Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said Nigeria would have been much better and occupied a place of pride in the world but for its problem of self-centred leadership.

Apart from being self-centred, Nigerian leaders, according to Obasanjo, also have a knowledge deficit.

The former President spoke on Saturday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital during the 2024 edition of the Leadership Empowerment International Conference.

The conference featured the conferment of Doctor of Leadership and Theology awards on some Nigerians by South-African-based Immanuel Theology Institute International in conjunction with Priesthood Leadership Development Initiative Inc. based in Nigeria.

“There is no end to leadership and service to your community until you breathe the last. And you can never be too old to be a leader and to give something to the community in which you lead and serve as a leader, to serve your state, your country, the continent and the world.

“And if you asked me in one word, what is the bane of Nigeria today? I will not think about it twice. I will say it is leadership. Leadership that is self-centred, leadership that is a deficit in knowledge and understanding and leadership that does not see service as the centrepiece of what leadership is all about.

“If we can get the leadership right, we will get all other things right. That is what Prof. Olusesi Obateye is doing, which is commendable and very good. We must encourage and inculcate good leadership into every level of our national life,” Obasanjo said.

Obasanjo commended the International Coordinator of Priesthood Leadership Development Initiative, Prof. Olusesi Obateye, and the President of the South Africa-based institute, Prof.Van Den Berg Edward Alfred, for recognising and encouraging some Nigerians with leadership capacities.

Earlier, Obateye, who spoke on the theme of the conference “Responsible And Responsive Leadership,” lamented the dearth of good leaders, saying it was responsible for Nigeria’s under-development almost 64 years after independence.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Obasanjo said Nigeria’s problems would continue to defy solutions until the country began to feed itself.

He stated this when a delegation from Niger State, comprising commissioners and Special Advisers to Governor Mohammed Bago, paid him a courtesy visit in his Abeokuta, Ogun State home at the weekend.

Governor Bago’s Special Adviser on Print Media, Aisha Wakaso, made this known on Sunday in a press statement.

“The former President expressed his admiration for Bago’s initiative, likening it to his own ‘Operation Feed the Nation’ policy of 1976. He emphasised that with modern equipment now available, the impact of such initiatives can be even greater than before.

“Obasanjo highlighted the critical importance of agricultural self-sufficiency, stating, ‘Until Nigeria begins to feed itself, the challenges facing the country will persist. A nation that cannot feed itself is sitting on a time bomb’.

“He urged other state governors to follow Niger State’s lead in agricultural development to ensure that Nigeria can produce the majority of its own food,” Wakaso stated.

The Special Adviser disclosed that the former President encouraged Niger State to continue investing in agriculture and to explore modern methods to enhance existing practices, expressing his intention to visit Niger State with his team to learn from their progress and exchange ideas to improve and add value to his own agricultural endeavors.

“Obasanjo also advised Nigerians to consider investing in soilless farming, warning that with the current rate of land use, Nigeria could soon face a shortage of arable land. He stressed that innovative farming techniques are essential to sustaining the nation’s agricultural productivity,” she stated.