Olusegun Obasanjo, the former president of Nigeria, has weighed in on the current coup discussion and claimed that conditions in Nigeria encourage such events.

Obasanjo made the statement at a discussion with a group of young people from the Africa for Africa Youth Initiative (A4A) at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

He stated that while he would not support a coup, he might not have a choice if it came to it.

Additionally, Obasanjo urged the leaders of African countries to refrain from pressuring youths to the point where they would favor a military coup.

“Having suffered at the hands of Abacha, I won’t support a military coup. But if it has to come, what can we do?

“The point is this, do we have conditions that encourage the type of things that are happening, if we don’t have the conditions that encourage them, they may not happen.

“That does not mean it should be encouraged. What it means is that we should make sure that we do everything to prevent coups from happening.

“When you see things that happen in many countries, and I will not exclude Nigeria, then you wonder and don’t forget, don’t forget particularly the youth, they support most of these coups.

“The one in Gabon, the Coup Leader was being carried on the head by the youths, not by old wretched men and women like me.

“So, the youth are looking for liberators, and we must bear that in mind. Why do we have to allow the youth to start looking for liberators beyond the government of the day? Why?