Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has boasted that during his reign as Nigeria’s military Head of State, the United States under President Jimmy Carter could not make any move in Africa without first informing his government.
Speaking on Monday in Abeokuta at the Presidential Youth Mentorship Retreat (6.0), organised by the Youth Development Centre of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Obasanjo’s comment appeared to subtly shade President Donald Trump over his recent threat to send U.S. troops to Nigeria.
Trump had, in a series of X posts between October 31 and November 1, slammed Nigeria’s government for failing to stop attacks on Christians, warning that America might take military action if the killings continued.
While the federal government dismissed Trump’s remarks as “false and divisive,” Obasanjo reminded Nigerians of a time when the world, especially the United States, respected the country’s leadership role in Africa.
“They were not taking permission from us but they will tell us that ‘they are doing this,’” Obasanjo recalled, referring to his time in power when Carter reportedly sought Nigeria’s input on African affairs.
“When I was president and Head of State, three American presidents came to Nigeria. They have not lost anything that they were looking for in Nigeria. What did they see? At Independence, the world saw Nigeria as a giant coming up. Soon after independence, we lost that. When Murtala and I came into government, we brought it back.
“The Americas saw that there was a possibility of Nigeria being Africa’s leader and we were on the way. When I was military head of state, President Jimmy Carter was the president of America, he would not do anything in Africa without informing us. They were not taking permission from us but they will tell us that ‘they are doing this.’”
The retired general, who shared a close bond with Carter until his death in December 2024, said young military leaders of his era were motivated by passion, not greed.
“We were young. We were idealistic and we knew what we wanted for Nigeria. It was not about money. We were young, we were all under 40, all of us. We were probably a bit naïve, too. But our ambition is not money,” he said.
Obasanjo, who spoke on the theme “Africa and the Conflicts in Europe and the Middle East,” urged African youths to be “positively disruptive” to reclaim leadership from ageing rulers.
“You are leaders of today because if you leave tomorrow in the hands of leaders who are there today, they will destroy it, you won’t have your tomorrow,” he warned.
“Cameroon just had an election. My brother, Paul Biya is 92. So, what are you going to do with the youths, or are there no youths in Cameroon?
“Here (referring to Nigeria), we have NotTooYoungToRun and they even made it into law. Those who made it into law are 80 years old and they are still running. When will you have the opportunity to run? Like I said to you on Monday, you have to be positively disruptive and I mean that.”
Obasanjo also urged Nigerian youths to use their numerical strength to take over power.
“You have the number, but the number will only matter when you use the number to your advantage,” he said, lamenting that some young people in government had “not proven that youths can be absolutely trusted.”
Since Obasanjo left power, no American president has visited Nigeria.
