He also said that the present generation of leaders had failed the country because they lacked the focus and commitment to move the nation forward.
Obasanjo, who identified bad leadership as one of the problems confronting the country, noted that his generation might have failed in raising Nigeria to where it should be but said they (his generation) had fared well in keeping Nigeria united under a stable democratic dispensation.
Obasanjo spoke as chairman of the 38th Kaduna International Trade Fair’s Seminar with the theme, ‘Promoting Public Private Partnership as Panacea for Accelerated Growth and Development,’ organised by Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture on Monday.
He added that Nigerians must learn to stop blaming God for the nation’s woes, saying “let us stop troubling God, because God has done all we need for us, we only need to play our own part.”
Obasanjo stated that if Nigerians should pray to God, “our prayer should be that God should not take away all He has given to us as a nation.”
This, the former President said, was because God had given Nigeria everything it needed to be great but for the leadership problem bedeviling the country.
He said, “God in His mercy has given us all the needed resources, both human and natural, but we have not been able to put them together and manage them effectively. The countries that have developed and are performing better are not better than Nigeria in terms of resources.
“One problem that must be corrected is the problem of leadership. This is because our leaders lack focus, commitment, continuity and sometimes proper knowledge about economic and development issues, hence we have not been able to achieve meaningful result.”
Obasanjo added, “Somebody came to me and said we need to pray to God and I said, for what? He said, ‘so that God can do for us, what we cannot do for ourselves.’ And I said, no, let us stop troubling God, because God has done all we need for us, we only need to play our own part.”
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