Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned leaders that failure to fulfil their responsibilities amounts to a sin against both God and the people they are entrusted to serve.
Obasanjo spoke on Saturday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while delivering the keynote address at the Leadership Empowerment International Conference (LEIC) Nigeria 2026.
The conference, organised by the Perspectives Leadership Development Institute (PLDI) in collaboration with the Olusegun Obasanjo Leadership Institute, was held under the theme, “The Gravity of Leadership Failure & Correction Methodologies.”
The former president described leadership as the single most important factor determining the success or failure of human organisations, including families, businesses, states and nations.
“If anybody asks me what is the most important factor, what is the most important issue, what is the most important element that makes the difference between success and failure in any human organisation, the answer is leadership,” he said.
Obasanjo noted that institutions with similar structures and resources could achieve vastly different outcomes depending on the quality of leadership.
“You will find two institutions or two organisations that are very similar and one is doing well, the other is not doing too well. The difference is in leadership,” he said.
He warned that poor leadership could have serious consequences across every form of human organisation.
“A nation, leadership failure will mean that the nation is not making progress as it should. A family, the leadership failure in the family means that the family is not making progress as it should. Any human institution, any human organisation, leadership failure means great calamity,” Obasanjo said.
The former president urged leaders to take responsibility for their mistakes by acknowledging their failures, showing remorse, apologising where necessary and taking practical steps to make corrections.
“As long as you are active as a leader, you are likely to do things wrong. But what is very, very important is to make sure that when you do wrong, you appreciate that you have done wrong. And then you atone and make corrections,” he said.
He added: “When we make mistakes as leaders or as even human beings, the first thing we have to do is acknowledge that we have made mistakes and have gone wrong. And then go back to make corrections.”
Obasanjo said leaders who had disappointed those under their care should not attempt to conceal or minimise their failures.
“Where you fail, it means that you have disappointed human beings and you have also disappointed God. Where you fail, you have disappointed human beings and you have also disappointed God,” he said.
He also cautioned prospective leaders against accepting positions of responsibility they were unwilling or unable to properly discharge.
“If you cannot carry out the responsibility of leadership, then don’t accept. If you accept, then do it as it should be done,” the former president said.
Obasanjo further criticised the habit of blaming inherited problems for poor performance in office, using Nigeria’s longstanding economic challenges as an example.
“If I say that, yes, since I was born, Nigeria has been poor. If I am put in a position not to make Nigeria poor and all I can say is that since I was born, Nigeria has been poor, I wonder what I am saying to Nigerians,” he said.
He stressed that leadership is a responsibility entrusted to individuals by both God and the people, making accountability central to public service.
“If you are a leader, you are put here by God and by people to do what is right. And your failure to do what is right is a sin against God and against the people that we are supposed to be looking after,” Obasanjo said.
The former president concluded by warning leaders that they would eventually face the consequences of failing to discharge their responsibilities.
“Don’t think that you will do it and get away. If you fail where you should not fail and you do not make adjustment or action, you will pay for it,” he said.
