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Enioluwa Adeniyi
Guest
The National Organising Secretary of Afenifere, Kole Omololu, has stated that President Bola Tinubu’s brief tenure in office has already shown signs of surpassing the record of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
In a statement on Sunday, Omololu highlighted the emerging benefits of Tinubu’s economic reforms, which he said have placed the nation on a path toward recovery, growth, and development.
“The president’s economic reforms give hope that the nation is on a trajectory of recovery, growth, and development,” Omololu said, countering recent criticisms from Obasanjo.
At a keynote address delivered during the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum at Yale University, Connecticut, USA, Obasanjo had described Nigeria under Tinubu as a “failing state.”
In his recorded lecture titled ‘Leadership Failure and State Capture in Nigeria’, the former president accused the administration of perpetuating corruption, mediocrity, and incompetence, among other issues.
Omololu dismissed Obasanjo’s claims as “inaccurate and a reflection of his habitual attention-seeking,” arguing that Tinubu’s reforms have already begun addressing systemic challenges.
“The assertion that Nigeria is a failing state under Tinubu is incorrect and smacks of mischief. The president’s leadership has started yielding tangible gains, contrary to the former president’s pessimistic assessment,” Omololu remarked.
“This is typical Obasanjo grandstanding. As the late President Shehu Shagari wrote about him in his autobiography, ‘Beckoned To Serve,’ Obasanjo is an egotistical narcissist who cannot stand not being the centre of attention and the cynosure of all eyes. He will engage in serial acts of incitement to attract the spotlight to himself,” he stated.
Saying Obasanjo had persistently criticised his successors unduly, Omololu contended that Tinubu’s managerial, moral and anti-corruption records were shoulder above the former president’s.
The Afenifere chieftain said the president’s economic reforms, including the withdrawal of petrol subsidies and the unification of forex rates, were bold measures the former president did not dare to take while in office.
He said these measures had shored up the nation’s revenue and helped it to reduce its debt service ratio from 97% to 65% of income within 17 months.
He added that Nigeria, under Tinubu, had achieved a new record in its trade balance, with an unprecedented N14.07 trillion trade surplus by half-year 2024, pointing out that the administration’s non-oil revenue in one quarter was more than the total generated during Obasanjo’s eight years in office.
Omololu queried, “How can President Obasanjo talk of mismanagement when, on Thursday, March 28, 2024, the Nigerian Stock Exchange crossed 104,562.06 All Shares Index, a 39.84% increase year-to-date, making it the second-best performing exchange in Africa?”
The Afenifere chieftain also disputed the former president’s assessment of the president’s anti-corruption record, stating that the top global transparency rating agency, Transparency International, reported a more positive evaluation.
“Transparency International says Nigeria is less corrupt today than during the Obasanjo administration,” he said, adding, “Nigeria improved on TI’s Corruption Perception Rating this year, moving five places from 150 in 2023 to 145 in 2024. In contrast, under Obasanjo, Nigeria was rated the second-most corrupt nation in the world, with only Bangladesh ahead of us in 2002. Out of 102 nations, Nigeria was number 101.”
Omololu pointed out that Obasanjo and his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, publicly exposed themselves via a nasty public exchange exposing their dirty dealings.
Omololu said Obasanjo, who could not manage his deputy, Atiku, lacked the moral authority to accuse Tinubu of immorality and mismanagement.
“If you could not manage your Presidency, what moral authority do you have to call the man who has managed his government and party with almost military efficiency a mediocre?” he queried.
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