Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has accused the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led government of competing in Inefficiency with the late former President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
This was as he described the late former President Buhari’s administration as the worst civilian government in Nigeria’s history, emphasising that President Tinubu’s government is fast trailing in the same direction.
In the words of Obasanjo; “Only Bola Tinubu’s administration seems to be competing with Buhari’s in the area of inefficiency for now”.
Former President Obasanjo, who stated these in his new book titled; ‘Nigeria: Past and Future’, noted that how late President Buhari had described late Shehu Shagari’s government as corrupt, rudderless and preoccupied with self-enrichment.
He however observed that when Buhari eventually returned as a democratically elected president, he failed to address the very problems he once identified.
In the words of Obasanjo; “Good points and good words which Buhari failed to follow when he became the President years later. Words are cheap and what needed to be done was left undone during Buhari’s civil administration from 2015 to 2023 – the worst civil administration regime so far in Nigeria’s history.
“Maybe these ideas and thoughts were not his; he just read them as was written for him. Otherwise, how do you explain the gulf between what he said then and how he governed later?” he enthused.
Obasanjo, while reflecting on his lifelong commitment to Nigeria’s progress, said he is impatient to see the country rise, saying that he was nearing the “departure lounge.”
According to Obasanjo; “All my writings have been aimed at making Nigeria better because I strongly believe that Nigeria can be made better and I also believe in documentation.
“Why I published My Command and Nzeogwu, I did so to help readers see some of the events of the war through my eyes and the personality of one of the key actors in the events that led to the war.
“In my books such as Not My Will or the three-volume autobiography, My Watch, I have tried to speak about major policy decisions that I undertook and, in some instances, why I did the things I did.
“I have written about my difficult moments in life, my experience in prison, my views about God’s will in my life, and I have written letters to leaders to help them learn lessons and to draw attention to crises.
“I have had the great honour of serving this country as a military Head of State and a President. So, it might be said that I have sat on both sides of the fence. Now, I am getting close to my departure lounge, maybe without picking my boarding pass yet,” he said.
Obasanjo further said that while he has been accused of hypocrisy, his conscience remains clear, adding that some have accused him of being equally guilty of the things he had written about.
He said; “I rely on my conscience and my records and have no need to defend myself. Yes, I am both angry and sad because I have seen the best and the worst of our country. We were young, maybe naïve, but we were patriotic and sincerely so. “We sought to feed our people, provide infrastructure, prioritise education and bring Nigeria to modernity,”he stressed.
