A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof Kingsley Moghalu, has described Olusegun Obasanjo as Nigeria’s best president since return of democracy in 1999.
The ex-presidential candidate said this in a statement on social media to celebrate Obasanjo who turned 84th some days back.
He attributed Obasanjo’s success to the former president ability to “focused on Nigeria as his constituency not his ethnic group”, adding that “he thought like a president of Nigeria, not a provincial politician.”
“OBJ, faults and all, is our best President since 1999. One key reason for his success is that he was focused on Nigeria as his constituency not his ethnic group. All his career was federal/international – nation-building, national security, economy, foreign affairs.
“So he thought like a president of Nigeria, not a provincial politician. Nigeria is a unique place. In advanced democracies, it is often the case that politicians start local and move upward. Because they have a real nation with a unity of purpose and destiny.
“Here, the presidency requires transcendence of mind and action in order to provide the kind of leadership we need. Strong experience in federal and international institutions provides that necessary perspective for effective leadership of a country like ours”, he said.