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Soludo’s Article is the Best I have Read on Nigeria’s Real Situation – Iyabo Obasanjo
Iyabo Obasanjo, daughter of former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has expressed her admiration for the controversial article written by former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Charles Soludo, in which he declared that President Jonathan and APC presidential aspirant Muhammadu Buhari are both incapable of handling the country’s economy.
In an article published on Vanguard titled Soludo, Fayemi and Fani-Kayode: My takeaway, she states:
2. Whatever the case and I don’t expect miracles from APC but right now they have more thinking people than the PDP. As a Yoruba person, Dr. Fayemi’s response is how we expect our educated elite to take up issues and not the mad ranting’s of Fani-Kayode.
3. I agree with most of his premise but I do not think they (APC) can take up a massive public works program in a period of “famine” i.e. low oil prices.
4. During the great depression when Roosevelt used public works to help provide jobs, it was the stock market that failed i.e. Government revenue was affected from tax income but income from exportation which was then mainly agricultural goods was not affected.
5. The government could use money from its coffers to create jobs and provide skills and training, which people could then use in the private sector.
6. The best part of Dr. Fayemi’s response is that it is not elite focused. Nigerian governance as I saw it was not a democracy but an elitocracy. Govt of the elite by the elite for the elite and even if you grew up in near death poverty once you left those circumstances you forgot where you came from and concentrated on your immediate family and matters affecting the wellbeing of the elite.
7. Changing this perspective to make the elite understand that their wellbeing was in fact dependent on the wellbeing of the masses will be APC’s challenge.
