Obasanjo Supports Sale Of Assets

Obasanjo added that he foresaw the current economic recession the country is currently going through in 2014 and he hinted of its consequences.

He revealed this while delivering his goodwill message at the opening session of a two-day National Council of Finance and Economic Development conference held at the Green Legacy Resort, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta on Tuesday.

The former president brought a copy of the 2014 lecture which contained his warning of the present recession to the event and read part of it to the audience.

Obasanjo, however, proffered solutions to how the country could get out of recession, by urging the Federal Government to spend less than the country was earning, fashion out ways to earn more revenue and borrow.

His words, “For me, we have brought it on ourselves; we don’t have to wring our hands and say ‘where are we? In a simple layman’s language, the situation is that we are spending more than we are earning. We have not been able to save, so that we can go and take from what we have saved.

“If you are spending more than you are earning, you will have to spend less, you earn more and you borrow.

“For us, we are to do the three as quickly as possible, we must borrow and we must go to the people that will give us loan with reasonable interest.

“You may do it with the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. I don’t say we must not go to them. When I was in government, I never say no to them, but don’t do their bidding. Out there, there is money but people will not part with their money unless you are doing the right thing.

He emphasized that port authorities and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) were part of assets that Nigeria could partly sell to generate fund.

His words, “I do not see why 49 per cent of NNPC cannot be privatized.

“I think the problem is in the coinage “selling of asset” as if we want to throw out our inheritance.

“What we are actually doing by that is simply re-organizing.

“It should however be done transparently and let it actually go public and not to cabals, relations and friends.

“This is always the fear of Nigerians when issues like this arise.”

Recall that the plan to sell the national asset has generated some controversies. Where many Nigerians opposed to the plan, arguing that previous sales barely helped the nation’s economy.

The senate on Tuesday rejected the proposed sale of national asset by the federal government at the plenary after extensive deliberation.