NIGERIA’s oil economy has been mismanaged for over a decade.
This declaration was made Obiageli Ezekwesili, who is the former education minister of Nigeria and co-founder of Transparency International, a group that campaigns for government accountability and transparency all over the world.
Ms. Ezekwesili went further to allege that the federal government squandered over $67 billion in foreign reserve which she claimed was the balance upon the exit of the Olusegun Obasanjo government under which she served.
According to the former minister, she volunteered to prove the mismanagement of the funds but was turned down when she requested for a democratic accountability forum.
She further said that her believe in good governance, transparency and accountability still stands and her accountability credentials has not been questioned internationally.
Ezekwesili said Nigeria never put to good use its oil resources during the five major oil booms that the country had as this can be seen by the level of development in the country compared to the progress that other oil producing countries have made over time, citing Singapore as an example. She said Nigeria’s income per capital is $1500, while that of Singapore stands at $50, 0000 presently.
But Doyin Okupe, a senior adviser President Goodluck Jonathan, reacted to Ezekwesili on Sunrise Daily, a popular TV program run my Channels TV in Lagos, where he forcefully denied that the Obasanjo Administration left $67 million dollars in foreign reserve.
Speaking further, Dr. Okupe said that more recent comments by Ezekwesili seeking to clarify her previous pronouncements on the issue of foreign reserve vindicated the current administration in Nigeria.