Vengeance- GEJ

Vengeance Against My Family, Govt Triggered Recession, Says Jonathan

                                                                       

                                         Corruption has worsened after my exit

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that the descent into recession by the country few months after his exit from office was self-inflicted by the APC government which came with a vengeance mission and name-calling rather than build on the gains of his administration.

The former president said in his book, My Transition Hours, that the clueless tag given to his government was an attempt to denigrate his person and that of those who served under him, stressing that no government in Nigeria’s history has had the opportunity of having such array of person working in one government like he did.

He said it is on record that several of his ministers and others he appointed into different positions are currently occupying plum positions across the globe, warning that people should stop digging holes for others to fall into.

He wrote: “Recall that the opposition and their sympathisers and campaigners, both local and international, with their malicious propaganda, tore our economy to shreds, threatened our stability and existence as a nation and intimidated our citizens, all in the bid to take over power.

“Nevertheless, we conducted ourselves in a manner that allowed a peaceful transfer of power from a ruling party to an opposition party, for the first time since Independence in 1960.

“Rather than forge a coalition and build on the momentum we had gathered when they eventually took office, they went on a persecution spree and vengeance mission.

“That the country slipped into recession soon after we left office was a self-inflicted injury caused by misplaced priorities. The narrative of inheriting empty treasury is a blatant lie.

“Also, the excuse of the collapse of world crude prices does not hold water. This is because the Fourth Republic took off in 1999 with crude oil selling for less than $20 per barrel and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 0.58 per cent, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures. Yet, the economy maintained a steady growth from that year, peaking at 15.33 per cent in 2002 when the average crude oil price was about $25.

“It is also instructive that the oil and gas sector constitute about 11 per cent of our GDP. There had to be a wider causative factor than just the fall in world crude prices.

“It also amounts to standing facts on their heads to continuously claim that recession was caused by so-called mindless looting. The truth is that the opposition, in a bid to undo our government, became its own undoing when it got to power, because of the burden of justifying deliberate misrepresentations.

“There is wisdom in the saying that if you win a prize and get the crown, don’t go around destroying the person who previously held that prize; it will lose its value. Even after winning the election and forming the government at the centre, the blame game continued.

“When two brothers fight to death, it is the neighbor that inherits their father’s wealth. And we have seen neighboring nations like the Republic of Benin and Ghana reaping from the capital flight out of Nigeria.

“Despite Nigeria’s attainment of Independence from Britain ahead of most other African countries, we have been increasingly conditioned to seek succor in the blame game. It is time for Nigeria to take responsibility. As Gen. Murtala Mohammed said while addressing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU) in 1976 that ‘Africa has come of age’.

“I add that Nigeria has come of age. We either live up to that or we don’t. I am convinced that we can, and we should. We must as a nation always strive to improve the quality of life of our citizens and make developmental plans that will focus on the younger generation. That way, Nigeria will not be a liability to the rest of the world. Our population will be an albatross to us and our allies if we do not take the necessary step to turn it into a great opportunity.

“The sundry accusations by the new administration would appear to have baited the media. Media trials are entertaining, but have little or no effect in fighting corruption and improving the economy. Since I left office, rather than improve on our TI (Transparency International) corruption perception record, the situation has worsened with the nation going 12 places backward, becoming number 148 according to the latest CPI ranking for 2017, from 136 in 2014 when I was president

“It was bad enough that Boko Haram insurgents continue killing people and ruining businesses, but what is worse is when politicians downgrade the economy by demarcating the country internationally.

“You should never try to slander your political opponents by destroying your country’s economy. Capital flight intensified and companies started laying off staff. In all these, I hope a lesson would be learnt.

“If you embark on digging a hole for your enemy, you better make it shallow, because you might end up in the hole yourself. How do you attract investors you already repelled through your utterances? Investors are an ultra-sensitive lot. Money runs away from unstable societies.