Obasanjo, 82, was President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. He first served as military president from February 13, 1976 to October 1, 1979.

The Biafra civil war

About 3 million Nigerians lost their lives in a civil war that began on July 6, 1967 and ended with a “no victor, no vanquished” proclamation by then Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon (rtd) on January 15, 1970. 

Most affected were the people of Southeastern Nigeria, whose separatist leaders insisted on the realisation of a Biafra Republic.

About 2 million ‘Biafrans’ died of starvation during the war, on the back of ethnic tensions across newly independent Nigeria. 

However, Obasanjo says Nigeria is even more ethnically polarized under incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari than it was in the volatile 1960s and 1970s. 

The Abeokuta speech

“When we look at this country today, even during the civil war, we were not as divided as we are today”, Obasanjo said on Thursday, March 21, 2019.

Obasanjo made the remarks at a one-day 2019 annual retreat/conference and general meeting of members of Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria, in Abeokuta.

Punch reports Obasanjo as adding that; “Today, we are in danger if we don’t take partnership seriously. Partnership within our people and partnership within Africa and the rest of the world.”

A population problem

Obasanjo also said Nigeria’s population explosion portends grave danger for the country because of a lack of visionary leaders.

“What I want to emphasize is that, it is a must as Nigerians and as Africans, that we have certain elements that we have to take very seriously which I put as five Ps.

“The first is politics which is governance. Unless we get governance right, any other thing we are trying to do will not be right.

“The second is population. Our population at independence, we were estimated to be 45 million; but today, we are 200 million.

“By the year 2050, we will be over 400 million. Normally, population should be an asset, but looking at the condition we are in now, when in the North-East of Nigeria, the percentage of adult literacy is about 53 per cent. You can see that we have a problem and education is basic in all human development.

“How do we think of making education to be useful? Those people who will make our population over 400 million in years’ time are already born and you cannot unborn them. So, the problem is here, what do we do?

“We must provide education for them, housing, healthcare, education for them, and more importantly, employment for them.”

A disdain for Buhari

Ahead of the just concluded general elections, Obasanjo denounced Buhari’s second term bid and warned the president against seeking re-election. 

Obasanjo would go on to back his former deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who contested the presidential election against Buhari on the platform of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Atiku would go on to lose the presidential election conducted on February 23, 2019. The former vice president is challenging the outcome of the election in court.