Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has criticised President Bola Tinubu over his position on borrowing, declaring that debt is worse than leprosy because it destroys generations.
He stated this while speaking at a symposium, a public forum focused on leveraging Artificial Intelligence to solve grassroots problems and accelerate national development in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Tinubu had said in April that borrowing should not be viewed negatively, insisting that the government would borrow when necessary, provided it could repay the loans.
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But Obasanjo disagreed, describing such a position as absolute nonsense.
The former president also questioned Nigeria’s economic performance, recalling that when he established his farm 47 years ago, the naira exchanged at ₦1 to $1 and 85 cents.
He challenged the country’s leadership to explain the naira’s depreciation to about ₦1,500 to a dollar, questioning what Nigeria had achieved over the decades.
Meanwhile, the guest speaker, historian and public policy scholar, Umar Ardo, has warned that artificial intelligence could deepen Africa’s dependence on foreign powers if the continent fails to control its technology and digital infrastructure.
Ardo warned that without investments in chip fabrication, data centres, African-owned datasets and continental cooperation, artificial intelligence could become another tool for managing Africa rather than empowering the continent to determine its own future.