In what appears like a veiled jibe at the on-going probes by the National Assembly into activities of the past administration, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Thursday, proclaimed that the nation would not make progress unless it imbibed the spirit of continuity.

Skip to next paragraph

photo file
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

He said the nation should not relent until it got to where God had destined for it, noting that achieving the Vision 2020 was the best the nation could aspire for.

Obasanjo, who spoke at his induction as a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering, in Abuja, noted that emphasis on science and technology would help the country in its bid to catch up with other advanced societies.

He said, “National progress is normally not made in a storm and retrogression, but in calm and continuity.”

Obasanjo noted that the Nigerian Academy of Engineering provided “part of the calm, the hope, the aspiration and points at the way forward in Nigeria of today, through its aims and objectives of upholding excellence and advancing the technological growth of the country.”



http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200805162423376

Why should any serious minded organization or body invite obasanjo as a fellow and to give speech? What is he going to talk about?how to destroy a nation.i guess.Bastards.

That animal in human skin is the worse thing to happen in Nigeria.

Obasanjo should be probed

Lets be realistic,Nigeria is moving backward.OBJ has done his best with some short comings,but the new trend of the legislative organ engaging in over-sight function and leaving their primary functions is a set back.1/4 of their tenure was only spent of setting up 72 committees and initiating probes.

Not passing the FOI bill is a bane to the nation development and a fight against corruption.The senate/House of Rep should be called to order and help the nation move forward.
We need good policies backed up with enabling laws and not rely on individuals to bail the nation from the present situation.
The present President can only lead/rule a state like Kastina state.A society not as dynamic as a Nation-Nigeria.
take an example of Edo state,The former BOT chairman Tony Anenih is on the verge of hijacking the state and hand it over to his BOY Ugbesia.
The present Road situation in Nigeria is the hand work of Anenih.Ugbesia was the Solid mineral Minister and never added a value to that ministry during his tenure.Knowing fulling well we need Coal in the nation Power sector improvement.
Yes-NIGERIA IS MOVING BACKWARD.

@brownbonno we really should be looking forward agreed but are you not contradicting yourself? On one hand you praise OBJ as saying he "tried his best" (how do you know he did?) and then on the other hand you are quick to criticize people like Tony Anenih, who was a minister in whose administration? Who was his boss that let him run so rampant in his corrupt ways? Castigating the house for not passing the FOI bill is one thing, but doing that after saying OBJ did his best? Why did OBJ not pass the bill when he was in the twilight of his administration? Why do you seem to be selective in your memory of the past administration? Anything good immediately attach OBJ but for the monument of bad in the face of the minute good you immediately call others who were all part and parcel of that same administraion, so why seperate it, is that not being biased? An administration that saw the plummet of democracy whereby thugs like Adedibu and Peter Odili where celebrated? Did Peter Odili not win something like "governor of the year"? Have you been to Rivers State? An administration that glorified bad leadership in which we saw election standards plummet consecutively?? Any PDP led state that does not see PDP as the cancer destroying that state (if any) seems to be the exception to the rule. Why assign OBJ the good and exonerate him of the monument of wrong? Did he really leave the nation in that good a state? Really? And then attacking Yaradua? Who installed Yaradua as president? Sorry, i really believe our focus now should be trying to salvage what we have left, however when looking back why don't we exercise some objectivity and just be honest with ourselves?

@Sky Blue,
I can understand your frustrations,but,in criticising the OBJ as an individual leaves us in a subjective edge.I do not want to educate you  but want  you to understand and be able to separate an individual from an entity.We should be able to distinguish between a Cabinet collective responsibility and an Individual ministerial responsibility.The policy executions of the OBJ administration lies within the entire cabinet and the delegation of ministerial responsibility/authority lies on the OBJ.Now the failure/success of individual minister should be accessed and probed and not bringing OBJ to the gallery to be ridiculed.
If we continue in this way there will not be any policy continuation and that is the envisaged down side of this administration.Governance is a system that have to work together to achieve a goal.
I still stand that OBJ did his best.Its now left for Nigerians to create a comparism and see if his best was good enough.
Anenih is among the political elite that want to plant his sycophants in power and ridicule the human potentials of Nigeria.
Oh dear you need the FOI in Nigeria to enable us see facts and figure and eliminate orchestrated blames.

as bad as obasanjo is,i believe he is has a few advice to give,he is not 100% bad as much as i dislike him and his govt, having said that i think both the people that invited him and others conferring honours and accolades know that he is still very powerful in government for now irrespective of his records and many people are looking for ways to get at all the cheddar the man has chopped

lucabrasi:

as bad as obasanjo is,i believe he is has a few advice to give,he is not 100% bad as much as i dislike him and his govt, having said that i think both the people that invited him and others conferring honours and accolades know that he is still very powerful in government for now irrespective of his records and many people are looking for ways to get at all the cheddar the man has chopped

Good talk dude,there is no perfection in governance.Its a dynamic process which need to shape and change with time.

Here is my only problem with this, the double standards. That is simply it. "Distinguish between a cabinet's collective responsibilty and an individual ministerial responsibility"? So wasn't OBJ part of the cabinet too? He was the head of the cabinet wasn't he? Why must we use double standards? When you want to speak of Anenih then it becomes individual responsibility and then when those it become cabinet responsibility? Why the double standard? I might be misunderstanding you but it again seems to me like attaching all the good to OBJ and then all off a sudden absolving him of any wrong and putting the blame for anything bad on someone else. Why do that? If OBJ was head of the cabinet and a minister went around practising corruption and the head of the cabinet did not say anything, then please, whose responsibility is that really? You want to blame the child for misbehaving but you don't want to blame the parent for not doing anything whatsoever? Why don't we just be honest? Is as if you are saying OBJ and Annenih and Odili and Ibori do not deserve to be spoken of in thesame sentence. Why is that? Was OBJ not the leader? I just find it funny. If you said Anenih was an angel then i would not argue with you about OBJ, but to now say Anenih was bad and then not include OBJ? I am sorry but i just don't understand that.

And who are the people moving it backwards if I may ask? The Americans, Brits and Iraqis abi?

I think he missed the point. He should have said his family started moving backward since he left presidency. Starting from Gbenga and his wife with revelation concerning himself, the arrest and the procecution of his daughter, his invitation to face panel. Really this is real backwadness for his family after the the gorilla wasted precious 8 years in Abuja.

I think he missed the point.  He should have said his family started moving backward since he left presidency.  Starting from Gbenga and his wife with revelation concerning himself, the arrest and the procecution of his daughter, his invitation to face panel.  Really this is real backwadness for his family after the the gorilla wasted precious 8 years in Abuja.

Please he should tell us who is to blame?