OBJ was by a long shot the best president Nigeria has ever produced.
What most detractors of OBJ do not realize is that it takes a lot of ingenuity to get anything done in Nigeria because of the many opposing interests
groups in every nook and cranny of Nigeria who at all costs want to service their own interests via the treasury.

For OBJ to keep power, he had to rule the way he did. How many presidents can survive their terms with the threat of impeachment
looming over their heads every second? OBJ survived because he understood the system and he realized that he had to give and take.
Does anyone remember the furniture allowance saga? OBJ almost got impeached for that crap

Just to mention a few of his achievements

GDP
The GDP of Nigeria that had been stagnant at around $35billion in 1998 was more than quadrupled to over $200B in 2007 by OBJ.

Debt forgiveness: In his first two years or so, OBJ canvassed all over the world to bring attention to the insidious effect
of debt service on developing nations.  Eventually, Nigeria's debt to Paris club was forgiven.

Stock Exchange: The Nigeria stock exchange that was half-dead was resuscitated.  Nigerians started to invest
in stocks and bonds.
 
Bank Consolidation: For once, Nigerian banks are now competing globally because of
their new found market capitalization status after the consolidation

Foreign Investment:. OBJ provided a business atmosphere that encouraged foreign investors to invest in Nigeria.
Before 1999,  little or direct foreign investment came into Nigeria.

Privatization: Perhaps in my own opinion, OBJ’s biggest achievement. Simply put, governments have no business in commercial activity for a long-term
Parastatals which by design provide the conduit for embezzlement were privatized by OBJ. Some noise makers will argue that his
friends benefited the most of the privatization process. True dat to some extent, every government to some extent favors certain groups.
There is nothing new in that so long as the objective of the privatization is met -remove government from the business sector.
The same non-functional parastatals are now functioning optimally in the private sector.
When was the last time did anyone hear of flour (bread) scarcity?  It used to be a norm
during the previous regimes. Privatization of Flourmills has taken care of that issue.
Same goes for the National Port. It used to be a nightmare to clear vehicles, now one can clear a vehicle within three days after a ship docks.

EFCC: EFCC was created by OBJ. Regardless of what detractors might say. It is on record that no previous government in Nigeria
had previously done anything to curb embezzlement in Nigeria.
Detractors will call it selective prosecution, but please tell me who of those prosecuted that was not guilty as charged.  Alams? Tafa? Ibori? Dariye?
Communication:  specifically, telephone; everyone can attest to that. It is self evident today.  Besides the abundance of cell-phones,
Nigeria telecom corps are now seen everywhere. Globacom (fully indigenous) is now competing globally with other giant telecoms.

Does OBJ have his short comings? Of course! (The list is long) Personally, I think he got distracted towards the end by his third-term agenda and his feud with Atiku.
In all, I will rate him the best out of all the past presidents Nigeria has ever had.
Sad but true.

keyremotes:

Funny about life.
If all the posters hating OBJ here had half a chance to be president of Nigeria,
they would HAVE DONE FAR WORSE.

Truth be told, HE IS THE BEST WE EVER HAD.

Mr know all speak for yourself. WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO JUDGE AND CONDEMN 200 million NIGERIANS. GET OUT OF HERE and go and do your spin in another country or create your own country.

IN YOUR LIFE TIME HOW MANY NIGERIANS HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO?

HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO 100,000 NIGERIANS?



YES THERE ARE BAD PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY BUT TO SAY ALL OF US ARE PROGRAMED TO DO EVIL OR TO FAIL IS AN INSULT. YOU ARE SHOWING THAT YOU AN AGENT OF DESTRUCTION TO NIGERIA WITH STATEMENT LIKE THIS.

RETRACT NOW .,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,., IT IS BETTER ASK WHAT WOULD THEY HAVE DONE BETTER AND HOW WOULD THEY GO BY IT.

