Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that Nigerian leaders lack focus, commitment and sometimes, proper knowledge of economic and development issues.

He said God is not responsible for the problems militating against the development of Nigeria.

Obasanjo who spoke while chairing the 38th Kaduna International Trade Fair Seminar with the theme; “Promoting Public Private Partnership as Panacea for Accelerated Growth and Development” on Monday in Kaduna, also said Nigerians must stop blaming God for the nation's woes.

“One problem that must be corrected is the problem of leadership. This is because our leaders lack focus, commitment, continuity and sometimes proper knowledge about economic and development issues, hence we have not been able to achieve meaningful result,” he stated.

“Somebody came to me and said we need to pray to God and I said, for what? He said, so that God can do for us, what we cannot do for ourselves. And I said, no, let us stop troubling God, because God has done all we need for us, we only need to play our own part.

“But, if we must pray to God, our prayer should be that God should not take away all He has given us as a nation.

“God in His mercy has given us all the needed resources, both human and natural, but we have not been able to put them together and manage them effectively. The countries that have developed and are performing better are not better than Nigeria in terms of resources.

“Another problem is that we take one step forward and another step backward. Nigerian leaders must be tough and ready to bite the bullet, because Nigeria cannot have it easy. Until we get the right leadership, the problem will continue,” he said.

While expressing his displeasure over inconsistency in policies, the former president gave an example of his ban on importation of toothpick in 1977, because according to him, "it was the most stupid thing to import when we can produce it here. But, about 40 years after, one of the Presidents that came after me, I won't mention his name, unbanned toothpick.

“Then, I put on my Babanriga and went to Abuja to express my shock about the policy, but to my greatest surprise, the President told me, he signed the document unbanning toothpick without reading it.

“Another thing is that, he came in saying he will generate additional 30,000 megawatts to the 3,500 megawatts we left behind, and I told him, don't trouble yourself, if you can add 3,000 megawatts to the one we left behind, you will receive awards. But, to my greatest shock, he couldn't add one megawatt before leaving office,” he narrated.

Speaking on the public-private partnership, the former President emphasised that lack of synergy in public-private sectors is responsible for the set back in the nation's economy and growth.

He said the public sector perceives the private sector as a profit making industry that reaps where it does not sow, but in actual fact, they are two legs that when brought together can accelerate development in all sectors of the economy.

He said the public and private sectors must work together to accelerate growth and development.

“When we were in office, we privatised NNPC and sold to Dangote and partners, but the government that succeeded me revoked it and that is why till today, NNPC cannot work optimally.

“Today the same Dangote that was denied ownership of NNPC is building a refinery that can produce in excess of what NNPC can produce and what Nigeria can consume. So, it means he will even export,” Obasanjo added.

Earlier in his lecture, a former Minister of Finance, Malam Shamdudeen Usman said, the reasons Nigeria is facing backwardness in economic growth and development, is the lack of continuity in governance and poor will by political leaders to complete projects started by their predecessors.

According to him, “delays in budgetary approval process and padding of the budget contribute to the slow acceleration of growth and development experienced in the nation.”

“Short term policies affected PPP projects across the country due to inconsistencies in government. Though several governments gave high support to PPP, only President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration recorded about 90% completion of PPP projects and they include the Garki hospital in Abuja, Lagos Airport, Port terminals, amongst others,” he explained.

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