Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed deep concern about the deterioration of Nigeria’s traditional institutions, claiming that criminals, drug addicts, and kidnappers now occupy royal thrones across the country.
In his recently published book commemorating his 88th birthday, Obasanjo laments that the dignity and honor once associated with Nigeria’s traditional rulers during colonial and early post-independence days have been “diluted and polluted.”
“Today, there are criminals, drug addicts, vagabonds, bandits and kidnappers as so-called traditional rulers,” Obasanjo writes in Chapter 14 of his new book.
“This is a great pity, and it has greatly contributed to the problems of Nigeria. How do we account for a traditional ruler snatching a ballot box at an election polling station and running away with it”
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The former president calls for “moral re-armament” among traditional rulers, urging them to become assets rather than liabilities to Nigeria’s development and greatness.
Obasanjo also warns that Nigeria may experience violent revolution if the country continues on its current path of mismanagement.
He describes the nation as “sitting on a ticking time bomb” due to corrupt governance practices, stating that young Nigerians are increasingly disillusioned with leadership failures and widespread corruption.
“These young people watch helplessly as their leaders tell them blatant lies unabashedly, while continuing their orgies of vulgar and ostentatious lifestyles rather than investing the money from the nation’s commonwealth in SMEs to create jobs and generate wealth,” he observes.
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Citing former US President John F. Kennedy, Obasanjo cautions that “those who make peaceful change impossible will make violent change inevitable.” He emphasizes that while he is not advocating for violent change, it could become reality without course correction.
Obasanjo extends his concerns beyond Nigeria, describing the situation as “an entire African malady” that risks developing into a “destructive pandemic” across the continent if left unaddressed.