Nigeria: Former President Olusegun Obasanjo threatens to commit suicide

Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said he would not mind committing suicide if things do not change in Nigeria.

The Former head of state said in an interview with students of the National Academy Ijaw Kaiama, as part of the activities planned for his two-day working visit to Bayelsa.

He also said that despite the economic and political challenges, there is great hope for Nigeria. He insisted that Nigerians should not lose hope as this would spell disaster for the country.

“If Nigeria does not have hope, I’ll find a rope and kill myself immediately because I have no reason to live. I am optimistic that Nigeria will change. Nigeria has hope. We should have done many things differently. But that does not mean that Nigeria has no hope. Look, hope is what motivates every human being. A hopeless person is like a lifeless person. How can I say that Nigeria has no hope? Nigeria has hope and you are part of Nigeria’s hope,” he said.

“Despite our difficulties, we have hope. I arrived from Rome and while I was there, I asked the ambassador about the major problems and he told me that there are 1,600 Nigerians in Italian prisons, it’s a problem but we should not say that there is no hope for Nigeria. No, I will not say it. I would say that we have a problem that we need to tackle and if we do not address this problem, we are pushing the wrong day. Never lose hope. If you lose hope, you lose everything.”

In addition, Obasanjo revealed that he had no regrets as a military head of state and president.

“Is there anything I wanted to do with the resources I had, with the knowledge I had when I was in government, with the facilities I had? I would say no. Now, if I had more resources, there would be things I would have done differently. But with what I had at that time and some of the people who worked with me, I did everything I could for Nigeria’s prosperity. I did not say I was perfect, I would never say that, only God is perfect. However, I have no regrets,” he said.

Mr. Obasanjo became for the first time head of state from 1976 to 1979 in the federal military government and, returned to civilian life, he was elected President of the Republic for two successive terms, from 1999 to 2007.