Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has voiced sharp criticism against the administration of President Bola Tinubu, particularly regarding the implementation of key economic policies. In a statement relayed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo highlighted concerns over the handling of subsidy removal from petroleum products and the floating of the naira, asserting that while these measures were necessary, their execution fell short.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a colloquium titled \u201cNigeria\u2019s Development: Navigating the Way Out of the Current Economic Crisis and Insecurity\u201d in Abuja, Obasanjo expressed dismay at what he perceived as mismanagement of crucial economic decisions. He emphasized that despite the necessity of these policies, their flawed implementation had exacerbated economic hardship for both the nation and its citizens.<\/p>\n
Obasanjo particularly criticized Nigeria\u2019s response to the coup in the Republic of Niger, labeling it as another misstep by the government. He stressed the importance of fostering belief and trust in governmental leadership to spur production and productivity, asserting that there are no shortcuts to economic progress, only hard work and dedication.<\/p>\n
The former President urged the current administration to prioritize attracting foreign investments, citing examples of missed opportunities such as Total Energy’s investment of $6 billion in Angola instead of Nigeria. He emphasized the need for a shift from transactional to transformational leadership, advocating for integrity and honesty of purpose in government dealings to regain investors’ confidence.<\/p>\n
Obasanjo cautioned against relying solely on tinkering with the exchange rate as a solution to economic challenges, emphasizing the importance of consistency and continuity in policy to ensure stability and predictability. He called for transparency in government dealings and contracts, emphasizing that a government perceived as pursuing the right policies would incentivize domestic and foreign investment.<\/p>\n
Regarding the issue of refineries, Obasanjo reiterated his earlier skepticism about their functionality and lamented the lack of progress despite promises of operation. He proposed a comprehensive 25-year socio-economic development agenda to be agreed upon by all political parties and implemented in five-year phases, with education as the primary focus.<\/p>\n
In addressing security challenges, Obasanjo advocated for a balanced approach combining incentives for rehabilitation with stringent measures against criminals. He called for compulsory secondary education for all Nigerians and emphasized the right to employment from age 18 to 65, alongside a concerted effort to ensure universal access to education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has voiced sharp criticism against the administration of President Bola Tinubu, particularly regarding the implementation of key economic policies. In a statement relayed by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo highlighted concerns over the handling of subsidy removal from petroleum products and the floating of the naira, asserting that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":32643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32641"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32647,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32641\/revisions\/32647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}