Increase in coups shows African youths are looking for liberators, says Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that the rising military coups in Africa have shown that the youths are in search of liberators.

Since August 2020, there have been seven coups in Africa; the most recent took place in Gabon earlier this month.

All of Niger, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Guinea, and Mali are governed by the military.

Speaking at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during an interactive session with a group of young people from the Reverend Chris Oyakhilome-founded Africa for Africa Youth Initiative (A4A), Obasanjo declared that he would not support a coup in light of his experience under the military dictator, late General Sanni Abacha.

The public service and good governance engaged was titled “Fostering Sustainable Development Through Pan Africanism.”

In his response to questions on the coups in Africa, Obasanjo, who has ruled Nigeria both as a military and democratically elected leader, said certain conditions have been encouraging the military takeovers across the continent.

According to him, “Having suffered in the hands of Abacha, I won’t support a military coup. But if it has to come, what can we do?

“The point is this, do we have conditions that encourage the type of things that are happening, if we don’t have the conditions that encourage them, they may not happen. That does not 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 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.

“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?”

In order to prevent coups on the continent, Obasanjo urged the enshrinement of authentic democratic values with God-given qualities.

 “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 “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 favoritism.”

He urged the youth of Africa to stand up and assume leadership roles right away rather than waiting for tomorrow, which he claimed might never arrive.

Pastor Henry Akasili, the organization’s executive director, stated that it is the responsibility of A4A to motivate young people to promote sustainable development in Africa.

He said, “We believe in action, we believe in seeing sustainable change on the African continent. That is why we have come from seven African countries, and we want to go back and influence those who need to be influenced by the same message on another level.

“Africa has a lot of resources, Africa has the brains, Africa is filled and full of intelligent minds. The young people that we have now, know better. Their seeing and hearing abilities are a lot better because of the information they have heard from the founder, Reverend Chris Oyakhilome.”