Former President Olusegun Obasanjo charged leaders at all levels to embrace democracy that promotes prosperity, poverty eradication, employment, and adequate security for the betterment of Nigeria.

Obasanjo gave the charge in Oyo town on Friday during the inauguration of the rehabilitated 34.8 kilometres of Oyo-Iseyin Road.

According to Obasanjo, a democracy that nurtured poverty, unemployment, and insecurity should be thrown overboard because it only characterised backwardness.

He emphasised the importance of cultivating some specific crops that would distinguish Oyo State from others, noting that Oyo had been known as a cassava farming centre.

He urged the state to embrace the cultivation of one more major crop to enhance efforts at boosting food security in the state.

Obasanjo stressed the importance of good road networks and commended the foresight of Gov Seyi Makinde in the rehabilitation, reconstruction, and construction of roads linking the five zones in the state.

He said that such projects would fast-track socio-economic development across the zones.

He urged the people of Oyo State to support Gov Makinde’s government in its efforts to develop the economy of the state.