I Doubt If Buhari Can Make Any Change – Obasanjo
Former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, dissected the state of
socio-economic affairs of the country, especially the initiatives of the
current administration, and returned a verdict of doubt.
His words:
“The problem today is that it is doubtful if the current administrative system
is imbued with right mix of skills and values to successfully implement a
well-articulated programme of change.”
He also averred that the country was on its way to another debt burden unless
the rising debts were creatively addressed.
Obasanjo, who recalled how he led Nigeria to exit the Paris Club and how he
pursued public service reforms, regretted that the gains he made had been
reversed.
The former president made the remarks at the conference of Ibadan School of
Government and Public Policy, ISGPP, Ibadan, Oyo State.
The former President stressed the need for government to kick out all forms of
corruption in the polity, provide jobs for unemployed youths and be committed
to change.
Noting that the conference was timely as the country was in search of new ways
of doing things, given the crisis of governance that now manifests in vigorous
ways, Obasanjo said: “The drastic fall in the price of oil in the
international market has unravelled the weakness of governance in Nigeria.
“The Minister of Finance has recently announced that the 2016 Budget deficit
may be increased from the current N2.2 trillion in the draft document before
the National Assembly, to N3 trillion due to decline in the price of crude
oil.
“If the current fiscal challenge is not creatively addressed, Nigeria may be
on its way to another episode of debt overhang, which may not be good for the
country. It will be recalled that a few years ago, we rescued Nigeria from its
creditors with the deal in which the Paris Club of sovereign creditors wrote
off USD 18 billion of debt, Africa’s largest debt cancellation.
“Nigeria then used windfall earnings from oil exports to pay off another USD
12 billion in debts and arrears.
“On the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa, the hope that followed the initiative of
the New Partnership for Africa Development, NEPAD, and African renaissance
initiatives are being threatened by developments in the global economy and
governance.
“Falling commodity prices have put pressures on local currencies, and if
caution is not taken, may lead to mounting debts. It is, indeed, proper for us
in Nigeria to ask the questions: Is the government working? Is government
positioned to deal with challenges arising from these new developments?
“These questions are made apposite by the massive scale of poverty and
unemployment, the decay in infrastructure facilities, the impoverished living
standards of citizens with regard to food, housing, water supply, education
and healthcare which have deepened in recent years.
“This is complicated by the protracted experience of violence and brutality,
the flow of internally displaced persons, IDPs, arising from the Boko Haram
insurgency in large parts of North-Eastern Nigeria where many citizens have
become distressed, live in fear and insecurity.”
He continued: “Recent developments in governance show the failure of systems,
the disregard for institutional processes and the general decline of
institutions that used to function to guarantee reasonable service delivery to
citizens.
“When I assumed office in 1999, though I had some sense that the bureaucracy
of government that I left in 1979 had experienced significant decline, I only
appreciated the extent of this decline after the Dr Christopher Kolade Panel
that I set up submitted its report.
“I implemented remedial measures and a reorientation programme coordinated by
Professor Adebayo Adedeji. I got the Management Service Office to undertake
and evolve a National Strategy for Public Service Reform. The reform process
commenced in 2003 and by 2007, significant progress had been made.
“Unfortunately, the evidence available today shows that those gains have been
reversed. The problem today is that it is doubtful if the current
administrative system is imbued with right mix of skills and values to
successfully implement a well-articulated programme of change.”
Recalling that during his tenure, he identified corruption as the greatest
single bane of our society and as one of the worst legacies of misrule and bad
governance, a reason his administration set up the ICPC and the EFCC to tackle
it, Obasanjo lamented that things had taken a turn for the worse.
“Today, corruption drains billions of dollars from our economy that cannot
afford to lose even a million dollars. It seems we are just beginning the
fight against corruption afresh.
“Until recently, it seems corruption had returned with a vengeance, taking
seat at the very heart of government. I reiterate my statement in October last
year during the 55th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence that ‘corruption
must not have a resting place within our society; we must kick corruption out
because it destroys almost everything and I am not talking about corruption of
money; corruption of attitude, nepotism, favouritism, they are corruption in
different forms and all aspects of corruption must be kicked out of our
society.”
“Now, given these governance challenges and our experience with reform, it is
clear that change doesn’t just happen, there must be a basis for change.
Leadership has to be committed to change. Beginning with the reality of the
budget, there is need for sober reflection. Rebuilding the foundations of
governance involved paying attention to values, principles and practices that
promote hard work, innovation and sacrifice.
“Leaders who call for sacrifice from the citizenry cannot be living in obscene
opulence. We must address these foundational issues to make the economy work,
to strengthen our institutions, build public confidence in government and deal
with our peace and security challenges. We must address the issue of
employment for our teeming population, particularly for our youths.
“Leadership must mentor the young and provide them with hope about their
future as part of a process of inter-generational conversation.”
Culled from Vanguard Newspaper
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