Obasanjo urges Nigerians to assist government in rural development

Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo has urged well-meaning individuals to assist government in the development of rural areas in the country.

Obasanjo, who spoke at this year’s edition of Ibogun-Olaogun Day, held at the former President’s ancestral home, Ibogun-Olaogun village, in Ifo local government area of Ogun state declared that “as responsible people to our respective rural areas, we should not wait for government to do everything”.

He emphasised that government alone cannot satisfy all the infrastructural needs of the rural dwellers noting “the physical, social and educational development of the rural dwellers largely depend on whatever contributions individual members that have passed through the village settings can facilitate to their communities”.

He added “we don’t need to wait for government before developing our communities, particularly some of us who were raised from the village. We should not wait for any ‘government ticket’. Let us think of what we can do for ourselves and our communities; what can we do for ourselves to make the village communities more habitable for us”.

Obasanjo, who recalled that his village, Ibogun-Olaogun lacked basic amenities such as latrine and bathroom during his childhood, however, expressed joy that the village can today boast of a primary health clinic, modern toilet, good road network as well as modern structure for the village primary school, which according to him were constructed through the community efforts.

“When I was growing up in this community, there was no latrine, no bathroom and a clinic. But today, there are over a dozen of people who would have died if the clinic we constructed through the community’s self-effort had not been built.

“Each of us can encourage village renewal; we don’t need to wait for government if we don’t want to tarry for too long. The need to raise fund for our community secondary school is borne out of the need that, we can not wait for government to do it us. We have to carry our load by ourselves before we say government should come to our aid. That is the reality today”. Obasanjo submitted.