Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, revealed how he emerged as Nigeria’s president.
He confirmed that every other thing aside from his farming experience happened by accident. That included his emergence as both a military Head of State and President of Nigeria.
Speaking on a live radio interview with Segun Odegbami on Eagles7 Sports 103.7 FM, Abeokuta, Obasanjo said he was always proud to be addressed as a farmer.
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Furthermore, Odegbami asked Obasanjo to speak about what he termed his “romance with farming.”
Responding, he said:
“I don’t like the word you used, ‘romance with farming’. I am a farmer. What do you mean by romance? Everything I have done in my life is by accident. The only thing that is not accidental is farming. Every other thing that I’ve been is by accident. And you called that romance? No! What do you mean by romance?
You know my beginning. I was born and bred in a village. I went to school by accident. My father just said, ‘won’t you do something different?’ So I went into farming.
When you look at countries that have made it, they developed on agriculture. First, for the purpose of food security; second, for the purpose of processing what they get from their farms, which is the beginning of industrialisation. Third, to give it out as export, which is for the purpose of foreign exchange; and fourth, as a means of generating employment for the youth.”
After Obasanjo became the military Head of State in 1976, he ruled as a civilian President from 1999-2007.
