Having suffered in Abacha’s hand, I won’t support military coup – Obasanjo

With the wave of military coups on the continent of Africa, Former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo saying the development shows that young people are in seeking for liberators.

Africa has witnessed about seven coups since August 2020 with the recent one being in Gabon, Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Guinea, and Mali are all under military rule.

Speaking at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during an interactive session with a group of youths from Africa for Africa Youth Initiative (A4A), the former President said he would not support a coup considering his experience in the hands of former Military dictator, late General Sanni Abacha.

He said, “So, the youth are looking for liberators, and we must bear that in mind. Why do we have to allow the youth to start looking for liberators beyond the government of the day? Why?”

According to Obasanjo, certain conditions have been encouraging military takeovers across the continent.

“Having suffered at the hand of Abacha, I will not want a military rule, but if it has to come, what can we do? I will just say okay.

“The point is this, do we have conditions that encourage the type of things that are happening, because if we don’t have the conditions that encourage them, they may not happen. That doesn’t mean it should be encouraged. What it means is that we should make sure that we do everything to prevent coups from happening.

“When you see things that happen in many countries, and I will not exclude Nigeria, then you wonder and don’t forget, don’t forget particularly the youth, they support most of these coups. The one in Gabon, the Coup Leader was being carried on the head by the youths, not by old wretched men and women like me,” he added.

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While calling for the entrenchment of true democratic principles with God-given attributes as a way of discouraging coups in the continent, Obasanjo urged African youths to brace up and take leadership positions today and not tomorrow, which may never come.

“And if you have been in government for 40 years and you are not tired, maybe you need retirement,” he said.

The former President added that “One, let me make it clear, I don’t support coup because personally I have been a victim of coup. Two, the good thing about democracy, if it works and it delivers, is that you can sit down and dialogue and debate and discuss. But your democracy must take integrity along with it.

“Your democracy must take honesty along with it. Your democracy must take character along with it. Your democracy must take those attributes, God-given attributes, inclusive society, no marginalization, no exclusion, no favouritism.”