Connect with us

News

How I Used ICPC, EFCC To Secure Debt Relief For Nigeria – Obasanjo

Published

on

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has outlined the steps he took to secure substantial debt relief for Nigeria during his tenure from 1999 to 2007.

He noted that the creation of the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, were part of his policy moves that convinced Nigeria’s creditors to write off debts.

Obasanjo highlighted the challenges he faced upon assuming office, including Nigeria’s debt servicing burden of $3.5 billion annually and a total debt of approximately $36 billion, while the nation’s reserves stood at a modest $3.7 billion.

Advertisement

Obasanjo revealed that he successfully negotiated debt forgiveness by convincing international lenders of his administration’s commitment to channeling the funds saved into developmental projects aimed at sustainable growth.

He emphasised that presenting a credible and transparent plan was key, as global financial institutions required assurances that forgiven debt would foster positive development outcomes.

Reflecting on the current state of leadership in Nigeria, Obasanjo expressed concerns about a perceived decline in ethical leadership and effective planning.

Advertisement

He stressed that without a genuine development-oriented approach, requests for debt forgiveness are unlikely to gain international approval.

“When I became elected President of Nigeria, one of the things that worried me and that I wanted to do something about was debt relief. The quantum of debt that we were carrying, the burden was too heavy. We were spending $3.5bn to service debt, yet the quantum was not going down and I believed that we should seek debt relief.

“Many people inside and outside Nigeria thought it was a bad dream but I was convinced. I went to the World Bank and I started talking to our creditors,” Obasanjo said.

Advertisement

READ ALSO: Nigeria Has Disappointed Africa, Black Race – Obasanjo

He explained that in his moves he found why the world lenders “did not feel that they owe us”, disclosing that they give consideration “when you make your case if they find that you are genuinely showing and trying to carry out what they call reforms, and the reforms they are asking us to carry out are reforms we should ordinarily carry out.

“How do you have public service delivered, how do you drastically reduce corruption, how do you manage your finances? And all these are reforms that nobody needs to tell us to do.”

Advertisement

Obasanjo noted that international lenders are more willing to engage with nations demonstrating accountability, stating, “when the world lenders believe that you’re doing what they expect of you, they will listen and you may even find the world more sympathetic than you thought. The world does not feel it owes you anything but if you show responsibility.”

He said, “I took over and I found they were using over $3.5b to service debt, that’s a lot of money but the problem was that the quantum of debt was not going down because that amount of money was being spent together to pay interests and to pay what they call penalties, because (for) any default you pay penalties and you can’t show good course for the debt.”

Illustrating the misuse of loans, he referenced a state project where a loan intended for carpet production was fully spent without any work being done on-site. He was told, “a small print which says once you sign, how the money is spent is not the responsibility of the lender, it’s the responsibility of the borrower.”

Advertisement

“With all these, I was convinced that I could make a credible case, a serious case, and then of course on the other hand they wanted me to do what’s right that I should not continue with the irresponsibility of the past, the corruption of the past.

“The point is that the international community know us more than we know ourselves and at times we bow our heads like ostrich in the sand. They know what you do,” he said.

READ ALSO: I believe God Didn’t Create Nigeria To Suffer- Obasanjo

Advertisement

The former president said the creation of the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was borne out of the move to satisfy the course to secure debt forgiveness, as part of reforms to prove readiness to eliminate the stench of corruption and mismanagement.

Of course, if you remember one of the first bills that I sent to the National Assembly was the ICPC bill to fight corruption. I followed that up later with the EFCC bill, again to fight corruption because the international community knows what you’re doing.

“So, convinced of the fact that we could not sustain the amount of money we were spending to service debt with the quantum of debt not going down, anytime we defaulted they gave us heavy penalties, and my determination to do what would convince Nigerians internally and convince our development partners/creditors, then it took almost six years before we got there and at the end of the day, they were satisfied.

Advertisement

“I even gave them assurance that the money saved from our debt relief would be spent on the sustainable development goals and that was been done.

“The world out there doesn’t feel that it owes you anything but if you do what is right, there’s a lot you can get out of the world,” the former president explained.

