Obasanjo laments, ‘Nigeria has failed Africa, poorly implemented policies drive citizens to poverty’

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in a condemning verdict, said Nigeria has failed the African continent in particular, and the world in general.

Obasanjo stated this in Abuja while giving the keynote address virtually at the public presentation of the book titled: ‘Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa,’ written by, Olusegun Aganga, a former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, also served as Minister of Finance.

Obasanjo lamented that more Nigerians are being plunged into poverty due to good policies poorly implemented, bad ones and absence of policies.

Obasanjo’s comment is coming as a fallout of the hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal by President Tinubu – a decision described in some quarters as a good move taken without proper consultation, but no name was mentioned in his remarks.

He highlighted that the prevailing insecurity and spate of out-of-school children had pushed Nigeria on the precipice, adding that the nation had failed to live up to its expectations since independence in 1960.

The former President said: “Over the last 63 years, we have not lived up to expectations. We have disappointed ourselves; we have disappointed Africa; we have disappointed the black race; and we have disappointed the world.”

He stated further that “what Segun Aganga has tried to identify, itemise and recommend in his book is the way forward.

In his words: “But the beginning of charting a new course for ourselves is to admit our failure, because we have not always put the round peg in the round hole.

“We are carried along by ego and emotion of self, selfishness and self-centredness, ethnic and religious jingoism, with total lack of understanding of the world we live in and gross misunderstanding of what development entails and how to move fast and continuously on the trajectory of development.”

Obasanjo acknowledged two of the major issues that were interrelated in terms of factors for all-round development. According to him, “These are peace and security, which we cannot achieve without justice, equity and inclusive society. And telling ourselves the truth, we have not done well on these scores in the recent past — in the last decade and a half.

“I will also point at the issue of education, where over 20 million children that should be in school are not in school. We do not need an oracle to tell us the consequences of that for tomorrow. We do not need to look far for the remote causes of banditry, Boko Haram, kidnapping and other organised crimes.

“We are living dangerously on a keg of gunpowder, driving more people into poverty through good policies poorly and thoughtlessly implemented or bad policy and no policy at all,” he added.

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Monetary Policy, Olawale Edun, unveiled the book with past and present senior government officials in attendance.