2009 Will be a tough year, Obasanjo warns
•VP prays for economic stability
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja and Jaiyeola Andrew in Abeokuta, 01.02.2009

Friday, January 2, 2009

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked Nigerians to make adjustments in their lifestyle this year, warning that the global economic recession will take its toll on the country and affect the inflow of foreign investments.



In Abuja, Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan joined other Christians to pray for an economically stable Nigeria in the years ahead.

Obasanjo spoke yesterday while playing host to Ogun State Governor Otunba Gbenga Daniel at his hilltop residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

He called on Nigerians to prepare for “major adjustments” in every facet of life in the new year, pointing out that the world was going through economic recession that is unprecedented since the end of the Second World War.

According to the former President, “It does not matter which part of the world we are… it does not matter what we produce or the level of our development… this recession will touch everyone of us.”

Obasanjo, who maintained that the economic crisis would discourage foreign direct investment in Nigeria and utilisation of local resources, said: “If we base the budget on $45 per barrel in the year 2009 and the prices of crude oil fall below $40, we don’t need an oracle to tell us that we need to tighten our belts. That is the outlook for the world economically and it is not too bright because whatever affects the rest of the world will affect Africa and Nigeria.”

He said Nigerians must be “proactive and innovative” to enhance revenue from other sources, saying the gloomy global outlook “may not allow us to grow as we have grown in the past” – probably a reference to the projected GDP growth rates that is expected to make Nigeria’s economy among the top 20 in the world by the year 2020.

He lamented dwindling investment in agriculture, and warned that another food crisis was in the horizon if there was no change globally.

According to him, “Five years away from now, unless something is done drastically, there will be food crisis that is monumental. It is preventable and there is no reason why we should make it happen.”

“The time has come to tell our people to adjust. The advice of cutting your clothes according to your size will not be applicable as we need to now cut our clothes according to the size of our clothes,” he added.

Obasanjo preached a similar “belt-tightening” message following the drop in oil prices while he was military head of state in the 1970s, asking Nigerians to go back to agriculture.

In Abuja, Jonathan prayed for abundant peace and economic stability in Nigeria in the year 2009.

The Vice-President, who spoke shortly after attending a New Year Day Thanksgiving Service at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in Life Camp, Gwarinpa, also said the recent crisis in Jos, Plateau State, was detrimental to the entire citizenry, but prayed that such crisis would be the last to be witnessed in the country.

He expressed hope that Nigeria will remain focused economically despite declining trends at the global level, and wished all Nigerians happiness in the New Year.

“We believe that as a nation, we would be more focused this year irrespective of the global economic recession. We are also hopeful that with the peace we have achieved across the country, government will be more focused to ensure that things are done the right way. We wish all Nigerians a happy New Year and assure them that we will maintain the steam in a manner that will bring happiness to all,” he said.

Jonathan, who was at the service with his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, his mother, Mrs. Ayi Jonathan, and his children, led other worshippers in intercessory prayers asking abundant blessings from God for the nation in 2009.

He prayed for God’s wisdom and guidance upon the country’s leaders at all levels of governance.

The Vice-President had also joined other Nigerians in New Year Eve worship and thanksgiving to God “for seeing the nation through 2008” and to usher in the year 2009 at the St. Matthew’s Church in Maitama, Abuja.

Jonathan, in celebration mood shortly after the New Year dawned, thanked Nigerians for their persistent prayers for the present administration and the country, noting that though 2008 was eventful, “God Almighty deserves our thanksgiving as a nation for ushering us into the New Year in health and peace”.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/jan/2/200.html

Nohing Obasanjo says is still relevant anyway.

Obo lagido! This fool should just shut his colossal simian trap! Which year in recent times hasn't been tough for Nigeria. He is part of the reason things are so bad in the first place. Now he opens his mouth predicting the obvious. Maybe he should get a crystal ball, wear a scarf, learn a Jamaican accent and join Ms. Cleo in beng a two-bit soothsayer.

Obo lagido! This fool should just shut his colossal simian trap! Which year in recent times hasn't been tough for Nigeria. He is part of the reason things are so bad in the first place. Now he opens his mouth predicting the obvious. Maybe he should get a crystal ball, wear a scarf, learn a Jamaican accent and join Ms. Cleo in beng a two-bit soothsayer.

Why call an experienced leader like Obasanjo a fool? You didn't have to do that in order to pass your message.

