Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed his disagreement with a statement credited to former US President Barack Obama that the African continent does not need strong men but strong institutions.
Obasanjo made this known when he spoke on Tuesday at the 15th Lecture and International Leadership Symposium themed “Leadership and Performance in Africa: The Challenge of the Continent’s Economic Competitiveness”, organised by Centre for Value Leadership (CVL) at Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
Obasanjo said, “I believe we need both strong institutions and strong leaders. If there are no strong leaders, we will not be able to build strong institutions. If strong institutions are established and our leaders are weak, those strong institutions will collapse.”
Also, the former president reiterated his earlier stance that only a popular movement could end the dominance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
He said a popular “non-partisan” movement backed by the masses would rescue the nation from the “development quagmire” it has found itself.
Obasanjo added that the nation deserved better leadership to enable it play its deserved role in the socio-economic growth of the African continent.