Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s borrowing policy, describing his assertion that “borrowing is not leprosy” as “absolute nonsense” and warning that mounting national debt could destroy generations of Nigerians.
Obasanjo made the remarks on Friday in Abeokuta, Ogun State, while speaking at the Ajibosin Platform, a public forum themed “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Solve Grassroots Problems and Accelerate National Development.”
The former president was reacting to Tinubu’s April declaration that his administration would continue borrowing whenever necessary to finance infrastructure and economic development.
Speaking during a meeting with Plateau State leaders at the State House, Tinubu had defended his administration’s borrowing strategy, insisting that loans were necessary to fund development.
“If we have to borrow, we borrow. Borrowing is not leprosy; we just have to work hard to be able to pay for it,” the president said.
But Obasanjo dismissed the comparison, arguing that the consequences of excessive borrowing extend beyond individuals and could place an unbearable burden on future generations.
“And for anybody to say debt is no leprosy, is absolute nonsense. Debt is worse than leprosy because leprosy destroys only one person. Debt destroys generations,” he said.
Obasanjo also questioned Nigeria’s economic performance over the past 47 years, particularly the dramatic depreciation of the naira against the US dollar.
He recalled that when he established his farm nearly five decades ago, the naira exchanged at N1 to $1.85, contrasting the rate with the current exchange rate of about N1,500 to the dollar.
“When I started my farm, 47 years ago, naira to the dollar was one naira to $1.85. Forty-seven years ago. What has Nigeria done in 47 years that we now have 1,500 naira to the dollar? What have we done?” he asked.
The former president further questioned the ability of Nigeria’s political leadership to translate its knowledge and authority into policies capable of improving the living conditions of citizens.
“What do our leaders know? And what do they not know? And from what they know, what can they do for us?” he asked.
Turning to Nigeria’s relationship with international financial institutions, Obasanjo criticised the influence of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the country's economic policies.
He argued that economic prescriptions from the institutions were not necessarily designed to address Nigeria’s peculiar challenges and development needs.
Obasanjo recalled that Nigeria had previously been discouraged from subsidising agriculture, despite the substantial support governments in developed countries provide to their farmers.
“World Bank and IMF were not designed for us. They were not built by us. They were built before we became independent. And that’s the people who would determine what we do,” he said.
He also cautioned against blindly adopting economic recommendations from foreign-trained experts, urging Nigerian policymakers to develop strategies based on the country's realities.
The former president’s remarks come amid continuing public debate over Nigeria’s rising public debt, the cost of servicing loans and the Tinubu administration’s reliance on foreign borrowing to finance its development agenda.
Obasanjo Slams Tinubu Over Borrowing, Says Debt Is Worse Than Leprosy
