November 2, (THEWILL) – For the second time in a week, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has tackled President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s policies, warning that unless a review is done urgently, Nigerians may continue to live a life of misery and poverty. Speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2026 in London, United Kingdom, on October 22, 2026, he criticised the administration’s management of the naira, the removal of the petrol subsidy and the broader economic policies implemented since May 2023. On October 30, he took the attack further, describing the government’s borrowing plan as worse than leprosy because its consequences extend to generations yet unborn.
Speaking on Friday at the 3rd Ajibosin Annual Symposium, themed “Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Solve Grassroots Problems and Accelerate National Development”, held at the amphitheatre of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, the ex-President responded to a recent statement by President Bola Tinubu that borrowing is not leprosy, a chronic, slow-developing infectious disease that takes a long time to appear. The President expressed confidence that his administration would work hard to repay whatever it borrowed.
Responding during the symposium, Obasanjo dismissed Tinubu’s argument as untenable and described the country’s mounting debt as a deferred burden for coming generations of Nigerians. He blamed the administration for being ignorant of the strategies used by global financial organisations like the World Bank and IMF to keep developing countries like Nigeria in a debt trap
“World Bank and IMF were not designed for us. They were built before we became independent and that’s the people who will determine what we do. They are brilliant boys and girls; they went to Ivy League universities, Oxford, Cambridge and all that. My children went to some of them, including Iyabo. She went to one of those schools; she went to Cornell.
“How can Iyabo be the one who will tell me how I will run my home? These brilliant boys will package everything very well academically. They tell us, and we take it, lock, stock, and barrel, and we use it. For a country of 250 million people, it is boys and girls who are not even married, let alone manage a home, who will tell us what we will do to manage our people, our country, and we swallow it, and we destroy ourselves.”
The former president also decried the loss of value of the naira, saying, “When I started my farm 47 years ago, one naira to the dollar was one naira to one dollar 85 cents. What has Nigeria done in 47 years that we now have N1,500 naira to the dollar? What have we done?
“What do our leaders know, and what do they not know? From what they know, what can they do for us? 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 warned Nigeria to be wise in adopting AI for development purposes, saying that other have harnessed the most sophisticated technologies of the age to extract what they valued most: human labour.”
“Under colonialism, the export changed from people to land and raw materials — tin, coal, cocoa, palm oil, groundnuts, cotton, ivory and gold. The technology then — explosives, railways linking mines to ports, steam engines and colonial administrative systems — served an extractive economy. We supplied resources and labour; others controlled the machinery and captured much of the value.”
In his London address, Obasanjo accused the administration of worsening the living conditions of Nigerians and deepening the country’s poverty crisis.
“We do not live in isolation as a country. We interact with the rest of the world. And overnight, you devalue the currency by 300 percent. The naira went from N500 to a dollar to N1,500 to a dollar. What that meant was that every Nigerian is made poor by 300 per cent. That made Nigeria become the poverty capital of the world, which means Nigeria has the largest number of poor people in the world., “ he said, adding that, “You cannot say to me that that is good for Nigeria. You cannot say to me that that is good for us in any sense,” he said.
The former president also dismissed the argument that Tinubu needs additional time to consolidate his economic reforms. Asked whether he believed the Nigerian economy was improving, Obasanjo said he could not see any significant improvement.
“For the economy, I don’t see anything getting better,” he said and added, “What policies are you seeing through? You impoverish your people, and you want to see impoverishment through? What are you seeing through?”
He answered, “What he is doing wrong and what I am saying is that the economic programmes that he has put in place are not in the best interest of Nigerians. Pure and simple. Nobody can deny that.”
Obasanjo’s comments come amid continuing debate over the impact of the Tinubu administration’s reforms, which the government has consistently defended as necessary measures to correct structural distortions and place the economy on a sustainable path. Tinubu’s economic reform programme began with the removal of the petrol subsidy in May 2023, followed weeks later by sweeping changes to the foreign exchange market.
The administration said the measures were necessary to eliminate distortions, improve market efficiency, attract investment, strengthen government finances and create the foundation for sustainable economic growth.
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However, the reforms were accompanied by a sharp depreciation of the naira, higher inflation and a steep increase in the cost of imported goods and raw materials.
The consequences were felt across the economy, with food, transportation, housing, energy and other essential expenses rising significantly.
For households whose incomes did not increase at a comparable rate, the result was a substantial erosion of purchasing power. Obasanjo argued that the impact of the naira depreciation could not be separated from the welfare of ordinary Nigerians. His claim that the development made “every Nigerian” 300 per cent poorer reflects his description of the effect of the exchange-rate movement, rather than a formal statistical measurement of individual wealth losses.
Obasanjo also criticised the manner in which the petrol subsidy was removed. He argued that a significant portion of what had been described as subsidy was actually the product of corruption in the petroleum sector.
“Petrol and petroleum products affect everybody and everything. Now, what we call subsidy for petroleum products in Nigeria, a lot of it is corruption,” he said.
According to him, the government could have reduced the burden of subsidy by first tackling corruption and leakages in the petroleum sector.
“I believe that if we pay attention to corruption and deal with corruption, then what will remain of subsidy will be very little,” he said. Rather than relying on policies that impose additional pressure on citizens, Obasanjo called for stronger action against corruption, waste and excessive government expenditure.
“If you are in a very bad economic situation, two things among others to me are very important. You must curb corruption, wastefulness and unnecessary luxury,” he said. He also stressed the importance of increasing domestic production.
“Number two, you must produce,” the former president said.
Tinubu inherited an economy already facing significant challenges, including high debt-service costs, foreign exchange shortages, petrol subsidy payments, low productivity and widespread insecurity.
His administration responded with two of its most consequential economic decisions in 2023 — the removal of petrol subsidy and the liberalisation of the foreign exchange market. The policies initially triggered significant economic disruption. The naira depreciated sharply, inflation accelerated and the cost of living rose rapidly.
The government, however, has maintained that the short-term pain is part of a necessary adjustment process and that the reforms are beginning to deliver macroeconomic benefits.
Nigeria has subsequently recorded periods of improved foreign reserves, increased investor confidence, stronger fiscal performance and greater stability in the foreign exchange market.
Yet the improvement in some macroeconomic indicators have not eliminated the hardship facing households.
Felix Ifijeh is a journalist with years of professional reporting experience. Known for his keen news sense, compelling storytelling and commitment to accurate, impactful reporting, he has built a reputation for turning leads into clear, engaging, and well-structured reports that resonate with readers. His work reflects deep newsroom experience and a commitment to accurate, impactful journalism.