Why call an experienced leader like Obasanjo a fool? You didn't have to do that in order to pass your message.

OBJ is OLD FOOL.

during his 8yrs nigerians suffered. a whole ODI-village was wiped-out and about 10,000 Nigerians died for nothing.

He deserves to be ignored and forgetten to rubbish of history!

Who is this muthaphucker to advise us??

Ths country gets me mad daily !!! This man in another environment should be preparing for a lengthy jail term !!

Unbelievable !! Just a sad commentary on a country blessed with potentials + visionless leaders.

earTHMama:

Why call an experienced leader like Obasanjo a fool? You didn't have to do that in order to pass your message.

Funmi,
You seem to be related to this guy??
You should know he plunged us further into disrepair with his 1st term wasted-travelling over 200 times in 4 years-fighting Atiku/Tinubu/Orji etc without any reason but 'god complex'-No power despite N3 trillion spent-Presidential libray fiasco-3rd term deception - 'Kill&go' politics-Yar'Adull imposition/imbroglio butt.

In summary, this your 'experienced leader' was a colossal disaster !!

Please don't misunderstand our erstwhile Maximum Leader.

Obasanjo was merely stating that since he single-handedly stole the entire 16 billion-dollar federal budgetary allocation that had been set aside for the resuscitation Nigeria's long-dead electricity generation infrastructure, and since his 500-pound daughter stole all the money intended for equipping state hospitals during her own treasury looting spree, it stands to reason that Nigeria is in deep chit as a result.

There is no need to be alarmed at this simple cause and effect comment made by a very rich master thief whose delight over his haul is only exceeded by his relief and gratitude for his continued impunity,

C'mon! Stop OBJ bashing, at least he wasn't the worst president Nigeria ever had,

Most Igbo people seem to like to bash OBJ, maybe they are pissed about the fact that Igbo president will never rule this country again.

tough-tougher-toughest.
he shld be talking about the toughest and not tough.
nigerians experienced tough situation before 1999 and things became tougher when obj came in with his thugs. nigerians's refusal of third term and the imposition of yar adua on us could be what obj is trying to explain to us.
if there is anything nigerians would want to hear from obj now, it is his retirement speech from politics.
all we need now is obj's exist so that nigerians and nigeria will be free from him.

the year will be less rough for nigerians if he release all stolen monies including that of phcn from iyabo someone should tell the old fart.

obj??

can we for once judge the statement the man made based on its merits?
OBJ is just right, things will surely get worse, because the country is in auto-pilot. There is no direction and the world is in the middle of a major financial crisis. Official corruption is stacking, government's lethargic weakness and lack of will is most apparent save for the campaign against Ribadu. Tell me, what is government doing right bow?, we only hear of a baseless 7-point agenda. I don't know our government's major policy as we are talking.

To me, these are the indices to tell you to tighten you belt, for your salvation is still far off. Remember, that guy was a former president of this country,

Yeah right, like he achieved any economical landmark during his time

What does that old man mean? I wonder!

Who can decipher the reasoning behind this he’s co called warning

while im not a fan of obj,i think the comments were taken out of context,if gani fawehinmi said 2009 will be a tough year,no one ll bat an eyelid, but i guess ppl are understandably pissed off with obj being the cause of some but not all of the problems, obj has been out of government for more than a year now,and its visually evident that his sphere of influence and loyalists have been cut off from the government of yar adua,but still things seem to be getting worse now than even in the obj era, as a past president who did a bit but not enough and handed over a country with debts fully paid and enough money in their accounts to yar adua,i think he has earned the right to make that comment and deserves some respect

can we for once judge the statement the man made based on its merits?
OBJ is just right, things will surely get worse, because the country is in auto-pilot. There is no direction and the world is in the middle of a major financial crisis. Official corruption is stacking, government's lethargic weakness and lack of will is most apparent save for the campaign against Ribadu. Tell me, what is government doing right bow?, we only hear of a baseless 7-point agenda. I don't know our government's major policy as we are talking.

To me, these are the indices to tell you to tighten you belt, for your salvation is still far off. Remember, that guy was a former president of this country,

Spot on.

Funmi,
You seem to be related to this guy??
You should know he plunged us further into disrepair with his 1st term wasted-travelling over 200 times in 4 years-fighting Atiku/Tinubu/Orji etc without any reason but 'god complex'-No power despite N3 trillion spent-Presidential libray fiasco-3rd term deception - 'Kill&go' politics-Yar'Adull imposition/imbroglio butt.

