Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has pledged to support the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, pointing out that “no system of government can be compared with democracy”.
He made the declaration on Saturday while hosting the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) at his Hilltop residence in Abeokuta.
“God forbid that this present democratic dispensation should fail, because we have no other alternative and that is why I said that the present administration should succeed. There is no excuse and that is why I am so concerned about the success of this administration. Say whatever you like about me, I pray and I will work for the success of this government,” he said.
“There is no alternative to democracy, the alternative to democracy is even worse than the imperfection of democracy. I am a victim of military regime, I was put in jail meant to be killed. By divine intervention, I escaped. If there was democracy there might have been fair amount of trial.”
Obasanjo also commended Buhari for giving ultimatum to the service chiefs to end the Boko Haram insurgency by November.
He described Buhari’s decision as “right and timely.’’
“Buhari took the right decision by telling the military to end the Boko Haram insurgency by November.
“It is not good to just leave everything open-ended; it is a strategy in the military to set target for any operation.
“This will enable those concerned to work hard.
“Having a target is necessary. Even if that target is not met, the people concerned will have something to work with,” he said.
The former president noted that Nigeria had started to witness positive changes since the inception of the new administration in May.
“Nigeria in the last two and half months under the current dispensation has started witnessing positive changes.
“We thank God that we have such a leader that is helping us to translate our dreams to reality.
“We must give unalloyed support to him,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, the leader of the students’ body, Oluwatosin Ogunkuade, said that their visit was informed by the contributions of Obasanjo to the development of Nigeria.
“Your fatherly contributions to the development of Nigeria are noticeable and we have come to encourage you not to relent.
Obasanjo and Buhari have the honour of presiding over Nigeria first as military Heads of State and later as civilian Presidents.
