Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has said financial impropriety by the previous governments had forced Nigeria into a debt burden the coming generations would have no option but to pay.
According to a statement by his Media Aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, the former president made the observation during a meeting with 2023 awardees of the Future Africa Leaders Foundation, an initiative of Pastor Chris Oyakhilome.
In 2003, as president, Obasanjo secured a debt relief for Nigeria. He said with the level of mismanagement of the previous debts written off for the country, it would 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.
He said leadership was the number one problem facing Africa and the “the coming generations will have no choice but pay the current debt being incurred by different countries in the continent.”
He commended Pastor Oyakhilome for the efforts being put into building leaders, adding that the nation needed 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, being bold and courageous when making decisions, accepting mistakes and learning from them as well as having a realistic dream.”