Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said more Nigerians are being plunged into poverty due to good policies poorly implemented, bad ones and absence of policies.
Although no name was mentioned, Obasanjo’s comment is coming on the heels of hardship occasioned by fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu – a decision described in some quarters as a good move taken without proper consultation.
The former President also said the prevailing insecurity and spate of out-of-school children had pushed Nigeria on the precipice, noting that the nation had failed to live up to its expectations since independence in 1960.
Obasanjo, who disclosed these in his keynote address at the public presentation of a book titled ‘Reclaiming the Jewel of Africa,’ by former Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, also said Nigeria had disappointed itself, Africa and the world at large.
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The book was unveiled on Monday by President Bola Tinubu through his Special Adviser on Monetary Policy, Olawale Edun in Abuja, with past and present senior government officials in attendance.
In his address, which he presented virtually, Obasanjo 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.”
“However, What Segun (Aganga) has tried to identify, itemise and recommend in his book is the way forward. 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-centeredness, 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.”
The former President said peace and security we cannot be achieved without justice, equity and inclusive society, lamenting that Nigeria had not done well in these areas in the recent past.
“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.
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