Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has emphasized that Africa has no reason to be poor, given the continent’s abundant resources.
Obasanjo made this statement on Monday during the opening ceremony of the FESTAC Africa Festival at the Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu, Kenya.
The former head of state expressed that Africa’s impoverished condition is not from God but rather a consequence of the poor mentality among Africans.
He said, “Africa has no reason to be poor. Our poverty is not an act of God. We are steeped in poverty due to our poor mentality. We need to wake up because we have a wealth of resources.”
Obasanjo pointed to historical examples, stating, “If you look back in history, you will see that whenever others needed to get work done, they came to Africa to transport black people to the so-called New World to make others rich. And that hasn’t stopped.
The slave trade led to colonialism. We enrich others while remaining impoverished. We need to awaken.”
He also highlighted the ongoing issue of Africa enriching other nations while remaining poor.
“Even today, we continue to enrich others while we remain poor. This cycle must end if we are to achieve true development”, Obasanjo added.
Additionally, Obasanjo criticized past economic policies imposed on Africa, saying, “Structural adjustment was the idea of the World Bank. However, I disagreed because we lacked the structure.
What exactly were we adjusting? They were simply deceiving us.”
Through his remarks, Obasanjo called for a change in mindset and the need for Africa to harness its resources effectively to achieve prosperity.
There has been a shift in Africa’s poverty trap Dr Obasanjo.Your analysis is ancient . The thieving in Africa has changed…It’s no longer a foreign expropriation of our resources…There’s now a local growth of thieving African Leaders, working with Foreign powers to loot African resources. The looting is now a home grown, elitist activity, being conducted by the white collar African thieving class. The new African President is a Thief.. Politics in Africa is now a path towards Wealth..They go to all extremes to get this political power. Politics is no longer a service, based on Principle..We see them crippling democratic Institutions, capturing everything of independence in the country, then getting ethnic blind loyalty to buy silence and secure their stay in power….They get foreign dollars from partners in crime for some so called social protection to hoodwink the people.. and then the looting big time starts. If a President with genuine policies for citizens and the country comes up, the foreign dollars tap for social protection is closed…and discontent engineered in foreign embassies begin till the person is kicked out . Come to Zambia and you will the Schemes of the new class of Thieving African Leaders. The African thief of Africa ‘s resources is no longer a Caucasian…white guy from the west…He is here, in Africa, black and very educated…the African President…a useless Thief.
You are truly hallucinating. You are cadre