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What Raila needs to do after winning AUC bid – Obasanjo
By Moses Muli
Published: August 26,2024 6:31 PM EAT
Former Nigeria president General Olusegun Obasanjo has thrown his weight behind, Raila Odinga’s candidacy for the African Union Commission (AUC) chairmanship saying he is the right man to lead the continent into prosperity.
Obasanjo noted that the continent’s youth are restive and unemployed and that governments should act sooner rather than later to address the growing discontent among the young people of Africa.
Speaking during the launch of the 2024 Festival for Art and Culture (FESTAC), the former Nigerian president said Raila can provide leadership that will liberate Africa economically.
“We need a man like my brother Raila Odinga at the African Union to give us that reform, that leadership that will liberate us in Africa economically, for me as long as I’m alive, I will continue to contribute to this goal,” Obasanjo added.
Additionally, the former president noted that the African continent has to transition from poverty eradication to wealth creation if they should deserve a chance at the global table.
“Unless we get there, we will not get the respect and appreciation from the rest of the world that we deserve,” he urged.
Obasanjo equally tasked Raila with what he should do after winning the AUC chairman position in February 2025.
“When you get there, do whatever you can do to liberate the continent of Africa economically,” he stated.
Adding: “We have everything to create wealth in the continent of Africa; nobody will do it for us.”
Raila’s AUC chair bid
The chairman of the AUC will come from the Eastern Africa region and Raila is set to battle against three other contestants from Djibouti, Madagascar and Mauritius. These are Mahmoud Youssuf, Richard Randriamandrato and Anil Kumarsingh Gayan respectively.
The endorsement comes ahead of an official launch of Odinga’s bid for the AUC chair to be presided over by President William Ruto at the State House on Tuesday, August 27, 2024.
On his part, Raila noted that it is a shame that more than 60 years after most African countries attained independence, the regions were still classified as Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone while the colonialists had long left.
He noted that the talks of unity were not new as history records similar pushes by founding fathers including Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta and Julius Nyerere.
Raila said that fear had made African countries unable to do business with one another, leading to stagnation.
“It is a pity that over 60 years since most of our countries attained independence, we are still divided and proud to be divided by the languages our colonial masters imposed on us: Anglophones, Francophones, and Lusophones at a time the owners of those colonial languages are forging a united Europe. There is no Anglophone or Francophone Europe. But there is Anglophone and Francophone Africa. What a pity,” Raila said.
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