Obasanjo: Nigerians’ve no business with poverty, God has given us everything we need

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says Nigerians have no business with poverty, considering the country’s vast resources.

Obasanjo said Nigeria is abundantly blessed but is suffering from the mismanagement of its resources.

Obasanjo said this at a dinner organised in his honour by Abia State Government at the Government House in Umuahia, the state capital, on Friday, April 11, 2025.

The former president said: “Nigerians have no business with poverty because God has given us all that we need.

“If we are mismanaging what God has given us, we do not have God to blame, we have ourselves to blame.”

He, however, commended the efforts of Abia State Governor Alex Otti in transforming the state, noting the wide public acclaim of his administration’s performance.

Obasanjo affirmed the governor’s impact on governance in Abia State and urged him to continue to do well.

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Obasanjo added that if Nigeria had 18 governors doing well in their responsibilities as leaders, “we will build the country up”.

The former president reiterated his concern in the well-being of Nigerians and the quality of governance they receive.

“For me, whether you don’t greet me or I greet you and you don’t answer, what is important to me is that the people of this country are getting what they deserve and what they deserve is good governance,” he added.

Speaking, Otti acknowledged the support he received from Obasanjo.

The governor said the importance of vision and perseverance in leadership could never be overlooked, recounting the challenges he faced over his decade-long political journey.

Otti stated: “Once you have vision, you have to keep to it. It took us ten years to get here. The two elections we contested from 2015 to 2019, we won clearly but they were all stolen.

“A lot of people had given up hope and said it wasn’t going to work, but I was sure that I heard clearly from God.”

He said his administration had embarked on massive reforms in the education sector to improve access to quality education in Abia State.

The Star