Photo: Former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has voiced deep concerns over the escalating youth unemployment in Nigeria, warning that the nation could be sitting on a “keg of gunpowder.”
His comments follow the on-going #Endbadgovernance protests by youths nationwide, driven by pervasive hunger and economic hardship.
During an interview with the Financial Times, which was also monitored by Channels Television, Obasanjo highlighted the root causes of youth restiveness. He stated, “Our youth are restive. And they are restive because they have no skill. They have no empowerment. They have no employment. We are all sitting on a keg of gunpowder. And my prayer is that we will do the right thing before it’s too late.”
The elder statesman’s remarks come amid widespread protests that began on August 1, which have since escalated into violence and looting in various parts of the country. This unrest underscores the urgent need for effective solutions to the pressing issue of youth unemployment.
Obasanjo further criticized Nigeria’s overreliance on crude oil production, calling it a “deadly mistake.” He emphasized the missed opportunities in the country’s natural gas sector, which was largely ignored in favor of crude oil. “I believe we made a deadly mistake by putting all our eggs in one basket by relying on oil. We had a very important commodity, gas, but we were flaring it,” he said.
He also pointed to the failure of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other national oil companies to meet the country’s oil production needs. Obasanjo suggested that Nigeria could have made significant strides in agriculture, which was neglected in favor of the oil industry. “We ignored Agriculture which could have been the centrepiece of our investment,” he noted.
Addressing the persistent issue of Nigeria’s non-functional refineries, Obasanjo recalled his attempt to engage Shell in managing the refineries, which the company declined due to the sector’s rampant corruption. “When I was president, I invited Shell to come and take equity and run our refineries for us. They refused and said our refineries were not well maintained. We brought amateurs instead of professionals. Then there was too much corruption with the way our refineries were maintained. They didn’t want to get involved in such a mess,” he explained.
Obasanjo condemned the government’s ongoing failure to revitalize the refineries despite multiple promises and significant investments. “How many times have they told us that the refineries would be fixed, and at what price? Those problems as far as the government refineries are concerned have never gone. They have even increased. And if you have such problems, and the problems have not been removed, then, it means we are not going anywhere,” he stated.
In addition, Obasanjo discussed the challenges faced by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which has encountered resistance from powerful interests benefiting from the importation of fuel. These “mafias,” as he referred to them, have been accused by Dangote Group officials of frustrating the refinery’s operations by refusing to sell crude oil or by selling it at inflated prices. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has also been implicated in these allegations, accused of granting licenses to import dirty fuel while denying Dangote competitive pricing.
Furthermore, Obasanjo criticized President Bola Tinubu’s approach to removing fuel subsidies, suggesting that the administration should have considered the resultant hardship on the populace. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. Not just wake up one morning and say you removed the subsidy. Because of inflation, the subsidy that we have removed is not gone. It has come back,” he argued.
The former president concluded by stressing the importance of fostering investor confidence in Nigeria, advocating for a shift from a transactional to a transformational economy. He emphasized the need for comprehensive reforms to address the underlying issues causing youth restiveness and economic instability in the country.
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