A former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has called on well-meaning Nigerians to give back to the communities where they hail from, in order to stem the tide of rural-urban migration and unemployment among youths.
He also said this would engender rural development in the country.
Obasanjo made the call while delivering his goodwill message at the 2015 edition of the Ibogun-Olaogun Day held on Saturday at Ibogun- Olaogun Village, in Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The former President, who recalled his formative years in the sleepy village, said there were no modern toilets, bathroom and clinic when he was growing up in the rural community.
He, however, added that that those facilities including a secondary school built through communal efforts were now available in the village.
He said, “Successful individuals who have made it in life will be doing the country a lot of good in reducing the menace of unemployment, only if they can interact with the rural areas and establish businesses in the rural communities without waiting for government.
“We don’t need to wait for government before developing our communities, particularly some of us who were raised from the village. We should not wait for any government ticket.
“Let us think of what we can do for ourselves and our communities; what we can do for ourselves to make our rural communities more habitable for us.
“When I was growing up in this community, there was no latrine, no bathroom, and no clinic. But today, there are over a dozen of people who would have died if the clinic we constructed through the community’s self-effort had not been in existence.
“Each of us can encourage village renewal; we don’t need to wait for government if we don’t want to tarry for too long. The need to raise fund for our community secondary school is borne out of the need that we cannot wait for government to do it all. We have to carry our load by ourselves before we say government should come to our aid. That is the reality today.”
Also a guest at the event, a former deputy governor of Oyo State, Taofeek Arapaja, agreed with Obasanjo that the youth rural-urban migration would have been greatly curtailed if the rich in the society could develop the rural communities and establish industries in those areas.
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