‘Absolute Nonsense’: Obasanjo slams Tinubu over borrowing

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his assertion that borrowing is not leprosy, describing the comment as “absolute nonsense”.

Obasanjo made the remarks on Friday at the Ajibosin Platform, a public forum held in Abeokuta, Ogun State. The event was themed “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Solve Grassroots Problems and Accelerate National Development”.

The former president argued that excessive borrowing could have far-reaching consequences for future generations, insisting that the impact of debt was more damaging than the disease used in Tinubu’s analogy.

In April, Tinubu defended his administration’s decision to continue borrowing when necessary, saying the practice should not automatically be viewed negatively.

The President made the remarks at the State House during a meeting with a delegation of Plateau State leaders led by Governor Caleb Mutfwang and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Nentawe Yilwatda.

“If we have to borrow, we borrow. Borrowing is not leprosy, we just have to work hard to be able to pay for it,” Tinubu had said.

His comment came amid public concerns over Nigeria’s rising debt profile and the growing proportion of government revenue allocated to debt servicing.

Reacting to the statement, Obasanjo disagreed with the President’s position, arguing that while leprosy affects an individual, debt can burden several generations.

“And for anybody to say debt is no leprosy, is absolute nonsense. Debt is worse than leprosy. Because leprosy destroys only one person. Debt destroys generations,” he said.

Obasanjo also questioned Nigeria’s economic performance over the years, citing the depreciation of the naira against the United States dollar.

He recalled that when he started his farm 47 years ago, the naira exchanged at one to $1.85, contrasting the figure with the current exchange rate, which he put at about ₦1,500 to the dollar.

“When I started my farm, 47 years ago, naira to the dollar was one naira to $1.85. Forty-seven years ago. What has Nigeria done in 47 years that we now have 1,500 naira to the dollar? What have we done?” he asked.

The former President further questioned the knowledge and capacity of Nigeria’s political leaders to make decisions capable of improving the living conditions of citizens.

“What do our leaders know? And what do they not know? And from what they know, what can they do for us?” he said.

Obasanjo also criticised Nigeria’s reliance on international financial institutions, particularly the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, arguing that their policies may not adequately reflect the country’s economic realities.

He maintained that the institutions were not established specifically to address Nigeria’s development challenges and questioned the extent to which their recommendations should determine the country’s economic direction.

“World Bank and IMF were not designed for us. They were not built by us. They were built before we became independent. And that’s the people who would determine what we do,” he said.

The former president also recalled that Nigeria had, in the past, been discouraged from subsidising agriculture, despite what he described as the support extended to farmers in developed countries.

He warned against the unquestioning adoption of economic policies promoted by foreign-trained experts, urging Nigerian policymakers to consider the country’s peculiar circumstances when making decisions.

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