Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has reminiscence on his life and achievements both in the military and as civilian President, saying one of the mistakes he made was choosing his running mate when he vied for the number seat in 1999.

Obasanjo said this on Saturday while answering questions posed by students from selected secondary schools that participated in the final of the National Exhibition and Awards, organised by Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship (SAGE).

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, deputised Obasanjo while in office between 1999 and 2007.

The event, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State, featured presentations and exhibitions of some products, made by students of the participating schools.

Obasanjo, who interacted with the students in questions and answers session, said he had made many mistakes, which he described as genuine mistakes in his life but God made him to overcome.

He said: “One of the mistakes I made was picking my number two when I wanted to become the president. But because it was a genuine mistake, God saved me.

“The second one was when Abacha wanted to arrest me. When Abacha wanted to arrest me, I was told by the American ambassador that they will arrest me and that America has asked that I should be given an asylum. I said no. It could have been a mistake because I could have lost my life.

“I will say there are many things that could have been a mistake but God saved me from them all.”

While speaking on opportunities for the youths to take over the mantle of leadership in the country, Obasanjo said youths can never come into power, if the current trend continues.

He said: “With the ‘Not Too Young to Run’ campaign, and you can see that those that are contesting now are between 70 and 80 years old, how can the youths run?

“Another thing inhibiting youth from running is the amount of money involved in going into politics. I hope that things should not continue like this.

“I was 39 years old when I became the Military Head of State. Twenty years later, I came back as civilian president, but those there now do not want to allow the youths. If things continue like this, I do not know how you can come in.”

Obasanjo, who urged the students to imbibe religious tolerance, advised them not to see their own religion as superior to others in the country.

“I have no right to say what another man believes in is inferior to mine. If God had wanted all of us to be of the same religion, he would have made it so and since He did not made it so, no person should attempt to make it so.

“Young people should learn at a very early get in life that if there are five religions in the world, that is how God wants it to be. If there are ten, that is how God want it. All religions originate from the same source.

“If you are a Muslim and you did not live the way the God wants you to live, you cannot enter Aljannah. Of you are a Christian and you did not live the way God wants you to live, the same thing, you will not enter paradise.

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“If this is the basis of religion is doing the right thing for the benefits of mankind, you don’t have to condemn any person because of what he believed.

“I do not believe that any religion is superior to mine and I don’t believe that mine is superior to another person’s beliefs. I will not allow any person to cast aspersions to my religion and will not do same for another person. Practice your religion the way God wants you to do it and dont condemn another person,” the former President added.

Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of SAGE Nigeria, Agwu Amogu, said the programme was organised to celebrate the creative energies and commitments of teen entrepreneurs who see the challenges in the communities as their responsibilities.

He said: “SAGE is an acronym for Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship. It is an international program initiated at the California State University Chico USA in 2002 and currently operational in over 32 countries across all the continents of the world.

“It offers secondary school aged young people a hands-on learning process on how to create wealth, help others and their communities.”

Amogu said since the introduction of the program in Nigeria in 2006, it had shown that it is a potent strategy and model for educational reform, youth re-orientation, job creation and poverty alleviation and multi-cultural integration

According to him, Nigeria urgently need a new paradigm for education.

“The new paradigm must provide students with a chance to learn while solving community problems and immediately applying what they have learnt in the classroom by actually doing something great.

“We now live in a world where any country can compete effectively with others based on the creative imagination of its human capital.

“There is no better place to stoke the fire of imagination than in the young people. And that is where SAGE comes in.

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“SAGE is about creating value. Students are encouraged to create something of value in their communities by applying what they learn in the classroom and testing it in the ultimate laboratory…. the free market,” he said.

Amogu, who commended the feat of Nigerian students since the commencement of the programme in the country, said the country’s representatives have been fantastic in the competition.

The SAGE chairman, however, said the winners of this year’s competition would represent Nigeria in the SAGE World Competition slated for August 2022 in Netherlands.

The Star