Again, Obasanjo bombs Jonathan

Barely one week after rating the Jonthan administration below average, former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday in Abuja came hard on his protégé over government’s poor understanding of the Boko Haram insurgency.
Obasanjo made the grave allegations at the launch of an autography of former president of the Court of Appeal and pioneer Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), retired Justice Mustapha Akanbi.
Obasanjo said: “Boko Haram is not simply a menace based on religion or one directed to frustrate anybody’s political ambition. It is essentially a socio-economic problem that is tainted with religion.
“It is a gargantuan danger to the nation and to all Nigerians. President Goodluck Jonathan understands of Boko Haram phenomenon suffered from wrong reading and wrong imputation. That is what led us to where we are today,” he said.
Obasanjo also accused Jonathan for the dilly-dally approach his adminis-tration has adopted in tackling Boko Haram. “It took even the President more than thr

ee years to appreciate and understand that it is a terrible mix of poor education or lack of education, misinterpretation of what is almost the Quran teaches and stands for, poverty, unemployment, injustice, drug, gun trafficking, hu¬man trafficking, fallout from Libya, revenge, frustration, struggle against inequality, imitation of international terrorism leading to training and part of the absorption by international terrorist groups and general poor governance including corruption,” he said.
He took a swipe at the Jonathan administration, accusing the government of naked display of corruption, thereby hampering the nation’s economy.
He said: “For quite some time, the covered and hushed-up corruption has had its toll on the economy. The non – investment in the oil and gas sector by major international oil companies has added its own deleterious impact.
“Our continued heavy dependence on one commodity had not adequately prepared us against any shock in that one commodity in the international plane. With the figure of $78 per barrel as benchmark, we will be in a bind if oil price falls to $75 per barrel.
“I am made to understand that Saudi Arabia used $68 as benchmark for her 2015 budget. Our inadequate protection of almost all local indus¬tries with heavy cost of energy has dealt a hard blow on most indigenous industries,’ he said.
The former president warned: “In the future, we will have a budget that cannot be funded. We may have to borrow to pay salaries and allow¬ances. Revenue allocation to states and local governments has already drastically reduced. Capital projects at all levels may have to be drastically cut or stopped.”On corruption and poor gover¬nance, Obasanjo said: “Nigeria cannot continue to indulge in disdain of truth, elevation of corruption and incompetence, reinforcement of failure, condon¬ing heinous crimes and celebra¬tion of mediocrity, tribal bigotry, fomenting violence and anti – democratic practices in states and National Assembly.”Meanwhile, Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos, said before the inaugu¬ration of Obasanjo as president, he pledged to ensure transparency in the oil sector, but Obasanjo later reneged as the oil sector was besieged with quantum corrup¬tion.
The monarch said contrary, “Obasanjo failed to address the problems with the number of crude oil per barrel produced daily, how many barrels are ex¬ported for sale as well as the use of the proceeds.”
Obasanjo, replied the royal father, stating that it was during his tenure that allocations to states became transparent with the pub¬lication of monthly revenues to the three tiers of governments.
He said that his government also worked out modalities to enthrone accountability and trans¬parency in the oil sector.
Vice President Namadi Sambo, in his speech, commended Justice Akanbi’s effort on anti-corruption and commitment to service.
The Sun version