You Don’t Expect Thieves To Provide Good Governance – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says Nigerians cannot honestly expect thieving politicians to provide good governance for the country.

Referring to corrupt political leaders and politicians as “thieves”, Obasanjo said such people cannot provide or promote just governance in any form and citizens must not expect anything good and reasonable from such skewed characters.

The former president, who spoke virtually during the memorial lecture of Denis Joseph Slattery held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, further stated that such criminal-minded leaders deserve severe jail terms for their bad conduct

He said the most important demand of anybody involved in governance at any level is “accountability” that must be spiced with transparency on all fronts.

With the theme; “The imperative for moral rectitude in governance”, the lecture was packaged by the Old Boys’ Association of St. Finbarr’s College, to remember the late Irish-born missionary who sojourned to Ilawe-Ekiti, Nigeria in 1941.

The 87-year-old statesman, popularly called the “Ota-born farmer, said government officials with “questionable” integrity cannot make fair decisions for the greater good.

According to him; “If you look clinically at the people in government today at both executive and legislative levels, some of them should be permanently behind bars for their past misdemeanour and criminal misconduct. You cannot expect thieves to give good judgment in favour of the owner of the property”.

The one-time Head of State, who recalled his shocking experience with corruption, cited an instance where a government official normalised criminal behaviour when confronted, saying; “The first thing that shocked me when I went into politics was the level of corruption of election officials which was taken as normal.

“The second was the level of general and criminal misbehaviour which was taken with levity and impunity. We were at a meeting and a man lied, and I confronted him, and the next thing he said is ‘It is all politics, Sir’.

“Every bad thing they do is passed on as politics which means politics has no room for morality, principles, rectitude, ethics, good character and attributes.”

For the Abeokuta-born politician, Nigeria needs “transformational leaders rather than transactional leaders; truth instead of lies; honesty instead of dishonesty; integrity instead of disintegrity; hope instead of despair; production instead of deduction; inclusion instead of exclusion and marginalisation”.

However, the former President expressed optimism about the country’s future despite the numerous political and socio-economic challenges it is currently facing.

Among notable personalities at the memorial were former Governor of Cross River, Donald Duke, ex-footballer Segun ‘Mathematical’ Odegbami, music producer ID Cabasa, and actor Patrick Doyle.