Obasanjo is Nigeria’s best president since 1999 - Kingsley Moghalu

Kingsley Moghalu, the former presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), has described Olusegun Obasanjo as Nigeria’s best president since 1999.

He said Obasanjo, despite having his flaws, was successful as a president because he was detribalised and focused on nation-building.

Moghalu said the former president did not think like a “provincial politician” but as a leader of the entire country.

In a series of tweets on Monday, Moghalu said the presidency needs “transcendence of mind and action” in order to be able to provide effective leadership.

He said: “OBJ, faults and all, is our best President since 1999. One key reason for his success is that he was focused on Nigeria as his constituency, not his ethnic group. All his career was federal/international – nation-building, national security, economy, foreign affairs.

“So he thought like a president of Nigeria, not a provincial politician. Nigeria is a unique place. In advanced democracies, it is often the case that politicians start local and move upward. Because they have a real nation with a unity of purpose and destiny.

“Here, the presidency requires a transcendence of mind and action in order to provide the kind of leadership we need. Strong experience in federal and international institutions provides that necessary perspective for effective leadership of a country like ours.”

Moghalu is a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).