Your policies are wrongly implemented, Obasanjo lambasts Tinubu

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has made a damning evaluation of President Bola Tinubu's one year in office, saying his policies were wrongly implemented.

The elder statesman's opinion was contained in a statement issued by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, in Abeokuta on Sunday, May 26, 2024.

Akinyemi quoted Obasanjo to have spoken at a Colloquium: “Nigeria’s Development: Navigating the Way Out of the Current Economic Crisis and Insecurity” delivered at the Paul Aje Colloquium (PAC) in Abuja.

The former president picked out three key decisions of the current administration, which include fuel subsidy removal, foreign exchange rate unification, and handling of the military coup in Niger Republic.

Obasanjo noted that though the subsidy and foreign exchange decisions were necessary, Tinubu had mishandled their implementation, plunging the economy into crisis.

“The present Administration has not found the right way to handle the economy to engender confidence and trust for investors to start trooping in.

“Today, the government has taken three decisions, two of which are necessary but wrongly implemented and have led to the impoverisation of the economy and Nigerians. These are the removal of subsidy, closing the gap between the black market and official rates of exchange and the third is dealing with a 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,” the Ota farmer stated.

Obasanjo says enomoy can rebounce in 2 years

The retired military general, who said the economy can't be revived by wishful thinking or military order, expressed hopes that Nigeria can turn things around in two years if the right steps are taken.

He prescribed a change of characteristics, attributes and attitudes by the leadership at all levels as the stimuli to gain the confidence and trust of investors who always have alternatives.

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“Total Energy has gone to invest 6 billion dollars 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 the existing investors are disinvesting 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," Obasanjo added.