Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has attributed the current problem that has engulfed the country to absence of quality leadership, saying that the country is not that difficult to manage as it is seen. The former Nigerian leader stated this while answering some questions during a maiden memorial lecture in honour of late Akintola Williams, themed: ‘Leadership Dynamics: Current Realities And Way Forward,’ organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in Lagos.
Obasanjo admitted the complexities of the country, however explained that the bedrock of the growth of a nation is command of its leadership at the helm of its affairs.
He said, “I always say Nigeria is a complex country, you must understand that but Nigeria is not a difficult country to manage. You have to be honest with yourself, Nigeria and your God”.
Recalling his days of leadership in the country he asserted that contrary to the present, he served the country with the resources available at his disposal, claiming the country’s economy enjoyed good economic fortunes.
“When I was there, I did everything I should do for Nigeria and I can beat my chest and say that.
Recounting his stewardship he said, “I took over as the affairs of Nigeria as elected President with N3.7b in reserves and we were spending N3.5b to service debt, so I decided we must debt relief and I went out from it even though we were fifth country in all exporting in the world and we got debt relief.
“Not only did we not get relief from a quantum debt of N3.36b we came to a quantum debt of N3.6bn and I left with over N25b in what we call excess crude that is the money we saved from the budget and what we actually received and we had a reserve of over N45b,” he added.
Immortalising the late Chartered Accountant, Obasanjo said the late Akintola Williams as a sage, saying he served humanity during his life time.
“He deserves every honour that we can confer posthumously not for what he did for this country but what he did politically, socially and economically,” he said.
In his speech, the ICAN president, Davidson Alaribe, said the lecture was organised to glean from the leadership qualities late Akintola Williams displayed while he was alive.
“Let us honor him not just with plaques and statues, but through our daily commitment to uphold the standards he set, transforming every challenge into a steppingstone towards excellence,” he concluded.
