Don’t wish us dead, you still need our mentoring- Obasanjo tells Nigerian youths

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Sunday, appealed to Nigerian youths to desist from wishing their past leaders, including him dead, as the youths still need their mentoring and advise‎. Obasanjo made the appeal when he spoke during the Youth Governance Dialogue organized by the Youth Development Centre arm of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library(OOPL), Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital‎.

"Don’t wish us dead, don’t wish us to disappear because you will need us. You need us mentors and advisers to mentor and prepare you for the future. You need our experience and assistance of some of us to guide you through life. You should not lose hope, you should not feel frustrated. Whenever I go, they always ask me what is my fear about Nigeria and Africa. And I said my greatest fear is youth anger, frustrations and youth explosion which have no bound. 

We have the Boko haram in the north, the MASSOB and IPOB in the South East, the militants in the Niger Delta and the Oodua Peoples Congress in the Southwest. All of these are expression of anger and frustrations. We have what it takes to be great as a nation and we can’t transform this country without the youths. My greatest hope in this country is also the youth. You the youth should work to help yourselves. You must be ready to pay the price for what you stand for,”he said.