I envy Gowon, says Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd), as one of the few global leaders celebrated during their lifetime.

Obasanjo said this at the opening ceremony of a four-day International Conference of the African Biblical Leadership Initiative, held in Abuja.

In his speech, Obasanjo compared Gowon to the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, whom he described as an unsung hero.

“Only a few leaders are appreciated in their lifetime. General (Gowon), I envy you because you are appreciated while still alive. That, too, is the grace of God in your life. You are like Winston Churchill. He fought in the night, on the sea, and for the British Empire. In the end, he was unrecognised, called a warmonger, and even voted out of Parliament.

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“Many leaders may not be appreciated, including our Lord Jesus Christ and almost all his disciples. Many of them died in ways unbefitting of a leader. So, if a leader expects praise, adoration, or admiration from people, he will be sorely disappointed. But God takes care of leaders. Experts say there are 58 wars in the world today, with 92 countries involved, either directly or indirectly. That is half of the countries in the world. Yet, they say there is no Third World War. So what do we do?”

The elder statesman also said the problem of leadership is global, and not peculiar to Nigeria.

“If there is any shortage in supply of anything in the world today, it is leadership. Deficit of leadership is our major problem in the world today and of course, Africa being part of the world, we are not exempted and if you like, Nigeria being part of Africa, we are not exempted.”

“When I got invitation as a chairman of this occasion, I took a critical look at the Biblical quality of leadership of great leaders in the Bible. These people possessed knowledge and understanding, they had mission, compassion and were competent and very close to God who is the greatest leader,’’ he said.

Obasanjo challenged world leaders, including those in Africa and Nigeria in particular, to lead with fear of God to overcome the present challenges.

He said leaders must possess, “quality of Biblical leaders who ruled the world of their generation with God’s wisdom’’.