I think
that it is a pity that
President Goodluck
Jonathan’s Government
declined to take up the
challenge of the former
Minister of Education,
Mrs.Obiageli Ezekwesile,
to a public debate on the
$67billion USD savings
that President Obasanjo
left behind in 2007. I do
not think that our
government ought to
have run away from the
debating ring. They ought
to have accepted the
challenge of a rigorous
public debate and allow
the Nigerian people to
listen to it and make up
their own minds about
who was right and who
was wrong. I thought that
the response of the
Special Assistant to the
President On Public
Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe,
to Obiageli Ezekwesili was
more logical and made
far more sense than that
of the Honorable Minister
of Information, Labaran
Maku’s, but I still believe
that Obiageli Ezekwesili
was right. I believe that
the Government’s position
on this issue and it’s
attempt to over-
aggressively defend what
I personally consider to
be the indefensible is not
only disengenious but it is
also essentially dishonest
and self-seeking.
The charge that our
foreign reserves were
heavily depleted between
2007 and 2013 cannot be
convincingly or logically
denied. In 2007,
President Olusegun
Obasanjo left 45 billion
USD in our foreign
reserves and 22 billion
USD in our Excess Crude
Account. If the two
figures are added up the
amount that you will
come up with is 67 billion
USD of savings for our
country. This is the figure
that Obiageli Ezekwesili
cited. It represents what
was in both our foreign
reserves and our Excess
Crude Account put
together.
Let us look at the history.
When President Olusegun
Obasanjo came to power
in 1999 Nigeria only had
1.5 billion USD in her
foreign reserves and
consequently no-one in
the world took us
seriously. We were poor,
weak and lonely and we
were viewed as a failed
state and a pariah nation.
No-one trusted us, no-
one wanted to do
business with us and no-
one seriously believed
that we as a people or as
a nation were capable of
enduring the rigours of
serious economic
recovery, prudence and
fiscal discipline. As far as
the developed world was
concerned Nigeria was
only good for it’s endless
supply of sweet bonny
light crude oil. Yet
Obasanjo proved the
world wrong and showed
them that Nigerians could
do far better than they
thought. After eight years
of good stewardship and
the display of fiscal
discipline and remarkable
prudence he built up
those foreign reserves
from a measly and pitiful
1.5 billion USD in 1999 to
no less than 45 billion by
2007. This was quite an
achievement yet sadly
what took place after
Obasanjo left power was
very disheartening. It was
not only a downer but it
was also sad and
unfortunate. I say this
because by the Federal
Governments own
admission, and four long
years after leaving 45
billion USD for the
Yar’adua administration to
build on in 2007, we still
only have that same
figure of 45 billion USD
left in our foreign
reserves today. Worse
still this was after it had
plummeted to a shameful
30 billion USD under late
President Umaru Yar
Adua. Had it not been for
the fact that whatever
was coming in after we
left in 2007 and over the
last 4 years was being
recklessly shared and
spent by the Yar’adua and
later Jonathan
administrations our
foreign reserves ought to
have doubled and
reached at least 100
billion US dollars by now.
That is just the foreign
reserves alone and I am
not even adding the
Excess Crude Account
figures yet. If I were to
do that I would be
talking about an expected
increase of up to 150
billion USD by today. That
is what we ought to have
in the savings kitty today
if the two governments
that succeeded Obasanjo
knew anything about
prudence, good
management and fiscal
discipline.
The difference is that
under Obasanjo it was
”save, save, save” whilst
under Yar’adua and later
Jonathan it has been
”spend, spend, spend’. Yet
if they insist on spending
the question is what do
they have to show for
such high expenditure and
what has this cost the
Nigerian people in real
terms. I believe that
these are legitimate
questions. Mrs. Ezekwezile
may have been inelegant
or a little too harsh in her
use of words when she
made those weighty
assertions in her speech
but her analysis and
conclusions surely cannot
be faulted. Yet the
Government has given no
reasonable explanation or
response to her or the
Nigerian people and they
do not even appear to
like the fact that
questions are being
asked.
As a a matter of fact they
appear to believe that it
is an achievement for us
to be exactly where we
were four years ago in
terms of our foreign
reserves by openly
boasting that we have 45
billion USD saved today.
The questions that we
should put to them are as
follows – did you not
save anything in the last 4
years in either foreign
reserves or the Excess
Crude Account? Where
did all the money that
accrued to you and that
you ought to have saved
go? How come 4 years
after being handed 45
billion in foreign reserves
and after billions have
come into your hands
through record price
crude oil sales you still
only have 45 billion
saved? Is this not strange
and absurd? Is this the
way a responsive and
responsible government
ought to behave? Do
they know the true
meaning of ”saving for a
rainy day”?
