27/05/2024
Update: Former President Obasanjo says President Tinubu’s policies important, but implemented wrongly
Obasanjo’s assessment comes as Tinubu’s government launches festivities to commemorate his one-year anniversary.
He focused on three administrative decisions: gasoline subsidies, exchange rates, and dealing with the military takeover in Niger Republic.
According to his media adviser, Kehinde Akinyemi, who issued a statement in Abeokuta on Sunday, Obasanjo spoke 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.
He berayed Tinubu’s government, saying “the present Administration has not found the right way to handle the economy to engender confidence and trust for investors to start trooping in.”
Obasanjo said, “Today, the government has taken three decisions, two of which are necessary but wrongly implemented and have led to impoverization of the economy and of Nigerians. These are removal of subsidy, closing the gap between 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.”
“Economy does not obey orders, not even military orders. I know that. If we get it right, in two years, we will begin to see the light beyond the tunnel. It requires a change of characteristics, attributes and attitude by the leadership at all levels to gain the confidence and trust of investors who have alternatives.
He further said “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.
