FORMER president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on Tuesday, at the ongoing 100th session of the International Labour Conference in Geneval, Switzerland, told the world leaders, employers and labour leaders that he would be a victim and number one target if revolution happened in Nigeria anytime from now.

Chief Obasanjo, who was speaking at a special event by the Club de Madrid, at the conference, also said former president of Ghana, John Kufuor and other African leaders would have no hiding place if the revolution that swept through the Arab countries happened in major African countries like Nigeria and Ghana.

Obasanjo, who was part of the panel of discussants at the event, said if the unemployment situation in African countries were allowed to continue and not checked and addressed, the revolution would be more severe than what was being witnessed in the Middle East

“Governments are bad or poor job creator, but they are to provide conducive and enabling environment for job creators, especially the private sector. So, governments must come together with the employers who will provide the capital (money) and labour leaders to create and provide. If we do this, I believe we will make it.

“If we don’t, the youth will be ignited and we will all be consumed. If it happens in our countries in Africa, none of us ... I know that I will be a victim. My brother here (John Kufuor) too will have no place to run to,” he said.

Others on the panel were Kufuor; Mr Osvaldo Hurtado, former president, Republic of Ecuador; Mr Abdul Karim Al Eryani, former Prime Minister, Republic of Yemen; Mr Wim Kok, former Prime Minister, The Netherlands; Mr Stephen Pursey, Director, Policy Integration Department, ILO and Mr Raymond Torres, Director, International Institute for Labour Studies, ILO.

Chief Obasanjo said the ideal of sustainable and shared societies of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) could not be faulted, adding that social justice should entail what an ideal society should be.

Speaking on unemployment in Africa, Obasanjo said “it is a red alert for us in Africa. I am worried, I am apprehensive about the unemployment in our continent, which we are not taking seriously as it should be.”

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