Mandela, Tutu Encouraged Me To Run For President – Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday disclosed that he consulted the late South African President, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu before joining the race for the presidency in 1998 just as he declared that God has too partial to him for attaining the height he has in his lifetime.
He noted that given his background as a poor Ibogun village boy, with stark illiterate parents, he never dreamt his name would be heard in the nearest hamlet, let alone Nigeria and indeed the world over.
“God has been partial to me by showing me so much favour that I do not deserve.
“If you don’t know anything about me at all, go to the village where I was born. I was born by parents that were illiterates. There was no road to the village then. One could not boast of even being known in the next village.
“God has done so much for me more than I deserve. I thank God for this.” The former president submitted.
In his sermon, the deputy national vice president of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, described Obasanjo as man of destiny whom God has raised for a specific purpose in Nigeria.
The cleric noted that all the past experiences of the former Head of State and President pointed to the direction that God has a hand in his life.
“Once in a generation, God raises a leader for a generation. We have such people like Abraham, Joseph, Samuel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Apostle Paul.
“They were raised and commissioned for a specific task and they were focused on that task. God has raised Baba Obasanjo to be in this mould”. Oke stated.
