Deborah Akinyosoye
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, and the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, have called for the urgent end to abject poverty across Africa.
Obasanjo insisted that if China could lift 700 million people out of poverty, Nigeria ought to have something to do with abject poverty.
Speaking during Dele Momodu’s leadership lecture, ‘How to end hunger and poverty in Africa,’ Chief Obasanjo, in his keynote address, posited that “before we talk about food, security is key.”
While proffering a lasting solution to hunger across Africa, Obasanjo insisted that “education is one of the tools we can use to banish poverty. Where there’s no education, invariably, there will be poverty.
He posited that leadership is removed from banishing abject poverty: “In all works of life, we must have leaders whose characters display ‘communality’.
“Leadership is the greatest ingredient for ending poverty. There’s no human endeavour that does not thrive on leadership.
“To get it right, we must ensure no child is uneducated.
“Nigeria can eliminate hunger and poverty with integrity, discipline and good governance.
We can do it if China can lift 700 million people out of poverty.
“Nigeria should have no business with abject poverty. If we don’t take responsibility, we all sit on a gunpowder keg.
Until we banish poverty in Africa, international communities will not recognize us as a serious continent.” He said
While congratulating President Obasanjo on his submission, the Ooni of Ife urged everyone to be patriotic by collaborating with the government.
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.”
For his part, Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, while congratulating Chief Momodu for his leadership centre in Ibadan, Oyo State, maintained that most political officeholders are too big to reach out to guardians.
“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.” He said.