Late Head of State, Gen. Sanni Abacha, in 1995 jailed me because I would not remain silent on national and international issues, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has revealed.
Obasanjo made the disclosure at an interactive session with 15 young male and female future Africa leaders drawn from different parts of the continent at his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library OOPL on Friday.
He said he doesn’t want to see Nigeria disintegrate, adding that this made him to come out of his farm after his military service at aged 42 to seek the Presidency in 1999,
Obasanjo who advised the youth on positive leadership roles for the continent, also spoke when the budding youth under the aegis of Future Africa Leaders Foundation came with the 10 winners of the Prestigious and Life Challenging Future Africa Leaders Awards.
He said his prison experience was part of the challenges of life he personally had, and the journey to it started with his inability not to always keep mute.
According to him: “I joined the Army and at the age of 42, I finished my career as a military officer, but, what could I do? I was still young, energetic, and dynamic, but I was still young. So, I took to agriculture and during that time, I went into prison and that is not what I really wanted.
“Going into prison is really a challenge because I refuse to keep quiet. For me, if there is anything to comment on, I did comment on them, and so, I landed in prison, and that is a challenge. And, when I came out from prison the situation was bad in the country that some people felt the need to be saved and pressure started started coming.”
Obasanjo lamenting that some African leaders were reckless and corrupt taking foreign loans.
“Most of the debts cannot be explained. Some outright corruption”, he disclosed, citing a particular state in Nigeria where the site for a carpet industry was never cleared and the entire loan was repaid.
He praised the participants and organisers, particularly the founder of the Future Africa Leaders Foundation, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, for hosting the 2024 edition of the programme yet again.
