Nigeria borrows to consume instead of investing – Peter Obi

A frontline presidential aspirant under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Peter Obi said he has visited about thirty-one countries in the world studying the problems bedeviling Nigeria.

He disclosed these on Monday evening during a consultative meeting with leadership as well as delegates of the party in Akwa Ibom for the forthcoming PDP convention.

Obi who expressed optimism that Nigeria despite its worsening economic crisis and deteriorating security system would be redeemed with strong leadership in place tasked the delegates to consider the future of their children while voting for their candidates and not to vote out of sentiment.

“When you are going for the convention for those who will have the privilege, remember that you will not be delegates forever, but consider the future of your children and ask yourselves what society I want my children to live in, he said.

The presidential aspirant said poor countries such as Bangladesh were able to wriggle themselves out of the quagmire by borrowing and investing in capital-intensive projects and wondered why Nigeria cannot do the same but only borrow and consume.

He, however, regretted the rising debt profile of Nigeria noting that though borrowing is not wrong but where the monies are channeled to, even as he claimed that the Nigerian government borrows without investing in capital intensive projects saying that only wealth creation can salvage the situation.

Obi said the country’s debt profile has risen from N3 trillion during former President Obasanjo’s regime to N58 trillion in the present administration, adding that a situation where Nigeria uses 90% of her earned revenue to service debt alone indicates a major crisis for the country.

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“Nigeria is in debt crisis, when you use 98% of your revenue to service debt not to repay you are in a major crisis. In the first five months of last year, we earned one trillion, eight hundred and forty-seven billion and we used one trillion, eight hundred and two billion to service the loan, not repayment and we are not putting anything in the reserve. We are just in a monumental crisis, and we are borrowing more money, they will tell you that they borrow for capital projects.

“I’ve been going around asking people, to show me the capital projects. No capital vote is more important than power. We have borrowed over $100 billion dollars within this period, and we are still at 4000mw.

“This is the only country you hear of power generation, anywhere you go in the world, you just put power on and off. Vietnam has doubled their own from 38 to 76000MW, Egypt generates and distributes 55000MW but Nigeria a giant of Africa is struggling with 4000MW.

”I’ve not seen any country that does not borrow, what they do differently is when they borrow, they invest it so that people can live well but our own we borrow and consume and we must end it or it will consume all of us.”

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