OBJ was by a long shot the best president Nigeria has ever produced.
What most detractors of OBJ do not realize is that it takes a lot of ingenuity to get anything done in Nigeria because of the many opposing interests
groups in every nook and cranny of Nigeria who at all costs want to service their own interests via the treasury.

For OBJ to keep power, he had to rule the way he did. How many presidents can survive their terms with the threat of impeachment
looming over their heads every second? OBJ survived because he understood the system and he realized that he had to give and take.
Does anyone remember the furniture allowance saga? OBJ almost got impeached for that crap

Just to mention a few of his achievements

GDP
The GDP of Nigeria that had been stagnant at around $35billion in 1998 was more than quadrupled to over $200B in 2007 by OBJ.

Debt forgiveness: In his first two years or so, OBJ canvassed all over the world to bring attention to the insidious effect
of debt service on developing nations.  Eventually, Nigeria's debt to Paris club was forgiven.

Stock Exchange: The Nigeria stock exchange that was half-dead was resuscitated.  Nigerians started to invest
in stocks and bonds.
 
Bank Consolidation: For once, Nigerian banks are now competing globally because of
their new found market capitalization status after the consolidation

Foreign Investment:. OBJ provided a business atmosphere that encouraged foreign investors to invest in Nigeria.
Before 1999,  little or direct foreign investment came into Nigeria.

Privatization: Perhaps in my own opinion, OBJ’s biggest achievement. Simply put, governments have no business in commercial activity for a long-term
Parastatals which by design provide the conduit for embezzlement were privatized by OBJ. Some noise makers will argue that his
friends benefited the most of the privatization process. True dat to some extent, every government to some extent favors certain groups.
There is nothing new in that so long as the objective of the privatization is met -remove government from the business sector.
The same non-functional parastatals are now functioning optimally in the private sector.
When was the last time did anyone hear of flour (bread) scarcity?  It used to be a norm
during the previous regimes. Privatization of Flourmills has taken care of that issue.
Same goes for the National Port. It used to be a nightmare to clear vehicles, now one can clear a vehicle within three days after a ship docks.

EFCC: EFCC was created by OBJ. Regardless of what detractors might say. It is on record that no previous government in Nigeria
had previously done anything to curb embezzlement in Nigeria.
Detractors will call it selective prosecution, but please tell me who of those prosecuted that was not guilty as charged.  Alams? Tafa? Ibori? Dariye?
Communication:  specifically, telephone; everyone can attest to that. It is self evident today.  Besides the abundance of cell-phones,
Nigeria telecom corps are now seen everywhere. Globacom (fully indigenous) is now competing globally with other giant telecoms.

Does OBJ have his short comings? Of course! (The list is long) Personally, I think he got distracted towards the end by his third-term agenda and his feud with Atiku.
In all, I will rate him the best out of all the past presidents Nigeria has ever had.
Sad but true.

@vangogh

u couldnt have said it better. , but there is one thing u left out
and that is taming and rebalancing the military and making sure there was return to professionalism

i used to remember,back then ppl wondering how an igbo man,or ijaw man or yoruba man or calabar man could rule Nigeria
with the military the way it was then. . .heavilly tilted to the north

what obasanjo did was to first retire all military personnel that ever held a political post
then he ensured that recruitments are done equally from all states of the federation
also his bringing back of professionalism to the service means that
all u need as a leader from whatever part of the country
is to appoint your service chiefs,and then everything flows from there

this is not an easy achievement,and perhaps only obasanjo
as a former military ruler could have gotten away with this. . .

cheers. .heres looking forward to a southeast,south-south or fashola presidency in 2015

This is a warning to OBJ and his family.Their days are numbered!

rethink:


Mr know all speak for yourself. WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO JUDGE AND CONDEMN 200 million NIGERIANS. GET OUT OF HERE and go and do your spin in another country or create your own country.

IN YOUR LIFE TIME HOW MANY NIGERIANS HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO?

HAVE YOU SPOKEN TO 100,000 NIGERIANS?

