Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that he will continue to promote the unity and oneness of Nigeria till his final days on Earth.
Obasanjo said unity is paramount despite our differences and that good leadership was important in fostering unity and development in the country.
The former president made the submission on Thursday while speaking at the presidential youth membership retreat, held at the Youth Development Centre of OOPL, Abeokuta.
He said “If I was a Yoruba leader I would not have succeeded as I succeeded for Nigeria, I might have succeeded for the Yorubas. Your brother from South East is right, I believed that every Nigerian is more respected in the committee of nations if Nigeria remains.
“Don’t let us deceive ourselves, will people still respect us because of our population, 200 million people, you cannot just waste them, even when I go out, people will say you Nigerians are not at the table and that is true, we are not at the table when we should be at the table.
“I have no regret for fighting for the unity of Nigeria and if it comes up tomorrow that it should be done and I have the ability to do it, I will do what I have to do. I believed that the last thing is not in our fighting for the unity of this country is in subsequent leadership that we have.”
Speaking on Insecurity in the country, Obasanjo that education should be an essential component of the solution to the insecurity rocking the country.
According to him, 14 million out-of-school children are potential recruits of the Boko Haram group in the nearest future.
“A situation today where we have 14 million children that should be in school that are not in school, does anybody need to be an oracle to tell that 10 years or 15 years from now, those will be where you will recruit pure Boko Haram.
“So, if you deal with Boko Haram by stick today in few years’ time the situation will be worst because we are talking about security, it will be worst. So, if we are talking of insecurity, where should we begin? if we are talking of poverty where should we begin? It is education.
” Somebody said if everybody is educated who will be a servant and I said if everybody is educated then we will get a better servant than you should have gotten from those that are not educated,” the former president added.
