Some people in govt should be in prison for their past criminal acts - Obasanjo

Obasanjo said this at the memorial lecture of Denis Joseph Slattery organised by the Old Boys’ Association of St. Finbarr’s College held at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos on Thursday, September 19, 2024.

The former President, who graced the event virtually, argued that government officials with questionable integrity can't make fair decisions for the greater good.

In his speech titled ‘The imperative for moral rectitude in governance,’ the elder statesman stressed that the most important demand of anybody involved in governance at any level is accountability to the people.

“If you look clinically at the people in government today at both executive and legislative levels, some of them should be permanently behind bars for their past misdemeanour and criminal misconduct.”

“You cannot expect thieves to give good judgement in favour of the owner of the property,” he said.

Obasanjo recalled his shocking experience with corruption when he delved into politics, citing how a government official normalised criminal behaviour when confronted.

“The first thing that shocked me when I went into politics was the level of corruption of election officials which was taken as normal.

"The second was the level of general and criminal misbehaviour which was taken with levity and impunity. We were at a meeting and a man lied and I confronted him, and the next thing he said was ‘It is all politics, Sir’.

“Every bad thing they do is passed on as politics which means politics has no room for morality, principles, rectitude, ethics, good character and attributes.

“Nigeria needs transformational leaders rather than transactional leaders, truth instead of lies, honesty instead of dishonesty, integrity instead of disintegrity, hope instead of despair, production instead of deduction, inclusion instead of exclusion and marginalisation,” Obasanjo said.

The memorial has notable personalities in presence, including former Cross River State Governor, Donald Duke; ex-international, Segun Odegbami; music producer, ID Cabasa; and Patrick Doyle.

Slattery was an Irish-born missionary who sojourned to Ilawe-Ekiti, South-West Nigeria in 1914. He was posted to St. Gregory’s College, Obalende, Lagos, in 1943 as a teacher and games master.

He went on to found St. Finbarr’s College in January 1956 as part of his mission in Nigeria.

Slattery was also the pioneer Chairman of the Nigerian Football Association and a founding member of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).

He awarded the the Order of the Niger (OON) by Obasanjo in 2001 and died in July 2003.