Obasanjo blames Nigeria’s woes on leadership failure, not lack of resources

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has once again spoken out about the state of the nation, emphasizing that Nigeria’s greatest problem isn’t a lack of resources but the failure to manage them effectively.

Speaking at a dinner held in his honour by the Abia State Government at the Government House in Umuahia on Friday, Obasanjo expressed concern over the hardship many Nigerians continue to face despite the country’s wealth in natural and human resources.

“Nigeria is abundantly blessed,” he said, “but our people are suffering because of mismanagement.” According to the former president, the root of Nigeria’s problems lies in poor leadership, not in scarcity.

“Nigerians have no business with poverty because God has given us all that we need,” he said.

He stressed that meaningful change could be achieved if at least half of Nigeria’s state governors embraced responsible leadership. “If we are mismanaging what God has given us, we do not have God to blame, we have ourselves to blame,” Obasanjo stated.

“If Nigeria had 18 governors doing well in their responsibilities as leaders, we will build the country up,” he added.

The former president commended Abia State Governor Alex Otti for his leadership, describing the positive reception of his administration’s efforts as a sign of genuine impact. He encouraged the governor to stay committed to the path of reform.

“For me, whether you don’t greet me, or I greet you and you don’t answer, what is important to me is that the people of this country are getting what they deserve and what they deserve is good governance,” Obasanjo said.
He also shared an anecdote involving former Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi, revealing a moment during Amaechi’s tenure when he was unaware of a long-established national railway development plan.
“I believe that even if you don’t like me, if I have pieces of advice to give you, as I did when you were Minister for Transport, I will give the advice,” he said.
“You didn’t know that we had a national plan for railway for this country, to reach every state capital as we have them now and I told you to go into the archives, it is there. But again, I believe as Minister of Transport, you got a bit of it right, you got a bit of it wrong.”

In response, Governor Otti expressed gratitude for Obasanjo’s mentorship and support, reflecting on the persistence that defined his journey to the state’s top seat.

“Once you have vision, you have to keep to it. It took us ten years to get here, the two elections we contested from 2015 to 2019, we won clearly but they were all stolen,” he said.

“A lot of people had given up hope and said it wasn’t going to work, but I was sure that I heard clearly from God.”

Otti noted that his administration had launched broad educational reforms aimed at ensuring better access to quality schooling across the state.