Nigeria has no business with poverty, says Obasanjo

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Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said, “Nigeria has no business with poverty, arguing that the country’s natural resources, agricultural potential and human capital are sufficient to support a prosperous economy.”

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Obasanjo spoke during an interview on C-Suite Café, where he examined Nigeria’s economic challenges and the country’s failure, in his view, to fully utilise its resources, among other salient issues.

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In the video shared in YouTube and dated September 10, the former president said, “Nigeria had millions of hectares of arable land, favourable climatic conditions and abundant water resources capable of supporting food production and large-scale agricultural exports.”

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He also pointed to the “country’s human capital,” including the “entrepreneurial and intellectual capacity of Nigerians at home and in the diaspora,” as an important resource that remained underutilised.

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Obasanjo further identified “solid minerals, in addition to crude oil and natural gas, as resources that could help diversify Nigeria’s sources of revenue.”

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He “blamed policy inconsistency for some of the challenges confronting the economy,” particularly the “abandonment of long-term programmes and agricultural initiatives when administrations change.”

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The former president also raised concerns about “public borrowing and recalled the debt relief secured by his administration, which he said amounted to about $30bn in 2005 and 2006.”

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He identified “corruption, crude oil theft and leakages in revenue generation” as other factors undermining the country’s ability to deploy its resources for development.

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According to Obasanjo, “addressing Nigeria’s poverty requires political will, continuity in policies, particularly those relating to food security, and fiscal accountability at all levels of government.”

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He said the “country’s economic difficulties could be addressed if its resources were properly managed and successive governments maintained policies capable of producing long-term development.”

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