Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has called for corrupt politicians to face imprisonment, declaring that “thieves cannot provide just governance.”
Speaking virtually on Thursday at the memorial lecture of late cleric Denis Joseph Slattery in Lagos, the 87-year-old statesman stressed the need for integrity in governance.
In his lecture, titled “The Imperative for Moral Rectitude in Governance,” Obasanjo emphasized that accountability is the most crucial responsibility for anyone in public office. He argued that government officials with questionable character cannot serve the greater good of the public.
“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,” said Obasanjo, who served as Nigeria’s head of state from 1976 to 1979 and as president from 1999 to 2007.
“You cannot expect thieves to give good judgement in favour of the owner of the property.”
The former president also reflected on his personal experience with corruption in the political system. He recounted an incident where a public official excused criminal behaviour as part of politics.
“The first thing that shocked me when I went into politics was the level of corruption of election officials, which was taken as normal,” Obasanjo recalled.
“The second was the level of general and criminal misbehaviour, which was taken with levity and impunity.”
He explained how, during a meeting, he confronted an individual who had lied. The official’s response was, “It is all politics, Sir,” illustrating the widespread disregard for moral standards in governance.
Obasanjo argued that Nigeria is in desperate need of transformational leaders who value truth, honesty, and integrity, rather than transactional leaders who thrive on dishonesty and exclusion. He called for a shift from leaders who perpetuate marginalisation and despair to those who inspire hope and inclusion.
The Slattery memorial lecture, held at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, was organised by the Old Boys’ Association of St. Finbarr’s College. Denis Joseph Slattery, an Irish-born missionary who arrived in Nigeria in 1941, founded St. Finbarr’s College in 1956. He also played a pioneering role in Nigerian football and journalism.
Notable attendees at the event included Donald Duke, former governor of Cross River, football legend Segun Odegbami, music producer ID Cabasa, and actor Patrick Doyle. Slattery was posthumously honoured with the Order of the Niger (OON) by Obasanjo in 2001 and passed away in July 2003.