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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has talked down the leadership crisis in Nigeria, saying the oil-rich nation is complex but “not difficult to manage.”
Obasanjo, a two-term Nigerian president from 1999 to 2007, stated this on Wednesday at the maiden memorial lecture in honour of the late legal icon, Akintola Williams, themed, ‘Leadership Dynamics: Current Realities And Way Forward,’ organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in Lagos State.
He said, “I always say Nigeria is a complex country, you must understand that but Nigeria is not a difficult country to manage. You have to be honest with yourself, Nigeria and your God.”
The ex-military leader who emerged as the nation’s democratically-elected Head of State in May 1999, recalled how he sought relief to service the nation’s high debt profile while in office.
Obasanjo confidently added that despite the economic challenges that bedevilled the nation at the time, his administration did everything possible to enhance Nigeria’s development.
“When I was there, I did everything I should do for Nigeria and I can beat my chest and say that.
“I took over the affairs of Nigeria as elected president with N3.7 billion in reserves and we were spending N3.5 billion to service debt, So, I decided we must seek debt relief and I went out for it, even though we were the fifth country in all exporting in the world and we got debt relief.
“Not only did we get relief from a quantum debt of N3.36 billion, but we also came to a quantum debt of N3.6 billion and I left with over N25 billion in what we call excess crude, that is, the money we saved from the budget and what we actually received and we had a reserve of over N45 billion,” he said.
The Ogun State-born elder statesman lauded the late Akintola for serving Nigeria with all his will, saying, “He deserves every honour that we can confer posthumously not for what he did for this country but what he did politically, socially and economically.”
In his remarks, the ICAN president, Davidson Alaribe, urged the members of the association to follow in the footsteps of the late legal icon.
“Let us honour him not just with plaques and statues, but through our daily commitment to uphold the standards he set, transforming every challenge into a stepping stone towards excellence,” he noted.
This isn’t the first time the former president voiced the significance of quality leadership in Africa’s most populous nation.
In early August 2024, he received six members of the House of Representatives, who are co-sponsors of bills proposing a single six-year term, rotation of the presidency between the North and South, and rotation of governorship slots among the three senatorial districts of each of the 36 states, Obasanjo stated that Nigeria wouldn’t progress towards achieving its goals unless leaders and citizens embrace what he termed “moral rearmament.”
He also warned that the country is sitting on a keg of gunpowder that could explode if it fails to take courageous and decisive steps to address its numerous challenges.
