Former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has lambasted the Federal Government in the way and manner its taking loans, saying borrowing for recurrent expenditure is ‘foolish’.
In a video interview posted on Channel’s Television Facebook page, the one time President stated that borrowing and accumulating debt for the next generations to come is criminal.
He said, “If you want to build a commercial house and you go and borrow money, and you have 50 per cent of your own money and you borrow 50 per cent and in five years, you pay the 50 per cent that you borrowed. That is a wise thing to do. But if you have to go and borrow money for you to be able to feed yourself and your family, that is a stupid thing to do.
“So, if we are borrowing for recurrent expenditure, it is the height of foolery. If we are borrowing for development that can pay itself, that is understandable; then how long will it pay itself? But we are borrowing and accumulating debt for the next generation and the next generation after them, it is criminal, to put it mildly. What are we borrowing for?
“When I came into government and was elected President, we were spending $3.5bn to service debt, and even with that, our quantum of debt was not going down.”
It is noteworthy that the present administration has borrowed a total of N21tn within six years.
