Obasanjo said this in his new year message titled 'My Appeal To All Nigerians, Particularly Young Nigerians'.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described a slogan, ‘Emi Lokan’ (It’s my turn) made by the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, as a wrong attitude and mentality to bring into leadership in Nigeria.
Obasanjo said this in his new year message titled 'My Appeal To All Nigerians, Particularly Young Nigerians'.
Throwing a swipe at the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu who said ‘Emi lo kan’ (It’s my turn), while addressing people in Abeokuta, Ogun State about why he deserved to be Nigeria’s President, Obasanjo described such a mentality as wrong.
He said, "Let me say straight away that ‘Emi Lokan’ (My turn) and ‘I have paid my dues’ are one and the same thing and are wrong attitude and mentality for the leadership of Nigeria now. They cannot form the new pedestal to reinvent and to invest in a new Nigeria based on an All-Nigeria Government for the liberation and restoration of Nigeria.
"Such a government must have representation from all sectors of our national life – public, private, civil society, professional, labour, employers, and the diaspora. The solution should be in ‘we’ and ‘us’ and not in ‘me’ and ‘I’."
In the message personally signed by the former president, he said it has become imperative to let Nigerians, especially young Nigerians, friends of Nigeria globally as well as Nigeria's development partners know the gravity, responsibility and implications of the collective decision Nigerians, both young and old, will be making within the next two months at the 2023 general elections poll.
He noted that the last seven and a half years have no doubt been eventful and stressful years for many Nigerians as they have moved from frying pan to fire and from mountain top to the valley. He said that though Nigerian leaders have done their best, their best has not been enough for Nigeria and Nigerians at home and abroad because, for most Nigerians, it was hell on earth.
"Those of us who are alive should thank God for His mercies, brace ourselves for the remaining few months of this administration and pray and work very hard for an immediate better future – future of liberation, restoration and great hope and expectation.
"We have had campaigners going up and down the country feeding us with what they mean and what they do not mean, what they understand and what they do not fully understand, what is possible and what is not possible, what is realistic and what is unrealistic, what is true and what is untrue. I believe that we need not be confused nor be gullible. Let us be cautious, not to be fooled again.
"I have interacted with the major contestants and I find it interesting that, in one form or the other, each of them claims to want to do what I did during my Presidency and to take Nigeria back to where it was at the height of my Presidency and immediately after.
"I was pained that most of them do not realise that the Nigeria of today had been dragged down well below Nigeria of the beginning of my Presidency in June 1999. Although at that time, Nigeria was in very bad shape and was tottering on the verge of collapse and break-up," he said.
He noted further that even as bad as the situation was when he became the President of Nigeria in 1999, the country “was not faced with the level of pervasive and mind-numbing insecurity, rudderless leadership, buoyed by mismanagement of diversity and pervasive corruption, bad economic policies resulting in extremes of poverty and massive unemployment and galloping inflation.
"For these reasons, I kept pointing out to them that the instruments used in 1999 to 2007 and methodology used will grossly be inadequate for the perilous situation we now find ourselves."
Obasanjo said that he has come to realise a number of factors in character, attributes and attitude that are necessary for the job of directing the affairs of Nigeria successfully and at a time like this.
He continued, “These characteristics or attributes are many but let us be mindful of some key ones together.
"From interaction and experience, and as mentees as most of them claim, I will, without prejudice, fear or ill-will, make bold to say that there are four major factors to watch out for in a leader you will consider to hoist on yourself and on the rest of Nigerians in the coming election and they are what I call TVCP: Track record of ability and performance; Vision that is authentic, honest and realistic; Character and attributes of a lady and a gentleman who are children of God and obedient to God; and Physical and mental capability with soundness of mind as it is a very taxing and tasking assignment at the best of times and more so it is at the most difficult time that we are."