Obasanjo also described the increasing era of military coups in Africa as a new phenomenon
By Kehinde Okeowo
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo has taken a swipe at the administration of former President, Muhammadu Buhari, accusing his government of reckless spending.
Obasanjo made this known during a recent interview with TheCable, where he also spoke on the increasing coup in Africa
Prior to this, TheNiche had reported that former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi threw Buhari under the bus, saying he spurned the advice of experts and surrounded himself with sycophants in the eight years of his administration.
The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who stated this in a video message to Nigerians, also said sycophants exploited the system during his tenure, adding that an “inexperienced boy” owned a jet under the past administration.
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Speaking on the bad shape of the Nigerian economy during the chat, Obasanjo shared Sanisi’s sentiments and noted that the rate at which the Buhari administration borrowed, will make it difficult for the country to secure debt relief.
He went on to say even though he knew the former president did not understand economics, he never knew he could be as reckless as he was.
Obasanjo said: “Tinubu said the other day that it was unacceptable that he would spend 90% of his revenue to service debts. I wasn’t spending 90% when I went worldwide to get debt relief. Do you think that anybody would give you debt relief today?
“Buhari was spending money recklessly. I know Buhari didn’t understand economics. I put that in my book. But that he could also be so reckless, I didn’t know. Who would you go to today and ask for a favour? Tinubu says he has trimmed the number of people attending the United Nations General Assembly. Is that news? He will meet with Justin Trudeau, and he will meet with Emmanuel Macron. That will not solve any problem.”
Addressing the issue of the increasing era of military coups in Africa, Obasanjo described it as a new phenomenon in Africa.
He also insisted that the liberal democracy copied from Western countries will not work in Africa.
In his words: “In 2021, when Col Mamady Doumbouya overthrew President Alpha Condé of Guinea, I recall that I travelled to Conakry. I spent two nights there. The coup leader didn’t want to meet with me because he didn’t know what I would say. They said he was out of town, which was not true. But I met every other important government official. I met his No 2 and his speaker.
“I listened to them and concluded that we had a new phenomenon on our hands. I realised that they had the support of the youths and were not thinking of staying in power for four, five years years. They are in for a generation.
“When I noticed this, I went to Addis Ababa to meet the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat. I told him that maybe he had not seen what I was seeing. That I saw this in Guinea Conakry. He said I was talking about Guinea Conakry, what about his own country, Chad? He said Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea Conakry, and Chad were thinking the same way and they were connected.
“I said that was a new phenomenon in Africa. I said I was the one who in 1999 advocated that if you are not a government backed by the constitution, you should be suspended from the African Union, and these chaps don’t even mind any suspension.
“I told him that all the instruments we had used in the past would not work and asked what he would do about it. He told me about his challenges, especially with his country. So we have a situation where we have a continent where we have to rethink democracy. The liberal democracy we are copying from settled societies in the West won’t work for us.”
