It seems the no love lost relationship between former presidents; Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan still persists as OBJ has further lambasted the immediate past President and his economic policy on importation… “When I joined others to celebrate the birthday of retired Justice Akanbi. That what I said about Nigerian economic is now a matter of public glare that the economy was in recession. I then reminded the government that as a lay man, the situation we are is that we are spending more than we are earning”.

“That very soon, the country would not be able to fund the budget; that salaries will not be paid again; that capital projects would be executed and that naira would be devalued and livelihood will be difficult for citizens except those who may have stockpiled money somewhere.”

“Unfortunately, the government then refused to listen to my advice. That was about two years ago”.

Recently, Obasanjo shocked a gathering when he recalled how it was discovered that the ban on the importation of tooth pick was reversed by the Jonathan administration. He said: “During the first term of my government, we were facing a problem similar to what we are facing now. We were importing too much, even things we don’t need. I asked for the list of all items we import to Nigeria. They brought it and I saw toothpick on the list”.

“We used US$ 2.5m to import common toothpick that we get for free in my village. I then asked how much did it cost to produce common toothpick? And they told me the machine cost just US$25,000. I banned it immediately because I knew we can afford to produce that item and the toothpick remained banned until four years ago when the government of that time un-banned toothpick again. I was shocked when the ban on importation of toothpick which we imposed in 1977 was lifted four years ago and when I asked, why this policy reversal, the answer was more shocking. They said ‘I didn’t read it before I signed it.”

“How can a nation seeking to rank among the best in the world continue like that? We must begin to do away with things that we can do without and if we must import them let them attract very high duties.”

Furthermore, the former President Obasanjo revealed he had visited Jonathan in Abuja, to find out why the lifting on the ban, but, the response was; “I did not read before I approved. This is an importation that cost US$ 2.5m whereas we can use US$ 25,000 to set up the industry here in Nigeria then.”

– Wale Adewunmi, Ogun State Correspondent