Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said diversity and multiculturalism were divinely designed for mankind by God, saying it must be cherished, jealously guarded and sustained.
Obasanjo stated this in his keynote address at the 2023 World Culture Festival organised by the Art of Living Foundation at the National mall, Washington DC, USA at the weekend.
In a press release by his special assistant on media, Kehinde Akinyemi, the former president submitted that God has given us life with a world of diversity and multiculturalism.
He said these traits should be sustained, "Because of human imperfection, greed, selfishness and dishonesty, war, violence, insecurity, poverty, criminality and evil in one form or the other pervade the world.
"Some would want to blame these on diversity or multiculturalism. And using these to point at the failure of multiculturalism. That, if I may say, is wrong. In spite of human development in science and technology from the stone age to artificial intelligence age, human basic instinct for power, position, popularity, prestige, prosperity at all costs have not changed much if at all."
Obasanjo emphasised that to have gathered with about 180 countries "is to acknowledge and celebrate diversity which is of God. God is God of diversity and not of sameness.
"If God has created sameness in the world, it would have been a world of monotony, staleness, dullness and boredom. God created a world of diversity and wonder for us to enjoy and live happily in.
"In the process, we sacrifice love, kindness, goodwill, brotherhood and sisterhood, mercy, forgiveness, consideration for others and love and fear with respect for our Creator.
"Gurudev, my leader, brothers and sisters all over the world, God has given us life with a world of diversity and multiculturalism."
Obasanjo stressed that as human beings, "We have an unrelenting task of working to add love, kindness, brotherhood, humanity and humanness to the world of diversity God has given us."
He pointed further that it was only when these tasks were achieved, "then, we will have one world of peace, common security, stability, wholesomeness, growth, shared prosperity, inclusive society and God's kingdom on earth. That is our goal to achieve," Obasanjo said.
