Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo has charged African leaders to set their sights on good governance that would effect growth and development in the continent.

Obasanjo, speaking at the recently concluded Commonwealth Week in London, the United Kingdom, said there are good things in Africa and therefore, the people of the continent should be trained and educated to see this.

He said: “If Globalisation means I open my door and you take things out but you close your own door to me, then to hell with globalisation.”

“Africa is not an unmitigated failure. There are good things in Africa. Africa remains the cradle of humanity. We need to put our pad on our head as Africans and stand by our load and be ready to carry, and then they will help us.”

“Our greatest asset is our people. Let us train and educate our people. People will say, too many people, the truth is that the so called youth budge can be an asset and a responsibility. Let us educate them and give them skills.”

“60% of arable land in the world is in Africa, what are we doing with it. Let us stop regarding agriculture as a development project; it’s a business, Agriculture business.”

Obasanjo further said that African leaders need to be educated to catch up with the rest of the world.

“What I have seen in Africa is that I think on incremental basis, our leadership qualities are improving, but our leaders need to be educated. They need to understand the world and know that by themselves alone we can’t go farther.”

Adebayo Emuleomo