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A former Nigeria President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo ,has urged Ghana not to hinge the development of the country on oil wealth but rather focus on attention on growing the agricultural sector.
He said since oil was an exhaustible resource the country needed to work towards increasing agricultural production and adding value to the produce.
He again stressed the need for Ghana to organise free, fair and transparent and peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections this year “to reflect the will of the people of Ghana “.
The former Nigerian President gave the advice yesterday when the members of the University of Development Studies (UDS) Council paid a courtesy call on then Vice President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, at the castle, Osu.
Chief Obasanjo is in the country to deliver the maiden African Leadership lecture series organized by the UDS as part of its 20th anniversary.
The lecture series, to be held in Tamale from July 25-27, 2012, would be on the theme: Leadership in Africa from Pre –colonial to the Contemporary Times”.
The delegation, including the Chairman of the UDS Council, Prof Abdulai Baba Salifu , and the Vice –Chancellor ,Prof Haruna Yakubu, was at the Castle to inform the vice-president about the arrival of the former Nigerian President.
Chief Obasanjo was a former Nigerian Army General before serving twice as Nigerian’s Head of States, first as a military ruler from February 13,1976 to October 1,1979 and then as elected President form May 29,1999 to May 29,2007.
Interacting with journalists later, the former Nigerian said Ghana had vast land which could be used and reused continuously for agricultural production whereas oil, gold, diamond, and other resources could become exhausted.
He said the nation also had the human resource who could work to produce more and add value to the commodities to earn income to grow the country.
On the leadership lectures series, he said it was a good initiative, since “leadership is critical in everything that we do “.
He commended the late President John Evans Atta Mills and Vice-President Mahama for the work they were doing in the country.
Responding, Mr. Mahama said former President Obasanjo had rich experience African leadership, having served as a military and a civilian leader.
He congratulated the UDS Council on getting the former Nigerian President to deliver the maiden lecture.
Mr. Mahama, who promised to attend the lecture series, expressed the hope that the series would make a good mark, given the caliber of people that the UDS was inviting to deliver the lectures.
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