Former President Olusegun Obasanjo said African leaders were happy over the defeat of President Goodluck
Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.
He told an audience at the United States Institute of
Peace in Washington DC that his checks in a number
of African countries suggested they were happy over
the result of the election.
He said some Nigerians described President
Jonathan as a moving train who was stopped from
collapsing Nigeria.
The former President, who led the African Union
Observation Mission to the April 2015 General
Election in Sudan to the event, 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.”
He also advised African leaders to shift from the
mentality of clinching to power by all means, urging
them to demonstrate statesmanship for the survival
of the African continent.
Obasanjo also said that the President-elect, Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari (retd) , “has moved Nigeria one
very important step up in our democracy.”
He also advised African leaders to have consultations
with elders in order to promote public accountability
and pave way for leaders who were fearful of giving
up power to step down in favour of a future of
statesmanship.
The former President 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.”
Obasanjo said 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-grown solutions for leadership,
governance and succession in government, business
and civil society sectors?” he asked.
Meanwhile, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria,
Princeton Lyman, described the former President as
one of the world’s leading statesmen, adding that he
set an example for governance.
He said the last general elections couldn’t have been
successful without the input of the former President.

www.punchng.com/news/african-leaders-happy-over-jonathans-defeat-obasanjo/

I wee com bak later :p