Why Nigeria only needs more rebels – Obasanjo explains

Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former President has said Nigeria needs “more rebels” who will speak truth to power for the country to move forward.

Obasanjo stated this on Saturday in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, while unveiling the autobiography of the Babanla Adinni of Egbaland, Chief Tayo Sowunmi, titled “Footprints Of A Rebel.”

He concluded that having rebels remains one of the greatest steps towards rebuilding Nigeria.

The autobiography reviewed by Hafsat Abiola Costello, founder of Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, was unveiled as part of the celebration of the 80th birthday of Sowunmi, a former activist and elder statesman.

Shortly before the unveiling of the autobiography, Obasanjo submitted that whoever must live life of honesty and integrity has to be a rebel.

Obasanjo said “Looking at the title of the book, I ask myself, why would someone call himself a rebel. But it is good.

“But the truth is that if you have to leave a life of honesty and integrity, you have to become a rebel. There would be some time you would be asked have to do something, but you would say no, this is not right. And when you say that you will become a rebel. You may even become a persona non grata.

“Our country, there is no country that we can call our own except Nigeria. Our country, Nigeria, needs more rebels. Those who would look at things straight in the face and say ‘this is not right, this, I will not be part of, this is not good for Nigeria.”

John Iliffe described Obasanjo as “the outstanding member of the second generation of independent African leaders who dedicated themselves to the consolidation of their postcolonial states”.

He thought that there were four major achievements of Obasanjo’s presidency: that he partially contained the domestic turmoil permeating Nigeria, that he kept control of the military, that he helped to form the African Union, and that he liquidated the country’s external debt.