Before we talk about food, security is key. Education is one of the tools we can use to banish poverty. Where there’s no education, there will be poverty
By Titilope Adako
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has raised fresh concerns over the growing hardship across Africa, warning that failure to tackle poverty urgently is like sitting on a keg of gunpowder.
Speaking at Dele Momodu’s leadership lecture held in Ibadan, Oyo State, the ex-President declared that Nigeria has no business being poor, especially when China successfully lifted over 700 million people out of poverty.
Obasanjo said, “Before we talk about food, security is key. Education is one of the tools we can use to banish poverty. Where there’s no education, there will be poverty.”
He stressed the need for responsible and visionary leadership, adding that, “Leadership is the greatest ingredient for ending poverty. We must ensure no child is uneducated. Nigeria can eliminate hunger and poverty with integrity, discipline, and good governance.”
“If we don’t take responsibility, we all sit on a gunpowder keg,” he warned.
Also speaking at the event, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, called on Nigerians to be patriotic and support local products as a way of fighting poverty.
He said, “If we want to break poverty in this country, we have to be patriotic in all ramifications. From the food we eat to the clothes we wear. We may not get it right at first, but in a short time we would be the envy of the world.”
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, who also attended the lecture, hailed Chief Momodu for establishing the leadership centre.
He lamented that many politicians are disconnected from the people, saying, “The problem we have is that people don’t have the fear of God. I invited President Obasanjo twice to Osun State to inspect the rapid development I am bringing there. I am trying to build the Atlanta standard of spaghetti junction.”
Obasanjo concluded that until poverty is eradicated across Africa, the international community will not take the continent seriously.
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