Obasanjo Faults Tinubu On Subsidy Removal, Military Coup In Niger, Others
BY EDMOND ODOK – Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has faulted President Bola Tinubu-led administration poor handling of the fuel subsidy removal, Nigeria’s economy and the military coup in Niger Republic.
According to him, though fuel subsidy removal and floating the Naira were desirable policies, the government unfortunately missed it through poor implementation and handling of issues arising therefrom.
Obasanjo made his thought known at the Paul Aje Colloquium, tPAC in Abuja on “Nigeria’s Development: Navigating the Way Out of the Current Economic Crisis and Insecurity”, insisting that the Federal government was not getting governance right leading to the impoverishment of Nigerians and weakening of the economy
He said it would be difficult for Nigeria to attain the desired height except the leaders positively think along the line of evolving a 25-year Development Agenda backed up by a law from both the National and State Assemblies.
The former president comments, conveyed in statement issued in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital and signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, said the present administration is yet to hit the right chord in handling the economy to engender confidence and trust that would attract investors into the country.
He blamed the situation for the current hardship being experienced by citizens as well as the worrying value of Naira, the nation’s currency against the United States Dollar.
Similarly, the former President described as “sycophants and spin doctors” those against his position on the much-touted refurbished refinery in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, noting that such people failed to remember that he made the bold attempt to partly privatise the refineries in 2007 after thoroughly studying the situation, hence his adequate knowledge and understanding of the situation before making his final decision.
Obviously giving snippets of his views about the Tinubu’s Presidency in the last one year, Chief Obasanjo said; “Today, the government has taken three decisions, two of which are necessary but wrongly implemented and have led to impoverishment of the economy and Nigerians. These are the removal of subsidies, closing the gap between the black market and official rates of exchange and the third is dealing with the military coup in Niger Republic.
“The way forward is production and productivity which belief and trust in government leadership will engender. No shortcut to economic progress but hard work and sweat.”
Speaking specifically on the Nigerian economic situation, the Ota-born farmer said; “Economy does not obey orders, not even military orders. I know that. If we get it right, we will begin to see the light beyond the tunnel in two years. It requires a change of characteristics, attributes and attitudes by the leadership at all levels to gain the confidence and trust of investors who have alternatives.
“TotalEnergy has gone to invest $6 billion 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 existing investors are divesting 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.
“With change by us, the investors will give us the benefit of the doubt, and security is taken care of on a sustainable, long-term basis, they will start to test the waters.
“With the right economic policies, attribute of integrity and honesty of purpose, all should be well, with all hands on deck and the government become a catalyst for development, growth and progress.”
Also expressing his views on the government’s forex policy, Chief Obasanjo stated thus; “Tinkering with the exchange rate is not the answer. The answer is consistency and continuity in policy to ensure stability and predictability. That way, we will be sure to incentivize domestic and foreign investment.
‘’There must be honesty and transparency in government dealings and contracts and not lying with deception about these issues. When the government is seen as pursuing the right policy, the private sector will go for production and productivity.”
Furthermore, he maintained that change is possible but it must begin with the leadership, stressing that the way Nigeria can readily get out of the current situation is for the government and the governed to look at the past and the present, and ask: How did we get here?.
“Looking at the topic of today’s occasion, the question I would ask is, how do we navigate our way out of these crises and pave the path towards a more secure and prosperous Nigeria?
‘’I believe the answer to this requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses the root causes of these challenges. The central questions are: where were we? And how did we get to where we are today?
“Firstly, we must know where we are coming from. Our economy has consistently suffered from poor policies, lack of long-term, sustainable policies, discontinuity, ad hoc arrangement and corruption firmed on personal greed, avarice, incompetence, lack of knowledge and understanding and lack of patriotism.
“For instance, the statement and proposed actions given forty-five years ago to stop fuel scarcity is the same statement and action being touted today. I recall when I made the statement that the refineries will not work, the sycophants and spin doctors of this current administration went out to castigate me as not being a petroleum engineer and that I did not know what I was talking about.
“They forgot that the attempt that was made in 2007 to partly privatise the refineries was made by me after a thorough study of the situation. But the decision was reversed by my successor and the $750 million paid was refunded.”
However, Obasanjo said amid the disturbing hardship everywhere, the country has the potential to recalibrate and chart a positive path for economic growth if the government initiates a 25-year socio-economic development agenda generally endorsed by all political parties and passed into law by the National Assembly, with State Assembly aspects also passed into law by the respective State Houses of Assembly.
‘’We take up the implementation on a five-year basis. In reality, that plan will have the effect of almost a Constitution. The first priority in the implementation will be education for all.
‘’The second should be food and nutrition security through agribusiness. The third should be energy for all. The fourth should be industrialization and manufacturing. And the fifth should be science, technology, innovation and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
‘’In all these, the government should provide a conducive environment for the private sector to operate and thrive. And where the government will be involved at all, other than as a policymaker and enabler, it should be based on private public partnership with the government as a junior partner.
Addressing the issue of insecurity, Chief Obasanjo said; “We need stick and carrot approach. Stick to deal with those who cannot be weaned out of criminality and evil deeds and for those weaned, they should be rehabilitated. There should be no Nigerian without being in school compulsorily for eleven years – secondary education level.
“Employment must be a right for all Nigerians from age 18 years to 65 years. With such a carrot in position, the stick must then be made more severe for criminals. Five years must be set out to ensure that every Nigerian child who is not in school is in school and no one is left out of popular education.”
“Adult education should be embarked upon to give every Nigerian basic education equivalent to six years of formal education. We should give ourselves ten years to rid Nigeria of illiteracy.
“No matter what we do, if we do not find a way of educating, giving skills and empowerment, over 20 million Nigerian children that are out of school today will end up being rich recruitment centres for drug addicts, Boko Haram, bandits and other social misfits”, Chief Obasanjo said.