Nigeria Not Difficult To Manage – Says Obasanjo

Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has expressed concerns over the decline of the nation as a result of inadequate leadership, asserting that managing Nigeria is not inherently challenging.

Obasanjo made this remark during a question-and-answer session at the inaugural memorial lecture honoring the late Akintola Williams, which was themed ‘Leadership Dynamics: Current Realities And Way Forward.’

Obasanjo, at the event organized by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in Lagos, acknowledged the complexities faced by the nation.

He, however, emphasized that effective leadership is fundamental to the progress and development of any country.

“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.

He reflected on his time as president, stating that he utilized the resources at his disposal to serve the nation, and asserted that the country’s economy experienced favorable conditions during his tenure.

“When I was there, I did everything I should do for Nigeria and I can beat my chest and say that.

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“I took over the affairs of Nigeria as elected President with N3.7b in reserves and we were spending N3.5b 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 N3.36b we came to a quantum debt of N3.6bn and I left with over N25b 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 N45b,” he said

Obasanjo described the late Akintola Williams as a sage, saying he served humanity during his life time.

“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,” he said.

On his part, ICAN president, Davidson Alaribe, said the lecture was organised to glean from the leadership qualities late Akintola Williams displayed while he was alive.

“Let us honor him not just with plaques and statues, but through our daily commitment to uphold the standards he set, transforming every challenge into a steppingstone towards excellence,” he added.