Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday tackled President Bola Tinubu’s administration‘s poor handling of fuel subsidy removal, flotation of the naira and the military coup in Niger Republic. He said though subsidy removal and the government’s forex policy were desirable, they were poorly handled by the government.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
The former president observed at a colloquium,” Nigeria’s Development: Navigating the Way Out of the Current Economic Crisis and Insecurity” delivered at the Paul Aje Colloquium, tPAC, in Abuja weekend.
However, efforts made to get reactions from the President’s Media office were unsuccessful but a Presidency source simply said: “It is his personal opinion, he is entitled to that but we don’t want to reply to him.”
But Obasanjo also took a swipe at those against his position on the much-touted refurbished refinery in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, describing them as “sycophants and spin doctors”.
He declared that such people failed to remember that the attempt made in 2007 to partly privatise the refineries was made him, after a thorough study of the situation, hence his knowledge and better understanding of the situation before making his decision late last year.
On what could be described as his position on 365 days of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, the former president also spoke on ways out of the situation in the country, including a 25-year development agenda.
He 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.
‘Economy doesn’t obey orders’
“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.