Obasanjo who lamented a situation “where leaders rather than manage the economy and prosperity of the nation for all, they manage it for themselves,” said, “Where there is no development you are actually inviting problems.”

Advertisement

He explained “When I came in 1999, I met $3.7bn in the reserves, and as I have told you, we were spending $3.5bn to service debt. That’s all we have. When I came in we had debt overhand of close to $36bn, by the time we left eight years later, with the debt relief and clearing what we had to clear, the quantum of debt I left was about $3.5/3.6bn from over about $36bn dollars.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Problems Would Continue To Defy Solutions Until… – Obasanjo

“At the same time, the reserves that was $3.7bn went to $45bn, at the same time we had what we call the excess crude, the amount in excess between what we budgeted at which we seek to sell crude oil and we actually sold it.

Advertisement

“Normally, we were conservative in budgeting, we had about $25bn (in the excess crude account). When you add that to the reserves, we are talking about $70bn dollars.”

He however lamented, “The point is that I left in 2007, between 2007 and 2024 all that amount of money had gone. Not only that, all that money they made during that period had gone and today we own more than we owed when I came to government in 1999. Why? Poor leadership, poor management of economy, corruption galore, pervasive corruption.”

Expressing his disappointment in successive administrations, Obasanjo decried “the deficit of leadership” that has hindered the nation’s progress, adding, “I feel bad.”

Advertisement

As I always say, leadership is not a thing that you pick on the road, and not everybody is given to it. When we identify leadership we should appreciate it and use it to good advantage…

“The point in Nigeria particularly is that we take two steps forward, we take one sideways and take two or three backward, that can’t get us far.

“Leadership is something we should pay attention to. What do you say of a Nigerian president who came to office without a plan? And then he woke up and just said three-point plans. What are the plans, what are they going to achieve, and who are the people who have worked on it? You came and just opened your mouth and make a pronouncement on something that has not been studied,” Obasanjo said.
VANGUARD

Advertisement

 

News

Ooni’s Palace Slams Oluwo Over ‘Ife Not Yoruba Origin’ Claim

Published

on

The palace of the Ooni of Ife on Tuesday slammed the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, over his claim that Ile-Ife is not the origin of the Yoruba people.

Reacting to the comments, the Ooni’s spokesperson, Moses Olafare, dismissed the statement, saying, “No reasonable person will react to Oluwo’s comments.”

Oba Akanbi, known for his controversial views, had in a video posted on his Facebook page while conferring a chieftaincy title in his palace, insisted that “Ile-Ife has no Yoruba culture.”

Advertisement

Flanked by his chiefs, the Iwo monarch argued that the language spoken in Ile-Ife — widely regarded as the cradle of the Yoruba race — differed from mainstream Yoruba. He also questioned the use of certain expressions.

READ ALSO:Ife Not Origin Of Yoruba Race, Says Oluwo

Ife is not the origin of the Yoruba race. Those people don’t speak our language. Their language is different. They refer to God as Eledumare, and there is nothing like Eledumare in the Yoruba language. What we have is Olodumare.

Advertisement

“Ife people will always say Olofin. If you ask them the meaning, they will tell you it means the owner of the palace. But in Yoruba, that is Alaafin. Ile-Ife has no Yoruba culture.

“I am the Arole Olodumare because I am here to tell you the true history. Iwo is where you can get the real history that was not even documented,” he said, stressing his determination to preserve his version of history.

Debates over the origin of the Yoruba and the authority of monarchs to confer titles have long been contentious.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:JUST IN: Ooni Visits Olubadan-designate Ladoja In Ibadan

In August, The PUNCH reported a similar face-off between the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, over the title of Okanlomo of Yorubaland, allegedly conferred on Ibadan businessman Chief Dotun Sanusi by the Ooni.

The Alaafin, through his media aide Bode Durojaiye, insisted no traditional ruler other than him had the authority to bestow a title covering the entire Yorubaland. He issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Ooni to revoke the title or “face the consequences.”

