Former President of Ghana, John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor, has described Nigeria’s former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as ‘a prophet’ and ‘a living legend’ who stands solid as a rock of Gibraltar.Kufuor, on Friday, in a lecture he delivered at a programme to celebrate the former president at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun state, southwest Nigeria, was full of praise for the former ruler. While acknowledging Obasanjo’s legendary status, Kufuor said that very few people are celebrated while they are alive, and in most cases, people wait until when leaders passed on before they were celebrated.
“Obasanjo is a prophet recognised in his own town and indeed in the whole of Africa. There are two things which a few people know that bound me and Obasanjo together. And this will be the first time I will mention it in the public.
“I was in government in my country between 2001 and 2009 while Obasanjo was in power from 1999 to 2007. When I assumed office in Ghana, I met an economy that was flat on its tommy, everything was grounded. The fuel we had in Ghana then could not last us a day. International communities were packing out of Ghana. After consultation with my executive, I concluded to go to Abuja and pleaded with Obasanjo to lift embargo on NNPC of lifting fuel to neighbbouring countries including Ghana. My plea was immediately granted and that was how Ghana’s economy came back on its feet.”
Again, the former Ghanian leader narrated his second encounter with Obasanjo in Washington, USA. He said when Ghana needed $90 million to execute the West African Gas Pipeline Project, he approached the then Nigerian president and without ado, he (Obasanjo) raised $40 million to assist the project.
Kufuor therefore praised and prayed for long life for the former Nigerian president.
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