According to Vanguard, former president Olusegun Obasanjo has attacked two of the present Nigerian administration’s three main programs, claiming that although the policies were vital, their implementation was poor.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
In a statement released in Abeokuta, Ogun State, by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo highlighted the detrimental effects of these policies on Nigeria’s economy and its citizens.
Obasanjo’s comments were made during a colloquium titled “Nigeria’s Development: Navigating the Way Out of the Current Economic Crisis and Insecurity,” held at the Paul Aje Colloquium (PAC) in Abuja over the weekend.
He stated that the removal of the fuel subsidy and the unification of the exchange rate between the black market and the official market were essential steps, but their execution led to further economic distress.
“Today, government has taken three decisions, two of which are necessary but wrongly implemented and have led to impoverisation of the economy and of Nigerians. These are removal of subsidy, closing the gap between black market and official rates of exchange and the third is dealing with military coup in Niger Republic,” Obasanjo stated.
The former president stressed that the path to economic recovery lies in enhancing production and productivity, coupled with building trust in government leadership. He stated that there are no shortcuts to economic progress, which can only be achieved through hard work and dedicated effort.
Obasanjo also criticized the current administration’s approach to handling the economy, pointing to the exodus of investors as evidence of a lack of confidence in Nigeria’s economic policies. He cited the example of TotalEnergies choosing to invest $6 billion in Angola rather than Nigeria, attributing this decision to the administration’s failure to create a conducive environment for investment.
He stated, “TotalEnergy has gone to invest 6 billion dollars in Angola instead of Nigeria. If the truth must be stated, the present administration has not found the right way to handle the economy to engender confidence and trust for investors to start trooping in.
“They know us more than we know ourselves. And now they are laughing at us, not taking us seriously. We have to present ourselves in such a way that we will be taken seriously. If the existing investors are disinvesting and going out of our country, how do we persuade new investors to rush in. We can be serious if we choose to be, but we need to change from transactional leadership in government to transformational and genuine servant leadership.”CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
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