Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said Nigeria has no justification to be poor, blaming the country’s persistent economic challenges partly on policies that encourage imports at the expense of local production.
Obasanjo said Nigeria possesses the land, water, rainfall and human resources required to produce enough to meet its needs and create wealth.
The former president spoke during an interview on C-Suite Cafe, hosted by Ikem Okuhu.
“Give me one reason why Nigeria should be poor. Is it the land that we don’t have or the desert that we are in or the people that we don’t have or the water that we don’t have or the rain that we don’t have?” he asked.
Obasanjo recalled his experience as chairman of the African Union when he travelled to Guinea-Bissau with John Kufuor, then chairman of the Economic Community of West African States.
According to him, the two leaders observed that Guinea-Bissau had abundant agricultural resources but still relied on imported food.
He said they saw bananas and other fruits growing naturally as they approached the country, yet they were served imported apples and grapes at their hotel.
“That’s part of the reason why we are poor,” Obasanjo said, stressing the need for African countries to harness their agricultural potential and reduce dependence on imported food.
The former president also recalled Nigeria’s decision to restrict rice imports in 1979, saying the policy was introduced to encourage local production.
He said agricultural officials had inspected rice farms before the military government left office and reported that the country was on course to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production.
However, Obasanjo said the policy was later reversed by succeeding administrations, which lifted restrictions on rice imports.
“When our successors came, one of the first things they did was to lift importation of rice, not to encourage production of rice but to encourage importation of rice, and the farmers couldn’t sell their own rice,” he said.
