long terms.
The old man had a fair crack of the whip; not once but twice with both military and civian robes. Didn’t he? On both occasions, he left Nigeria worse off than how he met her. The oil-rich populous African country punched certainly below her weight under his stewardship and watch. Now he has the chutzpah to pontificate that Nigeria and by extension Africa’s chronic poverty is not a fait accompli.
I dare say it is because of weak and incompetent Leadership of him and his ilk.
I love the great Nigerian president’s simplicity, clarity, optimism and self-evidently unapologetic Pan-Africanism.
The evergreen old man has a can do mindset, and is urging the present crop of African leaders to do an Obama and say: “Yes we can” and act accordingly.
Africa is not condemned to be poor perpetually. All we need to do is to take an honest look at ourselves, at the uses to which we have put our Independence and sovereignty gained or regained well over sixty years ago and learn from our missteps.
Obasanjo is political experience and wisdom incarnate. What he says should be taken seriously. It is worth its weight in gold.
Put simply, that golden saying is this: African has no business being poor in the abundance of its God-given resources.
Regrettably, to echo the words of the legendary Reggae Star Bob Marley, the continent has like a fool remained ironically thirsty in the abundance of water.