“The former head of state warned that for Nigeria to make progress, it must not continue to engage in disdain for the truth, elevation of corruption and incompetence, reinforcement of failure, celebration of heinous crimes and mediocrity, tribal bigotry, fomenting violence and anti – democratic practices in states and National Assembly.”
Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Wednesday, sneered at President Goodluck Jonathan for not having adequate understanding of the Boko Haram insurgency and being unable to proffer a response to the menace staring the nation its face.
Besides, Obasanjo also derided Jonathan’s administration for celebrating what he called ‘’naked corruption’’, which according to him, has hampered the nation’s economy and created problems for majority of Nigerians.
Obasanjo spoke at the presentation of an Autobiography of the former President of the Court of Appeal and pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Retired Justice Mustapha Akanbi in Abuja.
The former President claimed that “Boko Haram is not simply a menace based on religion or one directed to frustrate anybody’s political ambition but essentially a socio-economic problem that is tainted with religion.
He noted that apart from not having a proper understanding of the phenomenon, the Jonathan administration also wasted time in taking steps to curtail the malevolent group.
He said: “President Jonathan’s understanding of Boko Haram phenomenon suffered from wrong reading and wrong imputation. That is what led us to where we are today. It is a gargantuan danger to the nation and to all Nigerians.
“It took even the president more than three years to appreciate and understand that it is a terrible mix of poor education or lack of education, misinterpretation of what is almost and the Quran teach and stand for, poverty, unemployment, injustice, drug, gun trafficking, human trafficking, fallout from Libya, revenge, frustration, struggle against inequality, imitation of international terrorism leading to training and part of the absorption by international terrorists groups and general poor governance including corruption.”
Obasanjo also blamed the Jonathan administration for what he called naked display of corruption, thereby hampering the nation’s economy.
The former leader pointed out, “For quite some time, the covered and hushed up corruption has had its toll on the economy. The non-investment in the oil and gas sector by major international oil companies has added its own deleterious impact.
“Our continued heavy dependence on one commodity has not adequately prepared us against any shock in that one commodity in the international plane. With the figure of $78 per barrel as benchmark, we will be in a bind if oil price falls to $75 per barrel.
“I am made to understand that Saudi Arabia used $68 as benchmark for the 2015 budget. Our inadequate protection of almost all local industries with heavy cost of energy has dealt a hard blow on most indigenous industries.”
Obasanjo said that if the situation was not halted it would get to a point where Nigeria would not be able to fund its budget.
“We may have to borrow to pay salaries and allowances. Revenue allocation to states and local governments has already been drastically reduced. Capital projects at all levels may have to be drastically cut or stopped, “he said.
The former head of state warned that for Nigeria to make progress, it must not continue to engage in disdain for the truth, elevation of corruption and incompetence, reinforcement of failure, celebration of heinous crimes and mediocrity, tribal bigotry, fomenting violence and anti – democratic practices in states and National Assembly.
Speaking at the event, Akanbi observed that though there were allegations of witch – hunting during the Obasanjo era, the former president never interfered with the work of the ICPC under him.
The former judge however expressed dismay over the rising level of impunity, nepotism and tribalism in the country thereby killing merit in the public and private sectors of the economy.
But the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu disagreed with the position of Obasanjo, saying that he failed to instil transparency in the nation’s oil sector during his tenure, thereby allowing the sector to be besieged by corruption.
“Obasanjo failed to address the problems with the number of crude oil per barrel produce daily, how many barrels are exported for sale as well as the use of the proceeds,” Akiolu said.
But Obasanjo defended himself, saying that it was during his time that allocations to states were made more transparent with monthly publication of revenue to the three tiers of governments.
The Vice President, Arch Namadi Sambo, described the former ICPC chairman as a man who did his best to stall corruption in the country and carved a niche for himself in the process.
The book launch was attended by prominent Nigerians from all walks of life.
