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IBB unfit to rule again -Ayagi
WALE FOLARIN,
Ibadan
CHAIRMAN,
National Economic Intelligence Committee (NEIC), Prof. Ibrahim Ayagi, yesterday
slammed the 2007 presidential ambition of the former Military President, Gen.
Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), describing him as unfit to rule Nigeria again.
Prof Ayagi stated this in Ibadan, the Oyo
State capital while delivering a lecture entitled; "Economy of Nation
building: A criticism of President Obasanjo’s administration" at the
inaugural founder’s day celebration of the Development Policy Centre founded by
Prof. Ojetunji Aboyade.
Ayagi, who took strong exception to
Babangida’s second coming, accused him of destroying the life line of the nation
during his regime.
"How can he (Babangida) come back to rule
the country? He is one man who reversed the process of nation building from good
to bad, from positively to negativity, from morality to immorality, from
discipline to indiscipline, from fight against corruption to corruption
permeation and from patriotism and nationalism to the sell-out and mortgaging of
national resources and the national interest to Nigeria’s foreign creditors.
"That was the government that ruled
Nigeria for eight years. That was the government that dribbled Nigeria and
Nigerians to undesirable situations. That was the government that virtually
institutionalised corruption in Nigeria and that was the government that
introduced Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and employed it in the
strongest and most perverse way. For Babangida to rule Nigeria again, God
forbid," he said.
The NEIC boss also accused Babangida’s
administration of intensifying the flame of inflation and continuous devaluation
of the naira which caused the collapse of many manufacturing enterprises and
ensured an unprecedented growth of mushroom banks and financial institutions.
According to him, it was Babangida’s
administration that killed the middle class thereby destroying the life line of
the nation.
The NEIC chairman commended President
Olusegun Obasanjo, describing his administration the best in the history of
Nigeria.
Also speaking on the occasion, former Head
of State, Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar, lamented the low economic growth rate in
Nigeria and other Africa countries.
He stressed the need for the Federal
Government to ensure capacity building for economic and social development,
saying that "it is very crucial."
According to him, without adequate
capacity building and development, all developmental efforts cannot yield much
fruit.
"Adequate capacity in terms of building
and utilization has often been described as the missing factor or link in the
development of most poor countries including Nigeria," he said.
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