No alternative to hard work –Obasanjo A former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, opened up on some private aspects of his life during an event tagged ‘An afternoon with Obasanjo’ held in the premises of his Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta. The ex-President regaled his guests with the story his parents told him about hard work. He said hard work “is the only panacea for success.” The event was organised by the publisher of Inside Watch Africa magazine, Mr. Oluwaseyi Adegoke-Adeyemo, to celebrate the former President “for his numerous contributions to Nigeria, the African continent and on the global level.” It drew dignitaries from all strata of the society, including a former minister of Commerce and Industries, Chief (Mrs) Nike Akande; a former member of the House of Representatives, Chief Bode Mustapha, Chief (Mrs) Adunni Bankole, Obasanjo’s younger sister, Mrs Adunni Eweje, and Chief Doja Adewolu, among others. Guests were made to ask Obasano questions, during the event. In his answer to one the questions, the two-time Nigerian leader said, “There are many pieces of advice from both my father and my mother. One of them is that hard work does not kill, indolence kills. So they tell me I have to work hard.” He narrated how his father did not see eye-to-eye with a nephew of his who chose to be a herbalist. “My father particularly hated anyone who was lazy. He had a nephew who by virtue of his age and his status, he was older than him. He was a babalawo (herbalist). What my father could not understand was for a man to wake up in the morning and tie wrapper round his waist, without going to the farm. Till my father died, they did not see eye- to-eye.” On his mother, the former President said, “My mother too was a hard working woman. She used to move from one market to the other. And from one village to the other, accompanied by my younger sister (Mrs. Adunni Eweje). “No period for laxity. As I grew up in life, I began to understand that my father was right. There is no substitute for hard work if one wants to succeed in life. Though some may succeed by a streak of luck. Like if one plays a lottery and he wins.” Obasanjo said there was a time he engaged in pool staking but that he did not win. And since then he has realised that it is what one works for that endures.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 06:43:44 +0000
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