YES THERE ARE BAD PEOPLE IN OUR COUNTRY BUT TO SAY ALL OF US ARE PROGRAMED TO DO EVIL OR TO FAIL IS AN INSULT. YOU ARE SHOWING THAT YOU AN AGENT OF DESTRUCTION TO NIGERIA WITH STATEMENT LIKE THIS.

RETRACT NOW .,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,., IT IS BETTER ASK WHAT WOULD THEY HAVE DONE BETTER AND HOW WOULD THEY GO BY IT.

I think you should take you fight else where.
How many Nigerians have you spoken to in your own life time?
This is a forum and everyone is allowed to express his or herself.

I ask you. WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DO DIFFERENTLY OR BETTER THAN OBJ IF YOU HAD HALF THE CHANCE HE HAD?

paddy_lo:

@vangogh

u couldnt have said it better. , but there is one thing u left out
and that is taming and rebalancing the military and making sure there was return to professionalism

i used to remember,back then ppl wondering how an igbo man,or ijaw man or yoruba man or calabar man could rule Nigeria
with the military the way it was then. . .heavilly tilted to the north

what obasanjo did was to first retire all military personnel that ever held a political post
then he ensured that recruitments are done equally from all states of the federation
also his bringing back of professionalism to the service means that
all u need as a leader from whatever part of the country
is to appoint your service chiefs,and then everything flows from there

this is not an easy achievement,and perhaps only obasanjo
as a former military ruler could have gotten away with this. . .

cheers. .heres looking forward to a southeast,south-south or fashola presidency in 2015

I BEG TELL THEM WELL O.
SO THAT THOSE WITH EARS WILL HEAR.

Wao vangogh really beat me to this analysis of OBJ tenure. i was about stating almost all he listed. However, i will like to re-emphasise some part vangogh's writeup>>>>>

OBJ was by a long shot the best president Nigeria has ever produced.
What most detractors of OBJ do not realize is that it takes a lot of ingenuity to get anything done in Nigeria because of the many opposing interests
groups in every nook and cranny of Nigeria who at all costs want to service their own interests via the treasury.
For OBJ to keep power, he had to rule the way he did. How many presidents can survive their terms with the threat of impeachment
looming over their heads every second? OBJ survived because [b]he understood the system[/b]Perfectly(Dont know of any1 for now who does for now) and he realized that [b]he had to give and take.[/b]Does anyone remember the furniture allowance saga? OBJ almost got impeached for that crap


Welldone Vangogh!!!!

The fact that I am working today in a good company is because of OBJ local content initiatives. I gained that one from him.

He is respected internationally

he also chose a great team, Okonjo Iweala, Ribadu, Dora Akuniyi, Atiku Abubakar and many others

many of them in the right positions


OFFICE NAME TERM
President Olusegun Obasanjo 1999–2007
Vice President Atiku Abubakar 1999–2007

Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Alhaji Adamu Bello 1999–2007
Minister of Commerce and Industry Aliyu Modibbo Umar 1999–2007
Minister of Defence Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma 1999–2003
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso 2003–2006
Thomas I. Aguiyi-Ironsi 2006–2007
Minister of Education Obiageli Ezekwesili 2003–2007
Minister of Energy Edmund Daukoru 2003–2007
Minister of Environment and Housing Helen Esuene 2003–2007
Minister of FCT Administration Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai 2003–2007
Minister of Finance Adamu Ciroma 1999–2003
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 2003–2006
Nnenadi Usman 2006–2007
Minister of Foreign Affairs Sule Lamido 1999–2003
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala 2006–2006
Joy Ogwu 2006–2007
Minister of Aviation Femi Fani Kayode 2006–2007
Minister of Health ABC Nwosu 2001–2003
Eyitayo Lambo 2003–2007
Minister of Information and Communication Jerry Gana 1999–2003
Frank Nweke, Jr. 2003–2007
Minister of the Interior Mohammed Shata 1999–2003
Minister of Justice (Attorney General) Bola Ige 1999–2002
Kanu Agabi 2002–2003
Bayo Ojo 2003–2007
Minister of Labour Hassan Muhammed Lawal 2003–2007
Minister of Mines and Steel Development Lesley Obiorah 2003–2007
Minister of Science and Technology Pauline Tallen 1999–2003
Isoun Turner 2003–2007
Minister of Transport Kema Chikwe 1999–2001
Ojo Maduekwe 2001–2003
Precious Sekibo 2003–2007
Minister of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation Femi Fani Kayode 2006–2006
Babalola Borisade 2006–2007
Minister of Works and Housing Tony Anenih 1999–2003
Isaiah Balat 1999–2000
Minister of Youth Development S. A. Jakanda 2003–2007
Minister of Women Affairs Maryam Ciroma 2003–2007
NAME TERM
Chief of Staff Major-General Abdullahi Mohammed (Rtd.) 1999–2007
National Security Adviser Lt. General Aliyu Mohammed (Rtd.) 1999–2006
Special Adviser on Communications Onyema Ugochukwu 1999–2006
Press Secretary Doyin Okupe 1999–2002
Oluremi Oyo 2002–2007
Chairman, Niger Delta Development Commission Onyema Ugochukwu 2000–2004
Samuel Edem 2005–present
Chairman, National Planning Commission Abdullahi M. Wali 2003–2007
Chairman, National Sports Commission Bala Bawa Ka'oje 2003–2007

i thank all nigerians who are here to praise the good works of obj as the best president of nigeria.
well, this is nothing but a way of saying we have settled for backwardness.
nigeria, a country occupying the no 6 position in the highest oil suppliers in the world and what we celebrate here is darkness, insecurty, bad roads, poor educational systems, mal-treated police force, corruption, poor facilities and infrstructures.
who knows what countries with electricity supply,, pipe born water, security, good health care, quality police force, good roads, quality electorial systems will be celebrating?
we are as sick in our brains as yar adua.
if travelling out is a crime, be a criminal and take a walk down to benin republic, down to togo, ghana, ivory coast, senegal just to mention but a few west african countries who are surposed to be running errands for us in nigeria and u will see the reverse.
non of u praise worshipers have asked himself while the children of our rulers tarvel abroad for their education, health care, shopping and practically everything they want for their lives when we have the best president who ruled for eight years.
some fools will tell u rome was not built in a day but non will say how long it took t-o build rome. dubai was said to built under 15 years yet obj and his supporters see nothing wrong in wasting 8 uninterupted years.
the most stupid thing abt us as a people is our attitude of taking the most uncomfortable environment as our comfort zone.
the shame of different sounds of chinese generators in all parts of nigeria is enough to kill obasanjo by hanging.
efcc the most effective corruption fighting in the body told nigerians that among our past presidents, abacha was the only one guilty of corruption and we all settled quickly for that. the same ribadu told us that bode george was one of the best men alive in nigeria and we all said to ur tense oh isreal until the woman of quality said otherwise by relocating the white hair criminal to kirikiri maximum prisons where he will cool off for just two yrs before coming out to enjoy his loots and become the next best president.
shame to this thing called nigeria.

Obasanjo did well the only thing i hold against him is him endorsing Yar'adua instead of Atiku and that was because of their broken relationship apart from that Atiku would have taken over and we would have had continuity

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

amen!!

With all Baba did ! then we still have a long way to go

NSNA:

He is respected internationally

Am sorry you all are nothing but a.g.i.p you must have made a fortune from patronsing OBJ
at the expense of the commonwealth of generality of Nigerians,
Go ahead continue to sing his praises he needs it afterall, I understand you all better now!!!

afemai:

Am sorry you all are nothing but a.g.i.p you must have made a fortune from patronsing OBJ
at the expense of the commonwealth of generality of Nigerians,
Go ahead continue to sing his praises he needs it afterall, I understand you all better now!!!

