Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday challenged African youths to be positively disruptive in order to take their rightful positions in leadership across the continent.

He spoke at the Presidential Youth Mentorship Retreat (6.0) organised by the Youth Development Centre, an arm of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The retreat with the theme “Africa and the Conflicts in Europe and the Middle East” attracted participating youths from across Nigeria and other African nations.

Citing examples of sit-tight syndrome in Africa, Obasanjo told the youths to see themselves as leaders of today and not leaders of tomorrow.

He said, “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. You can see that happening almost everywhere.

“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 yesterday, you have to be positively disruptive and I mean that.

“Look, if three people are sitting and two of them start to press the one in the middle, when it becomes uncomfortable for him, it is either he yields the space or allows them to share. You have to be positively disruptive; otherwise, you will have no role to play.”

He further asked youths to leverage their population to take over leadership positions.

“You have the number, but the number will only matter when you use the number to your advantage,” Obasanjo said.

The elder statesman, however, expressed concern that some youths in the government have “not proven that youths can be absolutely trusted.”

The keynote address speaker and former Chief of Defence Staff, General Martin Luther Agwai (rtd), identified peace talk as the best way of resolving conflicts.

“War is necessary and war will continue as long as people do not know how to solve their problem amicably. What I have found out in my military study is that there is no war that has ended without a peace talk. People come back to the conference table even when they want to share booty, the booty you want to share is at the conference table…

“Why don’t we then find a way of win-win for all of us rather than a winner and a loser,” he said.

The Chairperson of the Youth Development Centre, Dr. Bisi Kolapo, urged the youths not to entertain any fear or excuses in the pursuit of their life goals.

She also urged them to always believe in Nigeria because “Nigeria will be great and rise again.” (Daily Trust)