From  Laide Raheem, Abeokuta

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday declared that God has been merciful to him by bestowing on him unwarranted favour he never deserved.

Speaking  at the thanksgiving service organised by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ogun state chapter, to commemorate his 80th birthday, Obasanjo said despite the fact that he was imprisoned on a trumped up charge of coup plotting by the late General Sani Abacha, he came out alive and later became president in 1999.

He noted that given his background as a poor Ibogun village boy, with illiterate parents, he never dreamt his name would be heard in the nearest hamlet, let alone Nigeria and indeed, the world over.

Obasanjo, who disclosed that he actually consulted with the late Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, when pressure was being mounted on him to contest for the seat of president in 1999, said he would always be grateful to God for His overwhelming grace.

He said: “God has been partial to me by showing me so much favour that I do not deserve. If you don’t know anything about me at all, go to the village where I was born. I was born by parents that were illiterates. There was no road to the village then. One could not boast of even being known in the next village. God has done so much for me more than I deserve. I thank God for this.”

In his sermon at the service, the deputy national vice president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale Oke, described Obasanjo as man of destiny who God has raised for a specific purpose in Nigeria.

The cleric noted that all the past experiences of the former president pointed to the direction that God has a hand in his life.

He said: “Once in a generation, God raises a leader for a generation. We have such people, like Abraham, Joseph, Samuel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Apostle Paul.

“They were raised and commissioned for a specific task and they were focused on that task. God has raised Baba Obasanjo to be in this mould.

In another development, Obasanjo has affirmed that President Muhammadu Buhari has not disappointed him.

Obasanjo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abeokuta,  while reflecting on the Buhari  administration: “Whatever anybody says, President Buhari has not disappointed me from what I know of him.”

He said the president  had delivered on his core areas of strength and ability, particularly  in the  anti-corruption crusade and the war against insurgency.

Said Obasanjo: “In my book, I said that Buhari is not strong on the economy and I did not write this to run him down. I also used to think that he is not strong in the area of  foreign affairs, but I have realised that he has improved very well.

“He has actually done his best in the areas where we know him to be strong.”

The elder statesman urged  Nigerians not to relent in their support for Buhari and not to give up on Nigeria, saying: “Whatever you  might see as bad in Nigeria, other societies have gone through the same at some period in their history.

“It is not for us to begin to condemn, but to begin to join hands together and consider how we can make the best out of our present. Our present situation is a passing phase and we need to be resilient to ensure that we are not consumed by it.

“I will be the first to admit that we have not been where we should have been, but note that we have also been far from where we could have been because it could have been worse. It is the height of ingratitude for people to say Nigeria has not achieved anything or much as a nation.

“The generation before mine fought for Nigeria’s independence. That is great. My own generation,  which is the next,  fought to sustain the unity of Nigeria.”

Obasanjo also decried the call for national conferences or assemblies to negotiate the continued unity of Nigeria, describing such conferences as distractions.

He said: “We Nigerians need ourselves and if anyone thinks he does not need another person, good luck to him. What I see in all those groups trying to break away is that they want more of the national cake.

 

“I do understand the agitations of the youths, in that the increased facilities that now exist, as against our own time, have not translated to adequate opportunities for them. But I think rather than engage in violence, they should think of how to build on the sacrifices of the generations before them.”

The former president expressed hope that Nigeria would remain intact and become a great nation.