Former President Olusegun Obasanjo granted an exclusive sit-down to Y!
Magazine at his Ota home – and it is featured in the latest issue of the
magazine released this week.

In the wide-ranging interview anchored by Managing Editor Adebola
Williams, the two-time Nigerian leader spoke on the state of the nation,
his tenure as president, the structure of the federation, corruption and
related matters, and the place and duty of the youth.

“Who said former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo has mellowed
down?” said Williams. “As usual, he doesn’t mince his words in this
relaxed, but incisive conversation.”

Obasanjo shared his thoughts on the tough decisions he had to make as
president:  “By now, Na’aba or whatever you call that character who took
a lorry to Abuja from Kano, became Speaker and was riding in strings of
cars would have been known for impeaching me after many threats,” he
said. And I said, if this impeachment will come let it come and I will
go back to my farm but what I will not accept, I will not accept.”

He spoke about his biggest achievement in office: “One, that I
protected Nigeria from breaking up. When I became elected president,
many Nigerians did not think that Nigeria would survive – something many
people seem to have forgotten now,” he said.

“For instance, there was still grief and a feeling of alienation by the
Igbos although the war had long ended; they had not felt that they had
fully reaped the benefits of the end of the war. Two, the Yorubas
generally were feeling bad about the situation of Abiola and the June 12
election. Three, the Niger Delta essentially were feeling bad about
being rich and yet remaining very poor. Four, the North were being
accused of monopolizing power and each of these group were looking at
themselves and thinking, if the worst comes to the worst, they would go
it alone. Each of them was getting its own militants in one form or the
other; the OPC (O’odua People’s Congress) in the West, Egbesu in the
Niger Delta, and the Arewa People’s Congress (in the North).

“That was the situation and that’s what made people to believe that
after me, as president, there would be no other president again; that
Nigeria will disintegrate on my head. But that wasn’t the case, and you
cannot quantify what a huge achievement that was.”

And, he shared his thoughts honestly on the state of the nation: “We
are in a situation in this country now, or if you like, in a state of
insecurity. It’s a toxic situation. It does not matter how much blame on
the leadership is unfair or unwarranted, the public won’t support the
leader. It’s like when a country is at war. Everything in the country
must be dear to us in the war. After you have done the war, you can now
start apportioning blame because there are many things going wrong in
our country. There will be something wrong with our country or any
country at any point. The question is how serious and what we are doing
about it – and in this case it is serious.”

The full text of the interview is in the magazine – which is now
available with vendors, stores and state representatives nationwide.

Y! Magazine has over the past few years established itself as the go-to
for youth issues and culture, and has interviewed the nation’s top
leaders including President Goodluck Jonathan, the Ministers of Trade
and Investment, Communication Technology and Youth Development, and
opposition figures including Professor Patrick Utomi.

It is the sister brand to YNaija.com, which is the definitive Internet
Newspaper for Young Nigerians.