I became Nigerian president by accident – Obasanjo

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, said everything about him, including his emergence as both a military Head of State and President of Nigeria, was by accident.

Obasanjo, who was an ex-military Head of State before he was elected as a civilian President in 1999, said he was a farmer by choice and not by accident.

Speaking on Saturday on a live radio interview with Segun Odegbami on Eagles7 Sports 103.7 FM, Abeokuta, Obasanjo said he was always proud to be addressed as a farmer.

Odegbami had asked Obasanjo to speak about what he termed his “romance with farming.”

In response, the former president said, “I don’t like the word you used, ‘romance with farming’. I am a farmer. What do you mean by romance. Everything I have done in my life is by accident. The only thing that is not accidental is farming. Every other thing that I’ve been is by accident. And you called that romance? No! What do you mean by romance?

“You know my beginning. I was born and bred in a village. I went to school by accident. My father just said, ‘won’t you do something different?’ So I went into farming.

“When you look at countries that have made it, they developed on agriculture. First, for the purpose of food security; second, for the purpose of processing what they get from their farms, which is the beginning of industrialisation. Third, to give it out as export, which is for the purpose of foreign exchange; and fourth, as a means of generating employment for the youth.”