My time is running out – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has predicted that he was closer to the departure lounge than ever before.

He said he was in a hurry to see Nigeria attain its potential for greatness, stressing that he is now “getting close” to his departure lounge.

Obasanjo made the remark while reflecting on his years in public service and his new book, “Nigeria: Past and Future,” where he assessed Nigeria’s leadership trajectory and criticised both past and present administrations.

According to him, his writings and interventions over the years have not been borne out of animosity but out of a desire to see that Nigeria progress.

“All my writings have been aimed at making Nigeria better because I strongly believe that Nigeria can be made better and I also believe in documentation,” he said.

The former president explained that he had written works such as ‘My Command’, ‘Nzeogwu’, ‘Not My Will’, and his three-volume autobiography, ‘My Watch’, to shed light on his experiences in leadership, policy decisions, imprisonment, and the challenges Nigeria has faced.

“I have written Letters to my superiors and my successors in moments of our nation’s troubles and challenges. I have done these not out of malice but to help leaders to learn lessons and to draw the attention of Nigerians to the nature of the various crises,” he noted.

Obasanjo, who ruled Nigeria as both military Head of State (1976–1979) and civilian President (1999–2007), said he was aware of criticisms that he often sounded sanctimonious, but insisted his conscience remained clear. “Some have accused me of being equally guilty of the things I have written about or accused others of. I rely on my conscience and my records and have no need to defend myself,” he stated.

On his years as a military leader, Obasanjo said he and his contemporaries may have been inexperienced but were patriotic. “We were young, maybe somewhat naïve at times but we were patriotic and committed and sincerely so. We sought to feed our people, we sought to provide infrastructure, we sought to prioritise education, we sought to bring Nigeria to modernity and raise our profile in the international arena,” he explained.