You don't have to benefit from someone to highlight his positive contributions and it is sad to equate any positive statement to being a recipient of any fortune just because for your own personal reasons you dislike the man.

Facts will always favor him based on what he did regardless of his short comings.

OBJ has his good side which lovers of his good work has listed out, but to be sincere his ugly side are indeed unspeakable.
I can never say he is the best, because may b one day the best man would come, can't tell when.

Livvvvy:

OBJ has his good side which lovers of his good work has listed out, but to be sincere his ugly side are indeed unspeakable.
I can never say he is the best, because may b one day the best man would come, can't tell when.

I Honestly share ur views and i pray a better leader than OBJ will come up very soon and why not now(Jonathan). Unfortunately, till then i strongly feel he is the best we av had so far.

With all that we see now

- Unemployment rising
- Depleted Excess Crude Account
- Increase in Foreign Debt
- Reduced Foreign Reserve
- Lawmakers pay increased by almost times 10
- Fitch Rating of Nigeria's credit outlook to Negative

I need to say again Obasanjo is one of Nigeria's best Presidents so far!
When former President Obasanjo left office all of the above was moving in a positive direction!

The only good thing OBJ did was to hand over and handing over to Yaradua.

Obj is the worst president in our history, when he came in govt was welcomed with a great amount of goodwill, when he handed over the new govt came in with a terrible amount of badwill because of the experience from him.

Yaradua had to reverse Objs last actions, the sale of the refineries, increase in fuel prices and VAT, this same fuel prices have been reduced twice, the product is no more scarce, the refineries are working now, I stay in PH and the gas been flared fromthe refinery is evidence to show that the refinery is working.

Obj gave licences to 5 communication coys at $285m each, what did this money do for our economy or infrastruture.

Obj is the greatest failure as a leader in this country, he may not be the worst but he squandered all our opportunities he never laid any foundation was just about quick fixes thast is y all he seemed to have achieved has collapsed, but Yaradua laid solid foundations, because of Yaraduas positon on rule of law thats why we are seein govs been declared by the courts and they are taking over, The judicisry is indeed very free the govt of today does not attempt to manipulate them.

Buhari was a better president to Obj and Obj is easliy the biggedt failure

It's so funny that after EFCC was created, corruption got even worst. like the halliburton case, in which OBJ himself is/was the biggest suspect.

its a shame that in a country as large and verse in res. We have decided to sett. 4 obj as d best pres. All d above achievements are what is expected of a gd leader, one question is what do we pay our so called leaders to do if not to at least perform the basics.to me obj fail us woefully.

OBJ!!!!!! Mtscheeeewwwww

History and Prosperity will condemn him for his senseless atrocities.

Poster, how much did he pay you? You should bow your head in shame. If you escape justice here, you and your mentor will pay for all the atrocities over there

With all that we see now

- Unemployment rising
- Depleted Excess Crude Account
- Increase in Foreign Debt
- Reduced Foreign Reserve
- Lawmakers pay increased by almost times 10
- Fitch Rating of Nigeria's credit outlook to Negative

I need to say again Obasanjo is one of Nigeria's best Presidents so far!
When former President Obasanjo left office all of the above was moving in a positive direction!

@poster,
if u go back to january when u first brought this topic, u will see that many nigerians supported u but if u look at the response on this ur second coming, u will agree with me that as the day breaks, ppl get closer to the truth.
every success without a successor is a failure.
our successful obasanjo has no successors. he imposed yar adua and jonathan on us just to cover up his evils.
in his 8 yrs, obasanjo failed to have an established institution. look at his efcc was more of ribadu than efcc. look at his soludo fake solidification exposed by the sanusi regime making nigerians to know that all we have at the helm of our banks are only criminal minded cecilia ibrus.
look at our electorial systems, a shame. look at our police, dirty and poor. look at our roads, look at our hospitals, look at our schools, electricity supply.
if obasanjo represents best in ur views, am sorry u need to think twice.
is it possible u consult ur dictionary for a better understanding of the word best.

marvix:


Yaradua had to reverse Objs last actions, the sale of the refineries, increase in fuel prices and VAT, this same fuel prices have been reduced twice, the product is no more scarce, the refineries are working now, I stay in PH and the gas been flared fromthe refinery is evidence to show that the refinery is working.

