Former President Olusegun Obasanjo delivered a compelling message to African leaders, emphasizing the necessity of finding homegrown solutions to address the numerous issues facing the continent. Obasanjo made these remarks during his interaction with a delegation of students and young individuals hailing from various African countries at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
This delegation, which included student leaders from Ethiopia and the Tigray Region, was led by Osisiogu Osikenyi, the President of the All-Africa Students’ Union (AASU). Their visit was to express gratitude to Obasanjo for his role in facilitating the lasting peace agreement between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) in Pretoria in 2022.
Former President Obasanjo underscored the importance of considering the unique characteristics of Africa’s people when designing and implementing effective homegrown solutions to address the continent’s challenges. He stated, “No problem in Africa is too great for us to solve. It is a valuable lesson for us to realize that, indeed, any problem we face in Africa—whether political, economic, or social—can be resolved through the right approach. What is of paramount importance, and what I urge you to take seriously, is that the achievement we witnessed in Tigray, between the TPLF and the Ethiopian government, can be seen as an illustration of African solutions to African problems. This is precisely what our leaders have advocated for since the early 1960s, even at the dawn of African independence. There is no problem in Africa that is beyond our capacity to solve.