Advertisement

In response, the Ooni’s spokesperson, Olafare, dismissed the ultimatum, saying the monarch had chosen to leave the issue “in the court of public opinion.”

We cannot dignify the ‘undignifyable’ with an official response. We leave the matter to the public court of opinion, as it is already being treated. Let’s focus on narratives that unite us rather than those capable of dividing us. No press release, please. Forty-eight hours, my foot!” he wrote on Facebook.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

[OPINION] Rivers: The Futility Of Power And The Illusion Of Victory

Published

on

By Israel Adebiyi

Power is a strange thing. To some, it is a crown that dazzles; to others, it is a sword that conquers. Yet history, both ancient and modern, is replete with reminders that power is fleeting, fragile, and often fatal to those who cling to it without wisdom. Nigeria’s Rivers State has, in recent months, provided a theatre where this truth has played out in its rawest form, a play in which the actors ranged from elected governors to godfathers in high places, from lawmakers turned pawns to a weary citizenry who bore the bruises of political combat.

As you may have learnt, the democratically elected Governor Siminalayi Fubara is back in the saddle. What a traumatising six months it must have been for the man who thought being the Chief Security Officer of his state truly makes him the man in charge. What a tormenting time it must have been for the legislature, those who, entrusted with making laws, would rather sink the ship of state than allow Fubara to sail. And what excruciating experience it must have been for the people of Rivers themselves: to have their choice nearly swapped for a civilian in khaki, to watch their lives held hostage by political gladiators in a power struggle that never had their welfare at heart.

Advertisement

At the centre of this drama stood the godfather, one who straddles Abuja and Port Harcourt, ministering to the Federal Capital Territory while seeking to lord it over Rivers, unchallenged. His triumphs and setbacks are well-documented, but the bigger question remains: what has the political elite learnt from all this? From potential godsons, to godfathers, to supporters, to the rest of us, the truth is painfully clear, no one wins in a state of anarchy, not even the chest-beating King Kong.

The Rivers imbroglio reinforces a timeless principle: governance does not happen in chaos. The seat of power may be occupied, but when the instruments of state are weaponised against one another, the business of the people suffers. Schools do not function, hospitals languish, investments are scared away, and trust in government crumbles. A peaceful atmosphere is the precondition for governance, for no policy, no matter how well-crafted, can thrive in the soil of instability.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:[OPINION] House Agents: The Bile Beneath The Roof

Advertisement

In this sense, what happened in Rivers is not new. History shows us that the vanity of power games leaves behind a trail of ruins. Rome, mighty and invincible, crumbled not because its armies lost their strength but because its leaders indulged in intrigues, conspiracies, and betrayal, weakening the republic from within. In Africa, the ghosts of Liberia’s civil war and Sierra Leone’s dark decade still whisper lessons of how political egos, once unchecked, descend into rivers of blood where the people are the ultimate casualties.

Even in more stable democracies, we see shades of this futility. Recall the Watergate scandal in the United States: an overreach of power that forced President Nixon’s resignation, not because America lacked laws, but because one man believed his political survival was above the rule of law. In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe’s prolonged hold on power may have begun with promises of liberation but ended with economic collapse and national despair. In all these, the lesson is the same: unchecked power, exercised without restraint, consumes itself.

The real victims of Rivers’ crisis are not the gladiators in high office; they will always find soft landings. The true casualties are the people, the market woman in Port Harcourt whose business was disrupted by endless protests and palpable fears, the civil servant whose progress and commitment are beclouded by uncertainties, the student whose classroom leaks under the rain because the funds for renovation are trapped in political crossfire.

Advertisement

What is often forgotten in the heat of power play is that governance is not an abstract exercise; it is the daily bread of the people. When leaders quarrel, roads go untarred, hospitals go unequipped, and children go unfed. To reduce governance to a chessboard of egos is to mortgage the people’s welfare for vanity. This, tragically, is the recurring story in Nigeria’s democratic experiment.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:OPINION: 200k – The Shameful Prize For Academic Excellence

Philosophers have long wrestled with the meaning of power. Shakespeare, in Macbeth, captured it as “a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.” The story of Rivers is a fresh Nigerian adaptation of this drama. For months, power appeared to belong to one, then another, and then another still. Yet in the end, it was revealed that no one truly wielded power in its purest sense, because power without legitimacy, without the consent of the governed, and without the peace to implement vision, is no power at all.