Yar'adua was deceived to believe obasanjo's policies were wrong thats why he reversed them, as of today can someone, anyone tell me what this present administration has achieved. NOTHING!

I dont support some of what Obasanjo did, but we have to be honest here, when he was in power the Nigerian Economy became stronger, plus Obasanjo was able to select people to head various office that were effective for example: Okonjo Iweala, Soludo, Dora Akunyili, Ribadu, El-rufai and the list goes on.

Its unfortunate if you all cannot see how the economy is crumbling, and the increase in lawlessness in the country.

1025:

every success without a successor is a failure.
our successful obasanjo has no successors. he imposed yar adua and jonathan on us just to cover up his evils.
in his 8 yrs, obasanjo failed to have an established institution. look at his efcc was more of ribadu than efcc. look at his soludo fake solidification exposed by the sanusi regime making nigerians to know that all we have at the helm of our banks are only criminal minded cecilia ibrus.
look at our electorial systems, a shame. look at our police, dirty and poor. look at our roads, look at our hospitals, look at our schools, electricity supply.

Obasanjo chose Yar'adua hoping that he will continue with his goals and policies, unfortunately the North interfered and turned it around. Who among the northern governors would have been a better option??.
EFCC during Ribadu was a worldclass organisation the Courts Failed to do their jobs
Soludos consolidation created more jobs, and improved the Nigerian economy than sanusi's gra gra can ever do
All you have listed what has the present administration done?? (Efcc is now talk talk talk and goes the others you have mentioned)

Fitch Revises Nigeria's Credit Outlook To Negative

October 23, 2010 10:18AM

Fitch Ratings on Friday lowered its sovereign credit outlook on Nigeria to negative from stable, citing the depletion of its windfall oil savings and heightened political uncertainty ahead of elections next year.

Nigeria's rating of BB-minus, three notches below investment grade, was affirmed, Fitch said in a statement.

The ratings agency said continued withdrawals from the excess crude account (ECA), into which Africa's biggest oil producer saves crude oil earnings above a benchmark price, and lower forex reserves were a threat to economic stability.

"The depletion of the ECA and continued gradual fall in international reserves at a time of high oil prices and record high oil production is a major concern," sovereign ratings analyst Veronica Kalema said in the statement.

"In addition, elections in the first half of next year have increased short-term political uncertainty," she said.

Standard & Poor's rates Nigeria one notch lower at B-plus.

Analysts said the Fitch revision was unlikely to affect the pricing of Nigeria's forthcoming $500 million debut global bond, which it plans to issue by the end of the year to establish a benchmark in the international market.

"Ahead of its maiden Eurobond, the market implications of the Fitch outlook revision are probably limited," said Razia Khan, lead economist for Africa at Standard Chartered.

"However, there is considerable market expectation that any eventual external debt issuance by Nigeria is likely to trade tighter than similarly-rated peers," she said.

The excess crude account is meant to guard sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy against sharp drops in world oil prices and was a pillar of reforms launched in 2003 backed by the International Monetary Fund.

But there is no clear legal basis to determine how ECA funds should be shared between the federal, state and local governments and the savings have fallen to less than $500 million from $20 billion in 2007 amid political wrangling.

President Goodluck Jonathan last month sent a bill to parliament to create a sovereign wealth fund, which the government says will give a more transparent and firmer legal basis to manage oil savings.

But Fitch said it would be a challenge to implement this ahead of the elections, likely to be held in April.

Read More: http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/Money/Finance/5633619-146/fitch_revises_nigerias_credit_outlook_to.csp