Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed why he turned down a proposal to have former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, succeed him as Nigeria’s president.
Speaking at an event in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Obasanjo said the recommendation came from former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, but he dismissed the suggestion, insisting that El-Rufai needed more time to mature politically.
“Let him tell you,” Obasanjo said while addressing the audience. “He didn’t mention that when I was leaving government, he was pushing that his friend, El-Rufai, should succeed me. I did not yield to the pressure because I felt El-Rufai needed to mature. Years later, he agreed with me that I was right.”
Chidoka, who delivered the keynote address at the event, had earlier recalled how El-Rufai recommended him to Obasanjo at the age of 34 a move that led to his appointment as Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
While commending both men for their leadership qualities, Obasanjo emphasized that true leadership requires training, character, exposure, and experience. “It’s only in politics that I found there is no training for leadership,” he said. “Even among armed robbers, I was told there is apprenticeship.”
In his address, Chidoka blamed Nigeria’s persistent challenges on a culture of excuses and weak institutional systems. “Leadership finds its true measure not in speeches but in the systems it leaves behind,” he said. “Nigeria’s problem has never been a shortage of ideas but the absence of strong systems that outlive their authors.”
The event, themed “Importance of Leadership in Governance,” was attended by dignitaries including Senator Shuaibu Salis, the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Oba Saka Matemilola, the Olota of Ota, Oba Adeyemi Obalanlege, and former Ogun State First Lady, Mrs. Olufunsho Amosun.
