Obasanjo Blames Africa’s Poverty On “Poor Mentality”
Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, has attributed the high poverty rate in Africa to man-made causes.
The ex Military Leader stated this on Monday, at the Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu, Kenya, during the opening ceremony of the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC).
According to Obasanjo, poverty in Africa has nothing to do with God.
He went on to blame it on “poor mentality” lamenting how bad things are in the continent despite being blessed with many natural resources.
“Africa has no reason to be poor. Our poverty is not an act of God. We are steeped in poverty due to our poor mentality. We need to wake up because we have a wealth of resources.
“If you look back in history, you will see that whenever others needed to get work done, they came to Africa to transport black people to the so-called New World to make others rich. And that hasn’t stopped. The slave trade led to colonialism. We enrich others while remaining impoverished. We need to awaken.
“Structural adjustment was the idea of the World Bank. However, I disagreed because we lacked the structure. What exactly were we adjusting? They were simply deceiving us,” Obasanjo said.
On the return of the Festival of Arts and Culture, Obasanjo hailed the Governor of Kisumu County, Anyang Nyong’o, for the “rebirth of FESTAC.”
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Recall that the second edition of FESTAC was held in Nigeria during Obasanjo’s reign as military leader back in 1977.
“I am here to express my appreciation and thanks, first to the governor of Kisumu County, Anyang Nyong’o, for hosting FESTAC here and contributing to what I call a renaissance and rebirth of FESTAC. I feel a bit emotional because, as you heard, the first festival was held in Senegal in 1966, and there was no other for 11 years.
“Nigeria agreed to stage another edition of the festival in 1975. Despite preparations, a change of government led some people to suggest cancelling it. However, I insisted that we should proceed and successfully hosted it.
“At this juncture, I would like to commend Yinka (Abioye) for his efforts and determination in reviving FESTAC during my lifetime,” he said.
