By Our Reporter
With just three days to May 29, when the Tinubu’s administration will mark its one year in office, many prominent Nigerians, one of whom is former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, took a captious look at President Tinubu’s performance in the last one year and offered his advice.
The former President counselled the current administration to adapt a transformational policy rather than a transactional one, if the economy must grow.
Chief Obasanjo was speaking at the Paul Aje Colloquium in Abuja at the weekend on a theme: “Nigeria’s Development: Navigating the Way Out Of The Current Economic Crisis and Insecurity”, where he criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration‘s poor handling of the economy.
He faulted fuel subsidy removal, government’s forex policy and the handling of the military coup in Niger, noting, however, that, though, the first two measures were desirable, but were poorly handled by the government.
Commenting on 365 days of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, and the way out of the current situation in the country, the former president suggested including a 25-year socio-economic development agenda.
He said: “Today, the government has taken three decisions, two of which have led to impoverishment of the economy and Nigerians. These are the removal of subsidies, closing the gap between the black market and official rates of exchange and the third is dealing with the military coup in Niger Republic.
He said that the only way Nigeria can navigate its way out of the present situation, and ensure a more prosperous and secure future is by addressing the root causes of the challenges faced.
According to Obasanjo: “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.
‘’We take up the implementation on a five-year basis. In reality, that plan will have the effect of almost a Constitution. The first priority in the implementation will be education for all.
‘’The second should be food and nutrition security through agribusiness. The third should be energy for all. The fourth should be industrialization and manufacturing. And the fifth should be science, technology, innovation and Artificial Intelligence, AI.
‘’In all these, the government should provide a conducive environment for the private sector to operate and thrive. And where the government will be involved at all, other than as a policymaker and enabler, it should be based on private public partnership with the government as a junior partner.
On the security, “we need stick and carrot approach. Stick to deal with those who cannot be weaned out of criminality and evil deeds and for those weaned, they should be rehabilitated. There should be no Nigerian without being in school compulsorily for eleven years – secondary education level.
“Employment must be a right for all Nigerians from age 18 years to 65 years. With such a carrot in position, the stick must then be made more severe for criminals. Five years must be set out to ensure that every Nigerian child who is not in school is in school and no one is left out of popular education.
“Economy does not obey orders, not even military orders. I know that. If we get it right, we will begin to see the light beyond the tunnel in two years. It requires a change of characteristics, attributes and attitudes by the leadership at all levels to gain the confidence and trust of investors who have alternatives.
“TotalEnergy has gone to invest $6 billion 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.
“They know us more than we know ourselves. And now they are laughing at us, not taking us seriously. We have to present ourselves in such a way that we will be taken seriously. If existing investors are divesting and going out of our country, how do we persuade new investors to rush in?
‘’We can be serious if we choose to be, but we need to change from transactional leadership in government to transformational and genuine servant leadership.
“With change by us, the investors will give us the benefit of the doubt, and security is taken care of on a sustainable, long-term basis, they will start to test the waters. With the right economic policies, attribute of integrity and honesty of purpose, all should be well, with all hands on deck and the government become a catalyst for development, growth and progress.
“Tinkering with the exchange rate is not the answer. The answer is consistency and continuity in policy to ensure stability and predictability. That way, we will be sure to incentivize domestic and foreign investment.
‘’There must be honesty and transparency in government dealings and contracts and not lying with deception about these issues. When the government is seen as pursuing the right policy, the private sector will go for production and productivity.”