Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has attributed Nigeria’s current challenges to a lack of effective leadership, asserting that the country is not inherently difficult to govern.
Obasanjo made this observation during the inaugural memorial lecture in honor of the late Akintola Williams, titled “Leadership Dynamics: Current Realities And Way Forward.”
The event was organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in Lagos.
While acknowledging the country’s complexities, Obasanjo emphasized that strong leadership is crucial for national progress.
“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,” he said.
Reflecting on his presidency, Obasanjo claimed that he managed the nation’s resources effectively, leading to notable economic improvements.
“When I was there, I did everything I should do for Nigeria and I can beat my chest and say that.
“I took over as the affairs of Nigeria as elected President with ?3.7b in reserves and we were spending ?3.5b to service debt, so I decided we must debt relief and I went out from it even though we were fifth country in all exporting in the world and we got debt relief.
“Not only did we not get relief from a quantum debt of ?3.36b we came to a quantum debt of N3.6bn and I left with over ?25b 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 ?45b,” he said
He praised Akintola Williams as a visionary who contributed significantly in various sectors.
“He deserves every honor that we can confer posthumously not for what he did for this country but what he did politically, socially and economically,” Obasanjo remarked.
