Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has again
slammed President Goodluck Jonathan, this time, over
alleged extravagance. Obasanjo claimed that the
president squandered $25 billion crude oil savings left
behind by his administration, adding this is partly
responsible for the falling value of the naira.
Obasanjo said that his successor, Musa Yar’adua
raised the savings from $25 billion to $35 billion, but
Jonathan squandered all.
“Our economy should not have been this bad. When I
was leaving office about eight years ago, I left a very
huge reserve after we had paid all our debts. Almost
$25billion was kept in what they called excess crude,
including the excess from the budget we were saving
as reserve for the rainy days. When we left in May,
2007, the reserve was said to have been raised to
$35billion,” the former president said, while hosting the
South-West women leaders at his residence in
Abeokuta.
“But today, that reserve has been depleted! The reserve
we left when we finished paying all our debts, our debts
that was about $40 billion, that is including debt
forgiveness, the remaining debt was not more than $3
billion. Our reserve after we had paid off this debt was
about $45 billion. As at the end of 2007, I heard that the
reserve increased to almost $67 billion before the end
of that year. But our reserve now, I learnt is left with
around only $30 billion.
“That is why the Naira has been falling against the
dollar. What would now happen? I learnt if you want to
buy a dollar now, it’s about N192 or N195. What it
means is this, what you have been buying at N150 to a
dollar, now you need N192 or N195 to buy it. That is the
real situation. Is there any remedy? There is, but it does
not come overnight because it means we have to give
up all the bad things we have been doing,” Obasanjo
said.
Speaking further, he said “I know that God did not
create Nigeria not to be rich or great. Is it that the
people he created in Nigeria are not knowledgeable
enough or not intelligent enough? Or is it that they don’t
know their rights? Our problems in Nigeria lie with the
leadership. Let’s look at the foundation of our
leadership. In the profession I know very well, the
military, what we normally say is that there are no bad
soldiers but bad officers. If you see a situation where
the soldiers are not doing well, we need to examine the
officers in charge. So it is in the family, the community,
the town and the country.
“Truly, the price of crude has fallen, but anyone who is
wise enough should know that since we depend on just
one resource and since we have no control over its
pricing, we should be planning for this type of situation
and the way out of it. Our inability to have a reserve has
brought us into this economic quagmire.
“If we are going to solve unemployment problem, it is
through agriculture and not through oil and gas. Now,
we have no alternative. Agriculture is renewable
because the land can be used over and over again, but,
once a barrel of oil is gone, it’s gone forever, “he said.
Speaking on the forthcoming elections, Obasanjo
allayed fears about how things may turn out to be. He
however advised the electorate to vote people of
integrity and good track record.
“Good governance comes from voting, from selection of
leaders. It is now left to you to decide who you cast
your vote for because if you throw away your votes and
tomorrow you are saying good governance, once you
throw away your votes you have lost out. That is one.
Find out the track records of achievements of those you
want to vote for. What have they achieved in the past
and not what they have said,” the former president
advised.
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