Obasanjo Says Bad Government Is Making Nigerians Run Abroad

(Olusegun Obasanjo. Photo by Premuim Times)

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the government needs to act fast to fix three big problems: bad security, lack of jobs and poverty.

He warned that bad leadership is pushing people to look for better lives overseas, often through dangerous routes.

He spoke on Saturday at a panel in Lagos organised by the African Export-Import Bank as part of the Creative Africa Nexus Weekend 2026.

He said the country must deal with the failures in governance that have made life less safe and less productive.

Obasanjo said he remembers when he returned from military training in Britain in 1959 and could travel anywhere in the North, by day or night, without fear.

He asked what has gone wrong since then, since many people can no longer travel safely.

He said unemployment, especially among university graduates, has left many people desperate.

He shared that he once spoke with men arrested for drug offences, and one of them blamed his crime on losing a legitimate job.

Obasanjo said he did not excuse the crime, but he said it showed how hardship can push people the wrong way.

He also spoke about Africans who try to reach Europe through the Sahara and the Mediterranean.

He said many of them have told him heartbreaking stories, and some die on the way.

He believes better leadership and more jobs would stop people from taking such risks.

On movement within Africa, he said he has discussed with Ghanaian President John Mahama a plan to remove visa requirements among around 25 African countries, starting with those that already offer visa on arrival.

He also said African countries should give citizenship to people of African descent who want to return home.

He placed much of the blame for Africa's slow progress on its leaders.

He said the continent is not where it should be, and that this is largely the fault of those in power.

The panel also featured former St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and Jamaican scholar Paulette Ramsay.

The speakers called for reparations over slavery and colonialism, which they said still affect Africa's development.

Ramsay said reparations should go beyond money and include returning stolen artefacts, protecting African heritage and stopping the exploitation of natural resources.