Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Dike Onwuamaeze in Lagos

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday, declared that Nigeria could get rid of abject poverty and hunger if its leaders exhibit integrity, discipline and good governance, stressing that the country was much endowed in human and natural resources to be poor.

Obasanjo made this declaration yesterday in a lecture he delivered at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Lagos, during the Dele Momodu Leadership Lecture with the theme, “How to End Hunger and Poverty in Africa.”

He said the problem of Nigeria and Africa was not relative poverty, where people are poor but could eat adequately, but abject poverty that deprives people food and keep them hungry with empty stomach.

According to him, security, education and good leadership are the three elements needed to make abject poverty a thing of the past in Nigeria and rest of Africa.
He, therefore, recommended that Nigeria must bring into its formal educational system over 44 million out-of-school children in order to develop their natural endowment and empower them for productive life.

Obasanjo said: “I was born and bred in a village. We were poor but were not hungry. I believe that those who planned this programme have in mind abject poverty, which is ignoble and extremely bad.  

“We will differentiate abject poverty, which goes along with hunger, from relative poverty that may not go with hunger.

“We can agree that ending abject poverty will end hunger and ending hunger will have implications for ending abject poverty.”

He traced the fundamental cause of poverty and hunger to how a society explores, exploits and distribute its resources.  

He said that no human being was born without certain innate abilities that could be developed for personal, family, community and national enhancement.
“It is the ability to develop those innate abilities that determines whether one is poor or not,” Obasanjo said, adding that education is the basic instrument for banishing poverty and hunger and is also the basis for individual cognitive development, skill acquisition, empowerment, employment, and wealth creation.
“Education is fundamental. It is the first and most potent instrument for banishing poverty.  

“Where there is no empowerment in terms of education, you are handicapped as an individual. Where there is no education, invariably there will be poverty. And where there is poverty, there will be hunger,” he said.

He added: “We must ensure that no child lacks access to education. Lack of education for a child gives that child a high probability of being abjectly poor and hungry.”

Obasanjo also identified leadership, particularly in the political sector as the most potent instrument for tackling poverty and hunger.

“Leadership matters most and is the greatest weapon for ending poverty. There is no human organisation that thrives without leadership, especially political leadership. Like Jesus, a leader’s life and history must be an open book,” he added.

Obasanjo averred that, “with integrity, discipline, good governance, as well as elimination of corruption and waste, Nigeria can get rid of poverty within a decade and a half.

“We have 44 million that should be in school but are not. If we are going to eliminate hunger we must get all those children into schools.

“I believe that if we do it well, within 15 years we can get our population almost 100 per cent educated. But to do that we need the right leadership.

“If we have that and with the elimination of corruption and waste, Nigeria can get rid of abject poverty and hunger within a decade and half.  

“We have human and non-human material to banish poverty and hunger and what that applies to Nigeria applies to other countries in Africa.”

Obasanjo also warned that Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder by not taking “the responsibility of educating the uneducated and integrating them into constructive, productive and gainfully engage them within the society, the uneducated and unemployed will take care of us all a unpleasantly as they can make it.
“To be forewarned is to be fore armed. We should create no room for the poor and the hungry because in desperation their fury will be uncontrollable.

“The good news is that God has endowed us with adequate resources and I believe that we should pray God who has endowed us with all the resources that He should also endow us with leadership for a great leap forward for Nigeria and Africa.”

In his goodwill message, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, said ending poverty and hunger was in the hands of every Nigerian citizen and that it was about time for us to be serious.

He said: “I am used to think is there anything fundamentally wrong with the black man?”  

Speaking in the same vein, the Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Jackson Adeleke, attributed bad leadership to people not having the fear of God.
He said: “If you have the fear of God you will do the right things. If you have the fear of God and you know what you are doing is not the right thing you will change your mind and do the right thing.”  

Meanwhile, former Governor of Anambra State and the presidential candidate of Labour Party in the last general election, Peter Obi, has reiterated his belief that Africa has no business with poverty.

He restated that what Africa needs at the moment to uplift the people out of poverty was a citizen-led governance that prioritises the welfare of its people,
Obi who took to his X account to narrate his discussions with the publisher of the Ovation magazine, Momodu as he marked his 65th birthday said, ”In my discussion with Chief Dele today (Thursday), my position on the hunger and poverty of Africa remains that Africa should have nothing to do with hunger, but should actually be a powerhouse for the supply of food in the world.”

According to Obi, ”Early this morning, I had the honour of visiting my very dear elder brother and committed patriot, Chief Dele Momodu, at his house in Lagos.
”This visit was in celebration of his 65th birthday and to discuss the forthcoming birthday leadership lecture titled “How to End Hunger and Poverty in Africa” to be delivered by former revered President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and former President and committed democrat Goodluck Jonathan as guest of honour.”, Obi stated.

He continued, ” In my discussion with Chief Dele today, my position on the hunger and poverty of Africa remains that Africa should have nothing to do with hunger, but should actually be a powerhouse for the supply of food in the world.

”Africa is the second biggest continent in land size, with over 30 million square kilometres of land, and also has the highest population of young people, with over 1 billion young people.

”Africa also has the highest uncultivated arable land of any continent, with about 60 percent of arable land in Africa being uncultivated.

To give more examples why Africa should have nothing to do with hunger or poverty,
”Africa’s rice production is about 26 million tonnes, while Bangladesh, with less than 0.5 percent of Africa’s land (148,000 square km of land), produces over 55 million tonnes of rice. Similarly, India, with about 10 percent of Africa’s size, produces about 5 times more rice than Africa.

”From these scenarios, it is evident that Africa needs to have room to increase its agricultural production, and produce more food to be able to feed its citizens, it’s factories and for export purposes.

”All Africa needs is to have a citizen-led governance that prioritises the welfare of its people, by investing in the critical areas of development,” Obi stressed.