Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has outlined steps and measures towards achieving an effective and efficient year for the country in 2019.
Speaking during the Christ Embassy New Year’s Eve service,at the Loveworld Arena, Ikeja, Obasanjo said that the country’s success for 2019 is dependent on 5 pillars which will serve as the pillar of growth and development for Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
According to him, the 5 pillars are politics, population, protection, prosperity and partnership. “If these 5p’s are deliberately and carefully practised it will cause a remarkable progress in the country”, he said.
The former president noted that of these 5ps, politics is the most crucial of them all, if we get this right then, it’s the beginning of getting other things right.
He added, “Politics entails good governance which is imperative for development in Nigeria. This can be done through democracy, which should be a popular demonstration of getting the people involved in governance and making them feel like a part of the community.”
He noted also that population is another factor that must be looked at. “At independence, our population was 45 million, presently we are heading towards 200 million and by 2050 we will be about 400million. Apparently, our population is growing rapidly. We can’t do anything about it, but we can make life worth living for them.” he said.
According to him, education is a key factor to achieving this end and “if there is no education, the people will keep wallowing in poverty. Education is just the best tool to manage poverty. The people must be educated, and on order to be gainfully employed. This is the best way to make our population productive” he stressed.
He further buttressed on the aspect of population as the third “P” which according to him, is maximum security in all ramifications. He said, “Security of property is a major problem in Africa. There is nowhere in Africa, where security is the way it should be. This boils down to security of jobs, human Rights, and life. If all these are well taken care of, the fourth “P”can come to view.”
Obasanjo noted that the 4th pillar of development being prosperity is a better substitute for the word, “poverty.” He urged Nigerians to desist from using such word to describe the country. “Merely looking at the minerals we have, you will come to terms with the fact that Africa is not poor. The land is blessed immensely. God did not create Africa to be a poor country.Time has come when we should stop talking about poverty but about prosperity.” he said.
Lastly, the former president pointed out that Partnerships should be a culture that must be inculcated.
According to him, partnership involves, corporation, collaboration, in the family, community, state and country, within Africa and with the rest of the world.
He beckoned on Nigerians to work in unity and oneness as against the way they previously did. “We cannot continue to walk the way we did, rather we should work in cooperation and collaboration. The more we work together, the farther we will go and the greater things we will achieve.” He said.
He added, “If u want to go fast, go alone,if u want to go far, walk as a group”.
Obasanjo said that those who thought of Africa as a forgotten country shall be surprised.
“If we take this “5p’s” seriously and do it properly, this 21st century will be one of a kind for Africa. These are the steps to building a new Africa beginning from today”. He said conclusively.
