African youths angry, there’ll be trouble if we don’t act — Obasanjo
By Jeffrey Agbo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called on African leaders to sit up, stating that young people are not willing to wait for a “long-promised future”.
“Africa has no reason to be poor. Our poverty is not an act of God. We are steeped in poverty due to our poor mentality. We need to wake up because we have a wealth of resources,” he said at the opening ceremony of the FESTAC Africa Festival at Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu, Kenya.
“If you look back in history, you will see that whenever others needed to get work done, they came to Africa to transport black people to the so-called New World to make others rich. And that hasn’t stopped. The slave trade led to colonialism. We enrich others while remaining impoverished. We need to awaken.
“Structural adjustment was the idea of the World Bank. However, I disagreed because we lacked the structure. What exactly were we adjusting? They were simply deceiving us.”
Obasanjo expressed nostalgia at the return of the Festival of Arts and Culture, whose second edition was held in Nigeria during his tenure as military head of state in 1977.
He also recalled his experience when the festival was held in Nigeria 47 years ago.
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“I am here to express my appreciation and thanks, first to the governor of Kisumu County, Anyang Nyong’o, for hosting FESTAC here and contributing to what I call a renaissance and rebirth of FESTAC. I feel a bit emotional because, as you heard, the first festival was held in Senegal in 1966, and there was no other for 11 years.
“Nigeria agreed to stage another edition of the festival in 1975. Despite preparations, a change of government led some people to suggest cancelling it. However, I insisted that we should proceed and successfully hosted it.”
Obasanjo also stated that although Africa has achieved political liberation, it has not yet attained economic freedom.
He said, “We have everything needed to create wealth. No one will do it for us. We must do it ourselves. If we don’t act, we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder. Our youth are restless, unhappy, bitter, angry, unemployed, and dissatisfied.
“They cannot wait for a long-promised future. They want action now. If we fail to deliver, we will be in trouble. However, we can meet their needs because we have the capability.”