In summary, this your 'experienced leader' was a colossal disaster !!

He had his bad moments but he wasn't a colossal failure. As a matter of fact, he was the best president Nigeria has ever produced.

And no, I am not related to him.

the best president Nigeria has ever produced.

God save the country then.

obj is correct but the problem is that nigerians are aware of what he is saying before now.
if a presient could not suceed in eight years in giving us power supply, good roads, security, and was unable to organise credible elections, we all expected a hard time so we don't need to be reminded of it.
please to you all supporters of obj, could you please tell nigerians the reasons or even reasons for his inability to provide nigerians with the above mentioned armenities even with him as president and minister of petrolium.

@Topic
Yeah. Our king orgre has seen to it. You can ignore him to your own peril.

bleeping bastard.

@post
I have observed that majority of people that keep bashing OBJ , atleast 60% of them are based abroad. It seems to me that, its either they ve lost touch with the reality and complexity of the Nigerian State or they re simply not getting firsthand information or they re just bitter or both.

OBJ did not score A+ but I challenge anyone on this forum to tell me any Nigerian leader in recent time that achieved as much as OBJ  giving the prevailing circumstances of the country when he was president.

Talk is very cheap on this forum, but the truth is, Government is a continuity project. Successive govt must builds on the successes of their predecessors for us to arrive at our destination. OBJ took over at a time when we were at our lowest ebb and it took him almost 4yrs to stabilized the polity from the brink of disintegration. Prior to that time succession and pathing of ways  were issues being discussed in Nigeria. He fought so many battles to calm nerves and other centrifugal forces in Nigeria, today, we re now talking of one Nigeria again. He went ahead to lay foundations in every sector of the economy, its like rebuilding the country Nigeria from the scratch, He has gut and confronted long standing developmental issues that past leaders left unattended to.

Our challenges as a nation are great, so much that before we can get to our desired destination it takes time and sacrifice. I conceded that supervision and monitoring in some sectors were very poor, but in other sectors his govt did well. Laying foundation for sustainable development in a complex state like ours is not a simple task ,but if successive govt had done something as small as what he did, we won't be here today.

If OBJ's statement is analyzed on its merit, just like somebody said if Gani had made the same statement, would people have responded the way they did? I think we should all take responsibilty for our problem as a nation.

I followed Ghana election and I was wondering if Nigeria system can produce two professors or intellectually inclined people as main candidates for presidential election, Prof Pat Utomi did not score 1% of the total votes cast in the 2007 presidential election. The truth is, as a people we prefer dummies to rule us, as in somebody that reflects our collective moral bankruptcy and dilema. Today, if Prof Soludo, Ndidi Okeke, Dora, Ngozi, Ribadu, El-rufai and a grade two teacher were to contest for Nigeria presidency, it would not be a suprise if a grade two teacher emerge as the winner. A leader is a reflection of his people, if as a people we detest anything that is good and orderly, then we don't deserve the kind of leaders that some minority among us are clamouring for. Except we make Nigeria work, nobody can make it work for us. It is not about bashing others, it is about putting aside bitterness and make our country a place all of us will be proud be.

SegzyJoe:

@post
I have observed that majority of people that keep bashing OBJ , atleast 60% of them are based abroad. It seems to me that, its either they ve lost touch with the reality and complexity of the Nigerian State or they re simply not getting firsthand information or they re just bitter or both.

You must get off that crack you've been smoking. Millions of Nigerians are struggling and you could still come online and type this crap about Obj being a fantastic leader. Are you serious? What planet are you on?

SegzyJoe:

OBJ did not score A+ but I challenge anyone on this forum to tell me any Nigerian leader in recent time that achieved as much as OBJ  giving the prevailing circumstances of the country when he was president.

He's the only president we've had in recent times and yes he's been woeful as there's no one to compare him to.

SegzyJoe:

He fought so many battles to calm nerves and other centrifugal forces in Nigeria.

This is not Chemistry mate.

SegzyJoe:

today, we re now talking of one Nigeria again.

Have you seen the many threads on Nairaland and all the cries of splitting up Nigeria into three or more?

SegzyJoe:

He went ahead to lay foundations in every sector of the economy, its like rebuilding the country Nigeria from the scratch, He has gut and confronted long standing developmental issues that past leaders left unattended to.

