The verbal attacks on President Goodluck Jonathan by former President Olusegun Obasanjo may not end anytime soon as long as the latter continues to have the opportunity to speak to a gathering of people on national issues and the former fails to publicly apologise to him.
Obasanjo, who, on Monday, hosted some women leaders in the South-West at his residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State, accused Jonathan of squandering about $25 billion crude oil savings he (Obasanjo) left when he was Nigeria’s President.
The former military Head of State told his guests that Jonathan’s former boss, late President Musa Yar’Adua, raised the amount to $35 billion, but that Jonathan has squandered the money.
Obasanjo further alleged that in Nigeria’s foreign reserve, he (Obasanjo) left $40 billion behind after settling the country’s outstanding debts at the time, which late Yar’adua also increased to $60 billion, but now, only about $40 billion is left under Jonathan’s regime.
In Obasanjo’s words, “Our economy should not have been this bad. When I was leaving office about eight years ago, I left a very huge reserve after we had paid all our debts. Almost $25 billion we kept in what they called excess crude. The excess from the budget we were saving as reserve for the rainy days.
“When we left in May 2007, the reserve was said to have been raised to $35 billion.
“But today, that reserve has been depleted! Today, that reserve has been depleted. The reserve we left when we finished paying all our debts, our debts that was about $40 billion, that is including debt forgiveness, the remaining debt was not more than $3 billion.
“Our reserve after we had paid off this debt was about $45 billion.
“As I said, they continued till the end of 2007, I heard that the reserve increased to almost $67 billion before the end of the year. Our reserve now, learnt is left with around only $30 billion.
“That is why the Naira has been falling against the dollar. What would now happen, I learnt if you want to buy a dollar now, it’s about N192 or N195. What it means is this, what you have been buying at N150 to a dollar, now you need N192 or N195 to buy it.
“That is the real situation. Is there any remedy? There is, but it does not come overnight because it means we have to give up all the bad things we have been doing.”
The former President emphasised that he holds no grudge against Jonathan, who many believe he fell out with because the President failed to take him as his godfather.
“I have no grudges against Jonathan and I think Jonathan equally has no grudges against me. I’m not quarrelling with Jonathan but all I know is that whatever is good for Nigeria, that I’m ready to die for,” said Obasanjo.
“I emphasize that whatever is good for Nigeria, is what I’m ready to defend with my life. Whoever, I emphasize, whoever says he would not do anything good to Nigeria, even if he says he’s ready to go ‘konko below’, I’m ready to square it up with such a person.
“I say again, whoever that person may be, I want you to get that correctly. If this country is going to change for the better, it would start from the top and if it’s going to be otherwise, it would start from the top, too,” he stressed.
Honestly speaking, baba iyabo Ee paro