Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has blamed the prevalence of poverty in Africa on bad governance.
He spoke at the launching of 2012 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report titled: “Africa Human Development Report 2012, Towards a Food Secure Future” in Abuja.
The report revealed that about 218 million Africans are malnourished and over 55 million children are suffering from nutritional deficiency in the continent.
Obasanjo disclosed that food insecurity is the greatest Africa’s solvable problem.
He said it was regrettable that despite the continent’s abundant agricultural resources, it lacks food security because of absence of quality political leadership.
According to him: “This report is a damning condemnation of governance in Africa. It tells us what we know that the poverty of Africa is the making of African leaders over the years. African leaders have taken us together along the route of this shame.
“It is an indictment of African leadership particularly in the area of food production. Africa has the knowledge, technology and means to end undernourishment and food insecurity.”
Africa, Obasanjo said, must match political will with its abundant agricultural resources.
“To make desirable progress in food and nutritional security, the process must be spearheaded by good political will,” he stressed.
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