2023: Obasanjo Says country’s future depends on Poll
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, has cautioned that the country’s future depends on how well “we observe” the general election in 2023.
Obasanjo made this statement while receiving a courtesy visit from Most Reverend Daniel Okoh, the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, at his penthouse residence in the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State.
Obasanjo cautioned that politicians are capable of spreading devastation that might make or destroy the country if leaders fail to watch it in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi.
He said, “In the next election, if we do not watch it, it may make or break Nigeria. And I pray that it will make Nigeria.
“If you stand on the truth, you stand for justice and equity, it is then that politicians will not be able to mess us around, and I will say it with all sense of responsibility now if we do not watch it, the politicians will wreck this country and we will all regret it.
“And where can we look for salvation? That is where you religious leaders have a significant role to play.
“I think it’s the past mistake that we say politics is not for the righteous. Now, if we take the righteous away from politics, and we leave politics to the unrighteous, the unrighteous will smear the righteous with the unrighteousness that they will carry into politics and will have nowhere to go.”
The previous president thanked the CAN President for his comment and stated, “I must tell, I am impressed with you and the Sultan, who is already chanting your praises. You can both change your ways. You may collaborate.
The Sultan of Sokoto had mentioned the CAN President to him, according to Obasanjo.
“Having both the Sultan of Sokoto and the President of CAN already on the same page, maybe our politicians will listen, and if our politicians don’t listen, maybe our people will listen,” Obasanjo added.
The CAN president had earlier praised Obasanjo for his efforts in advancing Christianity in Nigeria.
Okoh said, “In 1976, you started establishing the CAN association, and in September 1999, you formed the Inter-Religious Faith Council 1999. In the political sector, you set up the National Political Reform Conference, to which I am privileged to be a delegate representing the Christian faith. These were the few I could remember as I planned for this visit.
