Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has attributed Nigeria’s long-standing dependence on rice imports to the choice of the civilian administration that took workplace in 1979 to reverse a ban imposed by the outgoing navy authorities.
Obasanjo spoke on Thursday in Abuja on the Worldwide Memorial Lecture and Management Convention marking the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of former Head of State, Normal Murtala Muhammed. The occasion centred on Muhammed’s historic “Africa Has Come of Age” speech delivered on the Organisation of African Unity Summit in Addis Ababa.
Reflecting on the transition from navy to civilian rule in 1979, Obasanjo mentioned his administration had been near reaching self-sufficiency in rice manufacturing earlier than handing over energy to President Shehu Shagari.
“By the point we left in July 1979, we wished to be self-sufficient in rice manufacturing. We requested a report on what was within the fields, and the findings indicated that we might obtain self-sufficiency that yr,” he mentioned.
Based mostly on that evaluation, he defined, his authorities banned rice importation shortly earlier than leaving workplace in October 1979.
In line with Obasanjo, the incoming civilian administration lifted the ban quickly after assuming workplace, a transfer he mentioned undermined progress made towards home manufacturing.
He recounted an incident involving a politically related rice importer who allegedly inflated the price of a contract to safe monetary acquire, describing it as illustrative of the challenges that adopted the coverage reversal.
“For the reason that lifting of the rice import ban in 1979, we’ve got not totally recovered. That’s the reason we’re nonetheless importing rice immediately,” he mentioned, including that inconsistent insurance policies have hindered Nigeria’s improvement.
The previous president argued that Nigeria’s broader financial struggles stem partly from an incapacity to maintain sound insurance policies over time. He recalled that Nigeria as soon as ranked thirty seventh among the many world’s economies and recommended that constant development may have positioned the nation among the many prime ten immediately.
“What we have to do is reform and produce. Reform and produce,” he emphasised, urging African leaders to prioritise structural reforms and productive capability.
Obasanjo mentioned Africa should obtain sustained annual GDP development of between 9 and 10 per cent to understand its full potential, noting that such development charges had been attained prior to now.
Utilizing agriculture for example, he mentioned cocoa manufacturing tripled throughout his civilian presidency, rising from 150,000 metric tonnes to 450,000 metric tonnes inside just a few years, earlier than later declining to about 300,000 metric tonnes.
“We’ve got gone backwards. That’s not how Africa will come of age,” he mentioned.
Past financial points, Obasanjo mirrored on management and governance, describing Normal Murtala Muhammed as patriotic, disciplined and dedicated to nationwide service.
He noticed that one among Muhammed’s notable legacies was making ready a successor to proceed his insurance policies, including that subsequent leaders, together with himself, had struggled to construct enduring succession frameworks.
Obasanjo’s navy administration launched measures comparable to “Operation Feed the Nation” and austerity insurance policies geared toward selling self-sufficiency, whereas the civilian authorities that adopted adopted a extra liberalised import regime amid mounting public demand for client items.
He concluded that sustained reform, coverage consistency and productive funding stay important for Nigeria and Africa to attain lasting improvement.
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