by Kolapo Olapoju
According to former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, African leaders are happy over the defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential elections.
Obasanjo made the disclosure to an audience at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington DC.
He stated that his investigation in a number of African countries suggested that they were happy with the result of the election.
Obasanjo said that some Nigerians described President Jonathan as a moving train who was stopped from collapsing the country.
He said: “I have visited six countries since the election, they are as happy about the results. It is good not only for Nigeria, it is good for Africa and I believe it is good for the world.”
Obasanjo added that the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) , “has moved Nigeria one very important step up in our democracy.”
He said, “Governance reform and capacity-building programmes, for example, are apt to look everywhere but within. For a change, let us move away from the melancholic issue of what is wrong with Africa.
“If we are truly committed to invigorating conversations about an Africa-focused, Africa-led and Africa-driven framework for substantive self-determination and sustainable development, it is important to rethink and reframe how we situate Africa at the centre of inquiry.”
Furthermore, Obasanjo quipped that countries like Togo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon were among countries with leaders reluctant to give up power for fear they might “land in prison or in the grave.”
“What if African statespersons made a coordinated effort, measured against concrete benchmarks, to strategically learn from their own scorecards to help implement home,” he added.
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