Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday shared part of his prison experience under the late General Sani Abacha military junta, revealing that he was “bubbling with joy” while in detention.
It would be recalled that Obasanjo was during that maximum regime sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995, after he was convicted over an alleged involvement in the plot to overthrow the then government. The death of Abacha, three years after, led to his release.
While delivering a keynote address entitled, ‘Man in Pursuit of Happiness’ at the 50th anniversary and founder’s day lecture of the Bible Society of Nigeria, BSN, in Lagos, Obasanjo posited that no man could succeed and achieve anything in life outside God.
According to him, “When I was in prison, I was always bubbling with joy, because I derive joy in the presence of God. This shows that you can be happy in spite of your situation.
“So, rather than seek happiness, seek God and every other thing will fall into place. Man has been in search of happiness through position, reputation, greatness, wealth and even through atrocities.
“All these can only produce man-made happiness that cannot last. Man lacks the ability to make himself happy and in the quest for happiness, we look in the wrong direction and places.”
The former President went on to appreciate the BSN for making it possible for people to have better understanding of the word of God through the many local languages into which the society had interpreted the Bible.
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