“The way forward is production and productivity which belief
and trust in government leadership will engender. No short cut to economic
progress but hard work and sweat.
“Economy does not obey orders, not even military orders. I
know that. If we get it right, in two years, we will begin to see the light
beyond the tunnel. It requires a change of characteristics, attributes and
attitude by the leadership at all levels to gain the confidence and trust of
investors who have alternatives.
“Total Energy has gone to invest 6 billion dollars in Angola
instead of Nigeria. If the truth must be stated, the present Administration has
not found the right way to handle the economy to engender confidence and trust
for investors to start trooping in.
“They know us more than we know ourselves. And now they are
laughing at us, not taking us seriously. We have to present ourselves in such a
way that we will be taken seriously. If the existing investors are disinvesting
and going out of our country, how do we persuade new investors to rush in. We
can be serious if we choose to be but we need to change from transactional
leadership in government to transformational and genuine servant leadership,”
he said.
The former President asserted that to get out of the current
situation in the country, the government and the governed needed to look at the
past and the present, and ask ‘How did we get here?’
“Looking at the topic of today’s occasion, the question I
would ask is, ‘How do we navigate our way out of these crises and pave the path
towards a more secure and prosperous Nigeria? I believe the answer to this
requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses the root causes of these
challenges. The central questions are: Where were we? And how did we get to
where we are today.
“Firstly, we must know where we are coming from. Our economy
has consistently suffered from poor policies, lack of long-term sustainable
policies, discontinuity, adhocry and corruption firmed on personal greed,
avarice, incompetence, lack of knowledge and understanding and lack of
patriotism.
“For instance, the statement and proposed actions given
forty-five years ago to stop fuel scarcity is the same statement and action
being touted today. I recall when I made the statement that the refineries will
not work, the sycophants and spin doctors of this current administration went
out to castigate me as not being a petroleum engineer and that I did not know
what I was talking about.
“They forgot that the attempt that was made in 2007 to
partly privatise the refineries was made by me after a thorough study of the
situation. But the decision was reversed by my successor and the 750 million
dollars paid was refunded.”
Suggesting a way out, the former of President Nigerian needs
“a 25-year socio-economic development agenda” that will be generally agreed to,
and passed into law.