It is not surprising that
the Prime Minister of
Great Britain, The Right
Honorable David
Cameron, asked just a
few days ago where the
100 billion USD that
Nigeria received from oil
sales in the last few years
has gone. Would our
Government be good
enough to answer his
question and tell him
even if they feel that they
don’t owe the Nigerian
people themselves an
explanation? As far as I
am concerned it is not
something that our
government should be
proud of that 4 years
after Obasanjo handed 45
billion USD to them as
savings in foreign
reserves they have not
built on it in all that time
but rather they have
spent all the receivables
and inflows that came in
after that time and that
ought to have been
saved.
Yet the story does not
stop there. It gets worse.
Apart from the sorry tale
about our foreign
reserves, the story about
the usage and outright
draining of our Excess
Crude Account is even
more damning. It goes
like this. When President
Obasanjo left power in
2007 the Excess Crude
Account had just over 22
billion USD in it’s coffers.
This figure was built up by
Obasanjo from zero in
1999 because at that time
there was no Excess
Crude Account. In 8 years
he built it up from zero to
22 billion USD. Yet when
the Yara’dua
administration and later
the Jonathan
administration came in
ALL the money in that
account was shared with
the state governors and
spent.
The Federal Government
saved nothing for a rainy
day and instead chose to
just spend all the money.
It was was initially run
down to zero by
President Umaru Yar
Adua’s government but, in
fairness to President
Jonathan, he has now
been able to build it up to
approximately 10 billion
USD. This represents
approximately half the
figure that Obasanjo left
in that account in 2007
but at least it is a step in
the right direction. Yet if
both the Yar adua and
Jonathan government’s
had continued to save
and not just spend all the
money we would have
had at least 50 billion USD
in the Excess Crude
Account today and not
just a paltry 10.
Whichever way one looks
at it, when one sees all
these figures and
considers the strong
position that we were
coming from in 2007 it
represents a failure in
fiscal discipline by both
the Yar’adua and Jonathan
administrations. This is
because the Federal
Governmentt was meant
to build up on the legacy
that they inherited in
2007 and not spend and
squander all that money.
For the purpose of
emphasis permit me to
repeat the fact that had
they been doing the right
thing in the last 4 years
and not overspending we
ought to be hitting at
least 100 billion USD in
our foreign reserves by
now and at least 50 billion
in the Excess Crude
Account. Yet we have not
seen anything near that
and instead all we have
seen is a depletion and a
drain of both accounts
and the monies that
ought to have accrued to
them since 2007.
Finally when President
Obasanjo came to power
in 1999 our foreign debt
was 30 billion USD. Yet by
sheer dint of hard work
by the time he left office
8 years later he had paid
off the foreign debt
compltely and for the first
time in its history Africa
had a debt-free nation.
This was a monuemental
achievement by any
standard and one that
which every serious-
minded and patriotic
Nigerian ought to be
proud of no matter what
side of the political divide
they stand. Yet sadly 4
years later we are back in
chronic debt to the tune
of 9 billion USD and we
are still borrowing. In
view of the foregoing it is
perfectly legitimate for
anyone to ask how come
so much money was
spent, what it was spent
on and how the
government has managed
our resources over the
last 4 years. As a matter
of fact not asking any
questions would be most
unpatriotic and it would
lay some of us open to
the charge of cowardice
and collusion.
Since 2007 we have seen
nothing but depletion of
our resources and more
and more borrowing.
Unlike President
Obasanjo, both President
Yar Adua and President
Jonathan’s governments
did not build up our
reserves or save any
money. Instead they both
spent recklessly and
borrowed more and
more. As a matter of fact
if our government
continues to borrow at
the rate it has been
borrowing for the lastr
four years for another
two years Nigeria will be
back to having a foreign
debt of close to 30 billion
USD very soon. That was
where we were in 1999
and if that were to ever
happen it would be a
tragedy of monuemental
proportions.
I sincerely hope that
other than the usual
insults, intimidation,
sponsored stories,
persecution and baseless
allegations that are
channeled against and
heaped on some of us for
pointing out these
matters and raising these
questions, the Federal
Government will
endeavour to change it’s
ways and display a
greater degree of fiscal
discipline and
accountability to the
Nigerian people. To that
extent I am in total
agreement with my
former cabinet colleague
in the Obasanjo
administration, Mrs.
Obiageli Ezekwezile.
Source:
africanspotlight.com
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GEJ till 2019!!!

temitemi1:
GEJ till 2019!!!

U can do better than this