ABEOKUTA—Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, held a-three-hour- closed door meeting with five governors of the people’s Democratic Party, PDP, in his home and declared that, the problems facing the country are redeemable.
Obasanjo who hosted to Governors Godswill Akpabio of Akwa-Ibom, Babangida Aliyu of Niger, Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi and Liyel Imoke of Cross-River states said the closed door meeting was to deliberate on the serious problems affecting the country.
The governors who were led by the Chairman of PDP governors, Akpabio, into the palatial private home of the former President located at Olusegun Obasanjo Hiltop, in Abeokuta at 12:noon went straight to one of the private rooms of the former President for the meeting.
Addressing newsmen, Obasanjo thanked the governors for their concern for the nation, saying; “They were concerned about what you may call the situation of the nation-security and economy.
‘’I have raised most of what we discussed in my own public pronouncements in recent times, not to castigate anybody, not to bad-mouth anybody, not to run anybody down, but, out of genuine concern for the situation of this country and that is the same thing that brought them and I want to thank them.
“When we looked at these issues closely, very objectively, we came to the conclusion that, we have a bad situation, but, not irredeemably bad. Something can still be done and what now is required is the will and the courage to do something when and how it needs to be done. We agreed on that.
“I appreciate their coming to me because of the respect and honour they have for me, this task is not for one man and it is not even a task for one group, it is a task that requires all hands on deck and as they have said and assured me, they will hold this type of consultation with other leaders in the interest of this country which is ours and for which we have no alternatives.
“The other day, somebody told me he knows NADECO route but I do not want to follow NADECO route.
It is incumbent on us to do what is right , with men like them; Issa Yuguda, Godswill Akpabio, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu the Chief Servant, Sule Lamido and a very good Liyel Imoke, who are colleagues with whom I have worked, they will like to call themselves my sons.”
On falling oil price
When asked if he was scared over the dwindling price of oil and the attendant consequences on the economy, Obasanjo said, he was never scared but, lamented that Nigeria should have prepared for the rainy day.
He said “I am never scared by anything but I am concerned that firstly, when we had surplus, we did not remember the rainy day, now ,that the rainy day is staring us in the face, we must be honest and courageous enough to do what is right, to let the nation know and then to take the steps that will put it right as quickly as possible and you do not need to be an oracle or a world bank expert or an International Monetary Fund expert to know that our economy is not what it should be.
“And this is not the first time we would hear it, we have heard it in the past when of course I came in in1999, the price of oil was about $9 and we realised that we had a problem, we even made budget that we could not fund but we realised that we were in a serious situation and we took steps, within two to three years, we were able to sail through, the price of fuel started moving up.
“Do not forget that there was a time during the Iraqi war, price of fuel rose to $42 and then it came down to $9, the one that we have now, we do not know when it would bottom and at what price it would bottom but we can weather the storm if we take measure that we should take it and when to take it”.
Akpabio speaks
While speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Akpabio said the governors who were elected on the platform of the PDP decided to pay a visit to the former President because of the role he played in the emergence of the current democracy and the role he played both nationally and internationally.
He said: “So, we decided that it is important for us to come and consult with him, as he said, pay our respect, discuss the affairs of the nation and then to tap from his wealth of wisdom.
“The intention here is that all Nigerians are determined to reposition the country, we have no other country than Nigeria and so, no matter the challenges we may face today, we must work together as a team to redeem the situation. I want to thank our dear leader for receiving us and for what he said that the situation is redeemable and that we must also consult other leaders and work to ensure that the country is redeemed.”
Also speaking, Governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida Aliyu said: “ We have come to consult with the oracle of leadership and politics of this country and we have benefited tremendously with our coming.”
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