Yes I agree. The electricity has become worse than how he met it. Abacha's regime and Obj's regime, I cannot say how much Nigeria lost due to looted treasury and this guys have still not been punished. Loads of people were killed in his eight years of presidency, go and say that to their families. Four plane crashes in 49days, go and preach Obj's honesty to the families of those involved. 90million or more of my fellow citizens wallow in poverty, and have no access to good roads and water, tell them we're still in the early process of nation building and more so, the willing graduates who have struggled through university and have been unable to gain reasonable employment, tell them the same.

SegzyJoe:

Our challenges as a nation are great, so much that before we can get to our desired destination it takes time and sacrifice. I conceded that supervision and monitoring in some sectors were very poor, but in other sectors his govt did well. Laying foundation for sustainable development in a complex state like ours is not a simple task ,but if successive govt had done something as small as what he did, we won't be here today.

Trash,

SegzyJoe:

If OBJ's statement is analyzed on its merit, just like somebody said if Gani had made the same statement, would people have responded the way they did? I think we should all take responsibilty for our problem as a nation.

And who should take responsibility for the $16Billion in looted treasury?

SegzyJoe:

I followed Ghana election

Oh did you? That's commendable. At least it wasn't touted as Ghana's Selection. And did you see how many souls were lost (sarcasm) as compared to their neighbours who held a selection two years ago.

SegzyJoe:

and I was wondering if Nigeria system can produce two professors or intellectually inclined people as main candidates for presidential election, Prof Pat Utomi did not score 1% of the total votes cast in the 2007 presidential election. The truth is, as a people we prefer dummies to rule us, as in somebody that reflects our collective moral bankruptcy and dilema. Today, if Prof Soludo, Ndidi Okeke, Dora, Ngozi, Ribadu, El-rufai and a grade two teacher were to contest for Nigeria presidency, it would not be a suprise if a grade two teacher emerge as the winner.

Yar'Adua was once a university lecturer and did that make him a good leader? Fani Kayode is a cambridge graduate and his fellow croon in the financial attrocity of looting the funds meant for FAAN, What do you have to say to that?

Can you please take Obj's sack out of your mouth and start spitting something good that we could all listen to?

Thanks

Hope it will be a tough year for Obasanjo too where he surely goes to meet his maker.

Can you please take Obj's sack out of your mouth and start spitting something good that we could all listen to?

Thanks

Will you rather he say something not true that will sound good to your ears?

obj's word aint truthful

@BOSS,Na u save this guy(SegzyJoe),e for hear am today.

How can anyone say because we're outside naija,we don't know whats up?

Well truth be told,I ran for dear life after OBJ screwed up nigeria 

We'll truth be told,I ran for dear life after OBJ screwed up nigeria

How exactly did OBJ screw Naija that was already screwed up by IBB and Sani Abacha?

earTHMama:

How exactly did OBJ screw Naija that was already screwed up by IBB and Sani Abacha?

By presiding over a larger oil boom than IBB and Abacha combined, but still leaving little or nothing on the ground save from paying off Paris Club Debt. The rest involved enriching himself, expanding his farm and building a university for himself - and a few white elephants like Abuja National Stadium too.

OBJ should shut up - if he completed power projects before leaving, we would at least enjoy that. It will be tough because he was the one who imposed the ill Yar'adua on Nigeria - the man who has been devoid of ideas or ability to move forward with any discernible plan.

earTHMama:

How exactly did OBJ screw Naija that was already screwed up by IBB and Sani Abacha?

So because IBB & Abacha messed up the country,what was one to reasonably expect from OBJ in 96 months?

I have enumerated his colossal failure in my first post here.

Truth be told we expected more with his background & 'experience'  !

Add to that the fact that one spent a sig % of his salary on things like OPC,mai-ruwa(water vendor),petrol,diesel,,kerosine,candles(yes all in one swoop) add to that the dangerous security situation,I don't think we have had so many assasinations/armed robbery in the history of Nigeria.


The man doesn't even have any inflence(moral or otherwise) on his successor 

How more screwed up can it get

This is why i said i love Nigeria, a man that has no value and has no clue on how to run a nation while milk was flowing too dey open mouth, no wonder Fela said, basket mouth wan open mouth again.
Monkey teaching people how to make adjustment, i will like to know how he has adjusted his lifestyle, oh, i forgot, he has stolen enuf that he wont need adjustment.