Don’t Think You Will Get Away With It” — Obasanjo Fires Warning At Failed Nigerian Leaders

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has cautioned Nigerian leaders against failing to fulfil the responsibilities entrusted to them by the people.

Obasanjo said failure to deliver on a leadership mandate amounts to a sin against both God and the citizens leaders are expected to serve.

He also warned that leaders should not assume they can escape the consequences of poor performance. According to him, anyone who fails in a responsibility entrusted to them must acknowledge the failure, make amends and take steps to correct their mistakes.

The former president made the remarks in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while delivering a keynote address at the Leadership Empowerment International Conference (LEIC) Nigeria 2026 over the weekend.

He said, **“If you are a leader, you are put here by God and by people to do what is right. And your failure to do what is right is a sin against God and against the people that we are supposed to be looking after.

“Don’t think that you will do it and get away. If you fail where you should not fail and you do not make adjustment or action, you will pay for it.”**

The conference was organised by the Perspectives Leadership Development Institute in partnership with the Olusegun Obasanjo Leadership Institute and was held under the theme, “The Gravity of Leadership Failure & Correction Methodologies.”

Obasanjo maintained that leadership is one of the most important factors determining whether any human organisation succeeds or fails, whether it is a family, business, state or nation.

According to him, when two institutions have similar structures and resources but produce different outcomes, the major difference is often the quality of leadership.

He said, “If anybody asks me what is the most important factor, what is the most important issue, what is the most important element that makes the difference between success and failure in any human organisation, the answer is leadership.”

Explaining further, the former president noted that leadership failure has far-reaching consequences, whether at the national, institutional or family level.

He said a country suffering from poor leadership would struggle to make the progress it should, just as leadership failures within families and other organisations could lead to serious problems.

Obasanjo also called on leaders to accept responsibility when they make mistakes, apologise when necessary and take practical measures to correct their actions.

He stressed that making mistakes is part of human nature, but leaders must be willing to recognise their errors and take corrective action.

“As long as you are active as a leader, you are likely to do things wrong. But what is very, very important is to make sure that when you do wrong, you appreciate that you have done wrong. And then you atone and make corrections,” he said.

He added that leaders should first acknowledge when they have gone wrong before taking steps to put things right.

According to Obasanjo, failure in leadership means disappointing both the people and God.

He therefore advised individuals who know they cannot fulfil the demands of leadership not to accept such responsibilities in the first place.

“If you cannot carry out the responsibility of leadership, then don’t accept. If you accept, then do it as it should be done,” he stated.

Obasanjo also criticised leaders who attempt to justify poor performance by blaming longstanding problems, arguing that such excuses do little to address the challenges confronting the country.

He questioned the logic of a leader using Nigeria’s historical poverty as an excuse for failing to improve the nation after being entrusted with the responsibility to do so.

“If I say that, yes, since I was born, Nigeria has been poor. If I am put in a position not to make Nigeria poor and all I can say is that since I was born, Nigeria has been poor, I wonder what I am saying to Nigerians,” he said.