The former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has said that Nigerians don’t appreciate good leaders until they leave office, noting that former President Goodluck Jonathan left enviable legacies behind.
The ex-national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) confessed that he fought former President Jonathan out of office due to their differences in political interests.
He stated this at the one-year memorial lecture in honour of late Captain Hosa Okunbo, in Abuja today.
Oshiomhole said: “You (Jonathan) left legacies even though that I had cause to fight because it is politics. The legacy you have left, there is no successor who can afford to do less.
“But the logic of multi-party democracy is that even an angel can be defeated. You have set a standard that none of your successors can afford to go below.
“Part of your (Jonathan) legacies was when you launched the almajiri school and your thought was that no Nigerian child should be left on the street and also appropriated special funds.
“These ideas are not new but what we lack is the will to transform it to practice. We never know who are our friends until when we are no more.
“No one is appreciated until he or she leaves office,” he said.
Other speakers at the event were Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwase III decried the glorification of stomach infrastructure in Nigeria’s political culture, among others.
They described the late Captain Hosa Okunbo as a man with a large heart, the spirit of philanthropy and ardent love for the needy.
According to them, one of his legacies that will continue to endure is that he nurtured and mentored many to become responsible members of the society.
