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Stop troubling God, he is not responsible for Nigeria's problems - Obasanjo

- Olusegun Obasanjo said until Nigeria gets the right leadership, its problem will continue

- He said Nigerians should stop troubling God as he was not responsible for the country's problems

- He took a swipe at one of the presidents that came after him who unbanned the importation of toothpick

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said Nigeria is where it is today because of the kind of leadership it has had.

Speaking on Monday, February 27, at the 38th Kaduna International Trade Fair Seminar with the theme; ‘Promoting Public Private Partnership as Panacea for Accelerated Growth and Development’ he noted that God is not responsible for Nigeria’s problems and Nigerians should stop blaming him, The Nation reports.

He said the problem of leadership must be corrected because the leaders lack focus, commitment, continuity and sometimes proper knowledge about economic and development issues and that is why the country not been able to achieve meaningful result.

Obasanjo said: “Somebody came to me and said we need to pray to God and I said, for what? He said, so that God can do for us, what we cannot do for ourselves. And I said, no, let us stop troubling God, because God has done all we need for us, we only need to play our own part.

“But, if we must pray to God, our prayer should be that God should not take away all He has given us as a nation.

“God in His mercy has given us all the needed resources, both human and natural, but we have not been able to put them together and manage them effectively. The countries that have developed and are performing better are not better than Nigeria in terms of resources.

“Another problem is that, we take one step forward and another step backward. Nigerian leaders must be tough and ready to bite the bullet, because Nigeria cannot have it easy. Until we get the right leadership, the problem will continue.”

The former president decried the inconsistency in policies, saying he banned the importation of toothpick in 1977, because it was the most stupid thing to import but about 40 years after, one of the presidents that came after him unbanned it.

“Then, I put on my Babanriga and went to Abuja to express my shock about the policy, but to my greatest surprise, the President told me, he signed the document unbanning toothpick without reading it.

“Another thing is that, he came in saying he will generate additional 30,000 megawatts to the 3,500megawatts we left behind, and I told him, don’t trouble yourself, if you can add 3,000 megawatts to the one we left behind, you will receive the of awards. But, to my greatest shock, he couldn’t add one (1) megawatt before leaving office,” Obasanjo narrated.

He stressed the need for the public and private sectors to work together to accelerate growth and development, saying that lack of synergy in the sector was responsible for the set back in the nation’s economy and growth.

Obasanjo arrived the Kaduna state on a one day working visit today. He was received at the Kaduna International Airport by Governor Nasir El-Rufai and members of his cabinet.

Below is a video of Southern Kaduna residents telling how herdsmen prevented them from getting Red Cross relief materials.