I made ‘successful’ mistakes as President —Obasanjo

Former President
Olusegun Obasanjo
on Tuesday declared
that he made
“successful”
mistakes as Military
Head of State and
civilian president.
Obasanjo, who ruled
the country between 1976 and 1979 as a military head
and between 1999 and 2007 as a civilian President,
however, took responsibility for all his actions.
He spoke in Ibadan, Oyo State during the 50th
anniversary lecture to commemorate the call to the Bar
of Chief Afe Babalola (SAN).
A civil war veteran and former Chief of Staff of the 3rd
Marine Commando Division, Nigeria Army, Gen. Alabi
Isama (retd), had recently accused Obasanjo of
committing numerous blunders during his reign in
government.
Obasanjo said, “One mistake I made that turned out to
be successful was when I was looking for somebody to
give leadership of the University of Lagos to and I chose
Babalola. Some people said I made a mistake but it
turned out to be a successful mistake.
“My mistakes as people say were mostly in
appointments. I appointed the UNILAG Pro-Chancellor
and Vice-Chancellor and the university became the best.
The Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor that I appointed
were acknowledged as the best at the time.
“The mother of all the mistakes was that the exposure
and involvement of Babalola in the affairs of UNILAG led
to the establishment of the Afe Babalola University in
Ado-Ekiti.
“If you have not seen ‘instant wonder’, go to ABUAD.
Babalola used his experience as the Pro-Chancellor of
UNILAG to build what today is the best and fast growing
private university in the country.”
Obasanjo, who inaugurated the extension of Babalola’s
Emmanuel Chambers on the occasion, said, “There are
many Nigerians, but, there are not many good Nigerians
of Babalola’s sterling qualities.”
Solicitor-General of the Federation, Ahmed Abdulahi,
who represented President Goodluck Jonathan,
described Babalola as a product of courage,
perseverance, determination and humility.
The Guest Speaker, retired Justice Emmanuel Ayoola,
while delivering a lecture entitled, ‘The future of Law in
Nigeria’, stressed the need to improve legal education in
the country.
He said, “Our legal education should be re-invigorated
and made more robust. For instance, we should begin to
encourage inclusion of Comparative Law in every aspect
of our legal education.
“We can only neglect the history of the principles of the
common law at a disadvantage. Our law faculties should
be fully equipped with the access to jurisprudence and
decisions of other jurisdiction to protect our laws.
“We delude ourselves in this country if we believe that,
we can be a great nation without a great legal system.
The path to the greatness of our nation is through a
reliable, efficient, trustworthy and value-driven legal
system.”
Former Pro-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Chief Wole
Olanipekun, (SAN) described Babalola as a reformer,
revolutionary and educationist who contributed to
national and legal development.
Governors Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo); Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti);
Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo) and a former Ekiti State
Governor Segun Oni among other eminent personalities
attended the ceremony.