Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has recalled a time when Nigeria commanded such global respect that the United States would not take any major decision concerning Africa without first informing him.
Speaking in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the Presidential Youth Mentorship Retreat organised by the Youth Development Centre of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, the former president reflected on the country’s past international influence while urging Nigerian youths to become “positively disruptive” in shaping the nation’s future.
Obasanjo, responding to recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to send troops to Nigeria over alleged Christian persecution, said there was once a period when America regarded Nigeria as Africa’s true leader.
“America saw that there was a possibility of Nigeria being Africa’s leader and we were on the way. When I was military head of state, President Jimmy Carter was the president of America — he would not do anything in Africa without informing us,” Obasanjo stated.
He added that the U.S. and other global powers once respected Nigeria’s position on African affairs and sought its input on regional matters.
“They were not taking permission from us, but they would tell us what they were doing,” he said. “When I was president and head of state, three American presidents came to Nigeria. They didn’t lose anything they were looking for in Nigeria. What did they see? At independence, the world saw Nigeria as a giant coming up. Soon after independence, we lost that. When Murtala and I came into government, we brought it back.”
Obasanjo attributed that respect to Nigeria’s principled leadership and its commitment to Africa’s liberation and unity.
Turning to the country’s youth, he urged them to take responsibility for the nation’s direction, insisting that they cannot afford to wait for the older generation to hand over leadership.
“You are leaders of today, because if you leave tomorrow in the hands of today’s leaders, they will destroy it, and you will have no tomorrow,” he warned. “You can see that happening almost everywhere. Cameroon just had an election. My brother, Paul Biya, is 92. So, what are you going to do with the youth, or are there no youths in Cameroon?”
Referencing the Not Too Young To Run Act, Obasanjo challenged the youth to turn legislation into action.
“Those who made it into law are 80 years old and they are still running. When will you have the opportunity to run? Like I said to you yesterday, you have to be positively disruptive — and I mean that,” he said. “If three people are sitting and two of them start to press the one in the middle, when it becomes uncomfortable for him, it is either he yields the space or allows them to share. You have to be positively disruptive; otherwise, you will have no role to play.”
