Pascal Arogorn Ibe
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo , on Tuesday, cautioned Nigerian leaders to stop blaming God for insecurity , bad economy , poverty , and other challenges confronting the country .
Obasanjo said the nation ’ s woes remain the ‘ choice’ of the leaders and followers , stressing a change of narrative as the country approaches 2021.
The former president said this at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library , Abeokuta, Ogun State , on his 2021 message to Nigerians .
According to him , with enormous resources available in the country , Nigeria does not have to be poor and no Nigerian must go to bed hungry .
He described 2020 as a year of many challenges but urged Nigerians to work and pray hard in order to achieve “ a glorious 2021” .
Obasanjo said , “ I like the motto of a school which says ‘ work and pray . ’ Some people say it should be ‘ pray and work ’ , but it doesn ’ t matter to me in what order I put it, but prayer must go with work and work must go with prayer .
“ And I believe we need to work hard in this country as we pray hard so that the coming year , the year 2021 will be a glorious year for us . But it will not happen unless we work to make it happen.
“ We do not have to blame God for our situation , we have to blame ourselves. Nigeria does not have to be poor, no Nigerian must go to bed hungry . That we have a situation like that is a choice by our leaders and followers alike . My prayer is that God will make year 2021 a better year for all of us , but it will not happen without work . ”
On strategy to recover the economy from recession , Obasanjo said , “ When we do the right thing. We are not doing the right thing now . When we do the right thing, the economy will be what it should be.
“ We have gone from one form of insecurity to bad economy and on the top of it is the COVID -19. Some people , either for insecurity or for bad economy or for COVID – 19 have gone to the great beyond, I will say may the would of those who have departed, particularly in this year of challenges, may their souls rest in perfect peace . ”
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