Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, is of the opinion that to build the nation, Nigeria needs more rebels who would speak the truth to power.
Former president Obasanjo was speaking on Saturday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while unveiling the autobiography of the Babanla Adinni of Egbaland, Chief Tayo Sowunmi, titled “Footprints of a Rebel.”
During his brief remarks, Obasanjo noted that for Nigeria to move forward, it required “more rebels” to stand and speak for the truth.
According to Chief Obasanjo, whoever must live a life of honesty and integrity had 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. The truth is that if you have to live 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 of 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.”
In a speech at the occasion titled, “Worthy Nation Building Legacies by the older generation of Nigerians,” Pastor Tunde Bakare, Overseer at the Citadel Global Community Church, called for inter-generational reintegration between older and younger generations, as part of efforts to rebuild Nigeria.
According to Bakare, it is a shame that while younger generations are taking over leadership in other countries, the older generation refuses to leave the stage in Nigeria.
