Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed how he ran
from power until he eventually became president.
Obasanjo pledged his allegiance to Africa and Nigeria,
adding that their sterling values made him a Pan-Africanist and Nigerian to the
core.
He spoke on Sunday at a symposium to mark his 85th birthday
organized by the Kegite Club at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library
(OOPL), Abeokuta.
Renowned journalists, Dr. Yemi Faroumbi, Dr. Festus Adedayo
and Prof. Kolawole Kazeem spoke on: “Depreciating Cultural Values and Virtue in
the Era of Social Media: Causes, Challenges and Solutions”.
The Eternal Grandpatron of the Kegite Club tasked the
association to be united and avoid rancour.
“If anything that should be Nigeria, is not Nigeria, I will
not be part of it. If anything that should be Africa is not Africa, count me
out of it.
“I will only be your Kegite eternal grand patron if you all
bury your hatchets so that by next year of my birthday, we will all be together
again”, he said.
Farounbi said that Obasanjo rejected the call for him to
become the Head of State in 1976.
This was after the coup that claimed the lives of General
Murtala Muhammed and other military officers.
“I also know that he did everything possible to reject
becoming the candidate of PDP and ultimately the president in 1999 elections.
“I can say authoritatively because I was involved. He had no
interest in pursuing power.”
Reacting, Obasanjo confirmed that he was once reluctant to
be in political power.
“I was trained as a soldier. One of my training is that
soldiering and politics don’t go together and I stuck to that.
“While I stuck to separation between soldiering and
politics, power started chasing me. I ran and ran until I could not run out of
the reach of power.
“I believed that without been immodest, the fact that I was
not looking for power, power was looking for me make a drought of business”, he
said.
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