Advertisement

The futility of the Rivers crisis holds lessons for Nigeria as a whole. Across our federation, godfatherism continues to haunt governance. From Lagos to Kano, from Anambra to Oyo, the tussle between political benefactors and their protégés has become a recurring decimal. Rarely do these battles end in progress for the people; more often than not, they end in paralysis.

The comparison need not be far-fetched. Look at Kenya, where post-election violence in 2007 consumed more than 1,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands. The fault line was political ego, the refusal to let the people’s will stand unchallenged. It took the Kofi Annan-led mediation to restore peace. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, decades of instability trace back to leaders who personalised power, treating the state as property and the people as pawns.

Rivers may not have descended into outright war, but the undertones of instability remind us that democracy is not guaranteed; it must be guarded. When politicians play roulette with the rule of law, they court a descent into chaos that ultimately swallows everyone.

Advertisement

The Rivers episode should compel us to reflect on the foundations of Nigeria’s democracy. For too long, politics has been driven not by institutions but by personalities. Our allegiance is more to godfathers than to constitutions, more to individuals than to principles. Yet sustainable governance is only possible when the rule of law, not the whims of men, governs the game.

MORE FROM THE AUTHOR:OPINION: Ezekwesili, The NBA, And The Mirror Of Truth

What does this mean in practice? It means state assemblies must not be reduced to errand boys of powerful interests. It means governors must respect their oaths of office, governing for all, not just for loyalists. It means party structures must operate with transparency, giving room for dissent without retribution. Above all, it means citizens must rise in defence of their democracy, insisting that their mandate cannot be traded on the altar of ego.

Advertisement

The Rivers drama may be easing, but the scars remain. It was a sobering reminder that power, when divorced from service, becomes poison. That democracy, when stripped of rule of law, becomes anarchy. That in the final analysis, no one truly wins when the people lose.

From the godfathers to the godsons, from the lawmakers to the electorate, we must all acknowledge a shared truth: we are losers when power games eclipse governance. The real triumph is not in who sits in Government House, but in whether that House delivers schools, hospitals, jobs, and peace.

Let Rivers be a lesson to Nigeria: that power is not an end in itself, but a means to service. That peace is not weakness, but strength. And that the greatest legacy any leader can leave is not monuments of ego, but institutions that outlast them.

Advertisement

For if Rivers has taught us anything, it is that governance cannot happen in a state of anarchy, and the futility of power is revealed when its pursuit leaves the people broken. Let us, therefore, rise to build a democracy where power serves the people, not the other way round.

Continue Reading

News

NYSC Deploys 1,900 Corps Members To Bauchi State

Published

on

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has deployed 1,900 corps members to Bauchi State for the 2025 Batch ‘B’ Stream II orientation exercise.

Mr Kufre Umoren, NYSC State Coordinator, told journalists on Tuesday in Bauchi, that registration would be conducted from Sept. 24 to Sept. 26, at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Wailo in Ganjuwa Local Government Area of the state.

He said the swearing-in ceremony of the corps members is billed for Sept. 26, and the orientation exercise would end on Oct. 14.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:NYSC Pays Arrears After Two-month Break

Umoren said each of the corps members would be allowed into the camp after being adequately certified to be genuine graduates.

He said discreet screening of the corps members would be conducted to guard against intrusion or impersonation.

Advertisement

Registration dates have been announced to the corps members, and they are advised to adhere strictly to all camp rules and regulations.

READ ALSO:Release Corps Member’s Discharge Certificate, Falana Tells NYSC

Defaulters will be sanctioned in accordance with the scheme’s extant rules,” he said, warning the scheme frowned at late-night journeys and urged corps members to avoid it for their own safety.

Advertisement

While urging them to be punctual, diligent, and comply with dress code, Umoren warned that defaulting corps members would be sanctioned.

Continue Reading

Trending