Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has asserted that his administration was among the best in Nigeria’s history, particularly in regards to its economic achievements, which he claimed left the country’s economy in a strong state before his departure from office in 2007.
While speaking in Abeokuta, , at the Safe Online Youth Fellowship Bootcamp on Wednesday, he recalled the outstanding achievements his administration recorded while in office between 1999 and 2007.
He disclosed that he was responsible for freeing Nigeria from immense debt, adding that he takes pride in the celebration of the 25 years an uninterrupted democracy, which started during his reign as democratic ruler in 1999.
He said: “When I came in as elected President, I wanted to get debt relief because we were spending $3.5 billion every year servicing debt and the quantum of the debt was not going down. Today, I can say that I made Nigeria better than I found it from an economic perspective.
I found $3.7 billion in the reserves and we were spending $3.5 billion to service our debt. By the time I left, we had a debt of about $36 billion with the debt relief, and I left with a debt of $3.6 billion. Also, I left a reserve of over $50 billion. I also achieved excess crude for the country worth over $25 billion.”
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who defined success as leaving a place better than one found it, claimed that he achieved this during his administration through outstanding records. He urged the corps members from Lagos and Ogun states, who attended the three-day boot camp, to dedicate their lives to advancing national development.
He said: “National development is a collective responsibility, and education is very important as an instrument that you can use to contribute optimally to national development.” The former President also advised the youths to be dynamic, idealistic, inquisitive, and not take anything for granted.
