Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the next generation of African countries will be bugged down by the huge debt profile of the continent.
Obasanjo made this disclosure during an engagement with 2023 awardees of the Future Africa Leaders Foundation, an initiative of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.
In a statement yesterday by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Chief Obasanjo was quoted to have stated that with the level of mismanagement of the previous debts written off for some African countries including Nigeria, it will be almost impossible for any administration to get similar gesture in the continent.
Obasanjo declared that the debts were a trap that no individual or nation should fall into as it constitutes an albatross on any economy.
The former president who asserted that leadership was the number one problem facing the continent, said “The coming generations will have no choice but to pay the current debt being incurred by different countries in the continent.”
He commended Pastor Oyakhilome for the efforts putting into building leaders adding that the nation needs more people like him to address the leadership crisis facing the continent.
Highlighting the qualities of a leader during the questions and answers session, Obasanjo said, “A leader should be able to set good examples, be bold and courageous when making decisions, accept mistakes and learn from them as well as have a realistic dream.”
In a related development, Obasanjo has also assured that the country’s socio-economic situation could be better in another four years or thereabout with prayers and thanksgiving.
He made this disclosure at the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Ogun State 5th Thanksgiving service of his conferment as the Asiwaju Onigbagbo, Ogun State, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta on Tuesday.
The former President said that it was a clear indication that the socio-economic situation of the country is not in good stead, “but, mercy has been with us and if that is so, why should we not thank God?
“Think about it. If you have breathed the free air of God, you should have cause to thank God. So, things are bad, they may be good in a space of four years. And who knows for Nigeria, things that are bad today, may be good tomorrow.”
