I’m farmer by choice, Nigerian president by accident – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that everything about his life, including being a soldier; the military head of state and later, the president of Nigeria, was by accident, except being a farmer which is an inborn practice.

Obasanjo was a Military Head of State between 1976 and 1979, and was later democratically elected Nigerian President in 1999, but practises farming everyday since he said, be became a farmer by choice and not by accident .

Speaking on Saturday during an interview in the studio of a newly established sports radio in Abeokuta owned by Mathematical Segun Odegbami – Eagles7 Sports 103.7 FM, Obasanjo said he is always proud to be addressed as a farmer, saying he does not romance with farming but a real farmer.

The former president, who cautioned the former Green Eagles Star, Odegbami, who had asked Obasanjo to speak about what he termed his “romance with farming”, said, “I don’t like the word you used, ‘romance with farming’. I am a farmer.

“What do you mean by romance. Everything I have done in my life is by accident. The only thing that is not accidental is farming. Every other thing that I’ve been is by accident. And you called that romance? No! What do you mean by romance?
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“You know my beginning. I was born and bred in a village. I went to school by accident. My father just said, ‘won’t you do something different?’ So I went into farming.

“When you look at countries that have made it, they developed on agriculture. First, for the purpose of food security; second, for the purpose of processing what they get from their farms, which is the beginning of industrialisation. Third, to give it out as export, which is for the purpose of foreign exchange; and fourth, as a means of generating employment for the youth.”

For being an advocate a new beginning for the Nigerian youths, Obasanjo advised the youths to take over leadership positions right now saying that the youths should not allow anyone to address them as leaders of tomorrow since tomorrow may never come.

He stated that some corrupt leaders would destroy the “so-called tomorrow” if the younger generation fails to rise up and take their future in their hands.

“My advice for Nigerian youths is that, never let anybody tell you that you are the leaders of tomorrow. If you wait for tomorrow before you take over leadership, that tomorrow may not come. They will destroy it.

“This is the time, youths get up and make it happen”, he concluded.